Bangladesh: fire at Rohingya camp a premeditated act of sabotage

Today's headlines: in Afghanistan, the Taliban ask local residents to pay for road construction; Missing Taiwanese soldier found in China; Living conditions worsen in Nagorno Karabakh following further blockades of the Lačin corridor; In Japan the trial for the longest-serving man on death row is reopened.

BANGLADESH

According to the investigating authorities, the fire in the refugee camp in Cox's Bazar on 5 March, which displaced about 15,000 people, was a 'planned and intentional act of sabotage'. Militant groups, as yet unidentified, set the fire in order to 'dominate' the camp, where mostly people from the Rohingya minority who fled Myanmar since 2017 reside.

AFGHANISTAN

According to the testimonies of some teachers in Ghor province, the Taliban demanded one month's salary (about 70 US dollars) for the construction of a 15 km road that would connect Taiwara district to the Herat-Ghor highway. Civil servants and military personnel have also been asked to contribute but for local residents the pay is barely enough to feed their families.

JAPAN

The Tokyo High Court on Monday ordered a retrial for Iwao Hakamada, an 87-year-old former boxer and the longest-serving man on death row. The news comes nearly 60 years after Hakamada was convicted of murder for robbing and killing his boss and the man's family. A year after the trial began, blood-stained clothes were used as evidence, but recent DNA tests found no link between them and Hakamada.

CHINA - TAIWAN

A Taiwanese soldier serving on the islet of Erdan - part of the Kinmen Islands, near the Chinese coast - who went missing last week has been found in China, Chiu Tai-san, head of Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council, said today. 'The Ministry of Defence and relevant departments are aware of the relevant progress and situation,' he said. In the past, especially during the Cold War, defectors from both sides swam between China and the Kinmen Islands.

BELARUS

Lukašenko signed the law introducing the death penalty in Belarus for military and civil servants who betray the homeland, adding draconian punishments for the discrediting of the armed forces and all military compounds that help the country, propaganda of terrorism, violation of state secrets and damage to world peace.

NAGORNO KARABAKH

The inhabitants of Nagorno Karabakh complain on social networks about the worsening living conditions in the last few days, following further blockades of the Lačin corridor, as a result of which shops are becoming more and more deprived and prices higher and higher, despite the fact that the Russian peacekeepers are supposed to guarantee regular access to at least foodstuffs.

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