Briefly

GREECE

Extreme-right leaders jailed for 13 years

A Greek court sentenced the leadership of the extreme-right Golden Dawn party to 13 years in prison on Wednesday, imposing the near-maximum penalty for running a criminal organization blamed for numerous violent hate crimes. Presiding judge Maria Lepenioti read out the 13-year sentences against party leader Nikos Michaloliakos and five other former lawmakers. A seventh leading party member received 10 years. Golden Dawn, an organization founded as a neo-Nazi group in the 1980s that rose to become Greece's third-largest political party during most of the country's 2010-18 financial crisis, was blamed for orchestrating multiple attacks, mostly in Athens, against immigrants and left-wing activists, many resulting in serious injury.

YEMEN

Warring sides start to swap 1,081 prisoners

The warring sides in Yemen's long conflict had started to exchange 1,081 prisoners, under a deal struck in Switzerland last month, a senior rebel official said on Thursday. Yemen's government, which is supported by a Saudi-led military coalition, and Houthi rebels resolved to swap nearly 15,000 detainees as part of a peace deal brokered by the United Nations in Stockholm back in 2018. The two sides have since undertaken sporadic prisoner exchanges, but this week's planned swap would mark the first large-scale handover since the war erupted in 2014. UN envoy Martin Griffiths hailed it as a "very important milestone" when the agreement was struck after a week of talks in Switzerland last month.

THAILAND

Emergency declared in Bangkok after protest

Thai authorities declared a state of emergency for the capital on Thursday, a day after a protest against the country's traditional establishment saw an extraordinary moment in which demonstrators heckled a royal motorcade. The government ordered a ban on gatherings of five or more people in Bangkok, an official document said. After the predawn declaration, riot police moved in to clear out demonstrators who after a day of rallies and confrontation had gathered outside Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha's office to push their demands, which include the former general's stepping down, constitutional changes and reform of the monarchy.

Agencies - Xinhua