Today's headlines: Ukrainian power plant staff in Zaporozhets, work under the threat of (Russian) weapons; Pakistan and Uzbekistan strengthen bilateral collaboration; Beijing may shelve its "zero Covid" policy in favour of a softer "coexistence" approach; Iranian court clears nine Christians of charges of threatening national security; in Thailand 33-year-old man convicted of lese-majesty; new missile test by Pyongyang. 

 

RUSSIA

Patriarch Kirill of Moscow (Gundjaev) received the apostolic nuncio Archbishop Giovanni D'Aniello, recalling the meeting in Cuba with Pope Francis and underlining that "the Churches must never take part in conflicts, but be agents of peace". In the meantime, injured Russian soldiers were sent to Belarusian hospitals so as not to be visible to their fellow citizens back home.

UKRAINE

Staff in Ukraine's nuclear power plant in Zaporozhets are being forced to work at gunpoint. One of the blocks continues to be in full operation and, as the president in charge of Energoatom Petr Konin has announced, if a misile were to hit one of the reactors there would be a catastrophe of incalculable dimensions.

KAZAKHSTAN

Kazakhstan said it had concluded an agreement with Latvia to use its seaports of Riga, Venstpils and Liepaja to send export products currently blocked in Russian ports to the West. The agreement came at the end of a virtual online meeting between Minister Berik Kamaliev and Latvian Deputy Minister for Communications Uldis Reymanis. 

PAKISTAN - UZBEKISTAN

Uzbekistan's President Šavkat Mirziyoyev met with Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan in Islamabad. The two leaders signed a joint declaration on development and strategic cooperation between the two countries, accompanied by 10 documents on preferential trade routes, environmental protection, tourism and communications, among others.

CHINA

Beijing may soon shelve its 'zero Covid' policy in favour of a softer 'living with the virus' one, also taking advantage of two new locally produced vaccines similar to Novavax and AstraZeneca. Already in recent days, a leading Chinese scientist had stated that it is time for an "exit strategy" that goes beyond closures and very harsh restrictions in the event of an outbreak. 

IRAN

An Iranian court acquitted nine Christians accused of acts against "national security" and the "promotion of Zionist Christianity". However, one of them has already returned to prison on faith-related charges and two others have been indicted on new charges. The Supreme Court also denied the appeal of Nasser Navard Gol-Tapeh, a convert sentenced to 10 years in prison. 

THAILAND

A Thai court yesterday sentenced 33-year-old Narin Kulpongsathorn to two years in prison for insulting the monarchy. This is the first sentence in more than 12 months under the offence of lese-majesty. During a demonstration in September 2020, he allegedly stuck a sticker with a satirical group's logo on a portrait of the king in front of the Supreme Court building. 

NORTH KOREA

This morning Pyongyang conducted its ninth missile test since the beginning of the year, launching a (suspected) ballistic missile into the sea to the east of the Korean peninsula just days before the presidential elections in Seoul. Japanese defence sources report that the rocket reached an altitude of 550 km and circled for a radius of about 300 km.