Other news of the day: closures in the Chinese megacity of Chengdu are prolonged. India and Japan strengthen their military cooperation. Vietnam: five years in prison for a dissident blogger. Iran has uranium to build a nuclear bomb in weeks. They arrested a Catholic activist in Russia.
KOREA
The South Korean Ministry of Unification today proposed to North Korea to discuss the problem of separated families after the war conflict of 1950-53. There are nearly 44,000 South Koreans who have relatives in the North, two-thirds of whom are 70 or older. The last round of negotiations on the issue took place in 2018.
CHINA
The megacity of chengdu (Sichuan) prolongs Covid-19 lockdowns in 16 out of 23 metropolitan districts. In various parts of the country there are millions of inhabitants in quarantine due to the “zero tolerance” policy against Covid, promoted by Xi Jinping. However, the official figures of infections remain low throughout the country: 1,439 were registered yesterday new cases, but no deaths.
INDIA-JAPAN
Delhi and Tokyo will reinforce the military cooperation for the Indians demand that Japanese investment in their defense be increased. The two sides also plan to hold more joint military exercises. The announcement was made today at the end of a meeting in the Indian capital, between the respective Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Defense.
VIETNAM
Sentenced to five years in prison a dissident blogger accused of “abusing democratic freedoms to attack the interests of the State”. Le Anh Hung’s sentence was handed down on August 30, but his family was not informed until a week later. The trial would have been held without a defense attorney.
IRAN
Tehran has enough uranium to build a nuclear bomb in 3-4 weeks, according to statements by the International Atomic Energy Agency. The agency notes that the Iranians are increasing their reserves of highly enriched uranium, needed to make an atomic bomb.
RUSSIA
Catholic activist Dmitry Dunko was arrested and jailed for eight days. He had denounced the interference of United Russia politicians – Putin’s party – in the activities of the Catholic parishes in Moscow. Before his mobile phone was confiscated, from his cell, he managed to send a message of hope: “The rosary and the Gospel are with me, see you soon.”
GEORGIA
Members of the opposition party “National Movement” protested against the celebration of a Divine Liturgy in Church Slavonic – the liturgical language of the Russian Orthodox Church – at the Svetiskhoveli Cathedral in the ancient capital of Meskheti. The parish priest, Archimandrite Ilja (Kavsadze), justified himself by saying that he was celebrating for the Russian, Belarusian and Bulgarian faithful.
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