According to Reuters and Agence France Presse, on February 18th, former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra was released on parole. On that day, at the age of 74, Thaksin Shinawatra left the hospital with his daughter Bedongdan and returned to a family mansion located in Bangkok.

It is understood that,Six months ago, Thaksin Shinawatra ended his 15 year exile and officially returned to Thailand, where he was sentenced to eight years in prison on the same day. One month later, Thaksin was granted amnesty by the Thai king and his sentence was reduced from eight years to one year. On the first day of imprisonment, Thaksin was transferred to the hospital on undisclosed health grounds and did not stay in prison for a night. As the authorities did not allow outsiders to visit, it sparked speculation in Thai politics about whether Thaksin was actually in the hospital.

Thai legal experts point out that according to Thai law, a person with a one-year sentence has the opportunity to receive parole after serving six months of imprisonment. He believes that after being released, he can serve the remaining sentence at home or anywhere designated by the authorities, and the Correctional Services Department will send officials to inspect from time to time.

Islamabad News: Recently, Pakistan's largest political party, the Muslim League, announced a new government led by former Prime Minister Shabaz Sharif, with the promised support of the second largest party, the People's Party. At present, the alliance is actively wooing the People's Party to form a coalition government to stabilize the political situation. 72 year old Shabaz Sharif is the leader of the Muslim League. He was elected as the Prime Minister of Pakistan in April 2022 and stepped down in August last year.

It is reported that although the Pakistan Muslim League announced this monthIn the general election on the 8th, he won 75 out of 265 seats in Congress, becoming the big winner. However, due to holding only half of the seats, he was unable to govern alone, resulting in a vacant Congress. The Muslim League and the People's Party, which won 54 seats, are in talks to form a coalition government, but the two sides are unable to reach an agreement on the choice of prime minister. In the end, the People's Party made concessions and agreed to support Shabaz as the Prime Minister of Pakistan, but had no intention of joining the new government.

Analysts point out that Pakistan needs a stable and politically authoritative government to make difficult decisions to lift the country out of the economic crisis. Currently, the country's economic growth is sluggish, with inflation rates as high as28%.

military affairs

01United Nations establishes an independent team to review the Near East Relief and Works Agency

Reuters reported that recently, UN Secretary General Guterres announced the establishment of an independent group to review the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, which is responsible for assisting Palestinian refugees. 12 employees of this organization have been accused by Israel of being involved in the terrorist attack launched by Hamas against Israel on October 7th last year. The United Nations statement stated that the review team will be led by former French Foreign Minister Cologne, who will collaborate with three European research organizations to evaluate whether the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East has done its best to ensure neutrality and respond to allegations of serious violations.

It is understood that countries such as the United States, Germany, the United Kingdom, Sweden, etcMore than 10 countries have suspended funding for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, warning that if funding is not restored, rescue operations in the Gaza Strip and the entire Middle East region will no longer be possible after the end of February. On this occasion, Spain announced that it will provide an additional assistance of 3.5 million euros to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, so that the agency can continue to operate in the short term. It is reported that Spain is one of the European countries strongly criticizing Israel's attack on the Gaza Strip.

According to North Korean Central News Agency, the North Korean Academy of Defense Sciences has successfully developed controllable rocket shells and ballistic control systems, and has carried outBallistic control test firing of 240mm controllable rocket shells. This is the first time North Korea has publicly tested a 240mm controllable rocket launcher. If this news is true, the range of North Korea's 240mm caliber rocket launcher has been extended, and the accuracy has also been greatly improved.

South Korea says its military has detected North Korea's test launchEvidence of a 240mm caliber multiple rocket launcher, North Korea launched a rocket near Nampo in Pyongan namdo and crashed into the western waters after flying dozens of kilometers. This means that North Korea has improved the performance of its 240mm caliber multiple rocket launcher, which is one of its main weapons aimed at the capital areas such as Seoul, South Korea.

In the past few weeks, North Korea has conducted multiple missile tests, and the relationship between North Korea and Russia has become increasingly close. South Korea and its allies have criticized North Korea's series of actions for exacerbating tensions on the Korean Peninsula, while North Korea has accused the United States and South Korea of escalating tensions through large-scale military exercises.

01Southeast Asian ride hailing platform giants restart merger negotiations

Bloomberg News: Recently, it was reported that Grab Holdings, the largest ride hailing platform in Southeast Asia, and GoTo Group have restarted merger negotiations. If the negotiations are successful, this will be the largest merger in the field of ride hailing platforms in Southeast Asia. It is reported that Grab Holdings and GoTo Group have had intermittent merger negotiations in the past, but they have not been successful. The main differences arise in the post merger control and how to manage key markets such as Indonesia.

According to sources familiar with the situation, the two companies are in preliminary discussions on various plans, and one potential solution isGrab collects in cash, stocks, or a combination of bothBuy GoTo. Another potential solution is to spin off their respective major markets, with Grab gaining control of the Singapore headquarters and other markets, while GoTo retains control of the Indonesian market. Authoritative economic experts say that this highly anticipated transaction may face strict regulatory scrutiny to avoid monopoly issues after the merger of these two industry giants.