India to overtake China in population by 2023

Today's headlines: Henan authorities will start releasing blocked funds from rural banks; torrential rains continue in Pakistan; dengue infections in the Philippines up by 90 per cent; in Uzbekistan up to ,000 paid for newborn babies.

INDIA

Next year India will be the most populous country in the world with 1.4 billion inhabitants, surpassing China. By November the planet will be home to 8 billion people, but growth will not be equal in all countries: 8 nations will contribute more than half of the growth: Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines and Tanzania.

CHINA

Authorities in Henan will start releasing money to customers whose funds have been frozen by several rural banks. The news comes after protests in the city of Zhengzhou in recent days had turned violent. The payments will be made starting Friday through an association supervised by the Chinese Central Bank.

SRI LANKA

The Sri Lankan parliament will elect a new president on 20 July. Spokesman Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena announced this yesterday, while President Gotabaya Rajapaksa is expected to step down tomorrow. Political instability could damage negotiations with the International Monetary Fund, the central bank governor said. During the protests of the past few days, protesters handed over to the police 50,000 dollars found in the presidential residence.

PAKISTAN

Torrential rains yesterday caused flooding in Pakistan's financial capital and largest city, Karachi, submerging even the business district. The Navy took part in rescue operations. In Belucistan a dozen villages were flooded. Last week, at least 64 people died as a result of the flooding of eight dams.

PHILIPPINES

Not just covid-19: dengue infections are also on the rise in the Philippines with a 90% increase on last year. In the first part of the year at least 65,000 people were infected, while new cases of coronavirus are around 1,500 per day. In the new administration of Ferdinand Marcos - who took office on 30 June and is now in isolation because of covid - the position of Health Minister is still vacant.

SYRIA - TURKEY - RUSSIA

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan urged his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to extend the authorisation for humanitarian aid to Syria. An agreement appeared to have been reached last night, after Putin had vetoed a UN resolution last week that would have extended the delivery of aid to northwest Syria by another year. The Turkish-Syrian border at Bab al-Hawa is the only way for the UN to reach the population without passing through areas controlled by Syrian government forces.

UKRAINE

The UN site dealing with sexual violence has so far ascertained 124 cases in Ukraine since the beginning of the Russian invasion, 'but that is only the tip of the iceberg', according to UN representative in conflict zones Pramila Patten. Only reported individual cases are considered, not mass violence in conflict zones.

UZBEKISTAN

The security services of Uzbekistan reported several attempts to sell newborn children in Tashkent and the Syrdarynsk region. The price of a child born no earlier than 15 June is said to be at least USD 35,000. The baby trade has been stopped by blocking women who reject babies at birth at the hospital.

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