In the midst of civil war the Burmese regime launches a pilot census

Today's news: Malaria returns to Malaysia worrying health experts; Indonesia's first high-speed train is inaugurated; In South Korea over two-thirds of women in favour of freezing eggs; Japan uses robot wolves against bears; After the Ankara bombing Turkey strikes Kurdish targets in Iraq.

MYANMAR

Myanmar's military regime has announced that it has launched a pilot census in 20 municipalities, without specifying which ones, in view of possible elections in 2024. This is a move that observers say will serve to increase control of the opposition and could affect thousands of civil servants, doctors and teachers who did not return to work in protest after the February 2021 coup that started a civil war. The military junta has acknowledged that it does not control some areas of the country.

MALAYSIA

A surge in the number of malaria cases is causing concern among health experts in Malaysia, which had not recorded any infections from 2018 to 2021. This year, however, the over 400 cases of 2022 have already been exceeded: in June 215 cases were recorded in Kelantan and 840 cases in Sabah, while the state of Terengganu reported 26 cases. According to experts, rising temperatures and deforestation are to blame.

INDONESIA – CHINA

This morning the Indonesian president, Joko Widodo, inaugurated the country's first high-speed train, built with aid from China and which connects the capital Jakarta to the city of Bandung. The project, which cost .3 billion but was expected to cost .5 billion initially, is part of the Belt and Road Initiative. President “Jokowi” hopes to extend the railway in the future to reach major cities such as Kertajati, Yogyakarta, Solo and Surabaya.

JAPAN

Originally designed to keep animals away from farms, the robot wolf “Monster Wolf” has become an ally of the Japanese authorities to chase bears away from urban centers. Bear attacks have increased at an alarming rate, according to experts, due to the abandonment of rural villages: with the disappearance of agricultural land that served as a buffer between bears and humans, the animals have moved into the woods uncultivated closer to cities, getting used to bright lights and loud noises and the presence of humans.

SOUTH KOREA

A financial assistance program to cover the cost of egg freezing, launched by the Seoul Metropolitan Government to combat birthrate, has received considerable interest from unmarried women. According to a survey, 69.8% of unmarried women and 64% of married women expressed their intention to freeze their eggs. The subsidy would cover approximately half of the initial costs.

TURKEY– IRAQ

Kurdish security forces said they carried out a series of attacks in northern Iraq against Kurdish targets in response to a suicide attack on a government building in the capital Ankara by the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), considered a terrorist from Turkey. The army intensified aerial bombardment against Iraqi bases in Gara, Hakurk, Metina and Qandil, hitting caves, shelters and depots.

RUSSIA

In over twenty cities in Russia, commemorative demonstrations were held for the heads of Wagner who died in the plane crash, Yevgeny Prigozhin and Dmitrij Utkin, prompted by the company's social networks who declared October 1st as the Day of Remembrance of the two deceased founders, and suggested also flashmobs against backdrops of landscapes on the Ukrainian border.

TURKMENISTAN - BELARUS

The Turkmen News agency has denounced the network organized by Turkmen students in Belarus, who help people from the Middle East and Central Asia enter Poland illegally for money. Some of them were arrested and repatriated, and Minsk's education minister, Aleksandr Bakhanovič, issued a warning to everyone.

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