Hong Kong's last pro-democracy party faces dissolution

Today's news: Criminal trial of former president Yoon for martial law opens in Seoul; Dhaka reintroduces the phrase ‘except Israel’ on passports; Myanmar celebrates the Water Festival among earthquake ruins; Osaka World Exhibition opens with 160 countries and regions present; Delhi deploys troops in West Bengal to stem the bloody protests over approval of the Waqf law.

HONG KONG - CHINA

Hong Kong's last major opposition party took a crucial step towards its dissolution after a special meeting held yesterday, in response to growing pressure from Beijing and crackdowns in the name of the national security law. According to the leader of the Democratic Party, a final vote on the dissolution is expected within the next few months.

SOUTH KOREA

The former president of South Korea, Yoon Suk Yeol, today denied having committed the crime of insurrection, on the first day of the criminal trial against him for declaring martial law last December. Earlier this month he was relieved of his duties. Yoon arrived at the Seoul Central District Court in a black security vehicle and entered through the underground car park to avoid the public.

ISRAEL - BANGLADESH

The interim government of Bangladesh announced yesterday that it has reintroduced the ‘except Israel’ entry on the country's passports, formally excluding its citizens from travelling to the Jewish state. The inscription was reintroduced at a time when there is widespread anger in the Muslim-majority nation over Israel's military offensive in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.

MYANMAR

Amongst the ruins and the disasters caused by last month's devastating earthquake, yesterday the traditional Water Festival began in Myanmar, one of the most important celebrations in the country marked by the earthquake that caused over 3600 deaths, and by the civil war. ‘Thingyan’ celebrates the new year, with water rituals symbolising renewal. The military junta has banned music and dancing.

JAPAN - ASIA

Yesterday in Osaka, the Universal Exposition dedicated to technology, culture and food opened in the presence of 160 countries and regions from all over the world. The event, organised by Japan, will be open until mid-October, and includes the ‘Mars meteorite’, an artificial beating heart. For the Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, it will help bring unity to a ‘divided society’, in a phase of political, social and economic turbulence starting with the tariffs imposed by the US President Donald Trump.

INDIA

Delhi has deployed troops and security forces in the eastern state of West Bengal, to contain the bloody protests following the approval of the Waqf law, which allows for the permanent donation of property according to Islamic tradition. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has appealed for calm, saying that the law will not be ‘enforced’ in the state, where 25 million Muslims live. The death toll is three, and over 150 people have been arrested.

RUSSIA - INDIA - NEPAL

While waiting for the new mobilisation of 160,000 new soldiers, Moscow is recruiting mercenaries from various ‘friendly’ countries such as India, Nepal, Cuba and others. The Cuban Dario Mafuga, hired to work and who found himself on the Ukrainian front, told Currentime about this. Other witnesses from the United Arab Emirates state that it is not known ‘where the Russians send them to work, when they offer good salaries’.

TURKEY - AZERBAIJAN

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliev spoke at the Diplomatic Forum in Antalya, Turkey, emphasising Baku's role in easing tensions between Turkey and Israel. As a mediator he has already achieved some success in this endeavour, as Azerbaijan ‘is not only the most important country in the South Caucasus, but a key player in Middle Eastern affairs’.

• Asia
• Today