Today's headlines: Hamas has handed over the bodies of three more deceased hostages and Israel has confirmed their identities; Beijing has expelled two more former senior Communist Party officials for corruption; Baghdad has signed an agreement with Ankara for the construction of water infrastructure: According to a report, nearly 300 people were killed in the summer of 2024 in the violence that led to the fall of former Prime Minister Hasina.

AFGHANISTAN

At least 20 people have died and hundreds have been injured in a strong earthquake that struck northern Afghanistan, with the death toll set to rise in the coming hours as rescue teams work to dig through the rubble of collapsed buildings. The quake, measuring 6.3 on the Richter scale and striking at a depth of 28 km, occurred at around 1 a.m. local time near Mazar-e-Sharif, one of the country's largest cities, home to some 500,000 people.

ISRAEL - GAZA

Israel has confirmed the identities of three deceased hostages whose bodies were handed over yesterday by Hamas via the Red Cross in Gaza, as part of the first phase of US President Donald Trump's “peace plan” for the Strip. The remains - all military personnel - belong to Col. Asaf Hamami, 40, Capt. Omer Neutra, 21, and Staff Sergeant Oz Daniel, 19. To date, eight more bodies of Israeli and foreign hostages remain to be recovered. The second phase of the ceasefire agreement remains at a standstill, including the Gaza government, the withdrawal of troops, the disarmament of Hamas and the international patrol force combined with reconstruction.

CHINA

Beijing has expelled two former senior Communist Party government officials for serious violations of discipline and the law. The measures concerned Wang Jianjun, former vice-chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission, and Xu Xianping, former deputy director of the National Development and Reform Commission. According to the charges, Wang and Xu were suspected of accepting bribes, with their cases described as “serious in nature” and having a “malignant influence”.

IRAQ - TURKEY

Yesterday, Baghdad signed an agreement with Ankara to entrust Turkish companies with projects to build water infrastructure, which will be financed by proceeds from oil sales. Last year, the two countries had already signed an agreement on a mechanism for implementing water cooperation agreements. Now, the Iraqi government will set up a committee to evaluate the projects and submit bids.

BANGLADESH

According to a report by Odhikar, a human rights organisation based in Dhaka, nearly 300 people were killed in political violence linked to last year's student protests, which led to the fall of the government led by former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in August 2024. The toll includes about 40 victims of extrajudicial killings, while 153 were lynched.

VIETNAM

Tourists are returning to the ancient Vietnamese town of Hoi An, where residents are still battling mud and debris to clean up the area and reopen the UNESCO site affected by recent floods, which devastated the region and killed at least 35 people. Tourism and services, primarily the sale of accommodation, restaurants and tickets, form the backbone of the economy, contributing two-thirds of income in 2024 with over 4.4 million visitors, including 3.6 million foreigners.

RUSSIA - MIDDLE EAST

The OPEC countries - Saudi Arabia, Russia, the United Arab Emirates, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman, Kazakhstan and Algeria - are agreeing to further increase oil production in December by another 137,000 barrels per day. This increase follows the 2.5% increase in recent months since April. Meanwhile, Russia is pushing for a pause to prevent the price per barrel from falling back to £60, maintaining the current £65 instead.

AZERBAIJAN - PAKISTAN

Pakistani Senate President Yusuf Raza Gilani has declared Islamabad's willingness to invest in the Karabakh region of Azerbaijan, recalling the “high level of economic relations” with Baku. A series of agreements discussed during Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif's recent visit to Azerbaijan, where he met with President Ilham Aliev and signed several memoranda to be put into practice, are being targeted.