Asia Today

Today's news: Seoul District Court has succeeded in extending the detention of President Yoon Suk-yeol; Record air pollution in Southeast Asian cities; Arakan Army rebels in Myanmar confess to torturing Burmese junta soldiers before killing them; The US calls Vietnam out over trade imbalances; Medicines sold on the black market in Russia.

Today's news: Hanoi and Seoul ready to conclude 300 million arms deal; Saudi foreign minister in Damascus today to meet new leadership; Pakistani Human Rights Commission: progressive deterioration in the last two years of freedom of expression;China hands down death sentence to one of three attackers on foreigners last year.

Today's news: at least 103 schools in Bangkok suspended classes due to pollution emergency. Isis claims the killing of a Chinese national in northern Afghanistan; Three people stabbed outside Nagano train station in Japan, at least one victim; New Syrian government cancels contract between Tartus city port and Russian companies.

Today's news: Seoul orders removal of concrete barrier that aggravated crash of Jeju Air aircraft in December; More than 23,000 Pakistanis are detained in prisons around the world; UN human rights experts call on Bangkok to stop deportation of 48 Uyghurs to China; In Turkey, nine arrests are made in connection with a hotel fire at a ski resort that left 76 dead and 25 injured.

Today's news: In China, the execution of the Zuhai bomber publicly announced two months after the massacre; In Thailand, hundreds of homosexual couples will marry on 23 January when the law legalising their marriage comes into force; Pakistan inaugurates country's largest airport, built thanks to Beijing; Patriarch and Custos of the Holy Land say truce means resuption of pilgrimages for Jubilee Year.

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.

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.

Today's news: Taiwan carries out first death sentence in five years; Israel toward confirmation of truce with Hamas; India claims to have killed 12 Maoist rebels in recent days; South Korea's anti-corruption agency may issue a new warrant today that would extend Yoon Suk-yeol's arrest; Medical costs rise in Malaysia.

Today's news: India has successfully conducted a complicated anchoring operation between satellites; Khaleda Zia acquitted of other corruption charges and will probably stand in Bangladeshi elections; The island of Phuket in Thailand is flooded with rubbish; Evacuations due to volcano activity in Indonesia.

Today's news: South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol arrested and interrogated. In one week, air strikes by the coup junta in Myanmar killed 60 civilians. In India there are fewer and fewer camels. In Vietnam, state broadcasters close down due to bureaucratic restructuring.

Today's news: China is considering selling the US operations of TikTok to Elon Musk; The number of casualties among Tibetan monks after last week's earthquake is unknown; Nawaf Salam, president of the International Court of Justice in The Hague, is the new prime minister of Lebanon; More anti-government protests in Georgia, joined by the march of descendants of victims of Stalinist repressions.

Today's news: Bodies of two Bedouins found in a Rafah tunnel, number of hostages reportedly still in Gaza drops to 94 (with 34 presumed dead); Japanese Yazuka mafia boss convicted in the USA for trafficking nuclear materials from Myanmar; Shanghai opens to foreign-owned hospitals; Sting on fines in Vietnam; In Tajikistan, President Emomali Rakhmon cedes power to his son in New Year message.