JAPAN
Japan has pledged to provide $10 billion to Southeast Asian countries to secure crude oil supplies. Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi announced the new cooperation framework following an online meeting with other Asian heads of government. Whilst Asia is particularly vulnerable to disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz regarding energy supplies, Japan, on the other hand, also depends on Southeast Asia for petroleum-derived products, including certain medical devices such as syringes, gloves and dialysis materials.
LEBANON – ISRAEL
US President Donald Trump has announced that direct talks between Lebanon and Israel will take place today following preparatory diplomatic meetings held in Washington in recent days. Trump did not specify which figures would be involved in the talks, whilst Lebanon and Israel have not yet issued any comments.
MACAO
Macau’s Finance Minister has resigned for “personal reasons”, prompting Chief Executive Sam Hou-fai to take over the role temporarily until a new candidate is appointed. Tai Kin-ip, 57, had taken up the post in December 2024 and is the first Secretary for Economy and Finance to resign since Macau’s sovereignty was returned to China.
SRI LANKA
Nine Chinese nationals were arrested at Sri Lanka’s international airport whilst attempting to smuggle communications equipment worth $78,000, which was allegedly intended for cyber fraud operations. Two weeks ago, Sri Lankan police detained 152 foreign nationals on charges of running a scam centre in a hotel in the north-west of the island.
THAILAND
Four teenagers, including two seminarians, died in a road accident in Loei province, in north-eastern Thailand, during the Songkran celebrations, the Buddhist New Year. Between 10 and 13 April alone, 755 accidents and 154 deaths were recorded across the country. According to the police, the accident occurred along a notoriously winding stretch of the Loei-Chiang Khan road, where a motorbike carrying four young men collided with a pick-up truck travelling in the opposite direction.
RUSSIA
The Russian Ministry of Justice has refused for the second time to register the Rassvet party, ‘Dawn’, founded by Ekaterina Duntsova, the candidate barred from the 2024 presidential elections, citing delays in the submission of documents and non-payment of fees. Furthermore, according to the ministry, only 113 of the 118 people present at the party congress voted, but Rassvet has announced its intention to appeal.
KAZAKHSTAN
As reported by MiddleAsianNews, Kazakh billionaire Tumir Turlov has issued a chess challenge to the president of the Mongolian Chess Federation, the former Prime Minister of Ulan Bator, Zandanshamar Gombojava. Both countries have incorporated chess into their school curricula with excellent results, enhancing pupils’ skills in mathematics and physics, as is also the case in Armenia, China and Singapore with their ‘Chess in School’ programmes and various championships
