ASIA TODAY Delhi does not find an ordinance and the ban on Rushdie’s “Satanic Verses” is lifted

Today’s news: Pro-Palestinian attacks on Israeli fans in Amsterdam. China sentences a senior official accused of espionage to death. Iran and Pakistan promise to cooperate against Balkan militants. Korean President Yoon apologizes on television for his wife’s scandals.

INDIA

The Delhi High Court rose the ban on the import of Salman Rushdie’s book “The Satanic Verses”, in force for more than 30 years, after the government failed to submit the original notification imposing the ban. The measure had been activated in 1988 after some Muslims denounced it as blasphemous. In a lawsuit filed in 2019 by a potential importer of the book, the Indian government reported that the prohibition order “was not traceable and therefore could not be filed.” As a result, the court stated that it had “no choice but to assume that such notification does not exist” and therefore lifted the ban.

ISRAEL-PALESTINE-NETHERLANDS

Groups of Israeli fans were subjected tonight in Amsterdam to attacks apparently organized and widespread after the soccer match between Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv. Ten Israelis were hospitalized and three lost contact with each other following the violence, reportedly carried out by local Muslims and Arabs shouting “Free Palestine.” Other fans reportedly locked themselves in their hotels for fear of being attacked again as they headed to the airport to catch their return flights.

CHINA

A former senior Chinese government official has been sentenced to death for revealing state secrets to a foreign power. This was announced in a post on WeChat by the Ministry of State Security, which identified him as Zhang without specifying details about his role in the administration. No details were given about the execution date. China keeps its statistics on the application of the death penalty secret. Amnesty International estimates that thousands of death sentences are carried out in the country each year.

SOUTH KOREA

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol has publicly apologized for having caused concern to the population, at a time when controversy in the country has once again grown around the first lady, Kim Keon Hee, at the center of accusations for accepting a luxury handbag as a gift, financial transactions and involvement in government affairs. Yoon stood up and bowed his head in apology during a televised speech. The press conference was held at a time when his approval rating was falling below 20%.

IRAN-PAKISTAN

The Iranian Foreign Minister, Abbas Araghchi, declared at the end of a visit to islamabad that “good agreements” had been reached with senior Pakistani officials on the fight against “terrorists” along their shared border. Clashes between pro-independence militant groups and Iranian security forces are increasing in the southeastern province of Sistan-Balochistan. Araghchi also accused Baloch militants of drawing links between their insurgency and Israeli attacks.

RUSSIA

The president of the Russian Caucasian republic of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, stated that there is a serious problem of labor shortage in the region, between those who go to war and those who emigrate, while there are vacancies in construction works with salaries of 80,000 rubles (800 euros), attacking the many compatriots who “indulge in idleness.”

KYRGYZSTAN

The summit of the Organization of Turkish States on the topic “Strengthening the Turkish world, economic integration and future prospects” was held in Bishkek, attended by the presidents of Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Turkey, Uzbekistan and also the prime minister from Hungary, Viktor Orban, who received the Higher Order of the Turkish World for his “great contribution to the consolidation of the unity of the Turkish world.”

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