ASIA TODAY Hanoi aims for 7% economic growth in 2022

Today’s News: Israel Wants To Participate In US Study On Projectile That Killed Christian Journalist; in India, the death toll rises to 37 after an avalanche in the state of Manipur; the Iraqi prime minister inaugurates a 750-megawatt power plant; Tibetan monk Jigme Gyatso, arrested several times by Beijing, dies; Russian raid on Chinese underground workers.

VIETNAM

Hanoi aspires to a increase of 7% in 2022, and intends to exceed the objectives previously set (between 6 and 6.5%). To achieve this, it must reach 9% in the third quarter and 6.3% in the fourth. The Vietnamese economy is recovering after last year’s fall (+2.58%, the lowest in decades) caused by Covid. In the second quarter of 2022, GDP grew by 7.72%, driven by exports, but inflation still weighs heavily.

ISRAEL – PALESTINE

The Israeli authorities intend to analyze together with the American experts the trajectory of the bullet that killed the Christian journalist Shireen Abu Akleh last May 11. The Palestinians handed over the object to a US official on July 2, but Washington ruled out Israel’s involvement in the phases of analysis. Meanwhile, on July 2, a 17-year-old Palestinian was killed by Israeli soldiers in the West Bank.

INDIA

The balance of victims rises to 37 after the immense avalanche that hit the Indian state of Manipur a few days ago. Rescuers continue to search for survivors. At the moment, 25 people are still missing. A wall of mud and debris buried a railway work where dozens of workers worked. There are reportedly 18 survivors.

TIBET – CHINA

The famous Tibetan monk Jigme Gyatso, arrested several times in the past for protesting against Beijing’s rule in the region, died on July 2 at his home in the northwestern province of Gansu. During his imprisonment, he suffered acts of violence and beatings, for which he had to be hospitalized, but never fully recovered. Since his last release, in 2016, he suffered from health problems.

IRAQ

The Iraqi Prime Minister, Mustafa Al-Kadhimi, yesterday opened the power plant of Maysan, in the province of Mesena, with a capacity of 750 megawatts. The premier stressed that the plant will supply energy to the entire country, reducing dependence on gas imports. Modern technologies that reduce energy waste and are environmentally friendly are used in the project.

RUSSIA

Near the city of Krasnoyarsk (Siberia), Russian police carried out a raid to control illegal immigrants from China, employed in agricultural greenhouses in the area. In the village of Berezovka, the uniformed officers took more than 250 Chinese aboard buses, to verify their fingerprints and do DNA analysis in order to verify if they really are illegal immigrants.

UZBEKISTAN

According to the statistics of Cost of Living City Ranking, which measure the cost of living in urban centers, the Uzbek capital, Tashkent, turned out to be one of the cheapest for foreign residents, ranking 221st out of 227 metropolises or large centers in the world. The cheapest is Ankara, followed by Istanbul, Karachi, Islamabad, Dushanbe and Bishkek. The most expensive city is Hong-Kong, followed by Zurich and Tel-Aviv.