Presidential elections scheduled for September 21

Today’s news: Jimmy Lai’s court hearing in Hong Kong postponed for another four months. The Hamas leader in the West Bank later died in prison after eight months in Israeli custody. Individual Indian states will also be able to impose their own levies on mining activities. Brazil apologizes to Japan for the persecution of immigrants after World War II. In Moscow, “Europe Square” is renamed “Eurasia Square.”

SRI LANKA

He September 21st Presidential elections are due to be held in Sri Lanka, the first since Gotabaya Rajapaksa was ousted in street protests two years ago. Last week, the Supreme Court had rejected the possibility of any postponement in the country currently led by economist Ranil Wicremesinghe, who took power amid a deep economic crisis. Applications must be submitted by August 15.

HONG KONG-CHINA

Jimmy Lai He will be called to testify on November 20 at his national security trial in Hong Kong. Judges rejected a request by the 76-year-old founder of the Apple Daily newspaper, who has already been in prison for four years, to drop the charges against him, for which he faces life imprisonment. The postponement of his questioning for four months is due to the availability of the three judges, specially chosen by the Hong Kong government to deal with national security cases.

ISRAEL-PALESTINE

One of Hamas’s West Bank leaders arrested by Israel after the conflict began on October 7 has died in custody due to deteriorating health, the Palestinian Authority and Hamas announced today. Mustafa Muhammad Abu Ara, 63, died after being transferred to hospital from Ramon prison in southern Israel. The Palestinian Authority Prisoners’ Commission says he was suffering from health problems even before his arrest, but was denied adequate medical care during the months he was detained.

INDIA

The Indian Supreme Court has ruled that the cannons The levies on minerals do not constitute a tax, giving reason to local state governments challenging the central government’s argument that only Delhi has the power to tax mineral rights in the country. The court will hear the parties on July 31 to decide whether the ruling should also be applied retrospectively. If so, it would mean huge revenues for the coffers of some states, such as West Bengal, Orissa and Jharkhand, which already have local laws to impose additional levies on mining companies.

JAPAN-BRAZIL

The Brazilian government issued its first official apology for the persecution of Japanese immigrants in the country during and after World War II. The gesture was related to two cases: one in which Brazil, as part of the Allies, evicted Japanese immigrants from their homes in Santos during the war, and another related to the mistreatment on Anchieta Island of people imprisoned during postwar unrest in the immigrant community.

RUSSIA

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobjanin signs a decree renaming Europa Square to Eurasia Square, which was designed and built in 2001 as part of a joint Russian-Belgian project in the centre of the capital, on Berezhkovsky Embankment next to the new skyscrapers, with the sculpture of the “abduction of Europa” in the centre.

AZERBAIJAN

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has signed amendments to the Family Code banning marriages between second cousins ​​and arranged marriages of minors under the age of 16, with heavy fines or even arrests depending on the severity of the situation and the personality of the offender, which are widespread among Azerbaijani families.