CHINA-INDIA
The week gets underway today in New York with high-profile speeches at the UN General Assembly. Around 130 heads of state and government are scheduled to address the assembly in the UN General Assembly Hall. Neither Chinese President Xi Jinping nor Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi are among them this year. It is noteworthy that the People’s Republic has chosen to send Vice-President Han Zheng, despite the session coinciding with Xi Jinping’s visit to the United States from 23 to 25 September. India, meanwhile, will be represented by Foreign Minister Jaishankar.
INDIA
In a fresh outbreak of violence in Manipur, a region ravaged by ethnic conflict, unidentified individuals shot dead a Naga teenager in Tamenglong district, according to reports by the Press Trust of India. The 17-year-old boy was walking alone from the village of Upper Nkou towards the town of Tamei when he was attacked at around 10.30 am yesterday morning. Since clashes broke out between the Naga and Kuki communities in February, more than 40 people have lost their lives in the state governed by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). This latest incident comes less than a week after the deaths of two Kuki women, who were shot dead.
PAKISTAN
The police have arrested Aleema Khan, sister of the former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, who is currently in prison, at her home in Lahore, as reported on Sunday by a spokesperson for the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf in Punjab, ahead of a protest march organised by the party for 27 September. A statement issued by the Lahore District Administration announced that the woman had been detained and remanded in custody for 30 days. The District Administration cited a “serious threat to public safety”.
SINGAPORE
The Online Safety Commission (OSC) has received over 500 reports of online harm in two months since its launch. Almost a fifth of the reports concerned victims aged 18 or under, the youngest of whom was a 7-year-old girl who had been the victim of doxing. The agency began operations on 29 June to address victims’ frustrations caused by the slow responses from platforms, granting it the legal authority to compel platforms and administrators to remove harmful content.
SAUDI ARABIA – YEMEN
Media outlets close to the Houthis are reporting air strikes by the United States, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates against residential neighbourhoods and refugee camps, which are said to have caused dozens of deaths and injuries in Yemen, including children and women.
The air strike in the Al-Sabeen district of the capital, Sana’a, reportedly destroyed three homes and damaged others. Yesterday, the Ministry of Health and the Environment confirmed the deaths of five members of the same family in the Al-Hazm district, Al-Jawf province.
ARMENIA – CHINA
Li Qiang, Premier of the State Council of China, sent a message of congratulations to Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan to mark the 35th anniversary of the republic’s independence, stating that China and Armenia are “strategic partners” and that cooperation within the framework of the joint construction of the Belt and Road initiative is developing actively and substantively, and therefore “ we are ready to work together with you to deepen and effectively implement mutually beneficial cooperation between the two countries”.
UZBEKISTAN
The President of Uzbekistan, Shavkat Mirziyoyev, paid a two-day visit to Karakalpakstan, an autonomous republic within the country, the first such visit since the brutal crackdown on protests in Nukus in July 2022. The President conferred the special rank of general on Amanbaj Orynbayev, Speaker of the local parliament, for “his many years of fruitful work within the internal affairs system, for his contribution to the republic’s overall development and for ensuring the safety of the population”.
