Sri Lanka protests over wounded peacekeepers in Lebanon; Thai worker killed on a kibbutz

Today's news: Close associate of Hun Sen arrested in Phnom Penh on his return from China; UN warns growing presence of transnational criminal networks in the small Pacific islands; Delhi wants to introduce a toll on busy roads at peak times; Baku calls for a ceasefire during climate conference; Memorial: 50 Russian citizens in ‘asylums for dissidents’ just like under Brezhnev.

SRI LANKA-ISRAEL

The Colombo Foreign Ministry strongly condemned the attack by the Israeli army on the Unifil mission headquarters in Naqoura, South Lebanon, which injured two Sri Lankan UN peacekeepers. The government in Colombo upholds ‘the obligation to ensure the safety and security of UN personnel and the inviolability of UN premises at all times’. The two Sri Lankan servicemen were hit by shrapnel exploded from a tank; their condition is reportedly not serious.

THAILAND-ISRAEL-LEBANON

Once again in Israel it is Asian foreign workers who pay the price of war: a 27-year-old Thai man was killed yesterday and another worker was injured when an unexploded ordnance exploded in an orchard near Kibbutz Yir'on in the Upper Galilee. Israeli security officials said they believed the cause was a munition previously fired by Hezbollah.

CAMBODIA

Duong Dara - an advisor to Hun Sen, now President of the Senate in Cambodia and father of the current Prime Minister Hun Manet - was arrested at Phnom Penh International Airport on his way back from a business trip to China. It is unclear what charges are against him, although a complaint was filed against him earlier this year for fraud. The arrest comes a few days after Hun Sen himself wrote on Facebook that another of his advisers, Ly Sameth, had defrauded several Cambodians over the past two years by demanding bribes in exchange for favours and government posts.

OCEANIA

Pacific island nations are at risk of becoming bases for global criminal gangs, according to a report by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, as criminal activity increases in this isolated and economically vulnerable region. The report states that the ‘threat environment’ in the region, due to drug and human trafficking, illegal fishing and wildlife theft, money laundering and cybercrime, is increasing faster than at any other time in history.

INDIA

To tackle the traffic problem, the Delhi government is considering introducing an ad hoc tax: according to Shahzad Alam, Special Commissioner for Transport, a ‘congestion pricing’ strategy is being worked on, whereby motorists would be charged for using certain roads during peak traffic hours. In the pilot phase, 13 key points on Delhi's borders have been identified.

AZERBAIGIAN

Azerbaijan proposed a suspension of armed clashes during the Cop29 scheduled in Baku in November. The initiative - supported by 127 countries around the world - according to the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry aims to ‘highlight the relationship between conflicts and climate change, and the possibility of overcoming hostilities to unite on these issues vital to all’.

RUSSIA

The Memorial Centre reported that already more than 50 Russian citizens have been sent for forced medical and psychiatric treatment for political reasons, as in the days of the ‘asylums for dissidents’ under Brezhnev. In the treatment centres they would be subjected to violence and torture, with injections of preparations against schizophrenia reducing them to a pitiful condition.