TIBET – CHINA – NEPAL
Rescue workers, officials and residents in Tibet held memorial services yesterday for the victims of the devastating flood on 26 August on the border with Nepal. Updated official figures put the death toll at 16 on the Chinese side, with a further 546 people missing.
Added to these are at least 1,114 deaths in Nepal (and 3,916 missing), bringing the total number of people killed to 1,130, in addition to 4,462 missing.
Across the border, following days of searching through shelters and mortuaries, many Nepalese families held symbolic funeral ceremonies yesterday to “set the souls free” of their missing loved ones, of whom there is still no definite news. Meanwhile, Tibetans in exile and activist groups accuse China of grossly underestimating the death toll; Beijing responded immediately, rejecting the criticism and branding it as “malicious defamation and sensationalism”.
ISRAEL – PALESTINE
The situation regarding Christian schools in Jerusalem has been resolved in a short space of time. In recent days, these schools had “frozen” the start of the academic year by closing their doors in protest against Israel’s suspension of permits for teachers and non-teaching staff. Following extensive efforts by both sides, the Israeli authorities have in fact renewed the permits for the 70 teachers and school staff from the West Bank. Consequently, the decision has been taken to resume the 2026/27 academic year from today, thereby ensuring regular lessons for thousands of pupils.
HONG KONG
Hong Kong’s state schools have recorded a record cut of 126 first-year primary school classes for the 2026/27 school year, due to the gradual decline in the student population. This figure is causing concern amongst experts, although some industry professionals warn that ‘the worst is yet to come’. According to figures provided by the Committee on Home-School Cooperation, the total number of Year 1 classes in state schools has fallen from 1,558 in 2025–26 to 1,432 in the coming academic year, representing an 8 per cent decrease.
AFGHANISTAN
Two very young girls, aged just six and eight, were forced to marry men aged 60 and 80 in exchange for money for their families in Helmand province, in southern Afghanistan. This has been reported by local sources – confirmed by local Taliban authorities – highlighting the sharp rise in the phenomenon of ‘child brides’ and child marriages across the country.
In the first case, the six-year-old girl married a 60-year-old man for 200,000 Pakistani rupees (approximately $720) in Lashkar Gah, the provincial capital. The girl’s father confirmed that he had arranged the marriage in exchange for the payment. In a separate incident in Lashkar Gah two days earlier, an eight-year-old girl was married to an 80-year-old man in exchange for a ‘large sum of money’. Local Taliban authorities said they had annulled the marriages after learning of the incidents.
TURKEY
Turkey is on the hunt for rare earth elements (REEs): over two million square metres of land, including 258 properties, are to be urgently expropriated in the districts of Sivrihisar and Beylikova in Eskişehir, in the north-west of the country, for this purpose. The Presidency announced this by publishing the decision in the Official Gazette. The state-owned mining company Eti Maden will manage the operational area, which is to be expropriated for Group 4 minerals, including thorium, barite, fluorite and REEs. The vast majority of the 258 expropriated properties are arable fields, but there are also orchards and livestock enclosures. Open-cast mines, tailings dams and waste rock disposal sites will be built on the sites.
THAILAND
Bangkok intends to crack down on residence permits, halving the duration of visa-free stays for tourists from dozens of countries and territories to 30 days from 15 September. Tourism is vital to the country’s economy, but the authorities also intend to introduce regulations to curb crime involving foreign nationals. A series of recent arrests has involved foreign nationals accused of drug offences, sex trafficking and operating businesses such as hotels and schools without the proper licences. Under the current scheme, travellers from more than 90 countries and territories – including the Schengen Area comprising 29 European nations, China, India, the United States and several South American countries – can visit for up to 60 days without a visa.
RUSSIA – CHINA – INDIA
China has steadily increased its oil purchases from Russia, developed its gas sector and participated in major energy projects. India, whilst having long been a relatively marginal player in Russia’s energy supply structure, has rapidly increased its imports of Russian oil. By 2025, China and India together accounted for around 80 per cent of Russia’s oil exports, having achieved this status through different and constantly evolving pathways.
KYRGYZSTAN
Renaming Molodaja Gvardija Street (‘Young Guard’, a Soviet term) in Bishkek in honour of Imanaly Ajdarbekov, a great Kyrgyz revolutionary, is not merely seen as a cosmetic change to maps, but as a ‘fundamental step towards restoring historical justice’.
According to Agil Gakhramanov, the capital is freeing itself from the shackles of foreign ideology by restoring the true names of its national heroes, rather than ‘the mythical figures from the Kremlin’s textbooks’.
