PAKISTAN - IRAN
Islamabad's army attacked across the border in the Iranian province of Sistan and Baluchistan, hitting "anti-Pakistan militant groups". Several explosions were heard and at least three women and four children were killed in Saravan. There was an immediate protest from Tehran which, two days ago, had hit alleged bases of the Sunni separatist group Jaish ul-Adl with missiles in Pakistani territory, once again causing civilian victims, including children.
HONG KONG
Hong Kongers have lost the world record for longevity having ceded the record to Japan. Among the reasons for the decline are the consequences linked to the Covid-19 pandemic and the general stress linked to social unrest, a consequence of the full transition to China. For women, life expectancy is 86.8 years, while for men it stops at 80.7, the same as in Singapore.
MALAYSIA - INDONESIA
Two Malaysian-born prisoners at Guantanamo Bay pleaded guilty in recent days to 'conspiracy' in the 2022 bombings in Bali, the popular Indonesian tourist destination, in which more than 200 people died. Mohammed Farik Bin Amin, 48, and Mohammed Nazir Bin Lep, 47, were charged in 2021 18 years after their capture in Thailand.
THAILAND
Former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra will be eligible for parole next month due to his age and health conditions. Since returning to the country after 15 years of exile, the 74-year-old billionaire has been hospitalized for health problems, which have prevented him from going to prison where he would have to serve an eight-year sentence, commuted to one after the royal pardon.
AFGHANISTAN
For weeks the religious police have arrested dozens of women and girls for "violations" of the dress code. The sister of one of them, stopped for not covering herself "from head to toe", reports "humiliation and torture" in the custody of the Taliban. “They said she was unfaithful because she wore tight clothes.” The family paid a bribe of 12 thousand dollars for her release.
JAPAN
Japan welcomed a record number of visitors in December, capping a year of rapid recovery after pandemic-induced closures. The number of foreign business and leisure visitors rose to 2.73 million last month from 2.44 million in November, the highest ever number for December and about 8% higher than the pre-Covid level seen in the 2019.
RUSSIA
The Moscow Duma opened the spring session after the break of the winter holidays, with a large "legislative load" to be completed consisting of almost 1000 bills, as explained by the speaker Vjačeslav Volodin. The priority remains "support for the special military operation, our soldiers and officers and members of their families" in the Year of the Family.
KAZAKHSTAN
The Ministry of Defense of Kazakhstan announced that in 2024 over 160 military exercises will be held on the territory together with Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. On the issue, Minister Ruslan Žaksylykov declared that "for us, the preservation of friendly relations between brotherly peoples" in Central Asia is of exceptional importance.
