India suspends rice exports, fears over world prices

Today’s news: Xi Jinping meets Kissinger, the man from the thaw with the United States in the 1970s. In Afghanistan, 60% of the civilian victims of unexploded ordnance are children. Another 6 of the 37 “disappeared” political prisoners from Daik-U prison in Myanmar were found dead; the coup junta affirms that they tried to escape.

INDIA

India has again suspended the export of rice. The measure makes international food markets fear a new increase in inflation. The government blocked the export of non-basmati white rice when retail prices rose 3% in a month due to crop damage caused by late but heavy monsoon rains. India accounts for more than 40% of world rice exports and cut shipments could boost world prices, already buoyed by Ukraine’s grain export deal crisis and weather disruptions.

CHINA-UNITED STATES

the chinese president Xi Jinping met with US diplomat Henry Kissinger in Beijing, former security adviser and secretary of state for Nixon and Ford. “We will never forget our old friend and his historic contribution to promoting the development of US-China relations and strengthening the friendship between the Chinese and American people,” Xi said. Kissinger, who played a key role in the normalization of relations between the two countries in the 1970s, he also met with the defense and foreign ministers who illustrated China’s position on Taiwan, stating that independence is “incompatible with peace in the Taiwan Strait”.

MYANMAR

The Association for the Assistance of Political Prisoners (AAPP) confirmed that six of the 37 “disappeared” political prisoners from Daik-U prison in the Bago region were killed by the Myanmar regime. The 37 political prisoners disappeared from the prison -also known as Kyaiksakaw- on June 27, when the Board announced that they would be transferred. Two of them had already turned up dead in recent weeks. According to the AAPP, another six families of the latest victims have received a letter informing them that, during the transfer, a vehicle had an accident and the prisoners tried to escape and were killed by “warning shots.”

RUSSIA

Chechen Deputy Prime Minister Jakub Zakriev, President Kadyrov’s nephew, has been appointed CEO of “Danone Russia”, nationalized by Putin in recent days, while the Carlsberg “Baltika” brewery will be led by another Caucasian, Tajmuraz Boploev, from North Ossetia, who had previously been the general director of the company.

THAILAND

Thailand’s election-winning Move Forward party has called on its main political ally, the Pheu Thai party, to take over the government formation after his candidate, Pita Limjaroenrat, failed to win support in the bicameral Parliament on July 13. Secretary Chaitawat Tulathon said at a press conference that Move Forward will support any candidate from Pheu Thai in the vote to be held on July 27. In the meantime, a series of demonstrations in the streets in Bangkok in support of Limjaroenra between today and Sunday.

AFGHANISTAN

The International Commission of the Red Cross reported that 640 children were killed or injured in 541 incidents related to landmine explosions and explosive residue between January 2022 and June 2023. This is almost 60% of the total number of civilian casualties (1,092 people) caused by unexploded ordnance. “Although the fighting has subsided, people’s lives remain in upheaval as efforts to remove landmines and other unexploded weapons have been unsuccessful. This has translated into an increase in victims since August 2021,” explains the ICRC.

KAZAKHSTAN

According to Human Rights Watch director for Europe and Central Asia, Hugh Williamson, Kazakhstan’s refusal to allow international observers to participate in court hearings against members of the security forces that killed 238 people in January 2022, goes against all the ethical principles to which Astana formally claims to adhere.