Newspaper of Filippine nobel laureate Maria Ressa shut down

Today's headlines: US sanctions five Chinese companies, accused of supporting Russian military industry; North Korea lacks medicine to treat Covid; Sectarian violence in the Indian state of Rajasthan; More than 300,000 dead in Syria since conflict began;  Russian lawyer opposed to war with Ukraine arrested; Crisis in Georgia after EU rejects application for candidate country status.

PHILIPPINES

Philippine authorities have ordered the closure of Rappler, the newspaper of Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Ressa, due to irregularities in its funding model. Rappler is one of the few newspapers critical of President Rodrigo Duterte, who will leave office tomorrow to Ferdinand Marcos Jr. Ressa rejects the charges and announces she will challenge the order in court.

US-CHINA

The Biden administration has added five Chinese companies to its blacklist of those doing business with Russia. The indicted companies are accused of supporting Moscow's military and defense industry, the target of Western sanctions after Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

NORTH KOREA

In the middle of a wave of Covid-19 contagions, Sinuiju residents are unable to purchase medicines. The North Koreans have always had problems stockpiling medicines; however, the pandemic crisis and related border closures have exacerbated the chronic medicine shortage. 

INDIA

The killing of a Hindu by two Muslims has sparked sectarian violence in the state of Rajasthan. The two assailants beheaded the victim, who was guilty in their eyes of supporting the offensive words of a politician from the BJP-the nationalist party of PM Modi-against the Prophet Muhammad. 

SYRIA

According to United Nations estimates, the Syrian conflict has claimed the lives of 306,887 civilians, 1.5 percent of the population before the conflict broke out 11 years ago. This averages to 83 deaths per day, of which 18 are children.

RUSSIA

In Udmurtia, a Russian republic beyond the Urals, Dmitry Talantov, the lawyer defending journalist Ivan Safronov, accused of revealing military secrets about Russian mercenaries in Africa to the Czechs, was arrested. Talantov made a Facebook post against the Russian bombs dropped on the shopping center in the Ukrainian town of Kremenčug, asking, "Is it denazification or fascism?"

GEORGIA

Discussions and protests over Georgia's failure to obtain EU candidate status continue . Opposition parties are calling for a change of government, claiming that the current team headed by Iraklij Garibašvili of the Georgian Dream will never be able to meet the EU's 12 demands, while the premier flaunts optimism.

• AsiaToday