Bangladesh: at least 17 dead after two trains collide

Today's news:  Gaza and Israel conflict displaces at least 20,000 in Lebanon; South Korea rescues four North Korean defectors; Japan's nominal GDP rises from third to fourth place globally; Pakistan announces that it will not expel Afghans awaiting visas from the West; Tombstones of Stalinist victims disappear in Russia.

BANGLADESH

At least 17 people died in a collision between two trains in Bhairab, 80 km north-east of Dhaka. According to a railway official who asked to remain anonymous, the accident was caused by a signal error. Due to poor infrastructure, accidents of this kind are not uncommon in Bangladesh.

LEBANON

Nearly 20,000 people in southern Lebanon have been displaced since the war between Gaza and Israel began earlier this month, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said. Many of those who fled have moved north to the coastal city of Tyre, which is 18 km from the border with Israel. Inaya Ezzeddine, MP from Tire, said that the displacement is putting a strain on the families hosting the displaced and the government of a country already struggling with an economic crisis.

NORTH KOREA – SOUTH KOREA

A group of four unidentified individuals from North Korea crossed the maritime border dividing the Korean Peninsula on a wooden boat this morning in an apparent attempt to defect to South Korea, Seoul officials said. The South Korean coast guard and military officials secured the small boat, while the Ministry of Unification announced that an investigation was underway. It is the first time since November 2019 that a group of North Koreans has attempted to defect via the East Sea.

JAPAN

According to the most recent projections of the International Monetary Fund, by the end of the year the nominal gross domestic product (when goods and services are considered based on their current prices) of Japan is expected to go from third to fourth place in the world behind Germany due to the depreciation of the yen. Regardless of exchange rates, which significantly affect GDP, Japan has experienced a long period of low growth.

AFGHANISTAN – PAKISTAN

After some Western countries asked Pakistan not to expel Afghan refugees, Islamabad's Interior Minister announced that those waiting for a visa from the West will not be forcibly transferred, urging the nations concerned to speed up the process of issuing documents. In less than a month, around 60,000 Afghan refugees have been expelled from Pakistan after the government asked "illegal migrants" to leave the country by the end of October.

INDIA

Manipur police have arrested the former youth wing chief of the ruling BJP in connection with a shooting in western Imphal district earlier this month. On October 14, a group of 20 armed men attempted to kidnap a man named Khaidem Bobo from his house, but locals gathered around the house. One of the men in the group, Manoharmayum Barish Sharma, then fired shots, wounding at least five people, including a woman. In recent days the Kuki community has launched a protest against the further deployment of Meitei security forces to calm the ethnic conflict in the north-eastern Indian state.

RUSSIA

The memorial stones dedicated to the victims of Stalin's repressions have disappeared from the cemetery of the Russian city of Vladimir, starting with that of the Ukrainian priest and intellectual Father Klimentyj Šeptickyj, exarch of the Russian Greek Catholics from 1938 until his death in prison in 1950, recognized in 1995 by Yad Vashem as "righteous of the nations" for having saved over one hundred Jews during the Second World War, blessed since 2001.

FRANCE - ARMENIA

French Defense Minister Sébastien Lecornu announced that France and Armenia have signed an agreement for military supplies, in a meeting with his Yerevan counterpart Suren Pakinyan, in particular to "allow the Armenians to defend their airspace , guaranteeing the safety of the population and the integrity of its borders".

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