The Economic Intelligence Unit’s report on Democracy Index is based on five categories: electoral process and pluralism; civil liberties; the functioning of government; political participation; and politicalculture. On the basis of these indicators it ranks countries on a scale of 10 and classifies them on the basis of their score as ‘full democracy’, ‘flawed democracy’, ‘hybrid regime’ and ‘authoritarian regime’.

While many Asian countries figure in the list of 166 countries, yet none of these countries according to the report has ‘full democracy’.  In Asia South Korea figures at the top. The country is ranked 20th, a jump from 24th position in 2016.  The improvement in score is attributed to a popular movement which led to the impeachment of the then president, Park Geun-hye, who was found guilty of embezzlement.

Japan is ranked second in Asia but 23 globally.  India is ranked third in Asia and 42 globally. The country saw a steep dip in its ranking from 32nd to 42nd place. The decline in the ranking is owed to the rising right wing force and attack on minorities and dissenting voices.

Philippines is ranked fourth in Asia and 51 globally. According to the report the declaration of martial law in the southern part of the country and Rodrigo Duterte’s continuous infringement of the democratic values has adversely affected the country’s democratic culture. Malaysia is ranked fifth in Asia and 59 globally followed by Mongolia and Sri Lanka globally ranked 60 and 62 respectively.

Indonesia has fallen from 48th position to 68thposition mostly due to stringent blasphemy laws that have been used to curb the freedom of expression regularly.  It is followed by Singapore which is ranked 69 globall. Nepal and Bhutan are ranked 94 and 99 respectively. Thailand is ranked 107 globally

Blasphemy laws in Pakistan and media censorship has created hindrances in the functioning of democracy. The country is ranked 110 followed by Myanmar and Cambodia.

Censorship of social media in China and the consolidation of power by Chinese leader has resulted in a stifling regime in the country. Journalists are constinously locked up and freedom of speech is not granted. According to the report the country is classified as authoritarian followed by Vietnam and Laos ranked 140 and 151 respectively.

His morning tweet came in the middle of UN climate talks in Poland, where nearly 200 nations have gathered to agree on a universal rulebook to make good on the promises they signed up to in the 2015 Paris climate deal.

“The Paris Agreement isn’t working out so well for Paris. Protests and riots all over France,” Trump said.

“People do not want to pay large sums of money, much to third world countries (that are questionably run), in order to maybe protect the environment.”

Saturday’s comment was not the first time Trump had used the Paris “yellow vest” protests — which began on November 17 with road blockades against fuel prices but have since ballooned into a mass movement against French President Emmanuel Macron — to slam the climate deal.

On Tuesday, he called the Paris agreement “fatally flawed.”

Trump has long said he distrusts the consensus by nearly all the world’s respected climate scientists on the link between human activity and rising temperatures, as well as other damaging climate change phenomena.

Since becoming president in January 2017, he has pulled the United States out of the international Paris Agreement on attempting to bring down global temperatures, and torn up a raft of environmental protection laws, saying the US economy needs the boost.

Late last month, Trump’s own government issued a dire report warning of massive economic losses if carbon emissions continue to feed climate change unchecked, but the US leader said he didn’t believe the findings.

Addressing parliament speakers from Afghanistan, China, Pakistan, Russia and Turkey, Rouhani said they had all suffered economic pressure from the US.

“We are facing an all-out assault which is not only threatening our independence and identity but also is bent on breaking our longstanding ties,” he said.

Washington has reimposed an oil embargo and other damaging sanctions on Iran since withdrawing in May from a landmark 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and major powers.

“America’s unjust and illegal sanctions against the honourable nation of Iran have targeted our nation in a clear instance of terrorism,” Rouhani said.

“Economic terrorism is designed to create panic in the economy of a country and fear in other countries in order to prevent investment.”

The conference in Tehran was a second annual meeting of parliament speakers focused on terrorism and regional cooperation. The first was held last December in Islamabad.

Most participating countries have faced harsh sanctions and other economic pressure as part of the Trump administration’s use of trade as a diplomatic weapon.

A brief truce in Trump’s trade war with China was again in doubt this week after the arrest of Chinese telecom giant Huawei’s chief financial officer, who was detained in Canada to face fraud charges in the US.

