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Two years after becoming one of the first nations in Asia to decriminalise the recreational use of cannabis, Thailand is now planning a U-turn. Taking to his social media handle, Prime Minister Thavisin said, Thailand will re-list marijuana as a narcotic by the end of the year. He has also said the ministry should allow its use only for health and medical purposes. Thailand PM wrote on X, “The drug problem is a national agenda that all agencies must work together to solve seriously so that drugs can be eradicated and within 90 days the results must be clearly seen.”
It was a night to celebrate for the right-wing opposition party in North Macedonia that won big in both the parliamentary and presidential elections. The nation has also voted in its first female President, who is a university professor and her candidature was backed by the Opposition party. Leader of the opposition VMRO-DPMNE party, Hristijan Mickoski heads a 22-party coalition called ‘Your Macedonia’. During the campaign, he accused the SDSM, which was in power of ineptitude and making humiliating compromises in trying to settle disputes with North Macedonia’s neighbours. From 2005, North Macedonia has been in line for EU membership but was blocked by disputes with Greece and Bulgaria.
Frank Bainimarama, Fiji’s former long-serving prime minister, was sentenced to one year in prison for perverting the course of justice. Last month, he was spared jail time initially, but an appeal by the country’s director for public prosecutions led to the reversal. A former military chief, Bainimarama seized power in a coup in 2006 and subsequently won democratic elections in 2014 and 2018. Court documents show that he was found guilty by the High Court this month of attempting to obstruct justice during his tenure as prime minister by instructing a senior police official to stay away from an investigation into the University of South Pacific.
President Biden has said the US will stop supplying some weapons to Israel if it goes ahead with its planned ground offensive in Rafah in Gaza. Israel took control of the Rafah border on the Gaza side two days ago and all entry of aid into Gaza from the southern side of the Strip has stopped. When he was asked in the CNN interview if Israel had crossed a red line, Biden’s reply was, “Not yet.” The US has already delayed a shipment of weapons to Israel. Even though Israel’s ambassador to the UN expressed disappointment at Biden’s comments, other Israeli leaders have said whatever the differences between the two allies will be resolved behind closed doors. Meanwhile, Hamas has said it will make no more concessions to Israel in ceasefire negotiations.
A dozen energy facilities in Ukraine were hit by Russian missiles and drones. The impact was felt immediately across many regions in Ukraine where there were blackouts. The Kremlin said this was in response to Kyiv’s strikes on its energy facilities. The Russian defence ministry has said in a statement that it has taken control of a village in Kharkiv and another one in the Donetsk region of Ukraine. Ukraine Parliament has now passed a law where convicted prisoners can be called on to fight the Ukraine-Russia war. Kyiv has also claimed that it has arrested Russian agents who were planning to assassinate President Zelenskyy. The Kremlin has offered no comment on the allegation.
