As more protests take place in Iraq over Qurʾān burning, OIC set to meet
Today's news: Local leader marks 26 years since Hong Kong’s return to China by attacking pro-democracy groups and countries that oppose Beijing's rise. After the Taliban, Afghanistan's agriculture and economy are threatened by a locust time bomb. The UN warns that restrictions on life-saving aid by Myanmar’s junta might constitute "war crimes". China could meet renewable targets five years ahead of schedule. North Korea is ready to jail anyone who uses South Korean slang.
IRAQ – SWEDEN
A day after the Swedish embassy in Baghdad was attacked, thousands of people took to the street yesterday in several Iraqi cities after a 37-year-old Iraqi refugee, Salwan Momika, burnt pages of the Qurʾān in Stockholm, an act tolerated by local authorities. Many of the protesters were followers of radical Shia leader Moqtada al-Sadr who, in a statement, called the act an “incitement to hatred”. The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) plans an extraordinary meeting tomorrow in Jeddah to discuss the matter.
HONG KONG
Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee marked the 26th anniversary of the territory’s return to China under its "one nation, two systems" policy, which ended British colonial rule, by saying that "destructive forces" are promoting "soft resistance”. His attack was aimed at Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement, which has been effectively crushed by a controversial national security law. Hong Kong is "largely stable" now, Lee said, but he warned against countries that "oppose" China’s rise.
AFGHANISTAN
After the Taliban, Afghanistan and its impoverished people are threatened by a possible locust invasion, which experts call a time bomb for local farming (and the economy as a whole). For the first time in 20 years, in March swarms of grasshoppers were reported in the north, laying billions of eggs. The insects could destroy up to 1.2 million metric tonnes of wheat, a quarter of the country’s total harvest.
CHINA
China will meet its renewable energy targets five years ahead of schedule. As a result, experts are calling on Chinese authorities to review the country’s continued dependence on coal and to take further steps to protect the environment. Existing policies will double the capacity in solar and wind power and exceed the ambitious goal of 1,200 gigawatts (GW) by 2030.
MYANMAR – UNITED NATIONS
Restrictions and blockades imposed by Myanmar’s military junta on life-saving aid and basic necessities are on the rise and could constitute war crimes – such as degrading treatment, starvation and collective punishment, this according to a UN human rights report, which accuses the military of setting up an “all-encompassing system of control”. Instead, “urgent steps” are needed to respect people's fundamental rights.
KOREA
North Korea has stepped up its repression on the use of the "puppet" language (the Korean spoken in South Korea), punishing anyone in the North caught using southern slang or vocabulary. The measures include forced labour camps and, in extreme cases, the death penalty under the Law on the Protection of Language and Culture.
RUSSIA
Vladimir Legoyda, acting head of the Press Service of the Patriarch of Moscow and all Rus’, has publicly backed a proposal by the Association of Manufacturers of Children's Articles and Toys to replace "representatives of Western mass culture" like Spiderman, Batman and Captain America with great figures of Russian history, people like General Alexander Suvorov and writer Fyodor Dostoevsky.
TURKMENISTAN
Turkmen President Serdar Berdymukhamedov chaired a cabinet meeting to mark the inauguration of the new smart city of Arkadag and the publication of a new book by his father, former president Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, "Continuation of the Meaning of My Life." The former leader did not attend the ceremonies since he is on a pilgrimage to Makkah.
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