China: democracy activists Xu Zhiyong and Ding Jiaxi convicted of 'subversion'
Today's headlines: Negotiations between Saudis and pro-Iran Houthi rebels underway in Yemen; Tiger population on the rise in India; Baptist pastor who opposed Myanmar junta jailed for 6 years; Japanese universities restrict use of ChatGPT; Moscow wants to strip Ukrainian citizenship from children deported from territories taken from Kiev.
CHINA
After more than three years in prison without a sentence, a Shandong court has sentenced well-known democracy activists Xu Zhiyong and Ding Jiaxi: the former to 14 and the latter to 12 years. The charge is "subversion." The two dissidents were among the leaders of the New Citizens Movement, which is strongly critical of the Chinese Communist Party.
YEMEN-SAUDI ARABIA
Saudi negotiators met yesterday in the Yemeni capital Sanaa with a delegation of Houthi rebels for talks brokered by Oman: the pro-Iranian group controls part of the country's north in the ongoing civil conflict since 2014. The goal of the meeting is to reach a permanent ceasefire with Riyadh-backed government forces.
INDIA
The population of wild tigers has grown to more than 3,000, according to a census published by Indian authorities. The increase encourages efforts to save the endangered species. Compared with 100 years ago, the number of wild tigers has declined by 93 percent in Central, East and South Asia.
MYANMAR
On Good Friday, the military junta's courts sentenced Baptist pastor Hkalam Samson to six years in prison. The charge against him is terrorism, illegal association and inciting opposition against the regime.
JAPAN
Japanese universities will restrict student use of ChatGPT, the chat based on generative artificial intelligence developed by the U.S. hi-tech company OpenAI. The application is capable of generating human-like responses to complex questions, especially for word processing.
RUSSIA
Ukrainian children up to the age of 16 who have been deported to Russia, orphaned or taken from parents missing or killed in combat, will be stripped of their Ukrainian citizenship without asking for their consent. This is stipulated in a decree prepared by the Russian Ministry of the Interior, which entrusts this task to guardians or managers of orphanages, to whom it will be sufficient to send a special request.
AZERBAIJAN-IRAN
In a telephone conversation, the foreign ministers of Azerbaijan and Iran assessed the many misunderstandings of recent times, agreeing that they need to restore a climate of mutual respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the two countries, and also to keep the media under control in the interest of both.
15/07/2023