Today’s news: Protests in Belorussia against Pakistani government. Japan’s rice reserves dwindle due to tourism boom. North Korea appoints new ambassadors to Vietnam and Singapore. More flood emergencies in China due to overflowing rivers.
LEBANON – ISRAEL
Hamas announced the assassination of its political leader, Ismail Haniyehwho was shot dead while in Tehran for the inauguration of new Iranian President Pezeshkian in what appears to have been an Israeli attack. Yesterday, the Israeli army itself had claimed to have killed Fuad Shukr, one of Hezbollah’s top commanders, in a attack in the south of the Lebanese capital, Beirut. The action was presented as a response to the attack in the Golan Heights in which 12 children were killed on July 27.
PAKISTAN
For days now, several people protest against the Pakistani government in the port city of Gwadar in the southwestern province of Baluchistan. Tensions erupted on Friday after the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) launched a protest against harassment by security forces, who blocked roads leading to Gwadar and detained some leaders spearheading the movement. Other people were reportedly killed in the clashes.
JAPAN
In recent months, the boom in tourism has contributed to reduce Japan’s rice reserves to its lowest level since 1999, although the harvest had actually been smaller due to rising temperatures and reduced water availability, according to the Ministry of Agriculture. Japan welcomed 17.78 million tourists in the first half of 2024, a million more than pre-pandemic levels. Unlike in the past, the Japanese are increasingly consuming more pasta and other types of carbohydrates.
NORTH KOREA – VIETNAM – SINGAPORE
North Korea appointed New ambassadors in Vietnam and Singapore, After years of delays that had led to speculation about the closure of diplomatic missions due to financial difficulties, Pyongyang is now reaching out to other communist countries in the region, particularly Vietnam, Laos and China, following the break with Cuba. However, it seems likely that the ambassador sent to Singapore will be a former foreign minister.
CHINA
For a week now, the National Meteorological Center of China has renewed the orange alert due to heavy rains The floods have caused the banks of some of the country’s largest rivers to burst and hundreds of people to be evacuated. This is the third time the Yangtze River has flooded this year. More than 1,200 people have been mobilised so far for rescue operations.
RUSSIA
Russian Higher Education Minister Valerij Falkov has proposed reducing student hostels, leaving open only those for people with limited financial means or who have “difficult situations”, considering that in communal houses students become “more prone to social protests, forming groups that are difficult to control”.
KAZAKHSTAN
Celebrations were high in Kazakhstan after 31-year-old judoka Eldos Smetov won his first gold medal at the Paris Olympics in the 60kg category, beating French champion of Armenian origin Luka Mkheidze in the final after eliminating world champion Francisco Garrigoza in the semi-finals. Smetov was competing in his third Olympics, having won bronze and silver at the previous ones.
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