Vietnam marks 80th anniversary with its largest military parade

Today's headlines: arrests and missing persons in Indonesia following protests. Kim Jong Un is in China for the first international multilateral meeting since 2011. Israel has authorised another 100,000 settlers to own private firearms. 5G has arrived in Bangladesh.

VIETNAM

Vietnam is celebrating the 80th anniversary of its declaration of independence from colonial rule today with the largest military parade in decades, cash handouts and the release of nearly 14,000 prisoners. Tens of thousands of people crowded the streets of Hanoi in a strong show of nationalism. ‘We will be unwavering in our commitment to defend independence, freedom, sovereignty and territorial integrity,’ said Vietnam Communist Party Secretary To Lam.

INDONESIA

At least 20 people are missing after violent protests broke out in Indonesia over privileges granted to parliamentarians. This was reported by the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (KontraS), a human rights group. In addition to the deaths of six people, ‘after the search and verification process, 20 people remain missing,’ it said in a statement. Police have arrested 1,240 people in the Jakarta protests since 25 August.

NORTH KOREA - CHINA

Kim Jong Un has crossed the border into China, where he will attend a military parade in the capital Beijing tomorrow in Tiananmen Square to mark the 80th anniversary of victory in World War II and Japan's surrender. Kim will stand side by side with Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin and other world leaders in his first multilateral international meeting since coming to power in 2011.

ISRAEL - PALESTINE

Israeli Minister Ben Gvir has approved the expansion of his controversial policy of arming settlers, authorising approximately 100,000 additional settlers to obtain licences for private firearms. According to observers, this move will further fuel settler violence in the occupied Palestinian territories. The policy has the full support of the government, which favours settler attacks.

BANGLADESH

Bangladesh has entered the 5G era: yesterday, the country's two main mobile operators announced the limited launch of the technology, with the aim of offering ultra-fast internet, low latency, improved connectivity and support for smart services and digital innovation. Robi Axiata, the country's second largest operator, was the first to launch the service in seven areas of Dhaka, Chattogram and Sylhet yesterday afternoon.

ARMENIA - TURKEY

The leaders of Armenia and Turkey, Nikol Pašinyan and Recep Tayyip Erdogan, also met at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit, noting the “important steps taken towards stability and peace in the region” and affirming the need to “continue to adopt constructive approaches to strengthen the atmosphere of mutual trust and development of regional communications”, committing to continue the dialogue.

RUSSIA - UKRAINE

General Valery Gerasimov, Chief of Staff of the Russian Army, issued a statement through the Ministry of Defence, stating that ‘Russia is continuing its special operation in Ukraine,’ advancing on the Donbass front even in the autumn, after ‘the positive results of the spring-summer campaign,’ in which the Ukrainians defended some positions ‘only with enormous losses,’ without mentioning Russian losses.

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