Ecumenical Council of Churches says no to banning Moscow Patriarchate

Today's headlines: 6.8 magnitude earthquake hits China; Over 40% disapproval rate for Japanese PM Kishida; Israel publishes new rules for foreigners visiting Palestine; Former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib seeks royal pardon; Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan agree on new internal network across the Caspian.

RUSSIA

The Assembly of the Ecumenical Council of Churches, meeting in Karlsruhe, Germany, refused to put the exclusion of the Orthodox Patriarchate of Moscow to a vote. This had been requested by three participating Churches and a number of high-ranking personalities. The hall greeted this decision with a long applause.

CHINA

A 6.8 magnitude earthquake struck the province of Sichuan at lunchtime. The epicentre was located 180 km from the provincial capital Chengdu. No casualties have been reported so far. In 2013, more than 100 people died from an earthquake in the area.

JAPAN

The unfavourable opinion of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida rose to 41%, the highest since he took office. The public condemnation of his party's (the Liberal Democrats) links to the Unification Church and the decision to offer a state funeral to former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe weigh heavily against him.

ISRAEL-PALESTINE

The Israeli military body for civil affairs in Palestine last night published a list of restrictions imposed on foreigners visiting Palestinian areas in the West Bank. The new rules will come into effect on 20 October; they also include limits on entry for marriage, work, volunteer work, study and teaching purposes.

MALAYSIA

Former PM Najib Razak asked for a royal pardon after his 12-year prison sentence for corruption in the 1MDB case was confirmed. Until the decision of King Abdullah of Pahang, Najib will retain his seat in parliament.

BANGLADESH

According to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, her country is on course for an economic crisis similar to Sri Lanka. Like Colombo, however, Bangladesh has sought loans from international agencies to cope with collapsing foreign exchange reserves and high import costs.

AZERBAIJAN-KAZAKHSTAN

Baku and Nur-Sultan have agreed to lay new fibre optic internet cables across the Caspian Sea. This was revealed by the Kazakh Ministry of Digital Development. The project is worth USD 40 million and covers about 400 kilometres; the telephone company AzerTelecom is involved.

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