LEBANON - ISRAEL
Hamas announced the killing of its political leader, Ismail Haniyeh, who was shot while he was in Tehran for the inauguration of the new Iranian President Pezeshkian in what everything suggests was an Israeli raid. Yesterday, the Israeli army itself had claimed to have killed Fuad Shukr, one of Hezbollah's top commanders, in an attack in the south of the Lebanese capital, Beirut. The action was presented as a response to the attack on the Golan Heights in which 12 children died on 27 July.
PAKISTAN
For days, several people have been protesting against the Pakistani government in the port city of Gwadar, in the southwestern province of Belucistan. Tensions started on Friday, after the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) launched a protest against harassment by security forces, who blocked roads leading to Gwadar and arrested some leaders leading the movement. Other people reportedly died in the clashes
JAPAN
In recent months, the tourism boom has helped reduce Japan's rice reserves to their lowest level since 1999, even though the harvest had actually been lower due to rising temperatures and less water availability, the Ministry of Agriculture said. Japan welcomed 17.78 million tourists in the first half of 2024, one million more than pre-pandemic levels. Unlike in the past, the Japanese are increasingly eating pasta and other types of carbohydrates.
NORTH KOREA - VIETNAM - SINGAPORE
North Korea appointed new ambassadors in Vietnam and Singapore, after years of delays that had led to speculation that diplomatic missions would be closed due to financial difficulties. Due to the break with Cuba, Pyongyang is now reaching out to other communist countries in the region, in particular Vietnam, Laos and China. The ambassador sent to Singapore, however, seems likely to be a former foreign minister.
CHINA
For a week now, China's National Meteorological Centre has been renewing the orange alert due to the heavy rains that have caused the banks of some of the country's most important rivers to break and hundreds of people to be evacuated. For the Yangtze River, it is the third overflow of the year. More than 1,200 people have so far been mobilised for rescue operations.
RUSSIA
The Russian Minister for Higher Education, Valerij Falkov, has proposed reducing hostels for students, leaving open only those for people with little financial means or who have ‘complicated situations’, also considering that in common houses students become ‘more prone to social protests, forming groups that are difficult to control’.
KAZAKHSTAN
Great celebrations in Kazakhstan were held following the winning of the first gold medal at the Paris Olympics by 31-year-old judoka Eldos Smetov in the 60kg category, who defeated Armenian-born French champion Luka Mkheidze in the final after eliminating world champion Francisco Garrigoza in the semifinals. Smetov was in his third Olympics, and had won bronze and silver in the previous ones.
