Today's headlines: Chinese expert calls for birth incentives to boost the economy; calls for the release of Afghan women's rights activist Parisa Mubariz, arrested by the Taliban; Burmese military regime facilitates the issuing of gun permits to citizens 'loyal' to the state; Russian Orthodox magazine calls for the excommunication of 300 priests who called for an end to the war in Ukraine.
TURKEY - SYRIA
This morning, rescuers extracted Sibel Kaya, a 40-year-old woman from Gaziantep province, alive from the rubble. In the meantime, the official death toll in Turkey and Syria continues to rise, exceeding 33,000, although some sources already speak of 40,000. The head of the UN crisis unit Martin Griffiths speculates a final tally of over 50,000.
CHINA
Beijing must develop birth incentives and family support to increase the birth rate, the decline in which threatens the economy. This was said by Wang Pei'an, director of the China Family Association, speaking at the third Development Forum. Employment, health, housing and social security are the areas of focus. In 2022, the population decreased for the first time in 60 years.
AFGHANISTAN
The UN Special Rapporteur for Afghanistan, Richard Bennett, called for the immediate and unconditional release of women's rights activist Parisa Mubariz. The feminist leader, originally from the northern province of Takhar, had been arrested by the Taliban on 11 February, following a demonstration by women in the area to demand the right to education and work.
PAKISTAN
A mob broke into a police barracks and lynched a man, under arrest for an alleged blasphemy case. The victim was Muhammad Waris, a young man in his 20s, who was jailed for desecrating the Koran in Nankana Sahib, Punjab province. The assailants beat the suspect to death and later tried to burn his body.
MYANMAR
The military regime in Myanmar will allow civilians 'loyal to the state' to apply for licences to carry arms. The document, relaunched by the media, establishes new criteria for obtaining the licence. Experts and critics fear it will increase violence by groups loyal to the ruling junta and exacerbate already bloody and daily clashes between the military and rebel or pro-democracy movements.
RUSSIA
The popular Russian Orthodox magazine Fire of Grace published several articles calling for the excommunication of some 300 priests of the Moscow Patriarchate who, in March 2022. had signed an appeal for an end to the war in Ukraine. They were branded as 'liberal priests traitors to the Fatherland, who stabbed the Russian army in the back by supporting the Nazis'.
KAZAKHSTAN
Journalists in Kazakhstan have started a collection of signatures against the new information law under discussion in the Astana parliament. According to critics, the text is completely different from the one discussed with representatives of the press and society, and ends up leaving any regulatory function to the arbitrariness of state bodies.