Beijing, child pneumonia alert: thousands of cases, hospitals jammed

Today's news: Unicef says Gaza is 'the most dangerous place in the world for children', truce postponed till first hostage release; Ankara announces the activation of a group to mediate the conflict between Israel and Hamas; Cross-border trade between Pakistan and Afghanistan resumes; Jakarta launches a billion investment plan on renewables; Rescuers are approaching Indian workers trapped for 11 days in a tunnel; Presence of Russian manufacturers at the Dubai Airshow 2023 the Middle East's most important industry trade fair slated a fiasco.

CHINA
Hospitals in northern China are overcrowded with thousands of children with a bacterial form of pneumonia, worsened by antibiotic resistance in the population, causing an escalation of serious illnesses. An explosion of infections, also linked to the end of the anti-Covid restrictions which for three years had blocked the transmission of many respiratory diseases. In November alone, over 3,500 hospitalizations in Beijing's pediatric hospital for "respiratory infection" linked to Mycoplasma pneumoniae, which affects the lungs. Over 24 hours for a visit, WHO requests information.

ISRAEL - PALESTINE
Gaza is the “most dangerous place in the world” for children. This is the complaint launched by Unicef executive director Catherine Russell, according to which over 5,300 children have died in the Strip since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas on 7 October. Meanwhile, the agreement for the release of some of the hostages in exchange for aid and a truce in the fighting appears to have stalled. The first exchanges will not take place before tomorrow, casting a shadow on the hopes of an imminent release for the relatives.

TURKEY - GAZA
The head of Ankara's Foreign Ministry, Hakan Fidan, announced the activation of a contact group to regulate the conflict in Gaza. It is made up of seven countries: Turkey, Indonesia, Nigeria, Jordan, Egypt, Qatar and Saudi Arabia. Representatives of the various nations met the first time in China and the second time in Russia, with external support from Beijing and Moscow.

PAKISTAN - AFGHANISTAN
Cross-border trade between Pakistan and Afghanistan returned to normal yesterday, after a day of crisis linked to Islamabad's decision to require visas and passports for the entry of commercial vehicles. A request to which Kabul blocked the vehicles. A meeting between trade ministers broke the deadlock. Meanwhile, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) is appealing to the Pakistani government to block the expulsions of undocumented Afghans,

INDONESIA
Jakarta yesterday launched a 20 billion dollar investment plan, with the involvement of financiers from all over the world, to accelerate the decarbonisation process and strengthen renewables plans. A project that falls within the scope of the Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP), to reduce carbon dioxide emissions to 250 million metric tons by 2030.

INDIA
Rescuers are approaching the Indian workers trapped in a tunnel for 11 days and are now just a few meters away from being able to rescue them. A story that is keeping the country in suspense, even if the news filtering from the quarry seems reassuring and for now the health and spirit conditions of the group seem good. To stay active, workers would walk in the tunnel, a 2km stretch between two closed ends.

RUSSIA - M. EAST
The largest aviation exhibition in the Middle East, the Dubai Airshow 2023, turned out to be a total fiasco for Russian manufacturers Rosoboroneksport, who failed to conclude any deals. On the contrary, in the previous 2021 exhibition in Dubai they had achieved deals worth 1.3 billion dollars, and in 2017 it had even reached the record of 10 billion contracts.

KYRGYZSTAN - JAPAN
The visit of Kyrgyz President Sadyr Žaparov to Japan was only the first of a series of meetings of Central Asian leaders in Tokyo, in preparation for the spring summit of the "5+1" format already applied with the USA and some European states. It interests the Japanese in particular for underground and working resources, while the Central Asians need investments and new technologies.

• Asia
• Today