Today's news: Crowds rush to return to Gaza City but Israeli army does not open check-point; Landslides in Sulawesi cause 18 deaths; Hanoi also wants to establish a demarcation line in the Gulf of Tonkin, in response to China; Kenyan and Ethiopian athletes let fellow Chinese win the Beijing half-marathon.
INDIA-IRAN-ISRAEL
As international diplomacy debates Israel's possible reaction to the drones and missiles launched by Iran on Saturday night, India's Foreign Minister S Jaishankar said yesterday that he had spoken to his Iranian counterpart H Amirabdollahian regarding the release of 17 Indian personnel of the crew of the MSC Aries seized by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards near the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday. The crew of the ship - led by an Indian commander and associated with Israeli billionaire Eyal Ofer's Zodiac Group - also includes four Filipinos, two Pakistanis, a Russian and an Estonian.
GAZA
Thousands of Palestinians flocked to the coastal road north of the Gaza Strip yesterday after hearing that some people had managed to cross a closed checkpoint into Gaza City, although Israel denied it was open. An AFP reporter saw mothers holding their children's hands and families piling into donkey carts with their luggage during the journey. But the Israeli army called the reports of the opening of the route "untrue". The return of thousands of people to Gaza City is one of the cruxes of the ceasefire and hostage release negotiations that have stalled in Cairo.
INDONESIA
Landslides over the weekend on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi killed at least 18 people, while two are still missing. Landslides, triggered by high intensity rains, hit two villages in the Tana Toraja region of South Sulawesi, destroying four houses.
VIETNAM-CHINA
Authorities in Hanoi are considering the possibility of creating a line demarcating Vietnamese territory in the Gulf of Tonkin, Radio Free Asia has learned. Last March 1, Beijing announced a similar move in the northern part of this gulf. So far in the area neither of the two countries had registered any reference lines to measure the extent of the territorial sea and other maritime areas. However, Hanoi and Beijing signed a Delimitation Agreement in 2000 to indicate their respective quotas. The new line announced by China is believed not to immediately affect Vietnam's sovereignty in already clearly delineated waters, but Hanoi is concerned about China's unilateral action.
CHINA
Organizers of the Beijing Half Marathon said they had launched an investigation after videos shared on Chinese social networks appeared to show three African runners deliberately allowing China's He Jie to win the race held yesterday. After the Kenyans Robert Keter and Willy Mnangat, the Ethiopian Dejene Hailu and the home runner He - already winner of the marathon at the Asian Games - had run together for all 21 km of the route, the videos show the three African runners indicating the finish line and apparently motioning for He to go to the front, while they appear to be slowing down.
AFGHANISTAN
The Afghan agency Al Mirsaad has published a video of the interrogation of two young Tajiks, suspected of being ISIS-Khorasan terrorists who were planning to reach a military training camp in Quetta, Pakistan, in which both confess to having been recruited by the 'Isis while they were in Russia, working seasonal work in the Vladimir region.
RUSSIA
The Russian Metropolitan of Crimea Tikhon (Ševkunov) chaired a meeting at the "Chersonesos of Tauride" archaeological park in Simferopol, also acting as president of the Patriarchal Council for Culture, to urge the works of the park wanted by Putin in the place of the baptism of Prince Vladimir, to show everyone “the ancient roots of Rus”.