Bachelet won't publish report on Uyghurs before end of term

Today's headlines: Former UK ambassador, married to Burmese activist, arrested in Myanmar; In Thailand Prayut remains Defence Minister after being suspended from leading the government; In Afghanistan 180 people died in this month's floods; Armenia cedes three more population centres in Nagorno Karabakh to Azerbaijan.

CHINA

UN High Human Rights Commisioner Michelle Bachelet has said the long-awaited report on violations in China's western Xinjiang region may not be published by the end of her term on 31 August. The news has caused consternation among Uyghur advocacy groups. Responding to reporters, Bachelet - who visited Xinjiang in May and was heavily lobbied about the report - said the contributions submitted by the Chinese government had yet to be properly examined.

MYANMAR - GREAT BRITAIN

Myanmar military authorities arrested the former UK ambassador to Myanmar, Vicky Bowman, and her husband Htein Lin, a Burmese artist and former political prisoner. The woman - who was ambassador from 2002 to 2006 and heads the Myanmar Centre for Responsible Business, based in Yangon - was accused of violating visa regulations and her husband of helping her, charges that could carry up to five years in prison.

THAILAND

Former General Prayuth Chan-ocha said he will continue to serve as Defence Minister, despite the Bangkok Constitutional Court suspending him from serving as premier. 'I will continue to do my duty and responsibility as Defence Minister for the people and Thailand every day,' Prayuth wrote on his Twitter account. While the court is considering the appeal on the expiration of his term, Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwan is serving as acting prime minister.

AFGHANISTAN

The Taliban government's Ministry of Disaster Management said that more than 180 people have died in Afghanistan from floods over the past month. The floods have inflicted severe damage on communities in a country already economically on its knees. According to ministry figures, more than 3,000 homes have been destroyed and thousands of hectares of land have been damaged.

INDIA

Only after two weeks later have the Indian government officially taken a stance to condemn the assault on Salman Rushdie, a writer who is a native of Mumbai but has lived abroad for many years, and who was the victim of an assault in the United States on 12 August over the fatwa issued against him for his book 'Satanic Verses'. "India has always stood against violence and extremism. We wish him a speedy recovery," said the Foreign Ministry spokesman.

RUSSIA

Putin signed a decree to increase the composition of the army by 137,000 soldiers to 1.15 million by 1 January 2023. Currently, 150-180 thousand soldiers are deployed in Ukraine, compared to 250 thousand Ukrainians. In the meantime, Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov has ordered to deprive needy families of subsidies and family allowances if their valid male members refuse to participate in military operations in Ukraine.

ARMENIA-AZERBAIGIAN

Armenia has ceded three more population centres in Nagorno Karabakh, in the so-called 'Lačinsk corridor', to Azerbaijan's control: the town of Lačin itself (in Armenian Bedzor) and the villages of Zabukh and Sus, which the Azerbaijani army is to occupy within the week. The inhabitants of these villages have already been evacuated, mostly by burning their houses.

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