Briefly

SOUTH KOREA

Most people worried about toxic water

A majority of South Koreans are worried about Japan's discharge of nuclear-contaminated water from the Fukushima nuclear plant into the sea, a poll published on Friday showed. More than 7 in 10 respondents said they were concerned about the impact on seafood and 60 percent said they were reluctant to eat seafood, according to Gallup Korea. President Yoon Suk-yeol's disapproval rating has risen to 59 percent, the highest in 16 weeks, the poll of 1,002 people showed. Support for the ruling conservative People Power Party stood unchanged at 34 percent this week compared to the previous week.

THAILAND

Prison term of ex-PM reduced to 1 year

Thailand's king on Friday reduced the prison term of former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra from eight years to one year following the divisive politician's return from 15 years of self-imposed exile. The decision by King Maha Vajiralongkorn was published on Friday in the Royal Gazette, making it effective immediately. Thaksin was prime minister from 2001 to 2006, when he was ousted by a military coup. He fled Thailand in 2008 when he faced prison time on charges he described as politically motivated.

UNITED STATES

Militia leaders handed hefty sentences

A federal judge on Thursday sentenced former Proud Boys militia leaders Joseph Biggs to 17 years in prison and his co-defendant Zachary Rehl to 15 years, after a jury convicted them of seditious conspiracy for storming the US Capitol in a failed bid to overturn Donald Trump's 2020 election defeat. More than 1,100 people have been charged by the Justice Department in the Capitol attack. On the same day, the former president pleaded not guilty to a Georgia criminal indictment accusing him of trying to overturn his 2020 election defeat and asked to be tried separately from some of his 18 co-defendants.

FRANCE

Paris begins campaign to kill tiger mosquitoes

Health authorities in Paris fumigated the city for the first time on Thursday to kill disease-carrying tiger mosquitoes, with its rapid advance through northern Europe thought to have been accelerated by climate change. Roads were closed and people were asked to stay in their homes in southeastern Paris during the early hours of Thursday as pest control contractors sprayed insecticide on trees, green spaces and other mosquito-breeding areas. Such scenes are a regular occurrence in tropical cities and becoming increasingly common in Europe.

Agencies - Xinhua