Today's headlines: US ready to send aircraft and warships to Taiwan Strait; Japanese minister visits controversial Yasukuni temple; Indonesian Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto runs for president; India: we are not pressured to buy energy from Russia; Naval'nyj founds a union for inmates of the camp where he is imprisoned.
SYRIA-TURKEY
Turkey-linked opponents of Bashar al-Assad launched a series of protests yesterday after the Turkish government called on the conflicting parties to reconcile. The demonstrations took place in Idlib province, which is controlled by pro-Ankara forces and Islamist formations, and Aleppo province.
USA-TAIWAN-CHINA
The Biden administration revealed that U.S. ships and warplanes will pass through the Taiwan Strait in the coming weeks. In recent days the sea arm has been the scene of massive Chinese military maneuvers in riposte to the visit of Nancy Pelosi, speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives.
JAPAN
Industry Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura today visited the Yauskuni Shinto temple, which honors war criminals from World War II. The move will provoke inevitable remonstrances from China and South Korea. Chinese and South Koreans see the holy site as a symbol of Japan's past militarism.
INDONESIA
Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto has announced that he will run for president in 2024. The former general, leader of the Gerindra party, has already run in two presidential elections (2014 and 2020), which were won by Joko "Jokowi" Widodo. The current president cannot run for a third term. Other potential challengers are Ganjar Pranowo, governor of Central Java, and Anies Baswedan, governor of Jakarta.
INDIA
The Indian government says it has not been pressured by Western countries over its energy purchases from Russia, which has been hit by U.S. and allied sanctions after invading Ukraine. In July, India became the world's top buyer of seaborne Russian oil, surpassing China.
RUSSIA
Oppositionist Aleksej Naval'nyj has founded a union named "Promzona" for inmates of the lager in which he himself is held. It will serve to defend their rights as workers inside the detention camp. The dissident sent the forms he filled out to the prison management of the Melekhovo hard regime camp in the Vladimir region, causing panic among the leaders.
AZERBAIGIAN
The Sumqayit-based "4Maps Bilgi Technologies" company in Azerbaijan, which depends on the Baku Economy Ministry's Development Agency, has begun reformulating Google's (and other companies') maps regarding Nagorno Karabakh. The breakaway region is now considered permanently taken over, although it is partly controlled by Armenian separatists.