India: 15 members of an Islamic organisation sentenced to death

Today's news: 14 more years in prison for former premier Imran Khan and wife in Pakistan. Sultan of Johor sworn in as new king of Mlaysia; Pyongyang confirmed third cruise missile launch in seven days.

INDIA

A court in Kerala yesterday sentenced to death 15 members of the Popular Front of India (an Islamic organization banned by the central government in 2022) for killing, in 2021, a local leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party, the ruling Hindu ultranationalist party . In the same days, a member of the Social Democratic Party of India, the political wing of the Popular Front, was also killed, presumably by people belonging to the BJP and its paramilitary organisation, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.

PAKISTAN

Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan and his wife were sentenced to 14 years in prison, in addition to the 10 years that were imposed yesterday in another court case. The sentences come just over a week before the parliamentary elections on 8 February and include, among other things, a disqualification from political life for the next 10 years. According to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, Khan's party, these were show trials to weaken the party ahead of the elections.

MALAYSIA

Johor's ruler Ibrahim Iskandar was sworn in as Malaysia's new king in Istana Negara today, becoming the second ruler of the southern state to ascend the throne after his father, who reigned from 1984 to 1989. Malaysia's nine royal houses are alternate to the throne for five-year terms, under a rotation system in place since independence in 1957. The new monarch has said his priorities include stamping out corruption, proposing that the anti-corruption agency report directly to the king.

NORTH KOREA

Pyongyang confirmed that it had yesterday launched its third cruise missile  in the space of a week: even if the Hwasal-2 missiles do not constitute a violation of the UN resolutions that prevent North Korea from possessing a certain type of weapon, they represent a threat to neighboring countries because they can carry nuclear warheads, according to a statement from Seoul.

IRAQ – IRAN

The Iraq-based pro-Iranian Kataib Hezbollha militia has announced the suspension of all its military operations against US troops in the region, a decision aimed at avoiding "embarrassment" to the Iraqi government, the militia's secretary general, Abu Hussein al-Hamidawi, adding however that they will continue "to defend our people in Gaza in other ways". According to the Pentagon, Kataib Hezbollah is responsible for the killing of three American soldiers on the border between Syria and Jordan on Sunday.

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