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Newest first · UTC+11:00VOA60 America- Closing arguments made in Trump impeachment trial
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'I'm not a cat': Lawyer stuck with kitten filter in Zoom court hearing | South China Morning Post
A lawyer in Texas joined a virtual court hearing while trapped with a Zoom filter that made him appear as a kitten on February 10, 2021.
US Lawmakers to Juggle Economic Relief and Trump Impeachment Trial This Week
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Indonesian and Malaysian leaders urge Myanmar to resolve political differences through legal means | South China Morning Post
The Indonesian president and Malaysian prime minister have urged Myanmar’s leaders to resolve their political differences through legal means. Speaking during a meeting in Jakarta on February 5, 2021, President Joko Widodo and Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin also called for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations…
Myanmar’s military coup raises uncertainty over repatriation of Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh | South China Morning Post
Some Rohingya refugees now living in exile after fleeing violence in Myanmar have condemned the nation’s recent military coup. On February 1, 2021, the Myanmar army detained the country’s democratically elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi and several other senior figures from the ruling party. The coup has created uncer…
Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam says meeting with chief justice is ‘legitimate and proper’ | South China Morning Post
Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam defended her meeting with the city’s head of the judiciary after local media reported that she had a one-to-one meeting with Andrew Cheung. They met just days before Cheung’s first case as chief justice: a bail hearing for Hong Kong publisher and opposition activist Jimmy Lai Che…
China hopes Myanmar resolves differences under legal framework after Aung San Suu Kyi detained | South China Morning Post
Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said that Beijing hopes all parties in Myanmar can properly resolve differences under a legal framework. Wang was responding to the detention of Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi on February 1, 2021, by the country’s military, which has declared a one-year state of emerge…
Myanmar’s army declares state of emergency after leader Aung San Suu Kyi detained during raid | South China Morning Post
Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other senior figures from the ruling National League for Democracy (NLD) party have been detained in an apparent coup, the spokesman for the governing NLD said on February 1, 2021. The raids came after the country’s military called for an investigation into alleged voter fraud dur…
Hundreds rally in Polish capital Warsaw after near-total abortion ban is triggered by court ruling | South China Morning Post
Hundreds of demonstrators took to the streets of Warsaw on January 28, 2021, to protest against a Polish government move to start implementing an abortion ban based on a ruling by one of the country’s top courts. Poland's Constitutional Tribunal decided in October 2020, to ban all abortions except in cases of rape, …
Nepal’s political crisis deepens as Prime Minister Oli is ejected from ruling Communist Party | South China Morning Post
Nepal's Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli was thrown out of the Nepal Communist Party on January 25, 2021. The ruling party had been split over Oli’s abrupt decision on December 20 to dissolve parliament and call for early elections. Following the latest development in Nepal’s recent political crisis, dozens of protest…
Vietnam set to pick communist leadership as party congress kicks off | South China Morning Post
Vietnam’s ruling Communist Party is gathering to select the country’s leaders. The national congress, which kicked off in Hanoi on January 26, 2021, is the first since 2016. In nine days of meetings, nearly 1,600 delegates will pick a leadership team and shape policies for the next five years.
UK Foreign Minister Dominic Raab on Hong Kong activists and Xinjiang Uygurs | South China Morning Post
On January 17, 2021, Britain’s Foreign Minister Dominic Raab commented on the prosecution of Hong Kong pro-democracy activists and the persecution of Uygur Muslims in China’s Xinjiang. With regard to the hiring of British Queen’s Counsel David Perry by the Hong Kong government to prosecute a protest case against med…
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un vows to strengthen nuclear arsenal as party congress closes | South China Morning Post
North Korea’s party congress came to a close on January 12, 2021. The meeting, the first gathering of the ruling Workers’ Party since 2016, drew thousands of delegates at the April 25 House of Culture in the capital Pyongyang. During his closing remarks at the congress, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un vowed to stren…
Hong Kong based American lawyer John Clancey stays optimistic after national security law arrest | South China Morning Post
American lawyer John Clancey said he was “very surprised” when Hong Kong authorities arrested him under the city’s national security law on January 6, 2021. The Hong Kong-based human rights lawyer was arrested along with more than 50 former opposition lawmakers and activists who have been accused of a plot to “overt…
Kim Jong-un adds new title: general secretary of the ruling Workers’ Party | South China Morning Post
