Bangladesh: three protest leaders taken from hospital. 4000 arrested

Today's news: 180,000 Gazans flee Khan Younis bombardment; Pakistan reverses decision to stop issuing passports to asylum seekers abroad; The Philippines resupplies its troops after the agreement with China in the South China Sea; 19th century Tibetan monastery is demolished to make way for a dam.

BANGLADESH

Three leaders of the anti-quota student protest - Nahid Islam, Asif Mahmud and Abu Baker Majumder - were forcibly removed from Dhaka's Gonoshasthaya Hospital by police officers, BBC reports. Staff members said the officers, who were dressed in plain clothes, forced them out. Four thousand people have been arrested since the protests began.

ISRAEL - PALESTINE

More than 180,000 Palestinians fled shelling around Gaza's southern city of Khan Younis in four days, according to figures released by the UN. In fact, on Monday the IDF issued evacuation orders for parts of the southern city, announcing that its forces would ‘operate by force’, even in an area previously declared a safe humanitarian zone.

PAKISTAN

The Pakistani government reversed its decision to stop issuing and renewing passports for citizens seeking asylum abroad. This change, announced by Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar on 22 July, followed an earlier directive by Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi on 5 June The decision comes amid continuing criticism of the human rights situation in Pakistan.

PHILIPPINES

The Philippines completed an unimpeded supply run for its troops on a disputed shoal in the South China Sea. Last week, the Philippines and China announced an ‘interim agreement’ on Manila's resupply missions to its troop contingent on a ship stranded on the Second Thomas Shoal after repeated clashes.

CHINA

Authorities demolished a 19th century Tibetan Buddhist monastery in Qinghai province to make way for a hydroelectric dam project. The authorities started to dismantle the Atsok Gon Dechen Choekhorling monastery in Dragkar county, or Xinghai in Chinese, in April, because they expect it to be flooded with water after completion of the work.

ARMENIA

Armenia's Security Council Secretary Armen Grigoryan met with US Caucasus Advisor Luis Bono in Yerevan to discuss security and stability issues in the region, as well as the process of normalising relations with Azerbaijan and recent events, seeking a solution that will lead to lasting peace.

RUSSIA

The Moscow Duma passed the law on the right of judicial officers to use ‘in certain cases’ physical violence, firearms and other ‘special means’ such as truncheons, handcuffs, electroshocks and tear gas, except against pregnant women, children and the disabled, or those who have committed non-violent crimes.

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