Hong Kong: Four people arrested for supporting activists who fled abroad

Today's headlines: three Myanmar militias pledge to protect Chinese investments; Russian cyber attack on Japan's largest port; In India, failed reopening of schools in Manipur: students and teachers absent over lack of security; Asian workers' remittances reach an all-time high; Tel Aviv's the police chief resigns.

HONG KONG

Hong Kong police have arrested four men accused of supporting people living abroad who 'endanger national security', an action that comes two days after the city placed a bounty on eight pro-democracy activists living in the UK, US and Australia, countries that do not have an extradition agreement with China.

JAPAN

The port of Nagoya - Japan's largest - is expected to resume operations today after a Russian cyber attack targeted Toyota shipments. Logistics operations were suspended on Tuesday causing delays in the shipment of car parts while the hacker group Lockbit 3.0 demanded a ransom, which the company claims has not been paid.

INDIA

Despite an order announcing the reopening of schools in the eastern state of Manipur yesterday, all but four public schools remained closed due to a sense of insecurity after two months of ethnic clashes. Students, teachers and support staff did not turn up, a state official said anonymously.

MYANMAR

Following pressure from Beijing, three ethnic militias have declared that they will protect Chinese investments in their areas. These are the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army, the Ta'ang National Liberation Army and the Arakan Army, three organisations known as the 'brotherhood of the three armies', which operate in Shan and Rakhine, two states crossed by a Chinese gas and oil pipeline.

ASIA

Cross-border trafficking of workers has returned to growth across Asia: in 2022 the number of new migrants was 4.6 million, close to pre-pandemic levels, while remittances reached an all-time high, helping the economies of origin. Bangladesh has become the main country of origin for workers.

ISRAEL

Tel Aviv's police chief Ami Eshed resigned, accusing members of the far-right government of calling for excessive force against demonstrators protesting over judicial reform. Immediately after Eshed's announcement, hundreds of demonstrators, chanting the slogan 'democracy' marched through the city blocking the main highway.

KYRGYZSTAN

The Ministry of Economy in Biškek has proposed expanding the list of countries whose citizens can obtain the status of 'digital nomads' to include Kyrgyzstan and extending the deadline for the realisation of the project until June 2024, which would make it possible to 'attract highly qualified foreign specialists in the sphere of information and communication technology, as well as the most creative industries'.

UKRAINE

In the Lavra of the Caves in Kiev, the commission of the Ministry of Culture showed up to seal the premises and draw up the list of people allowed in and those who must leave, but a mass of Orthodox believers from the pro-Moscow Upz Church blocked the gates and entrances, preventing the procedures from starting. The authorities have so far not reacted to the protest.