Rohyngia, five years after exodus nearly a million refugees still in Cox's Bazar

Today's Headlines: Taiwan wants to increase military spending by 14.9%; Modi's billionaire friend in takeover of NDTV TV network, concerns over freedom of information in India; Qatar promises investment to Pakistan mired in a foreign currency crisis; In Chechnya, activist Salman Tepsurkaev, opponent of the Kadirov government, is killed.

BANGLADESH-MYANMAR

Exactly five years after the exodus following the harsh military offensive in Rakhine State, there are 963,733 Rohingya living in camps in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh. According to data released by Dhaka, an additional 250,000 are estimated to be living outside the camps, while 30,000 have been relocated to Basan Char Island. Negotiations to ensure a safe return to Myanmar remain in deadlock.

TAIWAN-CHINA

In the wake of escalating tensions with Beijing, the Taiwanese government has proposed a record defence budget to parliament for 2023. The proposed budget of NT$ 523.4 billion represents a 14.9 per cent increase over this year's total allocation. The figure includes NT8.3 for new advanced fighter jets and programmes to enhance maritime and air combat capability.

JAPAN

Japanese police chief Itaru Nakamura has announced his intention to resign to take responsibility for the assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. He said this at a press conference at which he presented the results of the investigation into the gaps in the protection of Abe, who was killed on 8 July while giving a speech in the street during the election campaign.

INDIA

Billionaire Gautam Adani, close to nationalist Prime Minister Narendra Modi, announced his intention to acquire a 29.18% stake in NDTV, one of India's leading private television networks, on the market. The deal - seen as an attempted takeover from the current ownership - raises concerns about freedom of information in New Delhi. According to NDTV, the announcement was made without the prior approval of the stock exchange regulator, which is required by the rules on takeover bids in India.

QATAR-PAKISTAN

The Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) will invest USD 3 billion in various sectors in Pakistan. The announcement came during the visit of Islamabad Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to Doha. Pakistan is currently grappling with severe economic turmoil and facing a balance of payments crisis, with foreign exchange reserves down to .8 billion, barely enough for a month's worth of imports, rupee prices at their lowest and inflation at 24%.

SYRIA-RUSSIA

Syria agreed to send ambassadors to the separatist republics of Donetsk and Lugansk in the Donbass, and to accept diplomats from these regions in Damascus. Russia promised Bashar Assad in return to make its relations with Israel more demanding, after talks in Moscow between Minister Sergei Lavrov and his Syrian counterpart Feisal Mikdad.

RUSSIA

A humanitarian activist, moderator of the opposition Telegram channel '1Adat', Salman Tepsurkaev, was killed in Chechnya. This was announced by a lawyer of the Committee against Torture in Russia, Olga Sadovkaja. Tepsurkaev had been kidnapped in late 2020 and forced to publicly repent in a video for his protest actions.