ASIA

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Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un signed a friendship treaty in Pyongyang, pledging closer cooperation and resistance to Western pressure. Both leaders, who are prominent supporters of Russia's war in Ukraine, exchanged symbolic gifts during the visit. Lukashenko presented Kim with an automatic rifle, jokingly suggesting its use "just in case the enemies appear," while Kim gave the Belarusian leader a sword and a vase with a portrait of the Belarusian president.

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Indonesia announces it will ban social media and other popular online platforms for children under the age of 16 to protect them from online abuse. Communications and Digital Affairs Minister Meutya Hafid announced that accounts for minors on "high risk" platforms will be deactivated starting March 28. This move makes Indonesia the latest country to implement strict age-based digital restrictions.

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Sri Lanka has announced an unusual but significant step to deal with growing fuel concerns by declaring every Wednesday a holiday for public institutions. The move comes as the country faces potential shortages linked to global oil supply disruptions following the ongoing conflict involving the United States, Israel, and Iran. The situation has placed pressure on energy supplies across Asia, a region heavily dependent on imported oil.

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India and Canada have signed a 10-year nuclear energy deal and several other agreements following a meeting between Prime Ministers Narendra Modi and Mark Carney in Delhi. The pacts cover technology, defense, and critical minerals, aimed at repairing a relationship strained by recent diplomatic tensions. The leaders also pledged to finalize a long-awaited free trade agreement by the end of 2026 to mitigate the impact of punitive US trade tariffs.

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India’s Supreme Court has rejected a petition to mandate menstrual leave for students and working women. A two-judge bench, led by Chief Justice Surya Kant, argued that such a law would discourage employers from hiring women and hinder their professional growth. The court stated that mandatory leave could lead to the perception that women are "not at par" with their male colleagues.

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South Korea has recorded its second consecutive annual rise in births, offering a rare moment of relief for a country long defined by its deepening demographic crisis. In 2025, 254,500 babies were born, marking the largest annual increase in 15 years. While the numbers remain low by historical standards, the 6.8 percent increase signals a notable shift after years of steady decline.

The country’s fertility rate, which measures the average number of children a woman is expected to have over her lifetime, rose to 0.80 in 2025, up from 0.75 the previous year. It is the first time since 2021 that the rate has returned to the 0.8 range. Even so, South Korea remains the only OECD country with a fertility rate below 1.0, far beneath the 2.1 level typically considered necessary to maintain a stable population without immigration.

Despite the uptick in births, the broader demographic picture remains challenging. Deaths continued to outnumber births by 108,900 in 2025, meaning the overall population is still shrinking. The recent improvement does not yet reverse the long term trend of population decline, but it does suggest that certain demographic forces are temporarily working in the country’s favor.

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North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and his teenage daughter inspected a light munitions factory on Wednesday, where they were photographed test-firing pistols. State media reported that Kim reviewed a newly produced pistol model as part of a broader initiative to modernize the country’s conventional military forces. This visit follows years of the regime focusing primarily on its nuclear weapons program.

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Kim Jong Un has been re-elected as the general secretary of North Korea’s ruling Workers’ Party. According to state media, the formal appointment took place Sunday at a party congress in the capital. The move further solidifies the Kim family's decades-long rule, which began nearly 80 years ago.