Israel-Hamas agreement: humanitarian truce and (partial) prisoner exchange

Today's news: Chinese dissident journalist Sun Lin died at the hands of the police; Pyongyang puts 'Malligyong-1' military spy satellite into orbit, Seoul suspends military agreement with the North; 216 more landings, mostly women and children, of Rohingya Muslims on Indonesian coast; The murderer of Turkish journalist of Armenian origin Hrant Dink, recently released from prison, will face new charges (including terrorism).

ISRAEL - PALESTINE
Israel and Hamas have reached an agreement for the release of 50 hostages - Israelis or those with dual nationality - in the hands of militiamen in Gaza in exchange for a four-day pause in fighting, the first since the start of the military escalation following the attack on October 7th. Women and children will be freed. For every additional 10 hostages released, Israel intends to add a day of truce. In exchange, the Jewish state will release 150 detained Palestinian women and children from prison. Qatar and the United States brokered the agreement, which provides for the entry into the Strip of trucks with aid, fuel and medical supplies.

CHINA
Dissident journalist Sun Lin, originally from Nanjing and better known by the pseudonym Jie Mu, died following a police raid on his home last week. Radio Free Asia reports sources from the Chinese Human Rights Defenders, on November 17 his neighbors heard "loud noises". The man was later taken to hospital with serious injuries, where he died in the afternoon. The officers prevented the family from seeing the body.

KOREA
Pyongyang has announced that it has put a military spy satellite, the "Malligyong-1" reconnaissance carrier, into orbit. The launch took place yesterday from Phyongan province and, unlike two other attempts in the recent past, it was successful. The United States condemned the operation, which was witnessed by leader Kim Jong-un himself, calling it a "blatant violation" of UN sanctions. In response, Seoul suspended the military agreement with the North and resumed surveillance activities on the border.

INDONESIA - MYANMAR
At least 216 Rohingya, mostly women and children in terrible conditions, landed in the province of Aceh late yesterday, bringing the total arrivals of members of Myanmar's Muslim minority to over a thousand in a week. For Mitra Salima Suryono, UN spokesperson for refugees in Indonesia, there are no particular reasons for the wave of arrivals.

TURKEY
Ogün Samast, perpetrator of the murder of the Armenian journalist Hrant Dink in 2007 and recently released from prison, will have to answer to fresh charges that could reopen the doors of his cell, while the Istanbul prosecutor's office defines him as a "minor inclined to crime". Among the possible charges there is also that of having committed crimes "on behalf of an armed terrorist organization".

INDIA
Indian scientists deny correlation between Covid-19 vaccines and "sudden and inexplicable" deaths among young people. This is what emerges from research presented yesterday by the Indian Council of Medical Research (Icmr), on a sample of "apparently healthy" adults between 18 and 45 who died between October 2021 and March 2023. On the contrary, alcohol is among the causes high intensity physical activity.

RUSSIA
The leader of the satanic sect from the Russian city of Yaroslavl, Nikolaj Ogolobjak, sentenced in 2010 to 20 years in concentration camps for having carried out ritual murders of some teenagers, has been pardoned for having participated in the fighting in Ukraine. He returned home from the front with serious injuries that prevent him from working, and for this reason he was awarded a disability pension.

TURKMENISTAN
The dust storms in Turkmenistan do not cease, which in recent days have "buried" the entire province of Mari and a large part of that of Lebap in the southern and eastern regions. It is impossible for the inhabitants to leave the house and open the windows, so as not to fill the rooms with dust; the phenomenon is causing high peaks of respiratory diseases among the population.

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