Separatist group claims responsibility for a suicide bomb at Quetta station that killed 24
Today's headlines: 540 civilians have been killed in 10 months by the military junta's air force in Myanmar. Taiwan offers rewards of thousands of dollars for reporting Chinese activities at sea. North Korea carried out GPS signal jamming attacks against South Korean civilian ships and aircraft. A 29-year-old spoke to Al Jazeera about his childhood in Gaza's Christian community, ravaged by a year of bombing.
PAKISTAN
At least 24 people were killed and 46 injured in a suicide attack at the Quetta train station. The incident comes a week after a bomb exploded near a girls' school and hospital in Balochistan’s Mastung district, which left eight people dead. The provinces of Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have seen a sharp increase in terrorism-related incidents over the past year. The Balochistan Liberation Army, a Balochi ethnic separatist group, claimed responsibility for the attack.
MYANMAR
At least 540 civilians were killed by junta airstrikes in Myanmar in the first 10 months of the year, with Rakhine State recording the highest number of deaths, this according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP). This comes as a report by the United Nations Development Programme warns that Rakhine is facing an "imminent threat of acute famine" with more than two million people "at risk of starvation" due to the ongoing conflict and restrictions on goods entering the state.
TAIWAN – CHINA
Taiwan's coast guard said yesterday that it would offer rewards worth thousands of dollars for detecting Chinese activities at sea, including warships or submarines, saying it wanted to harness "people power". Over the past five years, Taiwan, which mainland China claims as its territory, has complained about the latter’s intensified military activities; for its part, the Taiwanese coast guard has been increasingly involved in patrolling maritime areas.
NORTH KOREA – SOUTH KOREA
North Korea jammed GPS signals yesterday and today, affecting several ships and dozens of civilian aircraft in South Korea, the country’s military reported. The accusations of disruptive action come about a week after the North tested what it said was its most advanced and powerful ICBM missile, its first such launch since it was accused of sending soldiers to help Russia fight Ukraine.
GAZA – ISRAEL
As Trump prepares to return to the helm of Israel’s most powerful ally, the United States, Palestinian Christians despair over the destruction of Gaza at the hands of Israel in more than a year after 7 October 2023. Khalil Sayeghm, a 29-year-old Christian, spoke to Al Jazeera about his childhood in Gaza's Christian community, ravaged by a year of Israeli bombing.
RUSSIA
A Moscow court has only now sentenced a 34-year-old bank employee, Aleksander Krajchik, to 13 years at a maximum security penal colony on charges of high treason, for transferring 50 euros to a German bank that backs the Ukrainian military, on 26 February 2022, two days after the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, when aggravating circumstances did not yet apply.
GEORGIA
Georgia's security services summoned Georgy Rurua, the founder of Mtavari Arkhi, an opposition television channel, for questioning as a witness to a "terrorist plot". For many this is a sign of the start of persecution by the Georgian Dream regime, as it cracks down on criticism and accusations in order to control the country.
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