ARMENIA
Over 200 protesters detained
Police have detained more than 200 demonstrators demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan over territorial concessions made to Azerbaijan, the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday. Protests erupted in the nation last month after the government agreed to hand territory it had controlled since the 1990s back to Azerbaijan. Pashinyan’s position remains unshaken, despite the challenge mounted by archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan, who is trying to launch an impeachment process against him. Hundreds of protesters yesterday took to the streets across Armenia, trying to block roads in what Galstanyan has called a “nationwide campaign of disobedience.” The ministry said “226 citizens were detained for disobeying the lawful demands of police.” Last week Yerevan returned control over four border villages it had seized decades ago to Azerbaijan, a key step toward normalizing ties between the two countries — who fought two wars for control of the Nagorno-Karabakh region.
JAPAN
Chinese ships spotted
The Japan Coast Guard has spotted Chinese ships sailing near disputed islands in the East China Sea for a record 158 consecutive days, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said yesterday. The territorial dispute over the Tokyo-controlled islets, known as the Senkaku by Japan and the Diaoyutai (釣魚台) by China, is a long-running sore point between the countries. The coast guard observed four China Maritime Police Bureau vessels sailing in the “contiguous” zone adjacent to Japan’s territorial sea near the island chain. It was the 158th consecutive day that Chinese boats were spotted there — surpassing the previous record of 157 days in 2021, Hayashi said. “The government considers this series of navigations within the contiguous zone and intrusions into territorial waters an extremely serious matter,” he told reporters.
THAILAND
MP jailed over royal insult
A Thai court yesterday sentenced a lawmaker from the progressive Move Forward Party (MFP) to two years in jail for insulting the monarchy. Chonthicha Jaengraew was found guilty under lese majeste laws over a speech she made during an anti-government protest in 2021. The MFP won the most seats in last year’s general election, but was blocked from forming a government by conservative forces opposed to its pledge to reform the royal defamation laws. The court in Thanyaburi reduced the sentence from three years because Chonthicha cooperated, her lawyer said. The court freed the lawmaker on 150,000 baht (US$4,097) bail pending an appeal, the lawyer added.
PAKISTAN
33 arrested over assault
Police have arrested dozens of Muslim men and charged them with attacking a Christian father and son on allegations of desecrating pages of Islam’s holy book, officials said yesterday. The mob went on a rampage on Saturday after locals saw burnt pages of the Koran outside the two Christian men’s house and accused the son of being behind it, setting their house and shoemaking factory on fire in the city of Sargodha in Punjab Province, senior police officer Asad Ijaz Malhi said. They also beat up the son. Malhi said police forces rescued the two wounded men and transported them to a hospital where they were in stable condition, and that at least 33 men were arrested following multiple police raids. Authorities were chasing others who might be involved in the attack, he said.
‘GREAT OPPRTUNITY’: The Paraguayan president made the remarks following Donald Trump’s tapping of several figures with deep Latin America expertise for his Cabinet Paraguay President Santiago Pena called US president-elect Donald Trump’s incoming foreign policy team a “dream come true” as his nation stands to become more relevant in the next US administration. “It’s a great opportunity for us to advance very, very fast in the bilateral agenda on trade, security, rule of law and make Paraguay a much closer ally” to the US, Pena said in an interview in Washington ahead of Trump’s inauguration today. “One of the biggest challenges for Paraguay was that image of an island surrounded by land, a country that was isolated and not many people know about it,”
DIALOGUE: US president-elect Donald Trump on his Truth Social platform confirmed that he had spoken with Xi, saying ‘the call was a very good one’ for the US and China US president-elect Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) discussed Taiwan, trade, fentanyl and TikTok in a phone call on Friday, just days before Trump heads back to the White House with vows to impose tariffs and other measures on the US’ biggest rival. Despite that, Xi congratulated Trump on his second term and pushed for improved ties, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. The call came the same day that the US Supreme Court backed a law banning TikTok unless it is sold by its China-based parent company. “We both attach great importance to interaction, hope for
‘FIGHT TO THE END’: Attacking a court is ‘unprecedented’ in South Korea and those involved would likely face jail time, a South Korean political pundit said Supporters of impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol yesterday stormed a Seoul court after a judge extended the impeached leader’s detention over his ill-fated attempt to impose martial law. Tens of thousands of people had gathered outside the Seoul Western District Court on Saturday in a show of support for Yoon, who became South Korea’s first sitting head of state to be arrested in a dawn raid last week. After the court extended his detention on Saturday, the president’s supporters smashed windows and doors as they rushed inside the building. Hundreds of police officers charged into the court, arresting dozens and denouncing an
‘DISCRIMINATION’: The US Office of Personnel Management ordered that public DEI-focused Web pages be taken down, while training and contracts were canceled US President Donald Trump’s administration on Tuesday moved to end affirmative action in federal contracting and directed that all federal diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) staff be put on paid leave and eventually be laid off. The moves follow an executive order Trump signed on his first day ordering a sweeping dismantling of the federal government’s diversity and inclusion programs. Trump has called the programs “discrimination” and called to restore “merit-based” hiring. The executive order on affirmative action revokes an order issued by former US president Lyndon Johnson, and curtails DEI programs by federal contractors and grant recipients. It is using one of the
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