As in Iran and Afghanistan: Yemeni women's rights trampled by Houthi rebels

Today's headlines: Covid-19 crisis worsens in China; North Korea accused again of selling arms to Russia; Thai PM Prayut runs again; Premier of Pakistan's Punjab province removed; Iran calls for negotiated solution to crisis between Azeris and Armenians over Karabakh.

YEMEN

Along the same lines as in Iran and Afghanistan, the pro-Iranian Houthi rebels tighten restrictions on women in the Yemeni territories under their control, especially regarding travel (they must be accompanied by a male relative).

CHINA

Obituaries full and hospitals overwhelmed with patients. The health crisis in the country worsens by the day after the recent withdrawal of the draconian Covid-19 policy. Critics note that in the three years since the outbreak of the pandemic, the regime has not been able to devise an effective exit plan, as has been the case in other states.

NORTH KOREA

Pyongyang denies having sold munitions to Moscow for use in the conflict in Ukraine, as claimed by the Tokyo Shimbun. However, the Kim Jong-un regime is silent on the US allegations that Russian Wagner mercenaries engaged on the Ukrainian front received North Korean weapons.

THAILAND

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha today announced his candidature for the general election to be held by May 2023. Having come to power in a military coup in 2014, the former general has cemented his position in the disputed 2019 elections. The announcement comes as his popularity is falling.

PAKISTAN

The governor of Punjab (reporting to the central government) today removed the premier of the local province, Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi, an ally of the country's former prime minister Imran Khan. Elahi had refused to face a vote of confidence in the provincial parliament.

RUSSIA

The Russian journalists' agency abroad Agenstvo analysed the 16 December video of Putin 'at the front', concluding that it was actually filmed at the military command in Rostov-on-Don. According to reporters, Zelenskyj's visit to the 'front line' in Bakhmut in recent days shows the different political stature of the two leaders.

IRAN-CAUCASUS

Tehran also reacted to the blockade of the Lačinsk corridor in Nagorno-Karabakh. In a statement, the Iranian Foreign Ministry expressed its 'wish that the issue be resolved through peaceful means, with dialogue between Armenia and Azerbaijan, according to the November 2020 agreements'.

• Asia
• Today