Bangladesh has the deadliest dengue outbreak since 2000
Today's news: India's Bihar state released a caste census that generated controversy. The Chinese military released a cartoon alluding to the "reunification" of Taiwan. The air in Malaysia is so polluted that the government wants to try to make it rain. Approval rating for Philippine President Marcos drops. A match between teams from Saudi Arabia and Iran cancelled over a statue of General Soleimani. Turkmen will be studied in Japan.
BANGLADESH
The dengue epidemic in Bangladesh has so far claimed over 1,000 lives and hospitals continue to be very crowded. This year's toll is four times higher than that of 2022 and the deadliest year since 2000. At least 209 thousand infections were recorded during the year. According to experts, rising temperatures combined with longer monsoon seasons provide ideal breeding conditions for mosquitoes, which transmit the disease.
INDIA
Yesterday the government of the northern state of Bihar published caste census data, revealing that disadvantaged groups make up 63% of the population. Hindus make up 82% of the population and Muslims over 17%, while other religions represent around 1%. The local government launched the investigation in January after Delhi announced that it would not conduct a study of this type, while the opposition believes it is important to broaden the pool of those who receive state benefits.
CHINA
The Chinese military has released an animated short film in which a scroll of parchment, split over 300 years ago, is seen being reunited, a scene interpreted as a desire to bring Taiwan under its jurisdiction. The painting in question is called "Villas on the Fuchun Mountains", and around 1600 it was divided into two parts: one is preserved in the provincial museum of Zhejiang, China, while the other is found in the Palace Museum in Taipei, after being was transported to the island by Kuomintang representatives in 1949.
MALAYSIA
Due to the terrible air quality, the Malaysian government has announced that it will close schools and try to make it rain. According to Kuala Lumpur, the air pollution of recent days is caused by fires in Indonesia from palm oil plantations, but Jakarta denies that the smoke has reached Malaysia.
PHILIPPINES
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.'s approval rating has fallen from 80% to 65% due to soaring prices, a recent poll has revealed. Marcos, who is also Minister of Agriculture, has tried to keep inflation under control, the rate of which is over 6%, far from the government's goal of keeping it between 2% and 4%.
SAUDI ARABIA – IRAN
Yesterday an Asian Champions League match was canceled after a Saudi Arabian team refused to leave the locker room in protest against the placement of a statue of General Qassem Soleimani (killed at the beginning of 2020 by the United States) at the entrance to the pitch of the Naghsh-e Jahn stadium, in Esfahan, Iran. Since 2016, matches between the teams of the two countries had taken place on neutral territory to avoid tensions.
RUSSIA - AFRICA
The level of trade between Russia and African countries increased by 43.5% in the first eight months of 2023, for a total of 15.5 billion dollars, according to data from the Ministry of Economic Development in Moscow, explaining that “ in Africa there is a very rich base of resources, but little technology”. The top-5 countries doing business with Russia are made up of Egypt, Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia and Libya, those in the Mediterranean area.
JAPAN - TURKMENISTAN
At the Japanese University of Tsukuba, a study program of Turkmen language and literature was started for a group of over 50 local and foreign students, opened with the visit of the Ashgabat ambassador to Tokyo, Atadury Bajramov, who recited a new poem by National Leader and former student in Tokyo, Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov.
15/07/2023