US-led coalition withdraws troops from Syria; Poland arrests Huawei employee
(Baonghean.vn) - Russia may use Ukrainian sailors to exchange prisoners; US-led coalition confirms start of withdrawal from Syria; Suicide UAV attacks military parade in Yemen; Poland arrests Chinese citizen on espionage charges;... are the world's outstanding news in the past 24 hours.
Russia may use Ukrainian sailors in prisoner exchange
|
A Ukrainian sailor (right) is escorted to the court in Simferopol city, Crimea, Russia today. Photo:Reuters |
Russia may return 24 Ukrainian navy sailors captured by Moscow in waters off Crimea under a prisoner swap deal with Kiev this year,Izvestiatoday citing senior Russian diplomatic sources.
The sailors are likely to be released before trial, as Ukraine is also holding several Russian citizens, the sources said. The sailors on the three Ukrainian warships seized by Russia consider themselves prisoners of war, but Russian prosecutors deny this, saying they are ordinary prisoners awaiting trial for criminal violations.
North and South Korea agree to carry out cross-border projects
|
Kaesong Industrial Complex seen from Paju, South Korea. Photo: AFP/TTXVN |
On January 11, at a meeting held at the joint liaison office in the North Korean border town of Kaesong, senior officials from both sides agreed to cooperate on cross-border projects. In addition, the two sides also discussed South Korea's recent delay in providing the antiviral drug Tamiflu to North Korea as promised.
Although no specific content of the discussion was provided, according to the South Korean Unification Ministry, Vice Minister Chun Hae-sung, head of the South Korean liaison office, chaired the meeting with Hwang Chung-song, deputy head of the joint liaison office on the Pyongyang side. In addition to the issue of providing medicine as promised by South Korea to North Korea, the meeting also discussed a proposal by South Korean businesses to visit Kaesong to inspect the facilities left by both sides after the industrial complex was abruptly closed in 2016 due to border tensions.
Suicide UAV attacks military parade in Yemen, 6 people dead
|
The moment a rebel drone exploded while attacking a military parade. Photo:SCMP. |
An explosive-laden unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) of Houthi rebels on January 10 carried out a suicide attack on a military parade of the Yemeni government army at Al-Anad air base in the port city of Aden, killing at least six soldiers and injuring many others, according to...AP.
A reporter attending the parade said he saw the UAV appear a few minutes after the parade began and hover at an altitude of 25 meters, then explode while a Yemeni military official was speaking. The Houthis immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, claiming they had killed "dozens of invaders and mercenaries at the base in Lahj province".
US-led coalition confirms start of withdrawal from Syria
|
A US military convoy in Yalanli village, on the western outskirts of Manbij city, northern Syria on December 30, 2018. Photo: AFP/TTXVN |
On January 11, the spokesman for the US-led international coalition in Syria, Colonel Sean Ryan, announced that the coalition had begun withdrawing troops from this Middle Eastern country. Colonel Ryan's announcement said that CJTF-OIR (the US-led force fighting Islamic jihadists) had begun the process of withdrawing troops from Syria. However, the spokesman made it clear that he did not specify the time and location of the withdrawal to ensure security.
Meanwhile, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said the coalition has begun to gradually reduce its presence at the Rmeilan military base in Hasakeh province, northeastern Syria. The SOHR representative assessed that this was the first withdrawal of US forces since last month when President Donald Trump announced a complete withdrawal from Syria.
More than 60% of Ukrainians believe the country is on the wrong track
 |
| Panorama of a session of the Ukrainian Parliament in the capital Kiev. Photo: AFP/TTXVN |
According to Sputniknews, the results of a survey published by the Institute of Research and Forecasting of Ukraine on January 11 said that 62% of Ukrainians believe that the country is on the wrong path. The survey added that only 28% of respondents believe that Ukraine is on the right path, and 10% of respondents did not give a clear answer.
The survey was conducted among 2,016 people across Ukraine between December 26, 2018 and January 4. According to the World Bank's latest forecast, GDP growth in Ukraine will fall to 2.9%, a sharp decline from the 3.5% forecast the organization made last October.
Poland arrests Chinese citizen on espionage charges
 |
| Photo for illustration purposes only. Source: AP |
According to Reuters, the Polish state news agency PAP reported on January 11 that the country's national security agency arrested a Chinese citizen and a Polish citizen on charges of espionage. Meanwhile, TVP television channel said the arrested Chinese citizen was an employee of the Huawei telecommunications group.
PAP quoted a representative of the Polish national security agency as saying: "The Chinese citizen is a businessman working for a large-scale electronics company... The Polish citizen is a person in the network business sector."