VIETNAM
The tightening of US regulations banning imports from China's Xinjiang is increasing pressure on Vietnamese garment and footwear manufacturers, hitting an industry that has already lost nearly 90,000 jobs since October due to slowing demand. The law, in force since June, requires companies to prove that they do not use raw materials or components produced with the forced labour of Xinjiang's Uyghurs.
TAIWAN-CHINA
Taipei reported that China's People's Liberation Army yesterday sent two drones to fly over much of Taiwan, the first time such a move by Beijing to penetrate the island's 24-nautical-mile air defence identification zone has been detected. Also yesterday, a US Navy maritime patrol and reconnaissance aircraft crossed the Taiwan Strait.
JAPAN
The Japanese Ministry of Health has approved the sale of an oral abortion pill for the first time. Until now, only surgery was approved for voluntary termination of pregnancy in the country. According to official figures, 126,174 abortions were performed in Japan in the fiscal year 2021.
SAUDI ARABIA-JORDAN
Using aerial photographs, a team of archaeologists from Oxford University identified three hitherto undiscovered Roman fortified camps between south-eastern Jordan and northern Saudi Arabia. In an article published in the journal Antiquity, they expressed the belief that they are linked to a Roman military campaign that took place at the time of the Roman conquest of the Nabataean kingdom in 106 AD.
RUSSIA
One of Russia's most distinguished economists, Sergei Sinelnikov-Murilev, rector of the Russian Academy of Foreign Trade, disciple and heir of Egor Gajdar, the ideologue of the transition to capitalism and the greatest exponent of liberal economic thought, has been arrested in Moscow. Sinelnikov-Murilev is accused of embezzlement to the tune of around 10,000 euros.
BUDDISM
In the Siberian republic of Tuva, the largest Buddhist monastery in Russia, the 'Tubten Šedrub Ling', is to be opened with the blessing of the Dalai Lama and the support of Defence Minister Šojgu, a native of the region, and politicians from Buryatia, Zabajkal, Kalmykia, Khakazja and Mongolia, with the warm wishes of President Putin himself.
