Dario Salvi

Today's news: Chinese Vice President Han Zheng in Washington for Trump's inauguration; Hundreds of supporters of Korean President Yoon, jailed for insurrection, storm the court; Delhi authorizes for 2025 export of 1 million tons of sugar; Asean excludes Burmese generals from top leadership; junta fighters kill 28 people in Rakhine State.

Pharmacists in the capital "advise" customers not to get sick or to take preventive steps like during the COVID-19 pandemic, wearing masks and keeping distances. Western sanctions and critical issues in domestic production are emptying the shelves. For the Minister of Health, there are no emergencies but he scraps special tariffs in foreign currencies.

Today's headlines: This morning South Korean President Yoon attended a hearing regarding his arrest on charges of insurrection. China’s economy is growing at a faster pace, but doubts remain about sustainability for 2025. Pakistan launched its first observation satellite from a Chinese base. Poisonings and funding shortages mar Indonesia's free nutritious meal program.

The Palestinian Catholic leader calls the ceasefire agreed upon after tensions in the Israeli government and with Hamas a "good development". For him, children cannot be “killed because of the (alleged) crime of the father or the mother.” Rehauling the Palestinian system of government will be a challenge, one that will not see Hamas play any leading role.

Bishop Berardi spoke to AsiaNews about various topics, from politics and the Jubilee and the Church and the societies of the Gulf. The rise of Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham in Syria (and Assad’s ouster) and the presidential election in Lebanon are a sign of Saudi strength and Iranian weakness. “Ambiguities" surround Palestinian "martyrs". Christians are witnesses of hope, contributing to the development of local societies.

Israel and Hamas are ready to sign a ceasefire and release some hostages, but the end of the war remains far away. Yonatan Zeigen, son of an Israeli pacifist killed on 7 October, speaks to AsiaNews about the question of “power and interests" behind the agreement, starting with the new US administration. The historical precedent between Israel and Egypt is an example of how to overcome the conflict with the Palestinians.

The water plant will be built in cooperation with a French group and will provide 300 million cubic metres of drinking water. It will be the country's largest infrastructure serving three million citizens; four years to completion. It will replace an earlier project studied with Israel that was supposed to connect the Dead Sea and the Red Sea.

The new head of state is elected in the second round of voting this afternoon with 99 votes out of 128. Sources tell AsiaNews that Saudi and Quintet support was key. His first tasks include enforcing Resolution 1701 and upholding an independent judiciary. In his speech he praised the courage of the Lebanese people whose "identity" is inherent in the "diversity" of its various groups.

The latest case concerns Umm al-Hiran, razed to the ground to build Dror, a new Jewish Orthodox town. Some of the land was offered at ridiculously low prices to members of Garin Torani's Zionist religious group. Peace Now warns that with the Netanyahu-Smotrich-Ben Gvir government, authorisations for new homes in the settlements are breaking new records every week.

The Nepali and two Chinese climbers completed the seven highest summits in every continent, from Asia to South America, as well as all the eight-thousanders in the Himalayas. He was honoured with flowers and garlands upon landing at the capital's airport. The country is also celebrating a record-breaking year for visitors to the Annapurna region, with close to 245,000 arrivals in 2024.

Westerners jailed by the Islamic Republic, who are rightly an international issue, are but a fraction of the more than 8,000 non-Iranians jailed in Iran, 95 per cent of them migrants from Afghanistan. More than 70 Afghans were hanged in 2024. Other countries of origin of prisoners include Pakistan, Iraq, Turkey, Azerbaijan and India.

The crash of a low-cost Jeju Air plane killed 179 of the 181 people on board. World leaders express their solidarity to the East Asian nation. An investigation into the causes of the tragedy is already underway. Meanwhile, investigators have issued an arrest warrant against President Yoon Suk Yeol for imposing martial law.