Pakistan, police attempt (again) to arrest former premier Imran Khan

Today's headlines: in India, onion farmers demand a higher price; Thai police patrol the durian fields;  Another historic low for the Lebanese lira: In Ukraine, Central Asian citizens are used for 'dirty jobs'; Political clashes in Moldova.

PAKISTAN

For two days, police have been trying to remove former Prime Minister Imran Khan from his residence in Lahore, clashing with loyalists and protesters. His arrest was ordered by an Islamabad court for failing to appear despite repeated summonses: the former premier is accused of failing to register and selling state gifts offered by foreign representatives.

INDIA

Farmers in the western state of Maharashtra have embarked on a 200 km march to Mumbai, demanding that their onions be sold at higher prices after steep declines in recent weeks. The local authorities announced financial aid for the growers, but they refused and continued their protest. India is, after China, the world's second largest producer of onions, more than half of which come from Maharashtra.

HONDURAS - CHINA - TAIWAN

The president of Honduras, Xiomara Castro, announced that she had instructed her foreign minister to establish official diplomatic relations with China, without specifying whether those with Taiwan would remain open. A few weeks ago, the Central American government said it was in talks with China for the construction of a hydroelectric dam. For a similar project, Beijing has already lent Honduras USD 300 million in 2021. Since 2016, when Taiwan's Tsai Ing-wen was elected president, the island has lost eight allies and may soon have only 13.

THAILAND

Thai police will step in to support durian farmers by patrolling the fields every evening from 6pm until morning to prevent theft. Thieves recently escaped from a cultivation on the Cambodian border, taking 29 thousand dollars worth of fruit with them. Thailand is the world's leading exporter of the pungent-smelling but very popular fruit, especially in China and South Korea.

LEBANON

The Lebanese lira reached another all-time low: although the official exchange rate with the dollar is set at 15 thousand lira, in reality, 100 thousand lira were exchanged for a dollar yesterday. In 2019, before the economic meltdown, the exchange rate was set at 1,507 liras. Lebanese banks impose draconian restrictions on withdrawals and have closed in recent days in protest against court decisions in favour of savers.

RUSSIA - UKRAINE

Hundreds of workers from Central Asia are hired for 'dirty jobs' in Ukraine at 0 a day, in the Russian-occupied territories: from digging trenches to collecting the bodies of the fallen in the field, as well as restoring destroyed buildings. This is despite the fact that their governments discourage this practice, and Ukraine considers them accomplices of the occupiers.

MOLDOVA

In the centre of Chisinau, heavy clashes have been going on for two days between the police and demonstrators in front of the government building, several thousand of them demanding the payment of communal services for the three winter months, the resignation of the government and early elections, led by the leaders of the pro-Russian 'Shor' party.

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