Malaysia's former premier Najib Razak gets 12 years prison

Today's headlines: China's autumn harvest is severely threatened by drought; Protests erupt among Afghans parked in the UAE for a year after fleeing Kabul; US air raids in eastern Syria against Iranian-backed militias; In India a Syro-Malabar bishop leaves his diocese to live as a hermit. 

MALAYSIA

Malaysia's Supreme Court ordered former Prime Minister Najib Razak to begin serving a 12-year prison sentence after upholding his conviction on charges related to a multibillion-dollar fraud scandal at the state-owned 1Malaysia Development Berhad fund. Najib - who has always denied the charges - was prime minister from 2009 to 2018 and led the government like his father and uncle before him.

CHINA

China's autumn harvest is 'seriously threatened' by high temperatures and drought. Raising the alarm are four government departments calling for action to protect crops, demanding that 'every unit of water be used carefully' through methods including staggered irrigation and so-called cloud seeding to induce rain. Southern China, in particular, is experiencing the longest and most prolonged period of high temperatures and low rainfall since records began more than 60 years ago.

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES-AFGHANISTAN

Afghan refugees who, after being evacuated from Kabul, are still living in legal limbo in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have been protesting at the Emirates Humanitarian City in Abu Dhabi over what they say is a slow and opaque resettlement process. Hundreds of Afghans carried banners and shouted for freedom, complaining that thousands of them were waiting to be resettled in the US or other countries.

SYRIA

The US Central Command announced that US forces launched air strikes in eastern Syria against facilities used by Iranian-backed militias. According to local reports, the attack occurred at dawn today in the village of Ayash, west of Deir ez-Zor.

INDIA

A Syro-Malabar bishop has stepped down to embrace the life of a hermit, fulfilling a long cherished vocation. The auxiliary bishop of Palai, Kerala, Msgr Jacob Muricken, 59, moved on 15 August to a hermitage he built in Nallathanni, in the diocese of Kanjirappally.

KAZAKHSTAN-RUSSIA

Kazakhstan is experiencing a sudden shortage of new cars as a result of the market confusion created by the war and sanctions against Russia. Heavy taxes against the import of foreign cars had for years generated a black market, which has now exploded to supply Moscow, which previously exported cars to Kazakhstan in black.

KYRGYZSTAN

Kyrgyz entrepreneur Zhurnal Abdullaev was arrested and temporarily detained after a search of his company found weapons, marijuana and undeclared money in his office in the village of Ken-Bulan near Bishkek. Employees and many supporters took to the streets to demonstrate in his favour, believing him to be a benefactor persecuted by the state.

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