Relations between Moscow’s eastern neighbours remain largely in limbo, as they seek to reduce their dependence without severing ties with Russia for good. Meanwhile, in Bishkek, Xi Jinping has, yet again, rejected Putin’s call to unblock the ‘Power of Siberia 2’ gas pipeline project.
The risk of a forced and prolonged drought as a consequence of the Nova Khakovka dam explosion is just the latest of the heavy wounds left on the peninsula by seven years grappling with the Russian-Ukrainian conflict. The harsh repression of the Tatars, the collapse of tourism, and the trenches and fortifications that have stripped farmers of their land among the consequences of the "mobilization."
Today's headlines: in Japan military opens fire on instructors, at least two dead and one wounded. Riyadh draws up $20 billion investment plan in food industry. Tens of thousands evacuated between India and Pakistan for Cyclone Biparjov, already seven casualties. Istanbul, doctors on alert for measles outbreak: first casualties among children. Taipei issues defense manual to "distinguish" Chinese soldiers from Taiwanese.
Today's headlines: Afghan Taliban against music and dancing at weddings; Burmese junta shuts down oil wells in Magway, over 300,000 workers at risk, Beijing studies a new "water network" against drought, Holland and Canada want to try Damascus in the International Court for torture; Bhutan sets its sights on Bitcoin and cryptocurrency to build a 600-megawatt power plant; Tehran ready to build an assault drone factory in Russia.
Demonstrations against the government, which President Maia Sandu accuses of being directly inspired by the Kremlin, have been going on in Chisinau since September. With Moscow's rejection of gas, inflation in the country has reached 33%. A profile of the young Tel Aviv-born oligarch who with his own party from abroad (due to a conviction for fraud) pulls the strings of the opposition.
Today's headlines: Honduras inaugurates Chinese embassy after breaking relations with Taiwan; An Indian travels from Kerala to Mecca on foot on Hajj pilgrimage, the major pillar of Islam; South Korean police arrest 77 people for espionage, including abroad; Several people killed in two separate shootings in central Vietnam, police stations targeted; Heavy rains in Pakistan kill 27 people; Marriages collapse in China; Tajikistan's largest mosque inaugurated in Dushanbe, with the help of Qatar.
Francis seeks to build bridges jwhile the 'piecemeal third world war' destroys them, raising walls and digging trenches or even drowning towns and cities under the flood of war. The initiative entrusted to Card. Zuppi is also an excellent 'cover' for the many humanitarian efforts of all the institutions of the Catholic Church in Ukraine and Russia. And between Rome, Moscow and Kiev, a new chapter in a long history opens.
Today's headlines: South Korea is racing to harvest salt and seafood ahead of the release of contaminated water from Fukushima; Isis claims the mosque bombing in northern Afghanistan; An indigenous community in Indonesia against a hyper-connected world calls for an internet blackout; 11% of Indians suffer from diabetes, a population at risk of cardiovascular disease and organ complications; Russian officials and politicians prefer the frontline to trials for corruption and fraud.
5 people including "Eldik Keneš" party leader Rosa Nurmatova, known as a pro-Russian activist arrested. Accusers denounce a "hybrid" action by the Kremlin, which fears Kyrgyzstan's excessive openness to cooperation with Westerners. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov: "worrying news that we are following closely."
Today's headlines: Tension between India and Canada over a demonstration where Sikhs "celebrated" Indira Gandhi's assassination; Skyscrapers at risk in Tianjin, evacuated nearly 4,000 people; Minister Shanmugaratnam runs for president of Singapore; New ultimatum for monks linked to the Moscow Patriarchate still in the Kiev Lavra Monastery.
The Russian government has earmarked 60 million roubles to produce copies of reproductions of Christ, the Virgin Mary and saints for the cities located between Donetsk and Mariupol, the strategic control points of the area that flows into the Sea of Azov. The Rublev Museum's exhibition - which has already been staged in many Russian cities over the past years - now becomes the 'frontline exhibition'.
Today's Headlines: Record rise in university fees in China; Australia's most decorated soldier in the storm for abuse and murder in Afghanistan; Venezuelan President Maduro in Saudi Arabia; Rublev's Trinity icon in the Church of the Holy Saviour in Moscow.
Mass arrests of Dušanbe workers and students have been reported from various Russian regions in recent weeks: checks and searches for no apparent reason and also numerous acts of violence.
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