North Asia

Today's headlines: US soldier voluntarily crosses border with North Korea after being convicted by a court in Seoul; New data on false Covid deaths numbers emerge from figures on Zhejiang province cremations; Opium production increases in Afghanistan; Putin strikes deal with Iran to supply electricity from Middle Eastern country.

Today's headlines: Hun Sen blocks Radio Free Asia and other news sites on election eve; Tens of thousands of people evacuated in South China and Vietnam as Typhoon Talim passes through; in New Delhi Yamuna River flooding displaced return to their homes; Ukrainian counteroffensive attacks target Crimea, Moscow is threatens a Wagner mercenary attack on the Suwalki corridor.

Russia's "turn to the East" imposed by Western sanctions is transforming the Russian financial sector, both ideologically and practically with effects that will be long-lasting. All decisions on the matter are now being made in Beijing, which is imposing its planned schemes forcing Moscow to accept the role the Chinese give it in the "yuan world."

Today's headlines: in South Korea the number of victims of monsoon rains rises to 39; China's economy grows, but at a very slow pace and may not reach the minimum target set by the Party; Tensions between Armenia and Azerbaijan flare up again in Nagorno Karabakh; In the Yemeni waters of the Red Sea, the UN ship operation to recover crude oil from an oil tanker begins.

The news of the day: Heavy monsoon rains continue across Asia, with new deaths. In Indonesia, a man was arrested after he was accused by a religious foundation. Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan said that he will create a new party if the one he currently leads is dissolved. In China, a kindergarten teacher was executed. Russia and the United States are vying for ASEAN support.

Former Prime Minister Sergey Kiriyenko – once Yeltsin's heir apparent and a pro-Western liberal now a convert to Putinism – explained to young Russian political scientists that today it is not just a question of conquering land or defending one's own, but of fighting for the "meaning of the world". Meanwhile, Kirill never misses an opportunity to celebrate Alexander Nevsky, the great saint of victories on the Neva.

The northern route via China to Seoul via Mongolia or Southeast Asia has been the only possibility for thousands of asylum seekers. Since the late 1990s, 33,000 have managed to reach South Korea. But the pandemic has tightened the net. And tens of thousands of North Koreans on Chinese territory fear that the reopening of the borders with Beijing is the antechamber to repatriation.

Today's headlines: EU Parliament resolution asking Delhi for 'all necessary measures' to stop the violence in Manipur; Damascus grants the go-ahead for UN vehicles through the Bab al-Hawa crossing for six months; Thai Foreign Minister meets with Aung San Suu Kyi, the first senior foreign official since the democratic leader's arrest; Pyongyang' crackdown on smoking, but only applies to women accused of 'capitalist culture'; Japanese PM in Gulf to discuss energy.

Today's headlines: Tomato crisis erupts in India, prices rise more than sixfold; No students from mainland China in Taiwan universities; The UN Human Rights Council passes Pakistan's motion, desired by Islamic countries, against the burning of the Koran but which risks - according to the West - restricting freedoms; Iran, malnutrition alarm: about 57% do not reach the minimum level of daily calories; Moscow sends homeless people to 'work rehabilitation' centres.

Faced with separatist trends, the head of the agency for ethnic issues in Russia proposes to change the monitoring system. In Russian legislation, and in legal practice, there are no criteria for qualifying unrest and discontent as 'problems between nationalities', which are often downgraded to 'economic disagreements' or 'street clashes'.

Today's headlines: Pyongyang launches 12th ballistic missile of the year after days of threats to the US; Bahrain first nation in the world for calorie consumption, over 4,000 per capita; Chinese naval base in Cambodia will accommodate warships and aircraft carriers; In first, Taiwan military exercises to include the defence of the international airport; After child deaths, Delhi wants to raise drug standards; In rural Russian Far East only 3.2% of homes have hot and drinkable water, heating, electricity.

Today's headlines: appeal by family members and activists in Bangkok against the deportation of Cambodian opponent Thol Samnang; The suicide of a young artist raises the issue of depression in Hong Kong and China; Erdogan's green light for Swedish entry into NATO; At least 29 dead from monsoon rains in northern India; Ancient temples in Japan at risk of dilapidation and vandalism; Moscow propaganda raises accusation of US-backed bio-laboratories in Ukraine.