SOUTH KOREA
Court removes police chief
The Constitutional Court yesterday formally removed the country’s impeached police chief for deploying hundreds of officers to support ousted former president Yoon Suk-yeol’s brief imposition of martial law in December last year. The court said Cho Ji-ho “actively disrupted” legislative activities by deploying hundreds of police officers to the National Assembly and trying to block lawmakers from reaching the main chamber to vote to lift Yoon’s decree. Cho also infringed upon the independence of the National Election Commission by dispatching police to help the military’s seizure of two election commission offices, the court said. Yoon said the actions were intended to investigate unsubstantiated claims of election fraud.
Photo: AP
FINLAND
PM apologizes to Asians
Prime Minister Petteri Orpo on Wednesday apologized to Asian nations as he sought to contain a growing controversy over derogatory images posted by far-right members of parliament. Dubbed the “slanted eyes” scandal by media, the incident is the latest in a series of cases in which members of the Finns Party, a junior partner in the governing coalition, have been accused of posting or making racist remarks. “These posts do not reflect Finland’s values of equality and inclusion,” Orpo said in statements released by embassies in China, Japan and South Korea. “Our message in Finland and to all our friends abroad is that the government takes racism seriously and is committed to combating the issue,” he said. The controversy arose earlier this month when the Miss Finland title holder was pictured pulling back her eyes in her friend’s social media post captioned “eating with a Chinese person.”
UNITED STATES
Police hunt MIT suspect
Police on Wednesday intensified their search for a suspect in the killing of physics and nuclear science professor Nuno F.G. Loureiro at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), two days after he was shot to death at his home outside Boston. Loureiro, a 47-year-old physicist and fusion scientist, was shot on Monday night at his apartment in Brookline, Massachusetts. He died at a local hospital on Tuesday, the Norfolk District Attorney’s Office said in a statement. The prosecutor’s office said the homicide investigation was “active and ongoing” as of early afternoon Wednesday and had no update.
UNITED STATES
China sues Missouri
Missouri’s top prosecutor on Tuesday said China is suing after the state pressed federal officials for help collecting on an about US$25 billion court judgement related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway said in a statement that China is demanding a public apology from the state in a complaint filed in the Intermediate People’s Court of Wuhan. The Chinese government is also seeking compensation equivalent to US$50.5 billion plus legal fees and the right to claim further compensation. “This lawsuit is a stalling tactic and tells me that we have been on the right side of this issue all along,” Hanaway said. At issue is a lawsuit Missouri filed alleging that China hoarded personal protective equipment during the early months of the pandemic, harming the state and its residents. A federal judge ruled for Missouri earlier this year after China declined to participate in the trial. Last month, Missouri asked the Department of State to notify China that it intends to pursue assets with full or partial Chinese government ownership to satisfy the judgement.
Australians were downloading virtual private networks (VPNs) in droves, while one of the world’s largest porn distributors said it was blocking users from its platforms as the country yesterday rolled out sweeping online age restriction. Australia in December became the first country to impose a nationwide ban on teenagers using social media. A separate law now requires artificial intelligence (AI)-powered chatbot services to keep certain content — including pornography, extreme violence and self-harm and eating disorder material — from minors or face fines of up to A$49.5 million (US$34.6 million). The country also joined Britain, France and dozens of US states requiring
Hungarian authorities temporarily detained seven Ukrainian citizens and seized two armored cars carrying tens of millions of euros in cash across Hungary on suspicion of money laundering, officials said on Friday. The Ukrainians were released on Friday, following their detention on Thursday, but Hungarian officials held onto the cash, prompting Ukraine to accuse Hungary’s Russia-friendly government of illegally seizing the money. “We will not tolerate this state banditism,” Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrii Sybiha said. The seven detained Ukrainians were employees of the Ukrainian state-owned Oschadbank, who were traveling in the two armored cars that were carrying the money between Austria and
Kosovar President Vjosa Osmani on Friday after dissolving the Kosovar parliament said a snap election should be held as soon as possible to avoid another prolonged political crisis in the Balkan country at a time of global turmoil. Osmani said it is important for Kosovo to wrap up the upcoming election process and form functional institutions for political stability as the war rages in the Middle East. “Precisely because the geopolitical situation is that complex, it is important to finish this electoral process which is coming up,” she said. “It is very hard now to imagine what will happen next.” Kosovo, which declared
MORE BANS: Australia last year required sites to remove accounts held by under-16s, with a few countries pushing for similar action at an EU level and India considering its own ban Indonesia on Friday said it would ban social media access for children under 16, citing threats from online pornography, cyberbullying, online fraud and Internet addiction. “Accounts belonging to children under 16 on high-risk platforms will start to be deactivated, beginning with YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, Threads, X, Bigo Live and Roblox,” Indonesian Minister of Communications and Digital Meutya Hafid said. “The government is stepping in so that parents no longer have to fight alone against the giants of the algorithm. Implementation will begin on March 28, 2026,” she said. The social media ban would be introduced in stages “until all platforms fulfill their
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