Syria has rejoined the Arab League

Today's headlines: tense calm after violent clashes in Manipur that left 58 people dead; Record temperatures in Vietnam; Security agreements between China, Pakistan and Afghanistan to boost trade, while Turkmenistan sends liquid gas to Islamabad; 20 Indonesian victims of human trafficking recovered in Myanmar.

SYRIA

After more than a decade, Syria rejoined the Arab League. It had been expelled in 2011 following the bloody repression of protests that started the civil war. The organisation's secretary general, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, said that this is the beginning of a process to resolve the Syrian crisis, which will be 'gradual'. At least 300,000 civilians have been killed during the conflict and 100,000 have disappeared or been imprisoned.

INDIA

While the violence has stopped, the situation in the Indian state of Manipur, epicentre of serious ethnic clashes in recent days, remains tense. The death toll has risen to 58, while tens of thousands are internally displaced. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court has announced that it will hear appeals starting today. Violence broke out between indigenous tribes (mostly Christian) and the majority Meitei community, which had asked to be included in the Scheduled Tribes.

CHINA - AFGHANISTAN - PAKISTAN

At a meeting of foreign ministers in Islamabad, the three countries pledged to strengthen security and counter-terrorism cooperation. China, which has so far invested billions of dollars in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, could also invest in Afghanistan's mineral reserves of copper and lithium.

INDONESIA

The Indonesian authorities rescued 20 victims of human trafficking from Myawaddy district in Myanmar, where fighting between the coup army and resistance groups has intensified. Thanks to the work of the embassies, the Indonesian nationals, who were forced to work in online scams, were transferred to Thailand.

VIETNAM

A record temperature of 44.1 degrees was recorded in Vietnam. Farmers explained that the rising temperatures force them to start work in the fields very early in the morning because then the weather becomes unbearable. The city of Danang, in the central regions, asked the Ministries of Industry and Electricity of Vietnam to 'cooperate to effectively deal with the heat, possible drought, and lack of water'.

KAZAKHSTAN

The court in Astana sentenced Gulmira Satybalda, ex-wife of Kayrat Satybalda, nephew of the former President of Kazakhstan Nazarbaev, to seven years' imprisonment for abuse of power and kidnapping, removing all state honours received by her father-in-law, with the obligation to compensate her for the material and psychological damage inflicted on the victims.

TURKMENISTAN - PAKISTAN

Turkmenistan has started to supply Pakistan with liquid gas, passing through the territory of Afghanistan, without specifying the costs of the operation, as reported by Afghan newspapers such as The Kabul Times, whereby the gas passes through the mountains of Kandahar, with great benefits for Kabul as well, as stated by the head of the Mokhmand Chamber of Commerce.

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