Israel blocks ship carrying activists bound for Gaza

Today's news: Chinese aircraft carrier Liaoning enters Japan's exclusive economic zone; Thailand and Cambodia move their border troops back to their previous positions; Malaysia has restricted travel for a cartoonist; More than half of mobilised population from one Siberian city killed on Ukraine front.

GAZA – ISRAEL

Israel has blocked and boarded the Madleen, a boat that was heading for the Gaza Strip to deliver food and other essential goods. The boat is operated by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, an organisation that has been trying for some time to break Israel's blockade of the Strip. On board are activist Greta Thunberg and about a dozen other people. Defence Minister Israel Katz said the ship would be taken to the Israeli port of Ashdod, where activists would be shown a video of the Hamas attacks on 7 October.

CHINA – JAPAN

The Chinese aircraft carrier Liaoning was spotted, along with two destroyers and another ship, about 300 kilometres southwest of Minamitori Island, within Japan's exclusive economic zone, the Japanese Ministry of Defence reported. The Liaoning then moved southwest and yesterday conducted landing and take-off exercises with fighter jets and helicopters. This morning, Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba called South Korea's newly elected president, Lee Jae-myung, agreeing to strengthen bilateral ties.

THAILAND – CAMBODIA

The Cambodian defence minister yesterday confirmed that Thailand and Cambodia will return their troops to their border posts after clashes in recent days in which a Cambodian soldier was killed. Cambodia's statement comes after Thai Defence Minister Phumtham Wechayachai said the two countries were in talks to defuse the situation.

MALAYSIA

Fahmi Reza, a cartoonist known for his satirical drawings mocking Malaysian politicians, has promised to sue the government after he was prevented from leaving the country to travel to Singapore. The incident has drawn criticism of Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, who had promised to protect individual freedoms. The cartoonist had already been prevented from entering the state of Sabah in eastern Malaysia at the end of May.

INDIA

Toxic levels at the Deonar landfill in Mumbai are four times higher than the limits allowed by the central authorities, according to a recently published study. The Indian government has long said it plans to relocate residents of the nearby Dharavi slum as part of a redevelopment project involving the Adani Group. According to the plan, some of the slum dwellers will be permanently relocated to the vicinity of the landfill.

RUSSIA – UKRAINE

The small Siberian town of Ust-Kut has set a sad record: more than half of those mobilised for the war in Ukraine have lost their lives (130 out of 238). According to activists, the real figure is even worse, considering the many missing persons who are probably dead. This means that the mortality rate is more than three times higher than the birth rate, similar to several other towns in Siberia.

GEORGIA

The government in Tbilisi is increasingly systematically applying the amendment to the administrative code approved by the Georgian Dream parliament, which introduces the offence of “insulting a public official or state employee” as a tool for repressing all forms of protest, arresting and convicting a growing number of activists and demonstrators, often in their early twenties, several dozen in the last month.