A 62-year-old man was found guilty of hurting religious feelings and harassing a woman. A Court ruled that attacks against places of worship threaten the city-state’s social and religious harmony. This is the latest in a series of cases prosecuted for offences against various communities.
Increasingly frequent heatwaves are reducing the income and increasing the expenses of millions of informal workers. To tackle this crisis, parametric insurance is becoming more widespread, offering automatic compensation when temperatures exceed certain pre-set thresholds.
The judges have ruled that disclosing the sex of the unborn child is a discriminatory and harmful practice, as well as being unconstitutional. The ruling comes at a time when the scourge of selective abortion, leading to the elimination of female foetuses, remains widespread. In the country, although abortions are formally permitted only to save the mother’s life, 1.58 million are performed annually, putting the health of many mothers at risk as well.
Speaking at a seminar organised in Samarkand by the Asian Development Bank, the Deputy Minister of Transport from Tashkent recalled how, during the Soviet era, Central Asia was part of a single country where logistics chains functioned effectively. The challenge now is to overcome today’s borders through new digital infrastructure.
Today’s headlines: A Jordanian priest popular among young Palestinians has been expelled by Israel from the West Bank; The Cambodian Parliament has approved the introduction of compulsory military service for men aged between 18 and 25; In Thailand, the largest seizure of smuggled ivory in recent years; The Georgian Orthodox Church has elected the new Patriarch Sio III.
Iran accuses Prime Minister-designate al-Zaidi of being too close to US positions. Iraqi officials say Tehran is trying to exercise a veto and pressure Iraqi Shias. A visit by US officials is expected to oversee the formation of the new Iraqi cabinet. Israel is rumoured to have set up a secret base in the west of the country.
