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World in brief: May 31, 2023

MYANMAR: Former United Nations secretary-general Ban Ki Moon said today that after communicating with authorities in military-run Myanmar as well as members of the armed resistance he was calling for more diplomatic pressure on the ruling generals to end the violence.

Mr Ban did not specify the nature of those communications and declined to disclose the details of his conversations with military leaders during meetings with the regime in April. 

GERMANY: The German government said today that it has told Russia to close four out of its five consulates in Germany in a tit-for-tat move after Moscow set a limit for the number of staff at the German embassy and related bodies in Russia.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Christofer Burger told reporters in Berlin that the measure was intended to create a “parity of personnel and structures” between the two countries.

POLAND: The Auschwitz-Birkenau memorial museum has denounced a political spot by Poland’s ruling party that uses the theme of the Nazi German extermination camp to discourage participation in an upcoming anti-government march.

The state-run museum attacked “instrumentalisation of the tragedy” of the 1.1 million people who were murdered at the site during World War II, arguing that it is an insult to their memory.

CHINA: Beijing responded today to complaints from the United States about a Chinese fighter jet’s dangerous interception of an US Air Force reconnaissance aircraft over the South China Sea by demanding an end to such flights.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said China would keep taking measures it deems necessary to safeguard its sovereignty.

“The US should immediately stop these dangerous provocations,” Ms Mao said.

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