Islamists, the first group in Parliament

Other news today: Hilsa diplomacy between India and Bangladesh ends. South Korea approves construction of two nuclear reactors. Practices to limit overtourism in Japan work. Hundreds of child sexual abuse victims rescued in Malaysia. Time zone problems in Kazakhstan.

JORDAN

The Islamic Action Front (IAF), the political arm of the Muslim Brotherhood in Jordan, won 31 seats out of 138becoming the first party in the Jordanian parliament, a historic result for Islamists who support Hamas. “The Jordanian people have given us their trust by voting for us. This new stage will increase the weight of the party’s responsibility towards the nation and our citizens,” said Wael al-Saqqa, head of the IAF. In Jordan, a monarchy, parliament has a limited role.

INDIA – BANGLADESH

The “Hilsa Diplomacy” (a prized fish that only the rich can afford) between India and Bangladesh has come to an end after the interim government in Dhaka decided to ban its export to West Bengal, even though the season of some of the most important religious festivals is imminent. “The previous government lifted the ban during the Durga Puja festival. This time I don’t think we need to give a gift, otherwise our people will not be able to eat the fish,” said Farida Akhter, an adviser to the Bangladesh Ministry of Fisheries.

SOUTH KOREA

South Korea’s Nuclear Safety Commission has Construction permit granted for two new nuclear reactors on the east coast. This is the first permit granted since 2016, when the Moon Jae-in government decided to review the national energy policy, halting several projects.

JAPAN

The number of people who climbed Mount Fuji in one night fell by 90% compared to last year, thanks to the local government installing a gate between the main stations to combat overtourism and accidents among inexperienced climbers. The number of foreign climbers, on the other hand, increased to 42% of the total, with more than 53,000 people.

MALAYSIA

Malaysian authorities have More than 400 children have been rescued They were allegedly sexually abused in homes run by an Islamic organisation called Global Ikhwan Services and Business (GISB), which is active in various business sectors but is itself allegedly linked to a Malaysian religious sect banned in 1994. GISB denied the allegations, but preliminary investigations showed the children were children of employees who had been abducted shortly after birth.

RUSSIA

In Russia, the drafting of Vladimir Putin’s new “multi-ethnic state” is nearing completion. In this draft, all citizens of Russia will only have to recognise Russian as their “mother tongue”, while all other languages ​​will be defined as “foreign” with very limited powers of use because “only Russian unites all our peoples”.

KAZAKHSTAN

One of the consequences of the equalisation of time zones throughout Kazakhstan is the reduction of working hours in the eastern part of the country, which is why trade unions and a large part of the public are pushing for a revision of working hours, trying at least to vary the start and end times of the working day.