Hong Kong: Bookseller arrested for selling Jimmy Lai’s biography

Today’s headlines:Settler attacks in the West Bank continues unabated; In India, the young man for whom the Supreme Court had authorised the suspension of life-sustaining treatment has died; QatarEnergy halts gas supplies to South Korea and China following damage to its facilities caused by missiles.

ISRAEL - PALESTINE

Three Palestinians were injured in an Israeli attack near the village of Beit Imerin, north-west of Nablus. Furthermore, settlers set fire to a house in the village of Al-Tuwani, south of Hebron. A violent escalation by Israeli forces is underway across the occupied West Bank, aided by media attention focused on the conflict with Iran: there have been at least 511 attacks in February alone, with seven Palestinians killed by gunfire. Since 8 October 2023, attacks by Israeli forces have resulted in the deaths of 1,133 Palestinians, injuries to approximately 11,700 people and the arrest of around 22,000.

INDIA

The Indian man whose life support was withdrawn following authorisation by the Supreme Court, which granted his parents’ request, has died. The case of Harish Rana, 31, represents the first case in India of passive euthanasia approved by the court. Rana died at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) hospital in Delhi; he had been in a coma since 2013, following serious head injuries sustained after falling from a fourth-floor balcony.

HONG KONG

Hong Kong police have arrested a bookshop owner and three staff members on charges of selling “seditious” publications, including a biography of pro-democracy tycoon Jimmy Lai, who is currently in prison and was sentenced to 20 years in February. The owner of Book Punch bookshop, Pong Yat-ming, and three staff members have been accused of selling copies of “The Troublemaker”, a biography of Lai written by one of his former commercial directors, Mark Clifford.

QATAR - ASIA

The state-owned company QatarEnergy has invoked the “force majeure” clause – which exempts it from fulfilling its obligations – regarding liquefied natural gas supply contracts with South Korea, China, Italy and Belgium. This is due to damage caused by missile attacks on its facilities, which are reported to have compromised around 17% of the country’s exports. Qatar’s Energy Minister, Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, stated that it will take between three and five years to repair the facilities.

KYRGYZSTAN - CHINA

In Kyrgyzstan, car imports from China have risen significantly, with 2,101 vehicles – mostly electric – as documented by the border authorities, three times more than the previous year, amounting to .4 million, an increase of 146.5%, and overall the trade balance between Bishkek and Beijing has risen, reaching .508 billion by early 2026, mostly comprising imports from China.

RUSSIA

In addition to internet connection blocks, the government is proposing to the Duma that further restrictive and control measures be taken, including the blocking of international calls to landlines for people over 60, harking back to Soviet times when one had to book days in advance and obtain permission to make international calls, except for calls to Belarus, the ‘Unitary State’ , and banning SIM cards for minors.

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