Child labor proliferates with forced recruitment

Today’s news: Indian state of West Bengal ready to take in people fleeing from fighting-ravaged Bangladesh. New Israeli bombings in Khan Yunis on the eve of Netanyahu’s trip to the United States. Pacific islands call on Japan to act on pollution caused by wrecks of ships sunk in World War II. Vatican representative in Vietnam sends condolences on death of Nguyen Phu Trong.

MYANMAR

Military conscription ordered by the junta in Myanmar has exacerbated labour shortages caused by the country’s civil war, and the void It is being filled by minors. This is what local labour rights groups have told Radio Free Asia, reporting an increase in child labour in Myanmar in 2024 compared to previous years. The affected sectors include garment manufacturing, agriculture, food services, domestic work, construction and street trading.

INDIA-BANGLADESH

The Chief Minister of the Indian state of West Bengal, Mamata Banerjeesaid it was ready to open its borders to people in need from conflict-ridden Bangladesh. “I should not talk about Bangladesh’s affairs as it is a sovereign nation and the matter is a matter for the central government in Delhi. But I can tell you this: if stranded people come knocking on the doors of West Bengal, we will certainly give them shelter,” she said. More than half of India’s 4,096-km border with Bangladesh is in West Bengal, a state with deep cultural and linguistic ties to Bangladesh and which was at the forefront of the refugee camp during the 1971 war.

Gaza-Israel

This morning there were new Israeli bombings in the eastern part of Khan Yunisin the southern Gaza Strip, in areas that had been designated humanitarian zones. Shortly before the raids, the army had issued an authorization order stating that attacks against its own troops would begin from those areas. The action comes on the eve of Netanyahu’s trip to Washington, where he will meet Joe Biden tomorrow, as the United States continues to press for a truce.

VIETNAM

The Vatican’s permanent representative in Vietnam, Archbishop Marek Zalewskihas sent a statement to the country’s Episcopal Conference with the Holy See’s condolences on the death of the general secretary of the Vietnamese Communist Party, Nguyen Phu Trong, on July 19. “I ask God – he writes – to bless the Vietnamese people in this sad moment.”

JAPAN-OCEANIA

Japan and the Pacific Island Nations will cooperate to address the problem of “oil spills from Japanese shipwrecks” during World War II. as part of a broader effort to promote forward-looking relations. The commitment is contained in the action plan of the 10th Pacific Islands Leaders Meeting (PALM10), held last week in Tokyo. Experts estimate that there are more than 3,000 shipwrecks scattered across the Pacific Ocean, including about 1,000 in waters off Melanesia and Micronesia, near island nations such as the Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, Palau and the Federated States of Micronesia.

RUSSIA-CHINA

Russian metals giant Norilsky Nickel, owned by Vladimir Potanin, is seeking to open production lines in China as exports have become almost impossible due to blocked payments by Chinese banks defending themselves against secondary sanctions, and has agreed with Cngr Advanced Material and Brunp Recycling to deliver more than 50,000 tonnes of nickel a year, or 25% of its total output.

KYRGYZSTAN

Kyrgyz President Sadyr Žaparov has signed amendments to the law “On Advertising”, which introduce a ban on any form of advertising of mystical-occult services and the persons offering them, in order to “prevent the manipulation of citizens’ minds with magic and deceptions that promise to make a profit in this way.”