Abe's body arrives in Tokyo

In today's headliones: Sri Lanka imposes a curfew on the capital Colombo; Russia vetoed sending aid to Idlib; Maria Ressa losses first appeal against charges of online defamation; thousands still in need of assistance in Afghanistan after the earthquake.

JAPAN

The body of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has arrived in Tokyo. The assassin who shot the premier yesterday told police that he acted because he bore a grudge against a religious organisation he believed Abe was associated with, but no further information has been released. The incident has raised questions about the security of public figures in Japan. Tomorrow's elections for the upper house are currently confirmed.

SRI LANKA

After firing tear gas and using a water cannon against protesters, police in Colombo yesterday imposed a curfew in the capital. General discontent over the economic crisis has intensified to the extent that new demonstrations are planned for the weekend. The president and the prime minister refuse to resign.

PHILIPPINES

Maria Ressa, last year's Nobel Peace Prize winner and co-founder of the website Rappler, said she had lost her appeal against a conviction for online defamation. Ressa and former colleague Rey Santos Jr face long prison sentences. There are at least seven court cases against the journalist. The ruling comes just days after the Philippine authorities ordered Rappler to shut down.

AFGHANISTAN

Aid is only trickling through to the areas devastated by the magnitude 6 earthquake that shook the southeastern provinces of Afghanistan, killing more than 1,000 people. According to the United Nations, at least 362,000 people are in need of immediate assistance. One local clinic reported having to take in hundreds of people despite having only five beds available.

SYRIA

Russia vetoed a UN Security Council resolution that would have extended aid to the Idlib region of Syria by one year. The authorisation to deliver humanitarian aid across the Syrian-Turkish border, in place since 2014, will expire tomorrow. More than 2.4 million people receive assistance in what is considered a rebel stronghold. Moscow maintains any assistance should be delivered from Damascus across the front line.

RUSSIA

Recruitment campaigns continue in Russia to recruit volunteers to join the Ukrainian invasion forces. Hundreds are conscripted and deployed every week after training for three to seven days. Candidates are promised 300,000 roubles a month (almost 4,000 Euros) and several million in compensation to family members in case of death.

KYRGYZSTAN

Kyrgyz imam Sadybakas Doolov has blammed the rise in meat prices in the country on 'women's short dresses'. Wearing low-cut clothes with wide splits, in his opinion, has meant that 'women's meat is now much cheaper than lamb'.

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