CAMBODIA
Cambodian lawmakers approved today a law allowing the government to strip people convicted of "treason" of their Cambodian citizenship. A sitting of 120 Members (out of 125) of the National Assembly, dominated by Prime Minister Hun Manet's ruling CPP party, backed the bill, which is part of a crackdown on opposition figures and critics. The law will allow the state to revoke the citizenship of anyone convicted of conspiring with foreign countries or plotting against national interests. Many prominent political figures have fled to avoid arrest in recent years.
ISRAEL – YEMEN
Israel struck Sana'a, Yemen’s capital, yesterday in response to missiles fired by Houthi militias toward the Jewish state. At least six Yemenis were killed and 86 wounded. The targets included a military complex housing the presidential palace, two power plants, and a fuel storage site. Meanwhile, a new, large-scale protest is planned in Israel tomorrow by civil society groups to demand the release of hostages held by Hamas.
TAIWAN
In Taiwan, an opposition-backed referendum on reopening the country's last nuclear power plant, shut down last May after 40 years of operation, failed to pass. Despite a clear 'Yes' vote, the legal threshold for the referendum to be valid (25 per cent of eligible voters) was not reached. President Lai Ching-te (William Lai) has already announced that Taiwan might return to nuclear energy in the future with new power plants, if safety standards improve.
VIETNAM – CHINA
Vietnam has announced plans to evacuate over half a million people and ordered boats to remain ashore, while the southern Chinese city of Sanya ordered the closure of businesses and halted public transportation yesterday in anticipation of Typhoon Kajiki. Vietnamese authorities plan to evacuate more than 586,000 people from the central provinces of Thanh Hoa, Quang Tri, Hue, and Danang.
SOUTH KOREA – CHINA
Seoul wants to normalise relations with Beijing, which have been marked by some tensions in recent years, this according to former Parliament Speaker Park Byeong-seug, who is currently leading a high-level South Korean delegation in China, where he met with Foreign Minister Wang Yi and delivered a letter from President Lee Jae Myung for his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping. Meanwhile, the South Korean president is in the United States for his first summit with Donald Trump.
SRI LANKA
Jailed former President Ranil Wickremesinghe was hospitalised over the weekend, a day after his arrest on charges of misusing public funds while in office. The 76-year-old, who led Sri Lanka through a severe economic crisis, sought medical treatment for complications from dehydration, diabetes, and high blood pressure. He is in stable conditions in intensive care.
RUSSIA
The Russian Ministry of Education has reduced the number of hours of foreign language teaching and released a new civic education curriculum for middle schools. "Civil Rights" and "Citizen Freedom and Responsibility" have been scrapped from the curriculum, while the hours for "History of Our Region," stories of Russian heroes in Ukraine and traditional Russian values, have been increased.
KAZAKHSTAN
The Kazakh government has released data on the growth of international flights, with 36 new routes since the start of the year and the purchase of 104 new aircraft, including Airbus A320s and a Boeing 737 Max8. The expansion includes eight new foreign airliners: SpiceJet (India), Eastar Jet and T'way Air (South Korea), Thai AirAsia (Thailand), China Southern Airlines (China), Asman Airlines (Kyrgyzstan), Air Cairo (Egypt), and Air Arabia (Abu Dhabi).
