GAZA – ISRAEL
Hamas has announced a “positive” response to Israel’s ceasefire proposal, noting that it is ready to hold talks “immediately” to fill remaining gaps in the agreement. The group has also presented its own reservations, citing a number of obstacles that remain to finalise the deal, the Times of Israel reported.
INDIA – PAKISTAN – CHINA
China provided Pakistan with “live inputs” on the positions of Indian troops and weapons during the clash between India and Pakistan in early May, Lieutenant General Rahul Singh told a defence industry event in New Delhi on Tuesday. The Indian Army's deputy chief also called for upgrades to India’s defence systems.
TAIWAN – JAPAN
The City of Nagasaki has accepted Taiwan’s request to attend this year’s ceremony marking the 80th anniversary of the US atomic bombing during World War II. This would be the first time people from the island take part in the event, next month.
MYANMAR
Myanmar’s military junta announced the release of 93 child soldiers. A United Nations report accused the military of recruiting more than 400 minors to fight in the civil war, a practice common to both the military and ethnic militias that make up the anti-junta resistance.
TIBET
During a ceremony in Dharamsala ahead of his birthday, which will be celebrated tomorrow, the Dalai Lama said he hopes to live to be 130. “We have lost our country and we live in exile in India, but I have been able to benefit beings quite a lot. So, living here in Dharamshala, I intend to serve beings and the dharma as much as I can,” he said. India recently expressed its support for the spiritual leader in a show of opposition to China.
RUSSIA
The Russian Prosecutor General’s Office has filed a lawsuit with the Chelyabinsk court in the Urals, seeking to seize five large Russian mining and precious metals companies, owned by oligarchs Konstantin Strukov, Ekaterina Kuznetsova and Natalia Zarubina, for “violations of environmental protection laws.”
KYRGYZSTAN
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has called on Kyrgyzstan’s President Sadyr Japarov to veto Kyrgyzstan’s new media law, which requires registration with the relevant state body and effectively prohibits foreign entities from creating or owning mass media.
