Indonesia: 14 dead in a train disaster

Today’s headlines: Further bombing by the Pakistani army in Afghanistan; Businessman Ali Al Zaidi has been appointed as Iraq’s prime minister following a prolonged deadlock; Report reveals: with borders closed due to the pandemic, North Korea has seen a record number of executions; China blocks Meta’s acquisition of a local artificial intelligence start-up.

INDONESIA

The death toll from a train collision that occurred last night in Bekasi, near the Indonesian capital Jakarta, has risen to 14 dead and 84 injured. The accident, involving a crowded commuter train and a long-distance train, particularly affected a carriage reserved for women: all the victims were women, crushed by the wreckage. According to initial reports, the commuter train struck a taxi on the tracks before being hit by the other train.

AFGHANISTAN-PAKISTAN

Attacks involving mortars and rockets fired from Pakistan into Afghanistan, according to the Taliban government, left four dead and 70 injured yesterday, reigniting tensions between the two countries and jeopardising fragile peace talks. The injured are said to include around 30 students, women and children; the attacks reportedly struck homes and the Syed Jamaluddin Afghani University in Kunar province. Pakistan has rejected the accusations, dismissing them as propaganda and claiming to target only terrorist infrastructure with concrete evidence. Pakistani air raids on Afghan territory at the end of February triggered the most serious clashes in the region in recent years.

IRAQ

The businessman Ali Al Zaidi has been put forward by Iraqi political forces as a compromise candidate for the post of prime minister, in an attempt to end months of political deadlock. The main parliamentary bloc selected him following lengthy negotiations and internal divisions between the current interim Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al Sudani and former Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki. Iraqi President Nizar Amedi has tasked Al Zaidi with forming a government within 30 days, which must secure a vote of confidence in Parliament.

NORTH KOREA

According to a new report by the Transitional Justice Working Group, a Seoul-based NGO, capital punishment in North Korea has risen sharply during the Covid-19 pandemic. Between 2020 and 2024, at least 153 people were executed or sentenced to death, compared with 44 in the previous five years. The most common offences related to religion, superstition and foreign cultural content, such as K-pop and K-drama. After a decline between 2015 and 2019 due to international pressure, executions began to rise again in 2020 following the closure of the borders.

CAMBODIA-CHINA

Dozens of Chinese citizens, waving national flags, protested outside Cambodia’s central bank to demand the unfreezing of accounts held with a financial firm linked to online scams. Some protesters clashed with police, leaving at least two people injured. Accounts on the H-Pay platform have been frozen since December. The former chairman of Huione Group, Li Xiong, has been extradited to China on charges of fraud and gambling. The protesters deny any involvement and are demanding the return of their funds.

CHINA-UNITED STATES

China has cancelled the acquisition of the local artificial intelligence start-up Manus by Meta, fearing the loss of talent and intellectual property to the United States. The decision highlights the competition between the two powers in the advanced technology sector, whilst Washington restricts Chinese access to chips through export controls. The deal, worth over billion, aimed to strengthen Meta’s AI capabilities. Manus had already relocated its headquarters to Singapore to mitigate risks linked to geopolitical tensions.

RUSSIA

A trial is being prepared in Moscow for at least ten people in connection with the ‘Aboriginal Forum’ case, which brings together experts and defenders of the rights of Russia’s indigenous minority peoples. Searches have been carried out in Yakutia, St Petersburg, the Altai region and Kuzbass in Siberia, resulting in the arrest of two activists, Daria Egereva and Natalia Leongardt, who are being held in solitary confinement on charges of “organising terrorist activities”.

AZERBAIJAN-UKRAINE

At the end of his visit to the Azerbaijani city of Gabala, where he met Ilham Aliyev, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy declared his willingness to hold new trilateral peace talks with the US and Russia on Azerbaijani territory, following those in Turkey and Switzerland, and emphasised the importance of the security agreements signed with Aliyev, stating that “for these purposes, the priority today is the development of the defence industry”.