USA – ASIA
Japan and South Korea are the countries most affected by US President Donald Trump's decision to impose reciprocal 25% tariffs if no agreement is reached by 1 August. The two countries, US allies in Asia, have a trade deficit mainly in the automotive sector. Laos, Myanmar, Cambodia, Indonesia, Thailand and Bangladesh, on the other hand, will have to negotiate tariffs of between 30% and 40%.
ASEAN
The summit of foreign ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) begins today in Malaysia. In addition to the issue of tariffs, the entry of East Timor into the organisation (which Myanmar's military junta opposes because of its frequent contacts with the exiled national unity government) will be discussed, as well as the growing threat from Beijing in the South China Sea and the situation in the Middle East.
MYANMAR
China has threatened to suspend the purchase of rare earths from mines controlled by the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) if the ethnic militia does not renounce its claims to conquer the city of Bhamo. The ethnic militia and the Burmese military junta have been fighting in the region since December. According to Reuters sources, Beijing's request was initially made in May.
INDONESIA
The Lewotobo Laki Laki volcano on the island of Flores erupted ash and dust for the second day in a row today, forcing residents to wear masks. No casualties have been reported, but authorities have been on high alert for several weeks. ‘People living near the volcano have become increasingly aware of how to minimise the impact of disaster risks, as eruptions have become more frequent since the end of 2023,’ said a spokesperson for the National Emergency Management Agency.
NEPAL
Heavy rains have hit Nepal, destroying a bridge linking the country to China over the Bhotekoshi River (120 km north of the capital Kathmandu) and killing at least one person. Another 17 people are currently missing, authorities said. They are both Chinese and Nepalese citizens. An army helicopter was used to rescue people stranded by the flood.
SAUDI ARABIA
A new report by Amnesty International denounces the alarming increase in executions in Saudi Arabia: between January and June this year, 180 sentences were carried out, mostly for drug-related offences. Among those sentenced were several foreign nationals from Egypt, Ethiopia, Jordan, Nigeria, Pakistan, Somalia and Syria, according to the humanitarian organisation.
RUSSIA
The Russian Federal Statistics Service Rosstat has definitively ceased publishing data on the demographic situation in Russia, as reported in its May report on socio-economic conditions, from which the section “Demography” has been removed, along with figures on births and deaths, marriages and divorces, migration and the total number of inhabitants, which will now only be available to specialists under confidentiality.
ARMENIA
The lawyers of the archbishop under arrest in Yerevan, Mikael Adžapakhyan, have stated that Prime Minister Nikol Pašinyan is “interfering with the preliminary investigation” into the attempted coup, with his posts indicating the need to search “the entire large community of Vagaršapat”, the suburb of Ečmjadzin, seat of the patriarchate.
