Second prisoner exchange between Israel and Hamas

Today's news: Seoul District Court has succeeded in extending the detention of President Yoon Suk-yeol; Record air pollution in Southeast Asian cities; Arakan Army rebels in Myanmar confess to torturing Burmese junta soldiers before killing them; The US calls Vietnam out over trade imbalances; Medicines sold on the black market in Russia.

ISRAEL - GAZA

The second prisoner exchange between Hamas and Israel should take place today as part of the ceasefire signed in recent weeks: with the support of the Red Cross, four Israeli soldiers should be freed in exchange for 200 Palestinian prisoners, some of whom could be released in Egypt, an official familiar with the talks between the two sides said.

SOUTH KOREA

The Seoul District Court rejected a request by prosecutors to extend the arrest warrant for President Yoon Suk-yeol until 6 February. The Senior Officials Corruption Investigation Bureau (CIO) transferred the investigation to prosecutors, who reportedly submitted another request to extend Yoon's detention. The conservative president's lawyers demanded his immediate release.

SOUTH-EAST ASIA

Over the past few days, a number of Southeast Asian cities have topped the rankings for air pollution: Ho Chi Minh City in second, Phnom Penh and Bangkok in fourth and fifth. In the Thai capital, around 300 schools remained closed this week. Experts pointed out that air pollution is caused by a combination of factors: industrial gases, traffic and crop fires.

MYANMAR

Arakan Army rebels confirmed that they tortured and killed two Burmese army soldiers after two online videos showing the violence were leaked. The footage prompted an NGO to ask the International Criminal Court to intervene. Yesterday, AA spokesman Khaing Thu Kha reported that the militiamen ‘were unable to control their anger’ and committed the crimes in response to the arrest, torture and killing of their family members by troops of the coup junta.

UNITED STATES - VIETNAM

The new US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, yesterday had a telephone conversation with Vietnam's Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Bui Thanh Son, during which he shared concerns about China and urged the country to address trade imbalances. According to US data released in January, the US trade deficit with Vietnam exceeded 0 billion in the first 11 months of 2024.

RUSSIA

Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, many pharmaceutical companies have restricted deliveries of medicines to Russia, which on the other hand is trying to import fewer and fewer foreign products. As Novaja Gazeta Evropa documents, this has created a ‘black market’ for medicines, whereby Telegram chats are used to search for at least 1,280 preparations that cannot be found in Russian pharmacies, especially oncological ones.

TURKMENISTAN

The security organs of the Balkan velayat in Turkmenistan have imposed a form for state employees to sign in which they undertake not to use the pages of newspapers and magazines with photographs of the president ‘for household and sanitary purposes’, following communications from (compulsory) subscribers criticising the content of the periodicals as ‘uninteresting, they serve only as toilet paper’.

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