President Lai: Taipei not subordinate to Beijing, but willing to cooperate

Today's news: new Israeli bombs and eviction orders for hospitals in northern Gaza; According to a Unicef report in Oceania, 34% of women have experienced violence before the age of 18; Three Korean car manufacturers recall 600,000 vehicles due to design error; Two Spanish honeymooners stranded in Singapore over a protest against the (Singaporean) president of the Valencia football team.

TAIWAN-CHINA

China has no right to represent Taiwan, but the island is willing to work with Beijing to tackle global challenges such as climate change. This was stated today by Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te in his first long-awaited National Day speech. Lai reiterated that the Republic of China - the island's formal name - and the People's Republic of China ‘are not subordinate to each other’. Taiwan's determination to defend its sovereignty, maintain peace in the Taiwan Strait and seek fair and dignified talks with China remains unchanged, he added.

ASIA

More than 370 million girls and women alive today - one in eight worldwide - have experienced rape or sexual violence before the age of 18. This is reported by Unicef in what it calls the first global survey on the problem. Sub-Saharan Africa has the highest number of victims, with 79 million girls and women, or 22% of the female population. This is followed by East and South East Asia with 75 million, or 8%. Oceania, with 6 million, has the highest number of victims as a percentage, or 34%.

GAZA-ISRAEL

An Israeli air strike against the al-Yamen al-Saeed hospital, located in the Jabalia refugee camp in Gaza, killed at least 15 people, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health. The al-Awda hospital, the Indonesian hospital and the Kamal Adwan hospital, all partially functioning in northern Gaza, received Israeli orders to evacuate, as shelling intensified in the area.

SOUTH KOREA

Hyundai Motor and two other Korean car manufacturers will voluntarily recall more than 600,000 vehicles due to faulty components. The Ministry of Transport in Seoul said the three companies - Hyundai, Kia Corp. and GM Korea - are recalling 10 car models for problems including an error in the design of the airbag control unit.

SINGAPORE

A Spanish couple on their honeymoon in Singapore were detained in the country after protesting against the Singaporean owner of the football team they cheer for. Dani Cuesta posted photos in front of the home of Peter Lim, the billionaire owner of Valencia, holding a banner criticising the tycoon. Mr Cuesta and his partner Mireia Sáez were stopped at Singapore airport as they were leaving and had their passports confiscated.

RUSSIA

In the Russian army, the number of dedushki, the ‘grannies’, the contract soldiers over 45, has greatly increased due to the shortage of young people eager to go to war, with numerous complaints from the military leadership itself, ‘only old men go to the front line and they mow them down without difficulty’, as one of the officers states on social media.

ARMENIA-AZERBAIGIAN

The rules of the work of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Boundary Demarcation Commission, after approval by the Constitutional Court in Yerevan, were sent for confirmation by the National Assembly of the Armenian parliament, a procedure considered by Azerbaijan as a tactic not to remove from the constitution the statements that consider Artsakh and other territories as ‘inseparable from the homeland’.

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