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un was named general secretary of the ruling Workers' Party, state media reported on January 11, 2021. It came during the country’s first ruling party congress since 2016 when Kim became the party’s chairman. His new title is considered a symbolic move to bolster his authority amid growi…
North Korea: Kim Jong-un admits failures in economic plan as he kicks off party congress | South China Morning Post
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un admitted the country’s five-year economic plan had “tremendously fallen short of its goals in almost every sector”, state media reported, as he launched the ruling Workers’ Party’s first party congress in five years and only the eighth one held since the founding of the country on Jan…
Mass arrests of Hong Kong opposition lawmakers, activists under national security law | South China Morning Post
Scores of former opposition lawmakers and activists were arrested by Hong Kong police in the early morning of January 6, 2021. They are accused of subversion under the city’s national security law in relation to their roles in a primary election run-off in July 2020. Police also served court orders to the offices of…
Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai in court as prosecutors appeal bail release | South China Morning Post
Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai appeared in court on December 31, 2020, as prosecutors asked the city’s highest court to send him back to detention after he was granted bail last week. Lai was charged with fraud, and collusion with foreign forces under the national security law. The pro-democracy activist’s court a…
Hong Kong activists condemn China punishment of fugitive Hongkongers | South China Morning Post
Opposition activists have expressed condemnation towards a Shenzhen court for its ruling over eight defendants for up to three years’ imprisonment on December 30, 2020. The defendants found guilty of illegal border crossing were given seven months, while the two organisers of the crime will stay behind bars for up t…
Ten Hong Kong fugitives captured at sea jailed for up to three years on Chinese mainland | South China Morning Post
Ten Hong Kong fugitives were sentenced to prison terms ranging from seven months to three years by a Shenzhen court on December 30, 2020. They were part of a group of 12 Hongkongers who were arrested at sea in August by mainland Chinese authorities. The 12, who face charges related to 2019 anti-government protests i…
Shona Celebrate Kenyan Citizenship as Decades of Closed Legal Doors Open
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Kim Jong-un to call ruling party meeting as North Korea faces worst economic crisis since 1990s | South China Morning Post
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is reportedly set to open a massive ruling Workers’ Party congress in January 2021. The meeting is expected to give him a chance to try and muster stronger public loyalty and lay out new economic and foreign policies amid the Covid-19 pandemic. North Korea has not officially confirmed…
Chinese citizen journalist Zhang Zhan sentenced to four years in jail for Wuhan coronavirus reports | South China Morning Post
Zhang Zhan, a former lawyer and a citizen journalist in China, was sentenced to four years in prison on December 28, 2020, for her reports out of Wuhan as the coronavirus outbreak unfurled early this year. A Shanghai court found her guilty of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble”. Reporters and supporters were bl…
Families decry denied access despite Shenzhen's claims Hong Kong fugitives had 'open trial' | South China Morning Post
A group of Hong Kong activists arrested by mainland Chinese authorities while trying to flee by sea to Taiwan in August reportedly pleaded guilty in a Shenzhen court on December 28, 2020. The court said the case was heard “in an open trial”.
China’s Sinovac Covid-19 vaccine proves more than 50 per cent effective in Brazil trials | South China Morning Post
The Covid-19 vaccine developed by China's Sinovac Biotech was found to be more than 50 per cent effective based on analysis of its phase-three trial conducted in São Paulo state, Brazil. The announcement, made by Brazilian trial partner Butantan Institute on December 23, 2020, marks a major step forward for the Chin…
Myanmar: Woman wins legal battle with Myanmar military after she was gang-raped by soldiers | South China Morning Post
Using a pseudonym to protect her identity, “Thein Nu” said she was gang-raped by three Myanmar military soldiers who burst into her home in northern Rakhine State in June 2020. Socially stigmatised and abandoned by her husband, the 36-year-old mother of four did not remain silent. She filed a legal complaint against…
Sick brown bears saved from notorious Pakistan zoo weeks after elephant rescue | South China Morning Post
A pair of sick and mistreated bears were removed from a troubled zoo in Pakistan’s capital Islamabad on December 16, 2020. The Himalayan brown bears were being prepared to be airlifted to an animal sanctuary in Jordan. A court recently ordered the Islamabad Zoo to close following years of campaigning by advocates in…
China’s Rebel City: The Hong Kong Protests | South China Morning Post
Hong Kong's biggest political crisis since its return to mainland China, starts with an ill-conceived plan by the government for an extradition law to allow the transfer of suspects for trial to Taiwan, Macau and mainland China. It sparks a massive public backlash, drawing millions of protesters onto the streets. By…