Washington has continued to pile fresh sanctions on Russia that began over its military intervention in Ukraine, while Turkey also faced penalties this year over the detention of an American pastor.

– ‘We are all punished’ –

Trump has also cancelled hundreds of millions of dollars in aid to Pakistan, accusing it of failing to crack down on militancy.

“When they put pressure on China’s trade, we are all harmed… By punishing Turkey, we are all punished. Any time they threaten Russia, we too consider our security to be endangered,” Rouhani said.

“When they impose sanctions on Iran, they deprive all of us of the benefits of international trade, energy security and sustainable development. And in fact, they impose sanctions on everyone.

“We are here to say that we don’t intend to tolerate such insolence.”

Rouhani warned Europe — which has strongly objected to the US withdrawal from the nuclear deal — that much is at stake in its efforts to bypass US sanctions and maintain trade with Iran.

“They should know that by sanctioning Iran, they would harm our ability to fight drugs and terrorism,” Rouhani said, referring to Iran’s efforts to combat smuggling, particularly from Afghanistan.

The European Union is working on a payment system, known as the “special purpose vehicle”, to keep money flowing into Iran, but has struggled to find a host since many countries fear repercussions from the Trump administration.

Clad in their luminous road safety jackets, dozens of demonstrators — who accuse President Emmanuel Macron of only looking out for the rich — gathered at dawn on the Champs-Elysees, the scene last Saturday of the worst rioting in Paris for decades.

“We had to come to Paris to be heard,” said protester Herve Benoit, arriving with three friends from the Dordogne in western France.

He called on the government to boost people’s spending power and increase taxes on the wealthiest.

By 8.40 am (0740 GMT) police had already detained 278 people.

Some 8,000 police were deployed, carrying out checks on people arriving at train stations and at protest hotspots such as the Champs-Elysees and Bastille monument.

A source close to the operation told AFP that at least 34 people were arrested for carrying masks, hammers, slingshots and rocks that could be used to attack police.

Shops, museums, the Eiffel Tower and many metro stations were closed as much of the city-centre went on effective lockdown. Top-flight football matches and concerts were cancelled.

Last weekend’s violence, which saw some 200 cars torched and the Arc de Triomphe vandalised, shook France and plunged Macron’s government into its deepest crisis so far.

Interior Minister Christophe Castaner said he expected “only a few thousand people” to descend on Paris after the 8,000 protesters counted last weekend, “but among them are ultraviolent individuals”.

“These past three weeks have produced a monster that its creators no longer control,” Castaner said, vowing “zero tolerance” towards those aiming to wreak further destruction.

Prime Minister Edouard Philippe on Friday evening met a delegation of self-described “moderate” yellow vests who have urged people not to join the protests.

After the meeting a spokesman from the movement, Christophe Chalencon, said Philippe had “listened to us and promised to take our demands to the president”.

“Now we await Mr Macron. I hope he will speak to the people of France as a father, with love and respect and that he will take strong decisions,” he said.

Philippe said some 89,000 police were being mobilised nationwide, with a dozen armoured vehicles deployed in Paris for the first time in decades.

‘Keep a low profile’

Shops around the Champs-Elysees boulevard boarded up their windows and emptied them of merchandise on Friday, while the Louvre, Musee d’Orsay and other museums were shut.

Department stores were also staying closed due to the risk of looting on what would normally be a busy shopping weekend in the run-up to Christmas.

Foreign governments are watching developments closely in one of the world’s most visited cities.

The US embassy issued a warning to Americans in Paris to “keep a low profile and avoid crowds”, while Belgium, Portugal and the Czech Republic advised citizens planning to visit Paris over the weekend to postpone their visit.

In a warning of impending violence, an MP for Macron’s party, Benoit Potterie, received a bullet in the post on Friday with the words: “Next time it will be between your eyes.”

Calls on social media for protesters to attack the police or march on the presidential palace have especially rattled the authorities.

Increasingly radicalised

Macron this week gave in to some of the protesters’ demands for measures to help the poor and struggling middle classes, including scrapping a planned increase in fuel taxes and freezing electricity and gas prices in 2019.

But the “yellow vests”, some of whom who have become increasingly radicalised, are holding out for more. Many are calling on Macron to resign.

