Myanmar: Chinese actor kidnapped (and freed) for online scams

Today's news: the Hibakusha ask Ishiba to attend the summit on banning nuclear weapons; US and Saudi Arabia pressure Lebanon to elect an army commander as president; Delhi goes to the polls on 5 February for the local legislative assembly; Kyrgyzstan hands over schools Ankara linked to Fetullah Gulen to a Turkish state body.

CHINA-THAILAND-MYANMAR

A Chinese actor who went missing last week near the Thai-Myanmar border has been found in Myanmar and may have been a victim of human trafficking, according to Bangkok authorities. Wang Xing, 22, had been reported missing in Tak province in northern Thailand, an area known for large-scale criminal enterprises and human trafficking by organised gangs. He had been told there was a casting in Thailand, but instead found himself scamming other Chinese people via the web.

CHINA

Not only the Chinese authorities, but also many independent medical sources are urging people to avoid alarmism over the images circulating on social networks about Chinese hospitals being invaded by people wearing masks because of the human influenza-like metapneumovirus (HMPV). Beijing has acknowledged an increase in cases of this infection affecting the respiratory tract, especially among children, attributing it to a seasonal spike. According to public health experts, however, HMPV is not like Covid-19: it is a virus that has been around for decades, although it should be kept in mind that in some very young children and people with weakened immune systems, it can cause more serious illnesses.

JAPAN

Nihon Hidankyo, the Japanese atomic bomb survivors' group that won the Nobel Peace Prize, today met with Japanese prizewinner Shigeru Ishiba and asked the Tokyo government to participate as an observer at the summit of countries signing the UN treaty to ban nuclear weapons, scheduled to take place in New York in March. However, the group's co-chairman, Terumi Tanaka, said that the approximately 30-minute interview with the prime minister, held to congratulate the group on the award, ‘produced no results’ on the issue. Japanese government spokesman, Yoshimasa Hayashi, said the government would examine how to take a ‘realistic and practical’ approach in response to the request.

LEBANON

According to sources quoted by Middle East Eye, US envoy Amos Hochstein has told Lebanese officials that Saudi Arabia is ready to pledge hundreds of millions of dollars to rebuild the war-torn country if Lebanese army commander Joseph Aoun is elected president in the sensitive vote set for tomorrow in Beirut. Hochstein has been intensively lobbying in favour of Aoun with Lebanese parliament speaker Nabih Berri. Aoun can already count on the support of Lebanon's Sunni Prime Minister Najib Mikati.

INDIA

The Indian capital Delhi will go to the polls in a single round on 5 February to renew its Legislative Assembly, the Election Commission announced yesterday, specifying that counting of votes in all 70 constituencies in the national capital will take place on 8 February. The Aam Aadmi Party led by Arvind Kejriwal is seeking a third consecutive term in the capital. There are 15,524,858 registered voters in Delhi, a net increase of 1.09 per cent compared to the previous election in 2020.

RUSSIA

As of 1 September 2026, all higher education institutions in Russia will adopt the new model of studies prepared by the Ministry of Scientific Research, following the rejection of the Bologna Agreements and Erasmus student exchanges, in which more than 15,000 Russian students had participated since 2014, while Russian degrees will now be incompatible.

KYRGYZSTAN-TURKEY

Kyrgyzstan has handed over to the Maarif Fund, an organisation of Turkey's Ministry of Education, the Turkish Salat network of schools, 16 high schools, five schools and the Ala-Too University in Biškek, which is believed to be an elite group of institutes in the country, but which Ankara believes to be connected to the late Turkish opponent Fetullah Gülen, to the extent of kidnapping in Biškek and sentencing the director Orkhan Inandi to 21 years in prison for terrorism in Turkey.

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