Hong Kong media mogul Jimmy Lai denied bail in fraud case and ordered to remain in jail | South China Morning Post
Hong Kong media mogul Jimmy Lai Chee-ying was denied bail on December 3, 2020, on a charge of fraud related to the lease of a building that houses the tabloid-style Apple Daily newspaper he founded. Lai and two senior executives of his company Next Digital, were charged on suspicion of defrauding a government-owned …
Chinese #MeToo pioneer takes prominent TV host to court over alleged sexual harassment | South China Morning Post
A court hearing of a sexual harassment case against a prominent Chinese male television host began in Beijing on December 2, 2020. Supporters call it a pioneering moment for the #MeToo movement in China. Zhou Xiaoxuan is suing media figure Zhu Jun for forcibly kissing her during her internship at state broadcaster C…
VOA60 World PM update- Hungary: The ruling party Fidesz held an emergency meeting Wednesday to discuss Szajer scandal
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Hong Kong activists Joshua Wong, Ivan Lam sentenced to prison | South China Morning Post
Hong Kong activists Joshua Wong and Ivan Lam, along with fellow opposition figure Agnes Chow, have been sentenced to prison for 13.5 months, 10 months, and seven months, respectively. The sentences were handed down on December 2, 2020, after the trio pleaded guilty to charges related to organising and inciting an un…
Treason Trial of Cambodian Opposition Supporters Gets Underway
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Pakistan’s first transgender lawyer dreams of becoming a judge | South China Morning Post
Nisha Rao is reportedly Pakistan’s first transgender lawyer. The 28-year-old ran away from her home and moved to Karachi when she was 18. She had to beg for a living but was determined to do better in life. After years of hard work, she earned a law degree and became a member of the Karachi Bar Association. Now she …
Vietnamese designer tries to bring country’s ancient outfits back into fashion | South China Morning Post
Instead of working on modern clothing styles, Vietnamese designer Nguyen Duc Loc has decided to take a step back in time and focus on his country’s ancient outfit designs. The 28-year-old has founded a company dedicated to reproducing attire from Vietnam’s Nguyen dynasty (1802-1945), a time when the ruling class wor…
Cambodia begins treason trial of 121 opposition figures | South China Morning Post
More than 120 opposition figures in Cambodia were put on trial for treason at Phnom Penh Municipal Court on November 26, 2020. The case has been widely condemned as a move by long-serving premier Hun Sen to undermine his political rivals.
South Korean leader of online sexual blackmail ring sentenced to 40 years in prison | South China Morning Post
A South Korean court has sentenced the leader of an online sexual blackmail ring to 40 years in prison. The court found 25-year-old Cho Ju-bin guilty of running online chat rooms on the encrypted messaging app Telegram, where at least 10,000 users paid up to US$1,200 to see sexual content featuring young girls. At l…
Hong Kong protests – China’s Rebel City: Part 4 – Protests Muzzled | South China Morning Post
The coronavirus pandemic brings a halt to most anti-government protests, and Beijing is determined not to allow a repeat of the past year’s chaos. It imposes a far-reaching national security law on Hong Kong, banning acts of subversion, secession, terrorism and colluding with foreign forces. The new legal regime is …
‘World’s loneliest elephant’ gets farewell party before leaving Pakistan for Cambodia | South China Morning Post
Known as the “world’s loneliest elephant”, Kaavan has bid farewell to Pakistan with a party at Islamabad Zoo in Pakistan on November 23, 2020. Pakistan’s only Asian elephant, Kaavan was overweight and suffering from mental illnesses while chained up in the zoo in the Pakistani capital. His plight sparked an internat…
Hong Kong activist Joshua Wong remanded in custody after guilty plea in 2019 illegal assembly case | South China Morning Post
Hong Kong opposition activist Joshua Wong has been remanded in custody after he pleaded guilty to charges of organising and inciting an unauthorised assembly near police headquarters on June 21, 2019. Wong’s long-time activist colleagues Agnes Chow and Ivan Lam, who pleaded guilty to similar charges, were also detai…
Hong Kong protests: Joshua Wong pleads guilty for role in 2019 police headquarters siege | South China Morning Post
Hong Kong opposition activists Joshua Wong Chi-fung and Ivan Lam Long -yin have pleaded guilty to charges of inciting people to join an unauthorised assembly near police headquarters on June 21, 2019. During the protest, thousands of mostly young demonstrators demanded the withdrawal of the now-shelved extradition b…
Beijing says ‘Five Eyes’ allies risk having ‘eyes poked out’ for meddling in Hong Kong affairs | South China Morning Post
Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian rebuked the United States and its “Five Eyes” allies over their condemnation of a Beijing ruling that led to the immediate ousting of Hong Kong opposition lawmakers, warning they risked “having their eyes poked out” for meddling in China’s internal affairs. The Five Eye…
Biden says Trump challenge to his election victory is ‘totally irresponsible’ | South China Morning Post
US President-elect Joe Biden said on November 19, 2020, that incumbent President Donald Trump's challenge of the election results was "irresponsible" and sent out “incredibly damaging messages” to the world about how democracy functions. Trump has launched legal challenges in multiple states and refused to concede, …