THAILAND:  A court in Thailand today convicted and sentenced a recently elected politician to six years in prison under a controversial 1908 law which criminalises insulting the monarchy.

Rukchanok Srinork was charged over two posts she allegedly shared two years ago on the X social media platform.

One reportedly defamed the monarchy over links to a coronavirus vaccine and she is said to have retweeted an anti-monarchy quote by 18th-century French philosopher Denis Diderot.

PAKISTAN: The suicide bomber who rammed his car into a police station's main gate in Pakistan's north-west used around 264 pounds of explosives, authorities said today. 

The attack on Tuesday killed 23 officers and wounded 32 others.

The militant Tehreek-e-Jihad Pakistan group claimed responsibility for the attack.

MYANMAR:  Myanmar’s military government has arrested two journalists working for a regional online news service, their editor said today, in its latest crackdown on media freedom since seizing power nearly three years ago.

The chief editor of Dawei Watch, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals from authorities, said Aung San Oo and Myo Myint Oo were arrested late Monday at their homes in the coastal town of Myeik, about 350 miles south of Yangon, the country’s biggest city.

BULGARIA: Authorities began dismantling a monument to the army of the Soviet Union today that had dominated the skyline of the capital, Sofia, for nearly 70 years.

The monument was erected in 1954 to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the Red Army entering Bulgaria, which had been allied with Nazi Germany in World War II.