Grid failure has shut down Bangladesh, 80% of the country without light

Today's news: panic among South Koreans over Seoul's failed missile launch crashed to the ground. Major gold-supplying banks cut shipments to India. Since the military coup 145 Burmese, mostly members of the Nld, have died in prison; since the beginning of the war Russian oligarchs have lost more than 94 billion Euro. 

BANGLADESH

Large parts of Bangladesh were left without electricity following a grid failure. The authorities are working to restore - albeit gradually - service to its 168 million inhabitants. The black-out occurred at 2pm yesterday and affected about 75-80% of the territory; the judiciary has opened an investigation to ascertain the causes of the collapse. 

KOREA 

Seoul apologised to its citizens for the failed missile launch during a joint night exercise with the US in response to yesterday's North Korean ballistic missile launcher that flew over Japan, fuelling tension in the area. The South Korean rocket crashed into an uninhabited area, causing no damage but creating alarm among the citizens of Gangneung.

OMAN - JORDAN

Oman and Jordan strengthened bilateral cooperation by signing seven memoranda of understanding (MoUs) and two executive programmes. The agreement signed at the level of foreign ministers covers industry, mining, historiography, insurance and tourism, among others. The leaders of the two countries also relaunched the "centrality of the Palestinian cause". 

MYANMAR

Since the military takeover in February 2021, at least 145 Myanmar citizens, mostly close to the Nld democracy movement of Nobel Peace Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, have lost their lives in the country's prisons during detention or interrogation. According to activist groups, in many cases their death can be equated with a real 'war crime'. 

INDIA - CHINA - TURKEY

The main gold-supplying banks - ICBC Standard Bank, JPMorgan and Standard Chartered - cut shipments to India on the eve of famous festivals where the precious metal is traditionally used, with imports down 30% year-on-year in September. The target countries are China and Turkey. For Delhi, the world's second-largest buyer, there is a risk of stock shortages.

RUSSIA

The Bloomberg Billionaires Index reports that Russian oligarchs have lost more than EUR 94 billion since the beginning of the year, of which one third in the last month alone. The leader is the director of 'Severstal' Aleksej Mordašov, who has seen almost EUR 10 billion go up in smoke since the beginning of 2022 and whose assets have now fallen to less than EUR 20 billion.

NORTH KOREA - UKRAINE

The only leader who has so far acknowledged the annexation of the four Ukrainian republics by referendum is North Korea's President Kim Jong-un, according to whom the referendums were held according to the rules established by UN statute. The outcome of the referendum, he added, expresses "the will of the people of the territories concerned", and Moscow "could not fail to accept them".

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