Iran and Saudi Arabia (with Egypt) account for 90% of the world's executions

Today's headlines: hackers linked to North Korea stole 720 million in cryptocurrency from Japan; Cambodia's electoral commission has excluded the only opposition party; Foxconn invests half a billion dollars in Telangana; After years of legal battles villagers in Aceh reach an agreement with oil giant ExxonMobil; Putin ordered the transfer of Rublev's Trinity to the Russian Orthodox Church.

IRAN - SAUDI ARABIA
About 90% of the death sentences carried out in the world are carried out by Iran, Saudi Arabia and Egypt. This is what emerges from the latest Amnesty International report, which, however, does not take into account China, where thousands of people are executed in secret every year. Last year 883 people ended up in the hands of the executioner, the highest number in five years. 

NORTH KOREA - JAPAN
Hackers linked to North Korea have stolen over 720 million euros in cryptocurrency from Japan since 2017. According to the Elliptic study cited by Nikkei, the amount is equal to 30% of the total global losses. The G7 countries' finance ministers and central bank governors are calling for measures to counter illicit activities including crypto-asset theft. 

CAMBODIA
The Electoral Commission excluded the Candlelight Party, the only opposition movement so far in the running, from the July vote. Behind the measure was the failure to submit registration documents. As of today, the ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP) is preparing to go to the polls without a real rival capable of threatening the decades-long power of Prime Minister Hun Sen. 

INDIA
Apple supplier Foxconn wants to invest half a billion dollars to set up production facilities in the southern Indian state of Telangana, also creating 25,000 new jobs in the first phase alone. Apple aims to reduce dependence on China, where Covid restrictions in force in the past have blocked the production chain for new iPhones and other devices. 

INDONESIA
Eleven villagers in Indonesia's Aceh province signed a confidential financial settlement with oil giant ExxonMobil to end a 20-year legal battle over human rights violations. They alleged torture, sexual assault and beatings by Indonesian soldiers contracted by the oil giant around the Arun camp. 

HONG KONG - CHINA
The court in Suzhou, southeast China, yesterday sentenced 78-year-old John Shing-Wan Leung, a US citizen with permanent residence in Hong Kong, to life imprisonment for espionage. He had been arrested two years ago by Beijing's counterintelligence agency. The judges also 'stripped him of his political rights for life'. It is unclear where Leung was at the time of his arrest.

RUSSIA
President Vladimir Putin has ordered that Russia's most famous icon, Rublev's 'Trinity', be transferred from the Tretyakov Gallery and handed over to the Orthodox Church, where it will be displayed for devotion in the St. Sergius Trinity Lavra, for which it was painted in the early 15th century. In the past, all critics and curators had declared themselves against the move.

ARMENIA - TURKEY
Armenia is very concerned about the possible outcome of the elections in Turkey. The challenger of outgoing President Erdogan, Kılıçdaroğlu, is of Azeri origin, and could favour the enemies of the Armenians, creating an alliance between Ankara and Baku as opposed to that between Yerevan and Moscow. The Karabakh issue would not only be a geopolitical factor, but a national issue.

• AsiaToday