INDONESIA
According to the Indonesian Ministry of Health, since August, around 175,000 people in the country have suffered from respiratory illnesses, whilst the country continues to battle the forest fires that have been raging for weeks. Over 40,000 cases – ranging from coughs and bronchitis to more serious conditions such as pneumonia – involve young children. The forest fires have shrouded parts of the country, as well as neighbouring Malaysia and Singapore, in a blanket of toxic smog, causing air quality indices to plummet to levels ‘harmful to health’.
CHINA – UNITED STATES – TAIWAN
US President Trump gave Chinese President Xi Jinping a rare personal welcome at the airport, kicking off a lavish state visit aimed at easing tensions between the two superpowers on a wide range of issues, from AI to trade and Iran. The US Treasury Secretary announced an extension until 10 January of the trade truce with Beijing, which was due to expire in November. Xi called for cooperation with the United States, according to reports in Beijing’s state media. Yesterday, the Taiwanese government thanked the United States for its support – the most significant international backing, which includes the supply of weapons – saying it would keep communication channels open ahead of the Xi-Trump summit.
PAKISTAN – AFGHANISTAN
A night-time air strike hit the city of Kandahar, in southern Afghanistan, where the supreme leader of the Taliban government is based. The Pakistani Minister of Information stated that his country’s forces had struck 10 targets in Afghanistan which, he claimed, were being used to launch and store drones. Pakistan has reiterated its accusation that its neighbour is allowing “safe havens for terrorists” to exist on its territory. The latest attacks come just days after a deadly bombing carried out by Islamabad’s forces in eastern Afghanistan and almost a week after an attack in northern Pakistan, which left at least 31 people dead.
INDIA
Hundreds of students demonstrated in Delhi to demand greater safety for women, after a teenage girl reported being the victim of a gang rape by three men posing as police officers in a park in the capital this week. The police shot and arrested a suspect. “Our bodies belong to us,” read some placards, whilst others called for the freedom to go out. The assault took place 2 km from Lady Shri Ram (LSR) College, one of the country’s leading women’s colleges.
ISRAEL
The Central Elections Committee has voted in favour of requests to completely exclude the “Joint List” – comprising Balad, Hadash and Ta’al – as well as Mansour Abbas’s Ra’am party from the 27 October election, effectively preventing all parties with an Arab majority from taking part in the elections. The commission’s decisions – taken by a body composed almost entirely of politicians representing Knesset factions – must be approved by the Supreme Court of Justice, which is expected to overturn these bans, given the robust legal grounds required by law to prevent a party from participating in elections. Some politicians have cited alleged support for terrorism and a refusal to recognise Israel as a Jewish state.
RUSSIA
The Russian e-commerce company Wildberries has not yet completed the construction of its logistics centre in Almaty, but the building site is already at the centre of a criminal dispute – a conflict between the contractor and the subcontractor that has escalated into a criminal case, involving a search of the site and the seizure of equipment. The Committee for the Protection of Investors’ Rights has been forced to intervene, as reported by Shyndyk.kz. Plans were announced in August for the construction of two logistics complexes, one in Almaty and one in Astana.
ARMENIA
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has proposed that parliament set up a committee of inquiry into what he described as a “crisis” within the Armenian Apostolic Church, with the potential consequence of legislative changes that could affect the Church’s governance. The Armenian leader has made clear his intention to remove the Catholicos, who is currently on trial alongside several senior prelates. The Government Centre for Public Relations and Information had prepared a report on the crisis within the Church.
