MIDDLE EAST WAR
Iranian negotiators were in Doha yesterday for the third day of talks with Qatari mediators. The aim is to reach an agreement that would put an end to the war launched by the United States and Israel against Iran. President Donald Trump stated that the United States would not launch any new attacks against Iran before the mid-term elections on 3 November, and that the talks with Tehran had been productive, but he did not rule out further military action at a later date.
JAPAN – NORTH KOREA
According to an investigation by the Japanese company GMO Internet Group, it was North Korean hackers who carried out a cyberattack against their infrastructure in recent weeks. The Kyodo News agency also reported that five IP addresses identified had previously been used by North Korean hackers. GMO GlobalSign, the group’s subsidiary specialising in authentication services, reported that the personal information of at least 45,000 people held by client companies had been leaked. Japan’s Defence Minister, Shinjiro Koizumi, and his US counterpart, Pete Hegseth, agreed last week to strengthen cooperation against cyber-attacks.
MALAYSIA
Malaysia is seeking to allow the spouses of ‘expats’ to work in the country as well, in an effort to retain highly skilled workers. To obtain a Category 1 work permit – the highest tier in Malaysia’s visa system – an applicant must earn at least 20,000 RM ($4,900) per month; however, the spouses of expats who wish to work in Malaysia generally require a separate work permit sponsored by an employer, which means they must forfeit their dependent family member residence permit. From next year, however, the government plans to allow spouses to work whilst retaining their residence permit for dependent family members.
MYANMAR – THAILAND
The Minister of Labour of the Burmese military junta, Maung Myint, has announced that those who refuse to register at employment centres in Thailand to obtain an identity certificate will be prevented from returning to Myanmar. These threats have been made in response to the decline in the number of Burmese citizens applying for the document. This, in turn, is due to the fact that the regime has introduced a requirement to transfer money as part of the procedure for applying for an identity certificate, leading Burmese workers in Thailand to fear that their remittances will end up funding the regime’s war against armed opposition groups.
INDIA
The authorities in Dhubri district, in the Indian state of Assam, demolished the homes of over 640 Bengali Muslim families during an eviction operation, leaving more than 4,000 people displaced. “The land will be handed over to the industrial department, which has been searching for a suitable site for an industrial park for the past two years,” said Dhubri District Commissioner Dibakar Nath. Most of those displaced are now living with relatives or in makeshift huts along the roadsides under tarpaulins, residents explained. Around two weeks ago, more than 1,100 Muslim families were evicted in the districts of Nagaon, Hojai and Golaghat during a two-day operation.
RUSSIA
An aerial procession carrying the relics of Saint George the Victorious flew over Russian positions in the Liman area, on the front line of the war in Ukraine. The Military Department of the Moscow Patriarchate reported that members of the clergy, holding the relics of Saint George the Victorious, carried out an aerial procession aboard a military helicopter in the area under the jurisdiction of the Zapad task force; a previous similar operation in the same area had taken place in April, and was followed by the Ukrainian ‘Operation Vivaldi’, during which the Kyiv armed forces liberated approximately 277 square kilometres in the Liman area.
GEORGIA
According to the Georgian chapter of Transparency International, 24 Georgian public officials have been identified as directors of 30 companies, in breach of legal provisions. These include, for example, Gyorgy Načkebia, mayor of Martvili; Temur Gasvjani, deputy minister of justice of the Autonomous Republic of Abkhazia; and many other well-known figures. According to the organisation, under current anti-corruption legislation, public service (including the role of director) and the management of a commercial entity are incompatible activities.
