Chinese military maneuvers around the island

News of the day: a politician from Maharashtra murdered in India shortly before local elections. Myanmar militias follow Beijing’s lead even in peace talks. Some Filipinos imprisoned in Cambodia for acting as surrogate mothers. Ukraine accuses North Korea of ​​sending its soldiers to Russia.

CHINA – TAIWAN

Tension in Taiwan over Chinese military maneuvers started this morning near the island: For Beijing, the “Joint Sword B” operations are a “stern warning” in response to the speech given last week by President Lai Ching-te, who promised to oppose China’s “annexation.” Similar exercises had also been carried out after the investiture speech. The United States, Taiwan’s ally, is closely monitoring the situation.

INDIA

Indian politician Baba Siddique, 66, was shot dead in Mumbaicapital of the state of Maharashtra, where local elections will be held in November. In February, Baba Siddique had left the main opposition Congress party to join the independent regional National Congress Party, which is part of the ruling BJP coalition. So far, two people have been arrested in connection with the murder.

MYANMAR

In recent days, the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) – reportedly under Chinese pressure – banned its members from joining international talks to address the Myanmar crisis. Recently, representatives from Indonesia, ASEAN, the EU, the UN and the anti-junta met in Jakarta to discuss a solution to the civil conflict.

PHILIPPINES – CAMBODIA

Several pregnant Filipino women have been accused of violating Cambodian law and are They risk being imprisoned for acting as surrogate mothers after being contacted online, probably by a Thai group. Interior Minister Chou Bun-eng stated that on September 23, police found 24 foreign women, 20 Filipinos and four Vietnamese, when raiding a village in Kandal province, near the capital, Phnom Penh. . Surrogacy has been banned in Cambodia since 2016.

UKRAINE – RUSSIA – NORTH KOREA

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused North Korea of ​​sending not only weapons, but also soldiers, to help Russia in its war against Ukraine. According to South Korean Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun, the news that North Korean soldiers were killed in a Ukrainian attack on Russian-occupied territory is most likely true, while Russia called it “fake news.”

MIDDLE EAST

Yesterday, the United States announced the sending to Israel of a advanced anti-missile system (called THAAD) and, according to an anonymous official, also “100 soldiers.” At night, a stroke Hezbollah’s drone strike killed four Israeli soldiers at the Binyamina military base, south of Haifa, and injured at least 50 others. An Israeli bombing of a school housing displaced Palestinians killed several people, including at least 15 children, according to Hamas authorities.

GEORGIA

The Georgian Prime Minister, Iraklij Kobakhidze, urged law enforcement agencies to “work with special care” in the next two weeks before the parliamentary elections, to “prevent any form of provocation”, without even ruling out the possibility of terrorist attacks. as had happened to deputy Givi Targamadze in 2016.