ASIA TODAY Pakistan records highest death toll since 2018 in August

Today’s news: UAE-Jordan agree €2.3bn rail line deal. Beijing ‘warns’ students with access to sensitive data about national security risks. More than 100,000 people attend Calcutta torchlight procession a month after doctor’s rape and murder. 1,000 civilians ‘trapped’ in Buddhist monastery by fighting in Myanmar’s Sagaing region.

PAKISTAN

August was a bloody month in Pakistan, with the highest number of casualties in attacks launched by militant groups – mostly linked to Islamic extremism – since July 2018. At least 254 people, including 92 civilians and 54 security personnel, have been killed in attacks and bombings. According to the latest report by the Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies (PICSS), an Islamabad-based think tank, the country is experiencing an escalation of violence, especially in Balochistan.

UAE – JORDAN

The Ministries of Investment of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Jordan have signed four agreements worth $2.3 billion for the construction of a railway The project will connect the Red Sea port of Aqaba to the mining regions of Al Shidiya and Ghor es-Safi. The project will last five years and will initially transport 16 million tonnes of phosphate and potash products.

CHINA

China’s top spy agency has warned its students with access to sensitive data to be wary of “handsome men or women” who might feign feelings to induce them to transfer information to foreign entities, compromising national security. This year, Beijing has shown itself to be particularly “sensitive” to the problems of espionage and data leaks.

INDIA

A torchlight procession was held through the streets of Calcutta this morning, attended by more than 100,000 people, according to police sources, to demand justice one month after the rape and murder of a medical practitioner, Moumitha DebnathThe death of the 31-year-old had brought renewed attention to violence against women. Similar demonstrations were held in Delhi and other cities.

MYANMAR

Fighting in central Myanmar, in the Sagaing region, has trapped Around 1,000 people are trapped inside a Buddhist monastery, where food supplies are running out and the sick and wounded are lacking medical care. According to humanitarian agencies, the civil war since the return of the military to power in February 2021 has already displaced around three million people.

Türkiye – IRAQ

At least three people were killed yesterday in the northern province of Sulaimaniya during a stroke Turkey’s drone strikes have been reported. According to Kurdish-Iraqi sources in the area, a vehicle was set on fire and the three occupants – whose identity remains unknown – who were inside were killed. Ankara has been regularly attacking targets in the north of Iraq for some time now.

RUSSIA

Russian banks are looking for new solutions to the increasingly difficult international payments. That is why the largest savings bank, Sberbank, has made it possible for individuals to open current accounts in Indian rupees, starting from a minimum of 100 thousand rupees, with no upper limit and without having to buy foreign currency, but only by transferring sums from ruble accounts.

KAZAKHSTAN

The coordinator of the Kazakhstan Water Partnership Foundation has warned that the “irrational use of water” for irrigating rice and cotton fields in Central Asia could lead to the drying up of the Syrdarja, the main river in the region. In response to the criticism, the expert called for stricter compliance with mutual agreements, especially between Astana and Tashkent.