Sri Lanka: presidential elections set for 21 September

Today's news: Jimmy Lai's court deposition in Hong Kong postponed for another four months; Hamas leader in the West Bank dead after eight months in Israeli custody; Individual Indian states will also be able to impose their own royalties on mining activities; Brazil apologises to Japan for persecution of immigrants after World War II; In Moscow, ‘Europe Square’ was renamed ‘Eurasia Square’. 

SRI LANKA

Presidential elections in Sri Lanka, the first since Gotabaya Rajapaksa's exit from the scene in street protests two years ago, will be held on 21 September. Last week, the Supreme Court had rejected the possibility of any postponement in the country currently led by economist Ranil Wicremesinghe, who took over in the midst of a deep economic crisis. Nominations must be submitted by 15 August.

HONG KONG-CHINA

Jimmy Lai will be called on 20 November to testify in the national security trial against him in Hong Kong. Judges rejected a request by the 76-year-old founder of the Apple Daily newspaper, who has been in prison for four years now, to drop the charges against him for which he faces a life sentence. The postponement of his interrogation by a further four months is due to the availability of the three judges, each of whom was specially chosen by the Hong Kong government to handle national security cases.

ISRAEL-PALESTINE

One of the Hamas leaders in the West Bank arrested by Israel after the start of the conflict on 7 October has died in custody due to his deteriorating health. This was announced today by the Palestinian Authority and Hamas. Mustafa Muhammad Abu Ara, 63, died after being transferred to hospital from Ramon prison in southern Israel. The Palestinian Authority's Prisoners' Commission claims that he was suffering from health problems even before his arrest but was denied adequate medical care during his months of detention.

INDIA

The Indian Supreme Court has ruled that royalties due on minerals do not constitute a tax, agreeing with local governments in individual states that challenge the central government's contention that only Delhi has the power to tax mineral rights in the country. The court will hear the parties on 31 July to decide whether the ruling should also be applied retroactively. In this case it would bring huge revenues to the coffers of the governments of some states, including West Bengal, Orissa and Jharkhand, which already have local laws to impose additional levies on mining companies.

JAPAN-BRAZIL

The Brazilian government issued its first official apology for the persecution of Japanese immigrants in the country during and after World War II. The gesture was linked to two cases: one in which Brazil, as part of the Allies, evicted Japanese immigrants from their homes in Santos during the war, and another involving the mistreatment on Anchieta Island of people imprisoned during the post-war riots in the immigrant community.

RUSSIA

The mayor of Moscow, Sergei Sobjanin, signed the decree for the renaming of Europa Square, which will now be called Eurasia Square, after it was laid out and built in 2001 in a joint Russian-Belgian project in the centre of the capital, on the Berezhkovsky embankment next to the new skyscrapers, with the sculpture of the ‘Rat of Europa’ in the centre.

AZERBAIJAN

The President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliev, has signed the amendments to the Family Code banning marriage between second cousins and arranged marriages for children under the age of 16, with heavy fines or even arrests depending on the seriousness of the situation and the personality of the offender, which is widespread among Azerbaijani families.

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