The agreement on the repair of Soviet-made weapons came into effect this summer. Kabul is now one of the few opportunities for Russia to expand its influence abroad, with Tatarstan serving as a channel for economic and cultural cooperation.
Today's news: at least 42 people have died in floods in the Indian Himalayas. The Myanmar High Court dismissed appeals of six corruption convictions against Aung San Suu Kyi. Over 43 million children internally displaced in Asian nations due to climate change. Islamabad wants to expel all illegal immigrants, primarily Afghans, by 1 November. Aiea task force will visit the Fukushima plant at the end of the month, the first time since the start of spill operations. Russian coal export prices increased by 14% in September.
The president gave a new keynote address to the plenary of the 20th Club Valdaj, one of the 'ideological' venues. To 'intellectuals' the invitation to build a 'new world'. The evocation of the axis with China, the Arab world and India against the West, whose support for Ukraine is becoming uncertain. The 'synodality' (sobornost) that sums up Putin's justifications for the conflict.
Today's news: Hong Kong man accused of disseminating 'seditious' children's books is jailed for four months. Arrests for journalists critical of Modi accused of spreading 'Chinese propaganda'. The city of Sapporo withdraws from the 2030 Winter Olympics bid. The Mekong Delta is in danger of running out of sand.
Among the Central Asian countries, Kyrgyzstan is becoming the preferred route for Moscow's entrepreneurs to circumvent the sanctions imposed for the conflict in Ukraine. The customs union with Russia, the ease of banking transactions, and the availability of cheap labour are among the factors encouraging business relocation to Bishkek. Also looking at new trade routes to the East.
Assembly of the igumens and igumene of the Russian Orthodox Church underway in Moscow. The representatives of the Ukrainian monasteries were absent. Metropolitan of Nizhny Novgorod Georgij: "Even if the enemy of mankind tries to divide us, we will soon live as before according to the traditions of our fathers".
Today's news: India's Bihar state released a caste census that generated controversy. The Chinese military released a cartoon alluding to the "reunification" of Taiwan. The air in Malaysia is so polluted that the government wants to try to make it rain. Approval rating for Philippine President Marcos drops. A match between teams from Saudi Arabia and Iran cancelled over a statue of General Soleimani. Turkmen will be studied in Japan.
Susanna Parkkinen, a girl from the Baltic region of Ingria, decided to open a museum of the diaspora of her native people in a small village in Finland. "I'm not doing it because I have separatist tendencies; we never felt part of the Soviet or Russian world. I just want to go back to my roots."
The instability of the rouble is also putting the economies of Central Asian countries in serious difficulty. In recent days, Kazakh President Tokaev replaced the central bank governor who had allowed the local currency to be devalued. Kazakhstan is ready to help Russia, but not to end up in the abyss with it.
Today's news: Malaria returns to Malaysia worrying health experts; Indonesia's first high-speed train is inaugurated; In South Korea over two-thirds of women in favour of freezing eggs; Japan uses robot wolves against bears; After the Ankara bombing Turkey strikes Kurdish targets in Iraq.
Russia's problem is the uncertainty of its position, an unresolved fluidity between East and West, North and South. It is unable to find a true unity, as evinced by its institutions, but also as seen in the diatribes among Soviet dissidents of old and today's pacifists.
Today's news: Xi Jinping also changes finance minister, who will have to deal with the 'hidden debts' of local governments; US soldier Travis KIng freed by Pyongyang now in custody: Turkish Court of Appeal confirms life sentence for Osman Kavala; Decree officially dissolving the autonomous republic of Nagorno Karabakh signed; Putin's Russia also pulls out of the Rio Climate Change Accords.
They cause serious inconvenience to ordinary people in Russia, but do not bother the armed forces much because of the arms production that continues thanks to the Serniya, a smuggling network linked to the FSB security services. The poor controls on financial transactions. The business with Moscow that goes on even in the West.
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