In Thailand drones against camp fires

Today's headlines: Israeli attack on Homs; Kuala Lumpur willing to negotiate with Beijing over South China Sea; Japan sets up Agency for Children and Families; Representatives of some ethnic militias and military junta meet in Myanmar.

THAILAND

Thailand launched a public campaign overnight to ask farmers to stop burning fields to reduce air pollution levels. Drones with lights flew in the sky of Chiang Rai, Muang district, forming the phrases: 'We can't breathe', 'We suffer from eye irritation', 'Please stop burning'. In recent weeks, the level of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) in Chiang Rai has risen to 194 micrograms per cubic metre of air: the maximum limit for human safety is 50 mcg.

MALAYSIA

Kuala Lumpur is willing to negotiate with Beijing over the South China Sea dispute, the State News Agency quoted Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim as saying. The issue was raised with Chinese President Xi Jinping last week because Malaysia has energy exploration projects in the area, claimed by Beijing. In recent years, Chinese ships have repeatedly passed by fields operated by Malaysia's state oil company, Petronas.

MYANMAR

At the end of March 'peace' talks were held between representatives of ethnic armed militias and the Burmese coup junta, but according to experts this was a cosmetic move because none of the militias invited to the conference are currently at war with the military. The discussions focused on the Myanmar military regime's proposed elections and the amendment of the 2008 Constitution.

JAPAN

Tokyo has established the Children and Families Agency with the aim of reducing the low birth rate and 'making Japan a more child-friendly country'. The Agency's focus will be on post-partum needs, childcare centres and the distribution of child-raising allowances. Children, young people and parents will also be invited to the Council meetings, whose opinions will also be collected via social media.

ISRAEL - SYRIA

Yesterday, Israel launched air raids against outposts in the Syrian province of Homs, injuring at least five soldiers, the Syrian Defence Ministry announced. This was the third such attack in recent days. According to some sources in the affected areas there is a strong presence of militias linked to Hezbollah and Iran, whose influence in Syria has grown since the outbreak of civil war in 2011.

RUSSIA

From Russia's official portal Gosuslugi, 'State Services', the 'Delete History' function has been removed, the command for which no longer even appears, by decision of the Ministry of Digitalisation, and the only way to delete one's searches will be an explicit request to the site's technological service centre, in order to better control all users.

KAZAKHSTAN

Police in the North Kazakhstan region began carrying out checks and searches after videos of the so-called 'People's Council' of the Russian-speaking city of Petropavlovsk and other neighbouring cities were circulated on the Internet, in which they make appeals 'to the workers' instigating rebellion against the 'ruling regime of the Astana corporations'.

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