The protesters began blocking roads, fuel depots and shopping centres around France on November 17 over soaring petrol prices that have hit people in the provinces who get around by car.

Since then the movement has snowballed into a wider revolt against former investment banker Macron.

Protests at dozens of schools over university reforms, and a call by farmers for demonstrations next week, have added to a sense of general revolt.

The hardline CGT union, hoping to capitalise on the movement, has called for rail and metro strikes next Friday to demand immediate wage and pension increases.

‘President of the rich’

Macron’s decision early in his presidency to slash taxes on France’s wealthiest is particularly unpopular with the protesters.

Arguing that such a move was necessary in order to boost investment and create jobs, he has so far ruled out re-imposing the “fortune tax”.

But the policy, along with hikes on pensioners’ taxes, cuts in housing allowances and a string of comments deemed insensitive to ordinary workers, has led critics to label him a “president of the rich”.

Macron had previously vowed to stay the course in his bid to shake up the French economy and not be swayed by mass protests that have forced previous presidents to back down.

His U-turn on higher fuel taxes — which were intended to help France transition to a greener economy — marks a major departure.

Big crowds gathered in downtown Kuala Lumpur, chanting “God is great” and waving banners that read “Long live the Malays”, an AFP reporter said. Large numbers of police were on the streets and major roads were closed.

Race and religion are sensitive in Malaysia, which is home to sizeable ethnic Chinese and Indian communities, and the Muslim Malay majority appears to be feeling increasingly insecure under a new government that is more representative of minorities.

The rally was originally intended as a protest against a plan by the government, which took power in May after defeating the scandal-mired old regime, to ratify a UN convention which aims to eliminate racial discrimination.

Authorities abandoned the plan after opposition from conservative politicians and Malays, who feared the treaty could erode privileges they have long enjoyed.

But Muslim groups pushed ahead with Saturday’s demonstration, which alongside the convention has become about the bigger issue of defending Malays’ position in society and Islam.

“I hope the other races don’t challenge the rights of the Malays. As a Muslim, I want Islam to be the first (priority) in Malaysia,” protester Arif Hashim, 26, told AFP.

Authorities did not immediately have an estimate for the size of the rally, which is due to end at 6:00 pm (1000 GMT).

Malays — who make up some 60 percent of the country’s 32 million people — have been given substantial help, such as financial handouts, for decades but critics argue the system needs reform.

The United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) — a party that ruled Malaysia at the head of a coalition until its election defeat — has backed the rally.

Analysts say it is using the event to divert attention from its troubles.

The party, long a champion of the Malays, has been engulfed in scandal and infighting since being ousted.

Senior party figures, including disgraced ex-premier Najib Razak, have been slapped with corruption charges. Najib, accused over the plundering of state fund 1MDB, denies wrongdoing.

Policies favouring Malays were introduced after riots between members of the Malay and Chinese communities in 1969 that left nearly 200 people dead.

“Asia is the origin of the largest number of persons who are living outside their region of birth. In 2017, there were 42 million international migrants born in Asia but living elsewhere. Of these, most international migrants were living in Europe (20 million), followed by Northern America (17 million) and Oceania (3 million)”, according to the report.

Indian diaspora is the largest in the world with 16.6 million people living outside their country of origin.  The most active migrant corridor is from India to UAE where many Indians go in search of skilled and non-skilled labour. The country also receives highest remittances in the region.

Mexico has the second largest diaspora in the world with 13 million people living outside their country of origin. Many Mexicans migrate outside in search of better livelihood and better wages. Work opportunities in the country are limited since the farmlands are overworked.

Russia has the third largest diaspora population in the world. 10.6 million Russians live outside of their country. The emigration from Russia has been a result of various economic and political crisis over many years.

China has the fourth largest diaspora population since the emigration policies of the country were significantly revised. The highest number of Chinese immigrants is in the three Asian countries – Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia. Many affluent Chinese migrate to the US for education and choose to live there. It is followed by Bangladeshi that has around 7.5 million people living in other countries in search of work and better living conditions.

The conflict in Syria has escalated the number of people fleeing the country with around 6.9 million Syrians living outside their country of origin.  It is followed by Pakistan with 6 million people choosing to live elsewhere.

Philippines has around 5.7 million people living outside of their country. Indonesia and Germany each have 4.2 million people living outside their country.