SOUTH KOREA
The government and the People Power Party (PPP) have agreed to tighten measures against “deepfake” sex crimes, after the discovery of a series of such pornographic materials, involving young women, spread via messaging apps such as Telegram, sparked public outrage. The two sides agreed to work on the establishment of a hotline, adopt legislative measures to increase maximum prison sentences
GAZA - ISRAEL
The World Food Programme (WFP) has announced a pause in the movement of its employees in the Gaza Strip “until further notice” after one of its vehicles was hit by gunfire just metres from an Israeli-controlled checkpoint. The incident occurred on Tuesday evening as the vehicle was approaching the Wadi Gaza Bridge checkpoint. Israel is reportedly open to the possibility of a temporary truce in the Strip to facilitate the vaccination of children against polio.
CHINA-UNITED STATES
Chinese President Xi Jinping is meeting with U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan in Beijing on Monday, in talks that could pave the way for a highly anticipated third summit between the Chinese leader and his U.S. counterpart Joe Biden. Sullivan is the first White House national security adviser to visit the Chinese capital in eight years.
INDIA
Heavy monsoon rains and flooding in the Indian state of Gujarat have killed at least 28 people in the past three days, some drowned and others were hit by falling trees, government officials said. Overflowing rivers have forced at least 30,000 people to flee their homes.
VIETNAM
Google is considering building a large data center in Vietnam, in what would be the first such investment by a major U.S. technology company in the Southeast Asian country, an anonymous source at the company told Reuters. Located in Ho Chi Minh City, the country's southern economic hub, it would be a confidence boost for Vietnam, which has so far failed to attract large foreign capital to its data centers due to its fragmented infrastructure, with big tech companies preferring to host their centers in rival countries in the region.
RUSSIA
The ever-decreasing number of prisoners eligible for war is causing people accused of serious crimes to ask to go to the front directly when they are sentenced by the court, as in the case of Vitalij Ormandzhi, a resident of Sterlitamak in Bashkortostan, who went to Ukraine after killing his ex-wife, without even going through the concentration camp.
ARMENIA
The leader of the Armenian opposition movement “Tavowsh in the Name of the Fatherland”, Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan, called on all compatriots to celebrate the Day of the Republic of Artsakh (Nagorno Karabakh) on September 2, by gathering in the churchyard of St. Anna in Yerevan to go to the Erablur Military Pantheon and the Artsakh representation.
