Editor TLN
Other news of the day: Following the conviction for defaming Modi, Raoul Gandhi has been suspended from his seat in Parliament. Pakistan registers a day of tension due to a new demonstration by Imran Khan’s party in Lahore. In South Korea, sharp drop in the number of young people at Mass, after the pandemic. Russia and Kazakhstan, facing each other over the lease of the Baikonur space base.
TURKEY
Of the almost two million displaced by the earthquake on February 6, only 345,977 made the change of address to be able to vote in the districts where they were relocated. The figure was published by Turkish Vice President Fuat Oktay. For the Human Rights Foundation (TİHV) of Turkey, the data is “worrying”, since the victims of the earthquake could not exercise their rights as citizens” and calls on the authorities to take all necessary measures to facilitate voting.
INDIA
The day after he was sentenced by a Gujarat court for defaming Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress party leader Rahul Gandhi also was suspended from the Indian Parliament. Under Indian law, if an MP is sentenced to at least two years, he can be disbarred. If the conviction is not overturned, Gandhi could be barred from running for office for a period of at least six years. General elections in India are scheduled for spring 2024.
PAKISTAN
one is announced new day of high tension in Lahore, due to a new and massive demonstration called by Imran Khan in the Minar-i-Pakistan. The PTI leader would announce his next political steps after the confrontation in recent days over the legal cases against him. The demonstration comes after local elections in Punjab, originally scheduled for April 30, were postponed to October 8 – a political move that Khan has contested.
HONG KONG
Hong Kong removed a digital artwork on a giant screen containing secret references to local dissidents. The work “No Rioters”, by American artist Patrick Amadon, was exhibited last week outside a large store. Last week, the artist revealed that he used a trick: placing the names of jailed activists in flashing text that cannot be seen with the naked eye. Amadon stated that the removal of the play “completed” his political message about the crackdown on civil liberties in the city.
KOREA
Sunday Mass attendance among young Catholics in South Korea decreased by 17% compared to the years before the Covid-19 pandemic. A survey conducted by the research institute of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference revealed that 36.1% of young Catholics between the ages of 20 and 30 attend Sunday Mass in 2023, up from 53.2% before the pandemic.
RUSSIA-KAZAKHSTAN
Russia could abandon the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, the center of all Soviet and Russian space successes from the last century to the present. The joint use agreement with the Kazakhs will not expire until 2050, but the two partners are at odds as Astana demands a $30 million payment.
ARMENIA-AZERBAIJAN
Armenian Prime Minister Pashinián conveyed to Baku his comments on the peace agreement, which includes a solution to the problem of the Lačin corridor. The Armenian president reiterated the need to “activate effective international negotiation mechanisms” to avoid new provocations. According to Azerbaijan, the Armenian demand is “a waste of time”.
