Israeli missiles against a refugee camp in Gaza: at least 40 dead

Today's news:  ‘Siege’ of Duterte ally Filipino preacher Apollo Quiboloy ends with arrest; Another Burmese general on a visit to China; Indian doctors in West Bengal continue protest in defiance of a Supreme Court order; For Kim Jong Un, North Korean nuclear weapons ‘pose no threat;  Russian local elections confirm all outgoing governors.

GAZA - ISRAEL

At least 40 people died in an Israeli attack on a camp for displaced Palestinians in southern Gaza and over 60 were injured. The area of Al-Mawasi, near Khan Younis, had been designated as safe by Israel. Local sources reported that at least four rockets hit the tents.

PHILIPPINES

Filipino preacher Apollo Quiboloy, wanted in the Philippines and the US for sex trafficking of minors, was arrested in Davao thanks to the detection of heartbeats by Philippine police equipment. Quiboloy, who until 2022 enjoyed the protection of former President Rodrigo Duterte, was hiding in an underground bunker inside a vast complex of buildings belonging to the congregation he founded, the Kingdom of Jesus Christ.

MYANMAR

Lieutenant General Yar Pyae, who serves as Burma's interior minister in the military junta, is yet another personality to travel to China in recent months. He left on Sunday to attend a security forum that ends today. In April, Yar Pyae was awarded the Great Wall Medal of Gold by Beijing for protecting Chinese citizens (and investments) in Myanmar, an issue that Beijing is still pressing for due to the ongoing fighting in Shan State.

INDIA

Doctors protesting in West Bengal following the rape and murder of a 31-year-old female trainee on 9 August announced that they will continue their strike until the government meets their demands, violating a Supreme Court order that would force them to return to work.

NORTH KOREA

North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un has stated that Pyongyang has been trying to increase its nuclear arsenal steadily, while pointing out that North Korea is a responsible state and that ‘nuclear weapons for defence do not pose a threat to anyone’. The country had also recently announced the installation of 250 ballistic missile launchers on the border with South Korea.

RUSSIA

Autumn elections in 21 regions of Russia have been concluded, confirming all outgoing governors, except for an independent in Zabajkal, and choosing only deputies of the Putinist United Russia party for parliamentary seats. Even in Khabarovsk, where the liberal-nationalists of the LdPR had long prevailed, they did not turn up.

KYRGYZSTAN

The city authorities of Os, the southern capital of Kyrgyzstan, announced their decision to begin the process of returning all private water sources and reservoirs in the area to the municipal administration, in order to finally solve the problem of supplying drinking water to citizens. Several had been privatised by politicians.

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