Gaza: last hostage-prisoner exchange, first ceasefire phase ends

Today's news: More North Korean troops sent to the front of the Ukraine warin Kursk; Japan fails to mirror South Korea as birth rate continues to plummet, even in 2024; Chinese authorities ban doctors from prescribing drugs using DeepSeek; 663 million Hindu pilgrims have arrived in Uttar Pradesh for the Kumbh Mela.

ISRAEL-PALESTINE

Hamas handed over the bodies of the last 4 hostages to Israel, through the Red Cross, overnight included in the list of 33 names associated with the first phase of the ceasefire. Israel is releasing the 600 Palestinian detainees whose liberation had been blocked on Saturday as a reprisal for the ceremonies organized by Hamas for the handing over of the hostages. The Palestinian prisoners were made to wear a T-shirt with the words “Israel will fight its enemies until they are eliminated” printed in Arabic. Now that this exchange has ended, there is still great uncertainty about the second phase of the ceasefire, which should include negotiations on ending the conflict, but these have never started in recent weeks.

NORTH KOREA-RUSSIA

While Washington presses for an end to the conflict in Ukraine, North Korea seems to have deployed more troops to support Russia in this war. According to South Korean intelligence, North Korean soldiers returned to the Kursk region starting in the first week of February. Between 1,000 and 3,000 North Korean soldiers are thought to have been transported to Kursk between January and February by Russian cargo ships and military aircraft.

JAPAN

Unlike South Korea, which recorded an initial turnaround, in Japan the number of children born in 2024 fell to an all-time low for the ninth consecutive year, reaching 720,988. Births decreased by 5% compared to the previous year, despite the measures adopted in 2023 by the government of former Prime Minister Fumio Kishida to encourage the birth rate. Combined with the record number of 1.62 million deaths, this means that for every newborn, more than two people died.

HONG KONG

Hong Kong aims to reduce spending by cutting 10,000 jobs in the public administration. This was announced by the Secretary for Finance, Paul Chan, when presenting the city's budget. Chan stated that the cuts - to be implemented by April 2027 - will lead to a 2% reduction in the number of public employees. The “enhanced” fiscal consolidation program calls for a cumulative reduction in public spending of 7% by March 31, 2028.

CHINA

Authorities in the Chinese province of Hunan have banned doctors working for online clinics from using artificial intelligence to prescribe drugs to patients. The ban came after reports that many healthcare providers across the country had rushed to adopt DeepSeek and other artificial intelligence tools, potentially eroding trust in the healthcare system.

INDIA

The Kumbh Mela - the world's largest religious gathering, which lasted 45 days and ended yesterday in Uttar Pradesh - according to official data released by the Indian government, brought 663 million pilgrims to the banks of the Ganges. As many as 15.3 million devotees immersed themselves in the Triveni Sangam on the last day.

TAJIKISTAN-CHINA

The Tajikistan Minister of Transport, Azim Ibrokhim, has signed an agreement with the head of the branch of the Chinese company Zhejiang Communications Construction Group, Li Minkun, for the construction of the longest vehicular bridge in the whole of Central Asia, spanning 1.5 kilometers between the banks of the Surkhob river in the province of Nurabad, for an investment of approximately 60 million dollars over a period of 4 years.

• Asia
• Today