August 24, Thursday, 2023

1. Tokyo Electric Power Company said it has started discharging treated and diluted water from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. The first round of the release will happen over 17 days. The full process could take at least 30 years to complete. 2. A US think tank says the leader of the Wagner mercenary group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, was likely assassinated at the order of Russian President Vladimir Putin. The Institute for the Study of War noted that the Kremlin and the Russian defense ministry had been destroying the Wagner group and weakening Prigozhin’s authority since the armed rebellion in June. 3. Thailand’s new Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin took office on Wednesday, leading a coalition that includes pro-military parties with which his party had long been at odds. The Pheu Thai Party’s Srettha was endorsed by the king on Wednesday, one day after being chosen as prime minister in a parliamentary vote.