Asia

Prosecutors on Friday demanded five years in prison and a fine of 12 million won ($9,225) for former Justice Minister Cho Kuk, who stands accused of academic irregularities involving his children and interference with an inspection into a corruption case

Affordable Art Fair 2022 - Oman edition - has begun

Hungary and Armenia have agreed to re-establish diplomatic relations, broken off more than a decade ago; the countries are opening up possibilities for trade, cultural, educational and tourism cooperation

The Government discussed the Light Industry Development Programme: it was noted that the production volume of light industry products has tended to increase year on year, from 2,7 billion somoni in 2018 to 4,1 billion in 2021 (€390 million)

Environmental crimes police shut down 16 illegal dumps in Bangkok and arrested seven people for operating them

The Council of Ministers has approved a draft amendment to the Commodity Tax Act that, if approved, will extend the current period of reduction of the commodity tax for buyers of new and heavy diesel vehicles who dispose of old ones until the end of 2026

The country is witnessing a major boom in child sexual abuse; resources are limited and many children are placed in homes or orphanages with no training or experience to deal with abused children

Orphans from war-torn Ukraine, evacuated to Turkey thanks to the efforts of the first ladies of the two countries, were visited by First Lady Emine Erdoğan, who emphasised that Turkey is ready to do more for Ukrainian children

Parliament renewed its warning to the pro-aggression government not to sign suspicious deals and transactions, such as the signing of two agreements, the first with the IMF worth $300 million and the second with the Arab Monetary Fund, worth $1 billion

According to a comparison of existing surveys on the opinion of 'elites' and a recently published survey of 15 Indo-Pacific countries, Southeast Asian citizens tend to be much more positive about China than their domestic elites

The Japanese premier wants the defence budget to reach 2% of GDP by 2027, up from a level that has long hovered around 1%