Israeli air raid on Syrian port of Latakia

In Hong Kong, Jimmy Lai faces additional charges of "seditious publications"; India seeks secessionist Sikh leader arrest in Germany; Seoul opposes nomination of Japan's Sado mines to World Heritage list, over use of Korean forced labour; Moscow fines Google 7.2 billion roubles for failing to block "forbidden information".

SYRIA-ISRAEL

An overnight Israeli air raid has reportedly destroyed the port of Latakia in Syria. The target of the military action was the container area where, according to Israeli intelligence, Iranian munitions are stored. This is the second attack of its kind in the last month. According to the Syrian State Agency Sana, there was considerable damage but no casualties.

HONG KONG

Jimmy Lai and six other staff members of the Apple Daily, the independent Hong Kong newspaper stifled by the Beijing security law and arrests, have received additional charges of issuing "seditious publications" during another trial hearing today.

INDIA

German police has arrested Jaswinder Singh Multani, a prominent member of the independence movement Sikhs for Justice. The movement wants the secession of Punjab from India and the creation of an autonomous state called Khalistan. Muktani was arrested in Erfurt on a warrant from the Indian judicial authorities. According to the indictment, he took part in a bomb attack on a court in Ludhiana last week and was involved in the preparation of new attacks in Delhi and Mumbai.

SOUTH KOREA-JAPAN

Seoul asked Tokyo to withdraw the candidacy of the former Sado goldmine, opened in 1600 and closed in 1946 after also being used for the production of war material, as a UNESCO heritage site. The Korean authorities consider the initiative "deplorable" because at least 1,200 Korean forced labourers were used in Sado between 1910 and 1945.

RUSSIA

The Moscow branch of the international court fined Google 7.2 billion roubles, more than one hundred million euro, for not having systematically blocked information prohibited in Russia. This is the first punitive action against the IT giant in the country, which applies a penalty of between 5 and 10% of its budget; Google declared revenues of 85 billion roubles in Russia in 2020.

BELARUS

Despite the continued worldwide growth in Covid-19 infections, also evident in Belarus, the government in Minsk has lifted all forms of health restrictions and precautions to "support the economy", inviting Russian tourists in particular to visit the country freely. There are consistently between 1,000 and 1,200 new cases per day, but increases and a spike in new infections is feared.