Attack in Beirut: Hezbollah confirms the killing of one of its commanders

Today's news: Indonesia releases New Zealand pilot captured by Papua independence rebels; Tens of thousands of people also evacuated in Japan; South Korea to revise laws regulating the work of underage singers; Cambodia withdraws from a regional economic development agreement.

LEBANON

Hezbollah confirmed the death of Ibrahim Aqil, one of the group's top military commanders, during the Israeli attack on Danieh, a neighbourhood in the Lebanese capital, Beirut, in which 14 other people died and 66 were injured.

JAPAN

There is also a flood alert in Japan: tens of thousands of people in four cities (Wazima, Suzu, Niigata, Yamagata) have been ordered to evacuate due to heavy rain. These are the same areas that were hit by a violent earthquake on New Year's Eve. According to the Japanese public broadcaster NHK, at least 12 rivers have broken their banks.

SOUTH KOREA

Opposition member Kim Jun-hyuk in recent days proposed the revision of a bill on the working hours and safety of underage singers and performers, who since 2010 have not received the guarantees reserved for other children and teenagers in case of employment. The working hours per week for 15-18 year olds would be limited to 40 and there would also be reductions for children of a younger age to protect the development of K-Pop idols.

INDONESIA

After 19 months, New Zealand pilot Philip Mehrtens, 38, who had been captured by Papuan independence rebels, was released and picked up by a joint task force of the Indonesian police and army. The rebels had demanded that Indonesia recognise the independence of. Jakarta and Wellington said the release was the result of intensive diplomatic efforts.

CAMBODIA - VIETNAM - LAOS

Cambodia withdrew from a regional agreement in place since 1999 known as the CLV-DTA that provided for the development of the economy and trade. Prime Minister Hun Manet, announcing the decision on social media, accused ‘extremists’ of using the agreement as a ‘political weapon’ to attack his administration, claiming it had ceded parts of the northeastern provinces to neighbouring Laos and Vietnam.

RUSSIA - TURKEY

Turkey has only one bank left, Emlak Katilim, which will carry out transactions in roubles and Turkish lira with Russia and Belarus, and to which all others will transfer their services to the Russians in dollars and euros, to avoid secondary sanctions. Several Russian-Turkish joint ventures are active in Turkey for trade between the two countries, which can use local banks.

ARMENIA - AZERBAIJAN

On the anniversary of the Azerbaijani aggression, a bill ‘On the Reinstatement of Artsakh Assets’ was introduced in the US Congress, with a mechanism for the financial compensation of the more than 100,000 refugees of what was called ‘an ethnic cleansing operation of the Artsakh people, with a humanitarian catastrophe’.

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