Chinese MeToo leader sentenced to five years for 'subversion'

Today's news: 50 victims of Kuwait migrant massacre rise to 50, three people arrested in the blaze; The Ibrahim government in Malaysia holds the record for the most content removed from social media; Bipartisan US Congress delegation in view of the Dalai Lama; Wild horses return to Kazakhstan after 200 years; Putin ratified the agreement with Beijing to build the international moon station. 

CHINA

Chinese #MeToo leader Huang Xueqin, a 35-year-old freelance journalist, was sentenced to five years in prison for being found guilty of 'subversion', a sentence against which she has decided to appeal. Trade union activist Wang Jianbing, 40, who was also tried together with Huang, was sentenced to three years and six months. Both have been in jail since September 2021. 

KUWAIT - INDIA - PHILIPPINES

Authorities in Kuwait arrested three people for manslaughter following a fire that devastated a six-storey building housing migrants, killing at least 50 workers, mostly Indians and three Filipinos. The majority died from inhaling toxic fumes after being trapped in the building by the blaze that broke out in the early hours of yesterday. 

MALAYSIA

In PM Anwar Ibrahim's first year in power, there has been a consistent increase in social censorship. In the second half of 2023, the government submitted the highest number of content removal requests in the world to TikTok to silence opposition. Kuala Lumpur made 1,862 requests, an average of 10 per day, and 5.5 times the figure for the previous six months. Overall, there were 2202 requests for removal, more than 30 times the 2022 figure. 

INDIA - CHINA - USA

Republican Michael McCaul will lead a bipartisan US Congressional delegation to India, which also includes former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, to meet with the Dalai Lama on 18-19 June. The 88-year-old Tibetan spiritual leader has been living in exile for decades in Dharamsala, in the Indian Himalayas, and is considered a dangerous separatist by Beijing.

VIETNAM

The Ministry of Finance of Vietnam has proposed to increase the special tax on alcoholic beverages to 100 per cent by 2030. According to the draft, pending parliamentary approval, the consumption tax on beer and hard liquor will be raised to 70-80% by 2026 and will gradually increase to 90-100% in 2030 from the current 65%. Industry associations are critical. 

KAZAKHSTAN

Przewalski's horses have returned to the steppes of Kazakhstan after almost 200 years, part of a plan to reintroduce the world's last wild horses to their original habitats. Sand-brown in colour, the endangered quadrupeds once populated Central Asia. Now the Prague Zoo, which manages their family tree, wants to return them to the central region of Altyn Dala. 

RUSSIA - SRI LANKA

The Sri Lankan Defence Minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe, reported that there are at least 22 (but the figure is higher) compatriots who have defected from the Russian army and returned home after being recruited under false pretences. The authorities had lured them with promises of steady, well-paid work and other benefits including Russian citizenship, ending up at the front in Ukraine.

ARMENIA

Armenia's national security service Snb warned the participants of the protest movement 'Tavowš, in the name of the Fatherland', led by Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan, that 'the entire arsenal of legal and legal means will be used in case of violations of the law'. The reference is addressed in particular to the demonstrations planned around the parliament in recent days.

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