An explosion in the Barech market area, among the victims a doctor known for his cancer treatments. The massacre comes after the indiscriminate arrests following the seizure of the Jaffar Express train. Local civil society voices to AsiaNews: ‘The government must find a clear solution to the long-standing demands of the Baloch people’.
Arrested in the province of Tra Vinh on charges of ‘abusing democratic freedoms’. Almost 1.3 million Khmer Krom live in a part of Vietnam that was once south-eastern Cambodia. Activists tell Radio Free Asia: ‘The Vietnamese government wants to prevent the expression of our cultural identity’.
Already three petitions have been filed with the High Court against the controversial law pushed by Israel’s radical right and a prime minister under investigation. The opposition pledges to scarp the law as one of its first acts after the next election. Appeals are made to Israeli President Herzog not to sign the bill. Palestinians take to the streets in Gaza against Hamas.
The Bangladeshi leader starts a four-day visit that is viewed with suspicion in New Delhi at a time when the regional balance of power in South Asia is still shaky after Sheikh Hasina’s ouster. Reducing interest on its loans is Dhaka's most important request to Xi Jinping. Large Chinese investments in solar panel production and other outsourcing opportunities in Bangladesh are other top issues.
With the publication in the Royal Gazette, Thailand becomes the 68th country in the world to ban physical and psychological violence for disciplinary purposes. This comes after years of international and domestic pressure, but cultural resistance among many Thais remains. UNICEF calls on the government to accompany the change with adequate educational measures.
A recent study by an independent commission exposes decades of abuse in international adoption practices, with minors taken from their families and sent abroad by private agencies (which made huge profits) without adequate oversight. Only recently has South Korea taken steps to protect adoptees, and began working with Norway where more than 6,500 children were sent from 1969 to last year.
