Modi in Moscow calls for ceasefire in Ukraine and return of enlisted Indians

Today's news: Chinese human rights lawyer Chang Welping released from prison but confined to Hainan Island; Controversy in Seoul over the statements of a politician who linked the suicide rate to the 'dominant' role of women; A resolution was introduced in the US House calling for an investigation into the death of Father Stan Swamy three years ago in India.

INDIA - RUSSIA

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on his first foreign trip since returning to office for a third term in June. During the meeting, the Indian premier appealed for a ceasefire in Ukraine, because 'no solution can be found on the battlefield'. He also stated that he had obtained commitments from Moscow for the repatriation of Ionian citizens who had been drafted and sent to the front.

CHINA

Human rights lawyer Chang Weiping in China has returned to freedom after serving three and a half years in prison for 'subversion'. However, his wife, who lives in the United States, announced that the authorities had sent him to live in the southern island province of Hainan with a travel ban after completion. Chang Weiping had complained of torture during his detention.

SOUTH KOREA

A South Korean politician was criticised for linking the increase in male suicides to the increasingly 'dominant' role of women in society. Seoul city councillor Kim Ki-duck said the participation of women made it difficult for men to find jobs and women to marry. South Korea has one of the highest suicide rates in the world, but also one of the worst records on gender equality.

INDIA - UNITED STATES

A resolution was introduced in the US House urging India to conduct anindependent investigation into the death of Father Stan Swamy. According to the resolution, Father Stan played a key role in one of the most significant Adivasi movements in contemporary India, the Pathalgadi, which used the Adivasi tradition of stone carving to spread information among Adivasi communities about the rights guaranteed to them by the Indian Constitution.

ISRAEL

UN human rights experts have accused Israel of conducting a 'targeted starvation campaign' that has resulted in the deaths of children in Gaza. "Israel's deliberate and targeted starvation campaign against the Palestinian people is a form of genocidal violence and has led to famine throughout Gaza," 10 independent UN experts said in a statement on Tuesday.

ARMENIA

The leader of the Armenian opposition movement 'Tavowš in the name of the Homeland', Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan, told journalists about upcoming protest initiatives against the government in Yerevan, assuring that "new structures are being formed and ideological contours are being defined", speaking to foreign journalists, but "without contact with other states".

GEORGIA

The President of Georgia, Salome Zurabišvili, wrote on X her congratulations "Bravo France!", praising the French for the "victory of democracy and dignity" in the parliamentary ballot, where with the defeat of the ultra-right, the "hope of all Europeans, including Georgians, who do not want to submit to the domination of the Russians" was recognised.

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