Pyongyang denies removing loudspeakers on border with South Korea

Today's headlines: Jimmy Lai's final hearings postponed; Pakistan announces new military unit for missile deploymen;. South Sudan denies negotiations with Israel for the relocation of Palestinians; On August 29,Thailand's Constitutional Court to rule whether to remove Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra.

NORTH KOREA

Kim Yo-jong, sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, today rejected claims that North Korea is removing some of its loudspeakers along the border. The information was initially reported by Seoul, which removed its own loudspeakers in an attempt to ease tensions with the North.

HONG KONG

The final hearings in Jimmy Lai's trial have been postponed due to heavy rain. The tycoon who owns the pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily has been charged with seditious statements against the government and faces life imprisonment. His son, Sebastien Lai, has expressed concern that his father, who is 77 and has been in prison since December 2020, could die in prison.

CHINA – JAPAN

Beijing and Tokyo have different plans for commemorating the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II: Japan will hold a ceremony tomorrow, 15 August, the day Emperor Hirohito announced on the radio that the government had surrendered, while China will hold a military parade on 3 September, the day of the Japanese army's formal surrender, an issue that still haunts relations between the two Asian countries.

THAILAND

Thailand's Constitutional Court will decide on 29 August whether to reinstate or remove Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra, who was suspended from office after the release of a phone call with former Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen. In recent days, Bangkok had again accused Phnom Penh of violating the ceasefire after another Thai soldier was wounded at the border by a landmine. Cambodia rejected the accusations, saying it had never planted new mines.

PAKISTAN – INDIA

Pakistani Prime Minister Shebaz Sharif has announced the creation of a new military unit called the Army Rocket Force, which, with its own military command, will be responsible for overseeing missile combat capabilities in a conventional conflict. This decision appears to be a direct consequence of the clashes with India in early May.

RUSSIA – CENTRAL ASIA

Russia is conducting a propaganda campaign to recruit young men and women from across Central Asia for training and work in the Alabuga economic zone in Tatarstan, where drones are being assembled for use in the war against Ukraine. In particular, it is recruiting young people from Kyrgyzstan, with which a protocol has been signed to visit schools.

MOLDOVA

The leader of the opposition bloc in Moldova, Pobeda, the oligarch Ilan Šor, who is in exile in Russia, has urged his supporters to start a campaign of “civil disobedience” in protest against the actions of President Maia Sandu's government, beginning by not paying taxes and gathering for a demonstration in the centre of Chişinău on 16 August to “overthrow this vomitous mess as soon as possible”.

GAZA – ISRAEL

As the death toll in Gaza City rose to 123 in the last 24 hours due to Israeli bombing, South Sudan reported that there will be no negotiations with the Jewish state for the relocation of Palestinians to its territory, as initially reported by some news agencies. However, South Sudan's Foreign Minister Semaya Kumba visited Israel last month and met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Announcing the new military offensive against the Strip, Netanyahu, backed by US President Donald Trump, reiterated that the Palestinians should simply leave Gaza.

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