PHILIPPINES
The Philippine Congress plans to limit or ban social media use by minors, citing links to a recent surge in school violence due to youth exposure to harmful online content. A bill in the House of Representatives seeks to ban social media use by children under 13, while a separate Senate proposal would restrict use to those under 16. The measures would require online platforms to introduce age and identity verification systems and proactively deactivate the accounts of users who do not meet the requirements. Repeated non-compliance could result in fines of up to 50 million Philippine pesos (US$ 820,000). Certain platforms could also be permanently banned from the country.
GULF
As hopes for a peace agreement between the United States and Iran appear to be fading, shipping through the Strait of Hormuz dropped to six vessels yesterday, against an average of about 11 over the previous 10 days. Four cargo ships, including two empty oil tankers, entered the waterway, according to Kpler. Two vessels, a small tanker loaded with liquefied petroleum gas and another carrying residual fuels, exited the strait. Before the war, between 130 and 140 ships transited the strait daily. Moreover, yesterday, 25 ships passed through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait in the Red Sea, a number essentially unchanged from the previous 10-day average of around 24 vessels.
VIETNAM
Hanoi has begun building what is expected to be the country's largest and most advanced domestically made anti-submarine frigate. The ship, built at the Ministry of Defence's Song Thu shipyard in the city of Đà Nẵng, will also have most of its weapons and military equipment developed or assembled in Vietnam. The Southeast Asian nation, long embroiled in maritime disputes with China and other countries in the South China Sea, has sought to expand its domestic military production capabilities by reducing dependence on imported military hardware, much of it from Russia. The project underscores its policy of developing a defence industry that is "autonomous, self-sufficient, self-strengthening, dual-use and modern."
SRI LANKA
Police yesterday arrested a leader of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa's party for allegedly making death threats against the police chief. Sagara Kariyawasam, secretary general of the Sri Lanka Podujana Party (SLPP), was taken into custody. He is the latest in a list of associates or relatives of the once-untouchable Rajapaksa political dynasty to be targeted by the judiciary. The government of left-wing President Anura Kumara Dissanayake came to power in September 2024 with a promise to crack down on corruption and malfeasance.
CHINA – INDIA
China slammed India for formally announcing the names of 27 sites in a disputed border region, escalating the conflict as the two sides seek to stabilise relations after years of border tensions. New Delhi's attempt “to replace the names long used by China is illegal and invalid, and cannot change the fact that Zangnan belongs to China,” the foreign ministry in Beijing said. Zangnan is the name given by China to what India calls Arunachal Pradesh, a region that has been a source of tensions between the two Asian superpowers for decades. Last Saturday, India renamed passes, settlements, a lake, and a war memorial in the northeastern state, strengthening its claim to sovereignty by rejecting China's official names.
TURKEY
Parliament yesterday passed a law establishing a legal framework for the dissolution of the banned Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). This represents a significant step towards ending a decades-long conflict that saw tens of thousands of people killed. The legislation provides legal protections for many former party members who have not committed specific crimes and facilitates the suspension of prison sentences for some individuals convicted of PKK membership, while also paving the way for their reintegration into society. The law was approved by 468 votes in the 600-seat chamber, after gaining the support of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s ruling AKP party, its nationalist allies, the MHP, and the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party.
RUSSIA
Residents of the Leningrad Oblast are writing to the authorities to protest the construction of a new landfill near the village of Rakhya, which is not far from Lake Ladoga, the source of water for the city of Saint Petersburg and much of the region. Residents have long complained about the unbearable stench coming from several nearby landfills and now fear that not only the air but also the water will be contaminated.
KYRGYZSTAN
In Kyrgyzstan, an anti-alcoholism campaign is underway. Participants buy alcoholic beverages in stores, open the bottles, and immediately pour the contents into large buckets, claiming this is their way of fighting "evil”. Videos of young people pouring litres of beer, vodka, wine, and whisky have sparked controversy on social media – while some consider it a waste of money that will have no impact on alcohol consumption, others support the campaign, citing alcohol as a cause of various ills.
