Russia blocks UN sanctions committee on North Korea

Today's news: dozens dead in an Israeli raid near Damascus, while the Netanyahu government risks a crisis over the recruitment of the ultra-Orthodox; One of those arrested for the Krokus Hall massacre in Moscow attended the Fatikh mosque in Istanbul; Bangkok wants to legalise casinos; A Filipino in Pampanga gets himself crucified for the thirty-fifth time on Good Friday.

RUSSIA-NORTH KOREA

At the UN Security Council, Russia used its veto power to block the renewal of the mandate of a group of United Nations experts who had been monitoring sanctions against North Korea for 14 years. Last week the group said it was investigating reports that Russia had violated rules by buying North Korean weapons for use in Ukraine. 13 of the other 14 member states of the Council voted in favor of renewing the mandate of the expert group. China, Pyongyang's closest ally, abstained.

ISRAEL-SYRIA

According to sources in Damascus, an Israeli air strike on the northern Syrian province of Aleppo killed at least 38 people this night, including soldiers and civilians. The victims include five members of the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah. Several areas of the Aleppo countryside were targeted. The raid follows Hezbollah's missile launches on northern Israel which caused the death of an Israeli worker in recent days.

ISRAEL

The Israeli Supreme Court has decreed that from April 1 the State will no longer be able to pay subsidies to ultra-Orthodox Jewish students in yeshivas - rabbinical schools - who refuse to join the army to continue their Torah studies. The decision is linked to the lack of agreement with the Jewish religious parties on the law which until now has exempted around 60 thousand young Haredim from military service, but is now strongly opposed by Israeli public opinion. The affair puts at great risk the stability of the Netanyahu government, in which the votes of the religious parties are decisive.

PHILIPPINES

Not wanting to see the controversial Lenten tradition end in his village, sixty-seven-year-old Ruben Enaje allowed himself to be crucified for the 35th time on Good Friday in the street performance that commemorates the Via Crucis in the barangay of San Pedro Cutud. After the death of his fellow penitentiary, Bob Velez, who died of COVID-19 in 2022 at the age of 72, Enaje is now considered the dean among the "papaku", men and women who climb the cross to be nailed in the municipality of Pampanga.

THAILAND

The Thai government is considering legalizing casinos. Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin announced the move, claiming that the measure would bring benefits in terms of employment. Casinos are illegal in Thailand and the only gambling allowed is on state-controlled horse racing and the lottery, although underground gambling is widespread.

RUSSIA-TURKEY 

One of those arrested for the Krokus Hall massacre, Šamsiddin Fariduni, presented himself on social networks with the name “Abdullokh”, the “servant of Allah”, including his Telegram account where a “preacher's assistant” had connected with him ” who proposed a compensation of 5 thousand dollars for the terrorist act. In the previous days, photographs of Fariduni were seen in Istanbul, in front of the Fatikh mosque, considered one of the most fundamentalist in all of Turkey.

KAZAKHSTAN-KYRGIZISTAN

The president of Kyrgyzstan, Sadyr Žaparov, paid an official visit to Astana to sign an agreement with his counterpart Kasym-Žomart Tokaev to expand cooperation relations with Kazakhstan, strengthening the defensive alliance which excludes contacts with third countries which could threaten the security of one of the two, in a regional agreement to also be proposed to the other Central Asian countries.

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