Belarusian Leader Pardons 23 People Jailed for 'Extremism'

In this photo released by Belarus' Presidential Press Service, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, second right, visits the Minsk City Technopark in Minsk, Belarus, Thursday, Jan. 16, 2025. (Belarus' Presidential Press Service via AP)
In this photo released by Belarus' Presidential Press Service, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, second right, visits the Minsk City Technopark in Minsk, Belarus, Thursday, Jan. 16, 2025. (Belarus' Presidential Press Service via AP)
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Belarusian Leader Pardons 23 People Jailed for 'Extremism'

In this photo released by Belarus' Presidential Press Service, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, second right, visits the Minsk City Technopark in Minsk, Belarus, Thursday, Jan. 16, 2025. (Belarus' Presidential Press Service via AP)
In this photo released by Belarus' Presidential Press Service, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, second right, visits the Minsk City Technopark in Minsk, Belarus, Thursday, Jan. 16, 2025. (Belarus' Presidential Press Service via AP)

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has pardoned 23 people who were convicted of extremism, state media reported on Saturday.
State news agency Belta said three women and 20 men had been pardoned, among them 13 were older than 50, 14 had chronic diseases, 12 had children. According to Reuters, it did not give any of their names.
"All of them applied for pardon, admitted their guilt, and repented of what they had done," Belta reported.



North Korea Condemns Trump’s Gaza Takeover Proposal as ‘Bluster’ 

Palestinian youth watch the sunset from their destroyed house in the Jabalia camp, north of Gaza City, 11 February 2025. (EPA)
Palestinian youth watch the sunset from their destroyed house in the Jabalia camp, north of Gaza City, 11 February 2025. (EPA)
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North Korea Condemns Trump’s Gaza Takeover Proposal as ‘Bluster’ 

Palestinian youth watch the sunset from their destroyed house in the Jabalia camp, north of Gaza City, 11 February 2025. (EPA)
Palestinian youth watch the sunset from their destroyed house in the Jabalia camp, north of Gaza City, 11 February 2025. (EPA)

North Korean state media on Wednesday denounced US President Donald Trump's proposal to take over Gaza and relocate Palestinians as bluster and accused Washington of robbery.

The slim hopes of Palestinians for safety and peace are being crushed by the proposal, a commentary carried by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said, without directly naming Trump.

"The world is now boiling like a porridge pot over the US' bombshell declaration," KCNA said.

The commentary is aimed at Trump's shock announcement that the US intends to remove Gaza residents and transform the war-ravaged territory into what the president billed as a "Riviera of the Middle East".

The KCNA commentary also criticized the Trump administration over its calls to take over the Panama Canal and Greenland, and its decision to change the name of the "Gulf of Mexico" to the "Gulf of America".

"The US should awaken from its anachronistic daydream and stop at once the act of encroaching upon the dignity and sovereignty of other countries and nations," the KCNA report said, while calling the US a "ferocious robber."

Trump held unprecedented summits with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un during his first term and has touted their personal rapport.

The US president recently said he would reach out to Kim again, though so far Pyongyang's state media has barely commented on Trump's second term while continuing to lash out at what it views as the grave security threat posed by Washington and its allies.

North Korea, which often argues against Western views on international issues, has been outspoken about the situation in Gaza, blaming Israel for the bloodshed and calling the United States an "accomplice."