Sudden death at 68 for former Chinese Premier Li Keqiang

Today's news: among the struggling hospitals in Gaza is one funded by Indonesia; From 31 January Malaysia will have a new king; Flower rentals for 'Instagrammable' photos are increasingly popular in Vietnam; India will probably not sign a pact to reduce emissions from cooling systems; In Japan two Tepco employees hospitalised after coming into contact with radioactive water from Fukushima.

CHINA

Former Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang has died at the age of 68 from a heart attack. An economist, many thought that he would become president in place of Xi Jinping, but he instead held the second highest office in the country. In recent years, however, he had been isolated by Chinese officials loyal to Xi: "Li's death means the loss of a prominent moderating voice at the highest levels of the Chinese Communist Party, with no one able to take his place." , said Ian Chong of the Carnegie China think tank.

MALAYSIA

The Sultan of Johor, Ibrahim Ismail, will be the new king of Malaysia starting from 31 January 2024. The announcement was made this morning in a statement released by the Keeper of the Royal Seal, Syed Danial Syed Ahmad, after the nine rulers of country met at the Conference of Rulers to vote on who among them will be the next head of state for the next five years.

GAZA – SOUTH EAST ASIA

An Indonesian-built hospital in the Gaza Strip has become one of the last without electricity. Humanitarian workers have been forced in recent days to operate in the dark and suspend some services. The Indonesian hospital had been financed among others by the Islamic group Muhammadiyah. Meanwhile, the Israeli government has confirmed that among the 220 Hamas hostages there are 54 Thai citizens, mostly migrant workers in the agricultural sector of the kibbutzim.

VIETNAM

The sellers who have been working on bicycles loaded with colorful flowers for many years in the capital of Vietnam are expanding their business thanks to the presence of tourists who use their bouquets of flowers for "instagrammable" photographic shots. Originally women, recognizable by their traditional hats, transported flowers grown in rural areas to Hanoi. Today, thanks to the popularity of social media, many people are owning their own photographers and renting bouquets.

INDIA

India is unlikely to sign up to a global commitment to reduce emissions related to cooling systems backed by COP28 hosted by the United Arab Emirates next month, sources said. The commitment would be to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by at least 68% compared to 2022 levels by 2050. Indian officials have said that Delhi is not willing to adopt targets higher than those set in 1992 under the Multilateral Protocol of Montreal.

JAPAN

Two men have been hospitalized after being exposed to radioactive liquid from the Fukushima nuclear power plant while cleaning a filter plant. The two workers, one in his 20s and the other in his 40s, are employees of a partner company of Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc. and were admitted to Fukushima Medical University Hospital to be decontaminated and placed under observation, although they have no visible injuries or complaints of health problems.

RUSSIA - UKRAINE

The Russian administrations of the occupied territories of Ukraine insist on the forced militarization of local children and young people, as the American Institute for War Research (ISW) writes. On October 25, 12 primary school pupils in Skadovka took an oath of allegiance “to strengthening the greatness of the Russian state,” becoming cadets.

GEORGIA - ARMENIA

Prime Minister Nikol Pašinyan went on a working visit to Georgia, where he presented the charter of Armenia's "territorial integrity" with the indication of all the new road and railway communication routes, the so-called "Crossroad of Peace" , to help open all the "peace corridors" in the Caucasus region, including that of Lačin.

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