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.
Drug lord Jose Adolfo Macias Villamar, alias “Fito,” was Ecuador’s most-wanted fugitive before his arrest on Wednesday, more than a year after he escaped prison from where he commanded the country’s leading criminal gang. The former taxi driver turned crime boss became the prime target of law enforcement early last year after escaping from a prison in the southwestern port of Guayaquil. Ecuadoran President Daniel Noboa’s government released “wanted” posters with images of his face and offered US$1 million for information leading to his capture. In a country plagued by crime, members of Fito’s gang, Los Choneros, have responded with violence, using car
Two former Chilean ministers are among four candidates competing this weekend for the presidential nomination of the left ahead of November elections dominated by rising levels of violent crime. More than 15 million voters are eligible to choose today between former minister of labor Jeannette Jara, former minister of the interior Carolina Toha and two members of parliament, Gonzalo Winter and Jaime Mulet, to represent the left against a resurgent right. The primary is open to members of the parties within Chilean President Gabriel Boric’s ruling left-wing coalition and other voters who are not affiliated with specific parties. A recent poll by the
TENSIONS HIGH: For more than half a year, students have organized protests around the country, while the Serbian presaident said they are part of a foreign plot About 140,000 protesters rallied in Belgrade, the largest turnout over the past few months, as student-led demonstrations mount pressure on the populist government to call early elections. The rally was one of the largest in more than half a year student-led actions, which began in November last year after the roof of a train station collapsed in the northern city of Novi Sad, killing 16 people — a tragedy widely blamed on entrenched corruption. On Saturday, a sea of protesters filled Belgrade’s largest square and poured into several surrounding streets. The independent protest monitor Archive of Public Gatherings estimated the
Irish-language rap group Kneecap on Saturday gave an impassioned performance for tens of thousands of fans at the Glastonbury Festival despite criticism by British politicians and a terror charge for one of the trio. Liam Og O hAnnaidh, who performs under the stage name Mo Chara, has been charged under the UK’s Terrorism Act with supporting a proscribed organization for allegedly waving a Hezbollah flag at a concert in London in November last year. The rapper, who was charged under the anglicized version of his name, Liam O’Hanna, is on unconditional bail before a further court hearing in August. “Glastonbury,
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