INDONESIA – SINGAPORE
An Indonesian court has convicted 19 people of trafficking 34 newborns in Indonesia and Singapore. The 70-year-old ringleader received the harshest sentence of seven years’ imprisonment, whilst the others were sentenced to between three and six years. The criminal organisation illegally ‘purchased’ newborns in West Java and sold them for adoption in Indonesia and Singapore between 2023 and 2025. It is believed that 12 of the 34 newborns are already in Singapore. Child trafficking in Indonesia is often fuelled by parents who sell their own children.
AFGHANISTAN
The flash floods caused by torrential rain that hit eastern Afghanistan have killed at least 20 people and left more than 100 missing, according to the Taliban government. Parun, the capital of Nuristan province, was the worst-hit town, and the mayor is among those missing. In addition, more than 80 residents have been injured. Taliban officials say they expect “severe financial and human losses”. Images on social media show homes, shops and buildings severely damaged.
JAPAN
Shoko Kawata, mayor of Yawata, a small Japanese town, has become the first sitting mayor in the country to take maternity leave; a decision that has drawn some criticism at national level and attracted the attention of the international media. The mayor stated that she had planned to have children when, in 2023, at the age of 33, she became Japan’s youngest mayor. Whilst female employees of Yawata City Council are entitled to 16 weeks’ leave, no such provision existed for the office of mayor.
SOUTH KOREA – UNESCO
Participants at the 48th session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee in Busan – a port city in south-eastern South Korea – adopted a new declaration calling for international cooperation to protect vulnerable cultural and natural heritage sites from damage. The agreement – known as the “Busan Declaration on World Heritage” – calls for greater cooperation to protect cultural and natural heritage sites exposed to the effects of armed conflict and climate change.
MIDDLE EAST
Bahrain and Kuwait reported that they had intercepted Iranian missiles, whilst the United States and Iran exchanged the latest attacks in over a week of escalating tensions.
Bahrain, which hosts the US Fifth Fleet, stated that its air defences “had intercepted and destroyed a series of Iranian air attacks”, whilst the Iranian Revolutionary Guards had claimed to have struck US military targets in Kuwait. Meanwhile, tensions remain extremely high in the Red Sea as well, with the Houthi militias in Yemen threatening to block the passage of Saudi ships through the Bab al-Mandeb Strait.
Meanwhile, a meeting between Lebanese President Aoun and Trump on the negotiations with Israel is scheduled to take place in Washington today.
UKRAINE – RUSSIA
In response to the Russian attacks, Ukraine launched a massive strike against the Moscow region. The most significant damage was reported in Podolsk, Domodedovo and the Odintsovo urban district, according to regional governor Andrei Vorobev. In Odintsovo, the attack damaged a car and a private home, whilst in Podolsk several pieces of civilian infrastructure were damaged; in Domodedovo, one person was injured in a fire that broke out in a private home and another on the M-4 motorway.
ARMENIA
20 July marked International Chess Day, the day on which, in 1924, the International Chess Federation (FIDE) was founded. For most countries, it is simply a nice date on the calendar, but for Armenia, chess is an integral part of its national identity. Despite a modest population of just over three million, Armenia regularly ranks among the world’s strongest chess nations, thanks to a sporting and cultural tradition dating back to the Middle Ages.
