EUROPE
Refugee numbers stabilize
Europe’s refugee and asylum-seeker population stabilized last year after more than a decade of growth, as asylum applications fell for a second consecutive year, a report by the Centre for the Research and Analysis of Migration at the Rockwool Foundation Berlin seen by Reuters yesterday. The number of refugees and asylum seekers in the EU and Britain stood at 9.59 million last year, little changed from 9.58 million a year earlier, marking a sharp shift from the rapid increases seen after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Asylum applications fell to 770,000 last year from 1.01 million in 2024 and 1.1 million in 2023, it said. The stable overall figure masked differences between countries: Germany, Europe’s largest host country, recorded a 4.7 percent decline in its refugee and asylum-seeker population and Italy saw a 17.9 percent drop, while France, Spain and Britain recorded increases.
THAILAND
Man jailed over royal insult
The Criminal Court has sentenced a man to 18 months in prison for royal defamation over a comment posted in a Facebook group discussing the monarchy, a rights group said yesterday. The nation’s strict lese-majeste law shields the royal family from criticism, with penalties of up to 15 years in prison for each offense. The 43-year-old man was convicted over a comment he posted in the private Facebook group “Royalist Marketplace,” which was founded by exiled royal critic and academic Pavin Chachavalpongpun as a forum for discussing the monarchy. “The court initially sentenced him to three years, but because he confessed, the sentence was reduced by half,” said Noppol Achamas, information officer at the Thai Lawyers for Human Rights. The man, whose name was withheld to protect his privacy, was granted bail of 100,000 baht (US$3,046) while awaiting an appeal, Noppol said.
MALAYSIA
‘Hyperparasite’ discovered
Malaysian scientists have discovered a new species of parasitic fungus in Borneo’s jungles that preys on a “zombie fungus” that is known to infect insects before subjecting them to a gruesome death. The new species was collected during multiple field trips conducted by the University of Malaysia Sabah’s Institute for Tropical Biology and Conservation. It was dubbed a “hyperparasite” because it “effectively parasitizes the primary pathogen,” institute deputy director Jaya Seelan Sathiya Seelan said yesterday. “The fungus belongs to the genus Pleurocordyceps and acts as a specialised hyperparasite,” Seelan said. The new species targets ants already infected by Ophiocordyceps, or “zombie fungus,” which manipulates the infected insect’s nervous system and makes it behave erratically before killing it and bursting from its carcass.
JAPAN
School fire injures 10
A fire that broke out at an elementary school in Tokyo yesterday injured about 10 people, including children, media reports said. Thick black smoke billowed from a top-floor window after the blaze reportedly started in a music room at Takinogawa Dai-san School in the Kita area. All pupils and staff were evacuated safely and the blaze was extinguished after about three hours, with 75 fire engines and dozens of firefighters at the scene. Most of the 10 injured suffered from smoke inhalation, Kyodo News reported, adding that four people had to be rescued from inside the school building.
Voters in Switzerland yesterday cast their ballots on an initiative championed by the top right-wing party to cap the Alpine country’s population at 10 million. As of press time last night, early results showed that Swiss voters were leaning against it. The populist Swiss People’s Party, which has the most seats in parliament, has stirred up and fostered anti-migration sentiment over the years, notably about an influx of workers from the neighboring EU. Critics called the bid a self-inflicted wound, saying the boom in migration over the past generation has brought foreign labor and skills to sectors such as healthcare, finance, pharmaceuticals
YUCK OR YUM? While it is difficult to sell second-hand goods that are more than seven years old in Japan, they are still popular in foreign markets, an executive said Under a scorching sun in a Bangkok suburb, a whistle blew, and shouts filled the air as dozens of shoppers rushed into a warehouse bearing the sign “Japanese Second-Hand Store.” From bags and bicycles to surfboards and suitcases, the Japanese second-hand market is booming, with quality-conscious buyers in other Asian countries increasingly tapping into the circular economy trend. “What is considered garbage for them can still be useful in Thailand,” said 36-year-old Lookpoo Sathitpanyapon, who runs an online store selling toy keychains. “That bag, that bag,” one shopper shouted while racing through the warehouse, filled with everything from colorful toys
FOREIGN POLICY-FOCUSED: Academic Min Zin founded ISP Myanmar, which writes about China-Myanmar trade and is involved in exchanges with Chinese think tanks A US academic who writes about Myanmar and Chinese foreign policy was arrested by authorities in China on suspicion of spying, China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Friday. The academic, Min Zin, was suspected of “engaging in espionage activities that endanger China’s national security,” ministry spokesman Lin Jian (林劍) said. It is uncommon for Beijing to arrest a US citizen on national security allegations. The case comes just a month after US President Donald Trump met with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) in Beijing as the two countries aim to reset a tumultuous relationship. A Burmese activist who knows Min Zin said
Growing up in Tahiti, Anna-Bella Failloux saw first-hand the threat posed by mosquitoes: Nearly one-third of adults on the picturesque island once had swollen limbs from elephantiasis caused by their bites. She has since dedicated her life to studying mosquitoes and the diseases they transmit — a concern that looms ever larger as climate change expands the area where the insects roam. “You have to accept being bitten by a mosquito from time to time,” the 63-year-old entomologist at France’s Pasteur Institute said. “But we have to avoid too many people getting sick and dying from the infections,” Failloux said, as she observed
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