Fire in Chinese school kills 13
Today's headlines: Seoul police chief is indicted over Itaewon tragedy. Iran and Pakistan restore diplomatic ties. A huge new lithium deposit is discovered in Thailand. Ukrainian drones attack the St Petersburg area. Divisions within the Israeli government are deepening.
CHINA
At least 13 people died in a fire that broke out in a school dormitory, state news agency Xinhua reported, without indicating how many of the victims were children. The incident occurred at the Yingcai School, in Yanshanpu, a village in the central province of Henan. Several people expressed their anger on Chinese social media after the incident.
SOUTH KOREA
The head of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, Kim Kwang-ho, has been charged with professional negligence, over the Halloween tragedy in Itaewon district, in which 159 people, mostly in their 20s, were crushed to death in October 2022. For more than a year, Seoul's Western District Prosecutor's Office had been undecided whether to indict Kim after bringing several other officials to trial.
IRAN – PAKISTAN
Iran and Pakistan have re-established diplomatic relations after firing missiles at each other in recent days. Pakistan announced that their respective foreign ministers, in a telephone call this morning, "agreed to de-escalate the situation. The return of ambassadors of the two countries to their respective capitals was also discussed.” Iran has not commented on the two-way talks.
INDONESIA
For the first time, transgender people in Indonesia will be able to vote in upcoming elections on 14 February, after obtaining an identity card (KTP)[*] from the government. Despite the many challenges Indonesian transgender people still face, largely due to the growing influence of conservative Islam, gender-fluid communities have historically been accepted in the country. The Bugis ethnic group on the island of Sulawesi, for example, traditionally recognises five genders, including one that combines female and male.
THAILAND
Thai authorities have reported the discovery of lithium deposits at two locations in the southern province of Phang-Nga. One site is estimated to contain 14.8 million tonnes of the ore, which is crucial for making batteries and other technologies, while the other is still being investigated. Such deposits could place Thailand in third place after Bolivia and Argentina in terms of known lithium reserves.
ISRAEL
Divisions within the Israeli cabinet are deepening after Minister Gadi Eisenkot criticised Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu in a television interview, saying that the total defeat of Hamas, as envisaged by the prime minister (who also rejected the US proposal for the creation of a Palestinian state), is not achievable. Eisenkot added that Netanyahu shares clear and distinct responsibility for failing to protect the country on 7 October, and called for fresh elections, arguing that there is "no trust" in Israel's current leadership.
RUSSIA – UKRAINE
Ukrainian drones attacked the St Petersburg region for the first time since the beginning of the war, dropping three kilograms of explosives on an oil transport terminal, causing a huge explosion heard in St Petersburg, Russia’s northern capital, with fragments found in the Gulf of Finland not far from the city. No casualties nor major damage were reported.
GEORGIA – RUSSIA
According to analysts at Finion, the company that provided the data to the Russian edition of Forbes, Georgia was the prime destination for Russian business people in 2023, registering 13,000 legal entities, far more than Kazakhstan (6,100), and Armenia and Montenegro (3,400).
[*] Kartu Tanda Penduduk.
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