Beijing censors 'Hu Jintao'. Severe restrictions on web searches

Today's headlines: at least nine dead in Bangladesh from cyclone Sitrang, hundreds of thousands displaced; Pope Francis appoints Chinese-born Archbishop Savio Hon as nuncio to Malta; dozens of casualties in Kachin State from an air raid by the Burmese army; the headscarf controversy erupts in Turkey's 2023 presidential campaign; Russian armed forces have begun withdrawing from the Kherson region.

CHINA

Beijing is censoring web searches on 'Hu Jintao', the former Chinese president who was abruptly and unexpectedly removed during the final stages of the Communist Party congress. Internet users are left with few keywords to refer to the elderly leader, who was in power for a decade before Xi Jinping. No discussion of the matter is allowed on social media, blocked browsing. 

BANGLADESH

Cyclone Sitrang reached the coast of Bangladesh this morning, sowing death and destruction. The first toll speaks of at least nine victims, but this figure will increase in the coming hours. Houses have been devastated, trees uprooted and roads damaged by the strong winds and heavy rain. Hundreds of thousands have been displaced, including tens of thousands of Rohingya refugees from Myanmar.  

MYANMAR

At least 50 people were killed (some sources speak of 100) in the air raid by the Burmese army in the northern state of Kachin, which was condemned by the UN and the West. A concert organised by an ethnic minority group, scheduled for the evening of 23 October, was targeted. Among the dead were civilian musicians and Kachin (Kia) army officers. No comment from the military junta. 

VATICAN - ASIA

Pope Francis has appointed Monsignor Savio Hon Tai-Fai, S.D.B., titular archbishop of Sila, until now Apostolic Nuncio in Greece, as Apostolic Nuncio in Malta. The prelate of Chinese origin, was born in Hong Kong in 1950, and was formerly secretary of the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples (Propaganda Fide).

TURKEY

Not just Iran. The headscarf controversy is exploding in Turkey, where Recep Tayyip Erdogan, ahead of the 2023 presidential elections, wants to hold a referendum to include in the constitution the right to wear the hijab in public buildings. In the name of secularism, the country has always banned the veil and the Akp has only partially amended the law. Now the issue is back at the centre of the election campaign. 

RUSSIA - UKRAINE

The Russian armed forces have begun withdrawing from the Kherson region, which was annexed to Moscow by a sham referendum. The Russian army is transferring ammunition, war technology and troops from the western bank of the Dnepr to the eastern bank, and the occupation authorities are constantly evacuating the population. In effect organising a mass deportation to Russia.

KYRGYZSTAN - UZBEKISTAN

In Biškek, searches and arrests of members of the committee for the defence of the Kempir-Abad reservoir, about to be handed over to Uzbekistan, are underway. A decision that has provoked protests from the inhabitants of the area, who are now trying to organise themselves to oppose the handover operations. Among those arrested is also a supreme court judge.

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