ASIA TODAY India votes to elect new president

Other news of the day: in Indonesia, tension at the G20 Finance summit over the Russian attack on Ukraine. China lockdowns extended again. North Korea claims it has managed to control the pandemic. Iran would be able to build the atomic bomb. In Ukraine, there are already 50,000 dead or wounded Russian soldiers. Uzbekistan, attacked with missiles launched from Afghanistan.

INDIA

Today elections are held to define who will be the 15th president of the country. The super favorite is a (tribal) candidate from the majority BJP, Prime Minister Modi’s Hindu nationalist party. On behalf of the opposition, former Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha appears. The counting of votes will take place on July 21; the swearing-in of the new president, four days later.

INDONESIA

At the finance ministers’ summit, which ended yesterday in Bali, many G20 nations they criticized Russia for its invasion of Ukraine. This was declared by the delegation of Indonesia, the country that presides over the group of the 20 largest economies in the world. Countries critical of Moscow called for an end to the aggression.

CHINA

Still appear new outbreaks of Covid-19 in the country. In several cities they began to extend the closures and carry out massive tests. High alert in Shanghai, Tianjin and Zhumadian (Henan). The situation is serious in Macauwhere the authorities ordered the eleventh round of swabs among the population..

NORTH KOREA

suspected cases of Covid-19 fell to 400 a day, Pyongyang authorities said this morning. Since May, the country has accumulated almost five million cases, almost all of them treated in hospitals. In mid-May, the number of reported infections reached 390,000 per day.

IRAN

Tehran has the “technical” capacity to build a atomic bomb, but has not yet decided whether to take this step. This was declared yesterday by Kamal Kharrazi, adviser to the Iranian Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Kamenei.

RUSSIA-UKRAINE

According to UK Ministry of Defense data, the Russians lost 50,000 soldiers, if you add up the dead and wounded in Ukraine. A significant part of the Russian arsenal, including 4,000 armored fighting vehicles, was also destroyed.

UZBEKISTAN

The Uzbek Defense Ministry denied that the country had suffered a new attack with missiles launched from Afghanistan. On July 5, the city of Termez was hit by five rockets fired from Afghan territory. The Taliban government in Kabul said the attack was carried out by a criminal group, later dismantled by the authorities.