SOUTH KOREA
Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon announced that he will not run in the 3 June presidential election, the Yonhap news agency reported. “To restore the abnormal back to normal, I will be the priming water, like a soldier without a rank," he explained. "I feel indescribable despair and infinite responsibility for the impeachment of the president our party produced,” he said, speaking from the headquarters of the People's Power Party.
TAIWAN – UNITED STATES
Taiwan, a major exporter of semiconductors, began talks with the United States yesterday to reduce the 32 per cent tariffs imposed by the Trump administration on its exports. “Both sides look forward to conducting follow-up consultations ... in the near future and jointly building a strong and stable economic and trade relationship between Taiwan and the United States,” Taiwan’s Office of Trade Negotiations said.
HONG KONG
Australian Justice Robert French stepped down from Hong Kong’s highest court before the end of his term. China and the United Kingdom had agreed to have a non-permanent foreign justice sit on the Court of Final Appeal (CFA) when the British colony was returned to China in 1997, under the "one country, two systems" form of governance. However, China has been increasing its pressure on the territory after it imposed a national security law.
MALAYSIA
The government lifted a ban imposed in October on the iPhone 16 model in Malaysia. The marketing and sale of the device had been prohibited because Apple had not complied with regulations whereby 40 per cent of its components had to be locally made.
IRAN – UNITED STATES
Iran and the United States today began talks on Iran's nuclear programme. Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi leads the Iranian delegation, while Steve Witkoff, former negotiator for Gaza and between Russia and Ukraine, arrived in Muscat, Oman. According to observers, it is unlikely that an agreement will be reached any time soon.
RUSSIA
Russians are skimping more and more on funeral costs, the Kommersant newspaper reports, citing Vladimir Rodkin, president of the Union of Funeral Organisations and Crematoria of Russia. Because of high mortality due to the war in Ukraine and rising prices, the average cost of a funeral has gone from around 500 euros in 2023 to almost 2,000.
KAZAKHSTAN
The trial of Temirlan Ensebek began this week in Almaty after many postponements. The author and creator of a satirical social media account, Qaznews24, is charged with “inciting interethnic hatred" after playing a soundtrack full of obscenities and insults against Kazakhstan’s ethnic Russians. The song was written years ago to criticise Russia’s warmongering.
