SOUTH KOREA
Senior doctors to quit
A group of senior doctors yesterday said that they would resign starting March 25 in support of junior medics in a nearly month-long strike over government training reforms that has plunged hospitals into chaos. Representatives of medical professors at 20 universities — who are also senior doctors at general hospitals — held a meeting late on Friday, with those at 16 institutions “overwhelmingly in favor” of supporting their junior colleagues, said Bang Jae-seung, head of the group. Professors at “each university have decided to voluntarily submit resignation letters starting from March 25th,” Bang told reporters yesterday. However, “we have reached a consensus that until the resignation is finalized, each individual should do their best in the treatment of patients in their respective positions, just as they have done so far,” he added. Bang did not disclose the exact number of professors expected to walk off the job on March 25.
FIJI
China police deal to stay
The country would maintain a policing cooperation deal with China after a review of the agreement, the Guardian Australia news site reported on Friday. “We are now back on the original police agreement [with China] — that has been restored. We had reviewed it for 12 months,” Minister for Home Affairs and Immigration Pio Tikoduadua was quoted as saying. Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka put on hold the decade-old police cooperation deal between Fiji and China shortly after forming a government in December 2022, citing differences in policing, investigations and legal systems. Guardian Australia reported that Tikoduadua said “there will only be Fijian officers training in China and no embedding of Chinese officers in the Fiji police force.”
THAILAND
Cannabis faces partial ban
Thodsapol Hongtong is enjoying a smoke with his friends at the “Green Party,” a venue where recreational cannabis enthusiasts meet in Bangkok to chat and have a good time, but it is a pastime that might be coming to an end. The booming cannabis sector is estimated to be worth US$1.2 billion by next year, the University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce has said. However, the government is looking to stamp out cannabis culture with a ban on its recreational use to be rolled out by the end of the year. Medical use would still be permitted. Minister of Public Health Cholnan Srikaew last month described recreational marijuana as a “misuse” of cannabis that has a negative impact on Thai children and could lead to other drug abuses. The draft law banning recreational use of cannabis is be up for cabinet approval later this month.
UNITED STATES
Judge delays Trump trial
The New York judge presiding over former president Donald Trump’s trial for allegedly covering up hush money payments linked to extramarital affairs on Friday ordered a delay in proceedings that had been scheduled to start on March 25. “Trial on this matter is adjourned for 30 days from the date of this letter on consent of the People,” Judge Juan Merchan said in a court filing that would push the trial to at least the middle of next month. The exact date would be determined at a hearing on March 25 that would also address complaints by the defense team about the disclosure of evidence ahead of trial, the letter said. Prosecutors preparing to try Trump on Thursday said they would accept a delay of up to 30 days after both sides received a deluge of case documents.
A fire caused by a burst gas pipe yesterday spread to several homes and sent a fireball soaring into the sky outside Malaysia’s largest city, injuring more than 100 people. The towering inferno near a gas station in Putra Heights outside Kuala Lumpur was visible for kilometers and lasted for several hours. It happened during a public holiday as Muslims, who are the majority in Malaysia, celebrate the second day of Eid al-Fitr. National oil company Petronas said the fire started at one of its gas pipelines at 8:10am and the affected pipeline was later isolated. Disaster management officials said shutting the
DITCH TACTICS: Kenyan officers were on their way to rescue Haitian police stuck in a ditch suspected to have been deliberately dug by Haitian gang members A Kenyan policeman deployed in Haiti has gone missing after violent gangs attacked a group of officers on a rescue mission, a UN-backed multinational security mission said in a statement yesterday. The Kenyan officers on Tuesday were on their way to rescue Haitian police stuck in a ditch “suspected to have been deliberately dug by gangs,” the statement said, adding that “specialized teams have been deployed” to search for the missing officer. Local media outlets in Haiti reported that the officer had been killed and videos of a lifeless man clothed in Kenyan uniform were shared on social media. Gang violence has left
US Vice President J.D. Vance on Friday accused Denmark of not having done enough to protect Greenland, when he visited the strategically placed and resource-rich Danish territory coveted by US President Donald Trump. Vance made his comment during a trip to the Pituffik Space Base in northwestern Greenland, a visit viewed by Copenhagen and Nuuk as a provocation. “Our message to Denmark is very simple: You have not done a good job by the people of Greenland,” Vance told a news conference. “You have under-invested in the people of Greenland, and you have under-invested in the security architecture of this
Japan unveiled a plan on Thursday to evacuate around 120,000 residents and tourists from its southern islets near Taiwan within six days in the event of an “emergency”. The plan was put together as “the security situation surrounding our nation grows severe” and with an “emergency” in mind, the government’s crisis management office said. Exactly what that emergency might be was left unspecified in the plan but it envisages the evacuation of around 120,000 people in five Japanese islets close to Taiwan. China claims Taiwan as part of its territory and has stepped up military pressure in recent years, including
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