Today'so headlines: International Monetary Fund forecasts Taiwan will surpass South Korea and Japan in GDP per capita; Coal mine explosion in Turkey leaves at least 25 dead; from Nov. 1 seat belts mandatory in India; Kerč bridge between Crimea and Russia, will remain unusable until July 2023.
IRAN
In Iran massive new protests in the wave that began with the killing of Mahsa Amini have been called for today, on a day that activists have called "the beginning of the end." For his part, the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, issued a harsh new warning to the protesters in an address on state television: "The seedling [of the Islamic Republic] is now a mighty tree and no one should think they can uproot it," he said.
TURKEY
An explosion inside a coal mine in northern Turkey killed at least 25 people. The explosion occurred yesterday at the state-owned TTK Amasra Muessese Mudurlugu mine in the town of Amasra in the Black Sea coastal province of Bartin. Rescuers are still trying to bring dozens of other people trapped in the mine to the surface.
TAIWAN
The International Monetary Fund estimates that Taiwan could record the highest GDP per capita in East Asia by the end of 2022, surpassing both South Korea and Japan. It would be the first overtaking South Korea since 2003 and the first ever over Japan. Supporting Taiwan's growth is semiconductor production.
JAPAN
The Japanese government has approved the cancellation of a law stating that pregnant women upon divorce must wait 100 days before remarrying. The law, which has been in place for more than a century, does not apply to men and was originally intended as a way to help identify the father. Critics have argued for the withdrawal of the 1896 law-which until the 2016 revision prevented remarriage for six months-calling it outdated and discriminatory.
INDIA
Police in Mumbai have announced that starting Nov. 1 it will be mandatory for all car passengers to wear seat belts. According to data from the National Criminal Records Bureau, about 150,000 people die on Indian roads each year. The move comes a month after former Tata chairman Cyrus Mistry and a passenger traveling with him died in an accident in which their car slammed into a divider.
RUSSIA-UKRAINE
Despite proclamations of rapid reconstruction, the Kerč bridge between Crimea and Russia, damaged in the Oct. 8 attack, will not be restored until July 2023, according to Russian authorities who approved the project and contracted companies for the work. Until then, the bridge will be almost totally unusable for transportation.
ARMENIA-AZERBAIJAN
According to Armenia's Security Council Secretary Armen Grigoryan, "there is an agreement to sign a peace treaty with Azerbaijan by the end of the year, including border demarcation." He said this on television and was also confirmed by his U.S. counterpart Jake Sullivan, who participated in the negotiations.