Tajikistan-Kyrgyzstan: new border clashes

Today's headlines: Thailand promotes tourism in Myanmar; India does does u-turn on financial aid to Sri Lanka; the death of a Malaysian citizen in Thailand is traced back to Chinese criminal gangs.

TAJIKISTAN - KYRGYZSTAN

Tajik forces are attacking Kyrgyz outposts along the entire length of the border and Kyrgyz troops are returning fire, the Kyrgyz border guard service said today. Two Tajik border guards had been killed in similar clashes earlier this week, but the two countries, which both host Russian military bases, appeared to have ceased hostilities.

RUSSIA - ARMENIA

According to data released by Yerevan Minister of Economy Vagan Kerobyan, between 50 and 70 thousand Russian IT specialists have arrived in Armenia since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, and 859 companies "with Russian roots" and 350 sole proprietorships have been registered in the country, many of which have already entered the Top-20 of Armenian taxpayers.

MALAYSIA

Goi Zhen Feng, 23, a young man from Malaysia, died in Thailand, near the border with Myanmar, after falling victim to Chinese gangs who trick young people with fake job advertisements into working in online scams in slave-like conditions. According to the Malaysian authorities, this is the first death that can be directly traced back to criminal gangs.

THAILAND

The Thai police charged a soldier who had caused a shooting at a military training centre in recent days with murder. Staff Sergeant Yongyuth Mungkornkim, employed at the Royal Thai Army War College, will be tried on Wednesday at a military court in northern Bangkok. At least two similar incidents involving the country's military occurred last year.

THAILAND - MYANMAR

A Thai TV station is helping to spread Burmese junta propaganda aimed at bringing tourists back to Myanmar, even as the regime continues to kill and torture civilians. In recent days the Burmese junta-controlled state media announced the premiere of a travel documentary, entitled 'The Exclusive', filmed in Yangon and Naypyitaw, on Channel 5 in Thailand, owned by the Royal Thai Army.

CHINA - RUSSIA 

A gas pipeline to China will replace Nord Stream II to Europe, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said yesterday. The minister added that Russia and China will soon sign agreements on the supply of "50 billion cubic metres of gas" per year via a pipeline, the Force Siberia, which will pass through Mongolia and whose construction is expected to begin in 2024.

INDIA - SRI LANKA

India does not plan to provide new financial support to Sri Lanka after the nearly USD 4 billion disbursed this year. Two Indian government sources told Reuters that the Sri Lankan economy should now begin to stabilise, thanks to preliminary agreements with the International Monetary Fund. Previous talks about new loans have made little progress.

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