Yemen: Saudi Arabia bombs secessionists, “talks” blocked

Today's headlines: South Korean President Lee has asked Xi Jinping to mediate with Pyongyang; Clashes in Delhi over the demolition of illegal buildings near a mosque: Vietnamese electric car manufacturer VinFast has doubled its domestic sales in 2025; In Turkmenistan, the grave of a blogger who disappeared after criticising the regime has been found.

YEMEN

The Saudi-led coalition in Yemen has launched attacks against the southern governorate of Dhale, claiming to have targeted secessionist forces of the Southern Transitional Council (backed by the United Arab Emirates) after their leader Aidarous al-Zubaidi allegedly “fled” instead of boarding a plane that was supposed to take him to talks in Riyadh aimed at ending the conflict between his group and the internationally recognised Yemeni government. The Southern Transitional Council issued a statement calling on Saudi Arabia to halt the air raids, adding that it had lost contact with its delegation in Riyadh. The separatists also claimed that al-Zubaidi was in Aden, where he was overseeing military and security operations in the city.

SOUTH KOREA-NORTH KOREA-CHINA

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung, speaking from Shanghai, where he is concluding his trip to China, said he had urged Chinese leader Xi Jinping to help him curb Pyongyang's nuclear programme, suggesting that a freeze on the development of weapons of mass destruction would be “feasible” under certain conditions. In response, Chinese leader Xi Jinping urged Seoul to show “patience” towards Pyongyang, given the increasingly tense relations between the two Koreas. ‘For quite a long time, we have been conducting military actions that North Korea may have perceived as threatening,’ he acknowledged. The South Korean president outlined a plan whereby Pyongyang would freeze its nuclear programme in exchange for “compensation”. ‘In the long run, we must not give up on the goal of a denuclearised Korean Peninsula,’ he concluded.

INDIA

In the early hours of today, unrest broke out in Delhi over an operation by the Municipal Corporation against illegal squatters near the Faiz-e-Elahi mosque in Ramlila Maidan. The demolition, carried out on land adjacent to the mosque and a nearby cemetery in the Turkman Gate area, degenerated into violence with clashes that left five police officers injured. Five people were arrested following the incident.

PAKISTAN-BANGLADESH

The heads of the Pakistani and Bangladeshi air forces held talks on a possible agreement concerning the sale to Dhaka of JF-17 Thunder fighter jets, a multi-role combat aircraft developed jointly by Islamabad and China. Pakistan aims to strengthen ties with Bangladesh while expanding its ambitions as an arms supplier following the success of its air force in the conflict with India in May last year.

VIETNAM

Vietnamese electric vehicle manufacturer VinFast has estimated that it will deliver approximately 170,000 units in the country during 2025. The preliminary figure represents almost a doubling of deliveries in Vietnam compared to 2024, highlighting strong growth in VinFast's main market, while the company continues to face difficulties in expanding abroad.

RUSSIA

According to The Insider, 2025 was the bloodiest year for Russia since the start of the war in Ukraine, with 20 deaths per square kilometre of the front line, despite continued proclamations of victory by Vladimir Putin and Moscow's military leaders. The actual area of Ukrainian territory occupied is 4,300 square kilometres, a thousand more than in 2024, but nowhere near the 62,000 square kilometres occupied in 2022. The only region under complete control is Lugansk, while the crucial region of Kherson remains only 72% under control.

TURKMENISTAN

Journalists from Radio Svoboda's Turkmen section have found the grave of 34-year-old blogger Didor Amonsakhatov, who recently disappeared. He published “forbidden” material under the pseudonym Khitrovskij, criticising the regime in power in Ashgabat, the economic situation in Turkmenistan and high food prices, spreading everything on TikTok, before being arrested and probably tortured to death.

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