Tibetan nomads locked up in labour camps for 'sensitive' data on smartphones

Today's headlines: South Korea's presidential campaign gets underway; Myanmar will not send representatives to Asean summit; Hijab in schools dispute spreads to Uttar Pradesh; First visit of an Israeli premier to Bahrain;  Ukrainian oligarchs flee the country amid fears of conflict with Russia.

CHINA

Radio Free Asia reports that the authorities of the Kardze Autonomous Prefecture (Sichuan) have forced Tibetan nomads into work camps, accusing them of downloading political content - photos, videos and other information - considered "sensitive" on their smartphones.

SOUTH KOREA

Today saw the official start of the presidential election campaign ahead of the vote on 9th March. The two main candidates, Lee Jae-myung (Democratic Party, now in power) and Yoon Suk-yeol of the conservative opposition are tied in the polls. Centrist contender Ahn Cheol-soo could be the swing vote.

MYANMAR

The Burmese military junta will not send any representatives to the upcoming Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit. The coup generals consider the exclusion of the bloc from the previous meeting an "affront" and continue to call for the participation of a "non-political" envoy to facilitate dialogue between the military and the coup opposition.

INDIA 

The dispute over the hijab in schools, which has led to clashes between Muslims and Hindus, has spread from Karnataka to Uttar Pradesh. In the nation's most populous state, in the throes of local elections, groups of Hindu students have called for a ban on the traditional Islamic headdress in schools.

ISRAEL-BAHRAIN

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett began a two-day meeting in the tiny Gulf principality yesterday: the highest-level visit by Israel since the two countries established normal diplomatic relations in 2020, part of the "Abrahamic Accords" sponsored by the Trump administration.

RUSSIA-VATICAN

The meeting between the Vatican delegation, led by Card. Kurt Koch, and the Moscow Patriarchate delegation headed by Metropolitan Ilarion (Alfeev) to commemorate the 6th anniversary of the meeting between Pope Francis and Patriarch Kirill in Cuba. At the church of Saint Germain- l'Auxerrois, the participants prostrated themselves to the Holy Crown of Thorns, which has been kept by the Louvre Museum since the fire in Notre Dame.

UKRAINE

Due to the risk of conflict with Russia, Ukrainian oligarchs are leaving the country on private flights. As Ukrainskaja Pravda reported, more than 20 charters and personal planes, such as that of Rinat Akhmetov and Boris Kolesnikov, left Kiev on 13 February; the millionaire Igor Abramovich, deputy of the pro-Russian Opz party, ordered a flight for 50 people.

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