Today's news: After meeting Netanyahu yesterday, Trump said that to a new attack on Iran was possible. China conducts a second day of war games around Taiwan, sparking protests and fears in Taipei. Nepali authorities cancel the waste recycling programme on Mount Everest, calling it a failure. Indonesia's free meal programme further limits its target audience.

BANGLADESH

Bangladesh has declared three days of national mourning for 80-year-old former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, who passed away in hospital early this morning. The funeral of the country's first female prime minister is scheduled for tomorrow. Announcing the news in an address to the nation, Chief Advisor Muhammad Yunus appealed for calm. “I hope,” he said, “that during this difficult period, you will show utmost patience and support one another in carrying out her last rites, including the funeral.” The Muslim-majority country of 170 million people has been in turmoil since a student-led uprising toppled Sheikh Hasina in August 2024, ending her 15-year autocratic rule.

ISRAEL – PALESTINE – UNITED STATES

Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu met with US President Donald Trump yesterday at Mar-a-Lago in Florida. At a joint press conference, the US leader warned of another major attack on Iran if Tehran resumes its ballistic missile or nuclear weapons programme, also warning Hamas of serious consequences if it does not disarm. Finally, he expressed hope that the second phase of the Gaza peace plan can be launched "very quickly”.

CHINA – TAIWAN

China has fired missiles and deployed scores of fighter jets and navy vessels around Taiwan today, on the second day of war games designed to simulate a blockade of the island's key ports and attacks on maritime targets. The two-day exercise, codenamed “Justice Mission 2025”, began yesterday. In Taipei, the drill is seen as "highly provocative and reckless." In a statement, Taiwan's Foreign Ministry expressed "strong condemnation" of Beijing “for once again escalating tensions across the Taiwan Strait and region through provocative and unilateral actions.”

NEPAL

Nepali authorities have scrapped a previously promoted scheme aimed at encouraging climbers to bring back the waste they generate while climbing Mount Everest in order to cut rubbish on the mountain. Asked by the BBC, the authorities said that, after 11 years, the plan has “failed to show a tangible result”. It required climbers to pay a US$ 4,000 deposit, which would be returned only if they brought back at least eight kilos of waste with them. Approximately 50 tonnes of waste are said to cover the world's highest peak.

HONG KONG – CHINA – JAPAN

An annual animation festival scheduled for next year will be postponed, according to organisers, due to the ongoing diplomatic row between China and Japan over Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's comments on Beijing's Taiwan policy. Scheduled for 14-15 February, the Anime Festival Asia in Hong Kong has been put on hold, as it was in 2019 and 2020, due to pro-democracy protests and the COVID-19 pandemic. Other dates are being considered.

INDONESIA

The Indonesian free school meals programme is expected to reach 80 million recipients by April, a figure lower than the original target. The scheme was the most ambitious promise in President Prabowo Subianto’s 2024 election campaign, designed to provide food to as many as 83 million schoolchildren and pregnant women. After it was implemented, it sparked controversy, not least in terms of safety. More than 11,000 children have been affected by food poisoning nationwide since it began in January 2025.

TURKEY

Three police officers and six Islamic State militants were killed yesterday in a gunfight in northwestern Turkey, a week after more than 100 Islamic State suspects were arrested for planning Christmas and New Year's attacks. Turkish security forces have made over a hundred arrests in the past few hours. Meanwhile, a new study titled What Do the Numbers Say? The 2024 Internet Censorship Report shows that the scope of online censorship in Turkey increased last year across newspapers and social media. Access to 758,716 URLs was blocked, including 740,624 domain names, 8,762 articles, 7,218 social media posts, and 1,897 social media accounts.

RUSSIA

President Vladimir Putin has signed a law that will no longer require compliance with the rulings of foreign and international courts that have jurisdiction over criminal sentences without Russian participation. Specifically, all verdicts regarding actions in Ukraine will be ignored, this according to Vladimir Gruzdev, chairman of the Association of Lawyers of Russia.

TAJIKISTAN

Six Gorno-Badakhshan activists, arrested during the 2022 protests, died in prison in 2025. According to independent journalist Anora Sarkorova, who hails from the autonomous region, "this is not a chain of random tragedies, but a systemic signal”.  She reported that certain deaths, like that of Sherik Karamkhudoev, a member of a banned Islamic party, show signs of poisoning.

• bangladesh
• israel
• palestine
• united states
• china
• taiwan
• nepal
• hong kong
• china
• japan
• indonesia
• turkey
• russia
• tajikistan