Malaysia reconnects with India 5 years after Kashmir clash

Today's news: Pakistani Shiite pilgrim bus overturns in Iran, 28 dead; Total sentences of 4.4 million years in prison for Uyghurs in China; One year after Fukushima water release begins, South Korea discloses that no radioactivity hazards in its sea and fish; Ukrainian parliament bans activities of Orthodox Church linked to Moscow Patriarchate.

INDIA-MALAYSIA

India and Malaysia revived their relations with the visit of Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim to New Delhi. Relations had soured in 2019 when then Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad condemned Modi's choices on Kashmir and the Citizenship (Amendment) Act. “We have decided that we will elevate our cooperation to the level of Comprehensive Strategic Partnership,” Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said yesterday after the talks.

PAKISTAN-IRAN

A bus carrying Pakistani Shiite pilgrims has overturned in central Iran, killing 28 passengers and injuring 23 others. The accident occurred in the central Iranian province of Yazd and was caused by a technical defect in the bus' braking system. Millions of Shiite Muslims are currently taking part in the Arbaeen pilgrimage in Iraq's Karbala governorate.

CHINA

Uyghurs imprisoned by China in the western region of Xinjiang have been sentenced to a total of 4.4 million years, according to a report by Yale University's Genocide Studies Program. The figure highlights the scale and severity of the Chinese government's crackdown on the mostly Muslim Uighurs since 2017, when thousands of Uighurs and other Turkic minorities were herded into re-education camps and prisons.

SOUTH KOREA-JAPAN

Radioactivity levels in the waters around the Korean peninsula have never exceeded the safe limit since Japan began releasing treated water from its Fukushima nuclear power plant a year ago. The Korean government said this today, drawing an initial balance. In 12 months, South Korea has completed 49,633 tests on radioactive levels. “There has not been a single case that has passed the radioactive safety criteria in tests on our waters, on our fisheries,” Vice Minister Kim Jong-moon said.

SAUDI ARABIA

Saudi Arabia has introduced a new investment law in an effort to attract foreign direct capital, simplify financial processes and continue to diversify its economy away from oil. The new law also allows foreign investment in the country's special economic zones without. Only sectors related to national security will be restricted to Saudi nationals.

UKRAINE-RUSSIA

The Verkhovnaja Rada in Kiev approved by 265 votes out of 450 a law banning the activities of religious associations in Ukraine that have ties to Russia, primarily the Orthodox Upz Church, whose communities will be given nine months to “break all relations with Moscow,” which according to President Zelenskyj “uses the Church to threaten independence.”

RUSSIA

The vast majority of taxi drivers in Russia will not be able to work as of September 1, as they have not received the new type of work permit, introduced mainly to weed out illegal migrants, with a new insurance policy will “liability” to passengers, and the association of 2.5 million taxi drivers has appealed to the government.

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