Three weeks before elections Turkey arrests 126 Kurdish activists

Today's headlines: Japanese company fail at first attempt at moon landing; The Taliban kill Isis leader responsible for the Kabul airport bombing almost two years ago;  The WHO issues a new warning about Indian syrups; In Myanmar and Thailand, Karen language schools are back; Turkmenistan bans the mother of an activist from making a pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia.

TURKEY

Yesterday, three weeks before the upcoming presidential elections, Turkey arrested 126 Kurdish activists and journalists, claiming to have conducted 'anti-terrorist' operations in 21 provinces of the country. Police detained people suspected of financing the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) or recruiting new members.

JAPAN

The Japanese company Ispace confirmed that its first moon landing attempt failed, admitting that it lost contact with the Mission 1 lander of the Hakuto mission, which probably crashed on the lunar surface. The launch had taken place in December from Cape Canaveral, Florida, and if successful would have been Japan's first moon landing.

AFGHANISTAN

The Taliban killed the Islamic State leader responsible for the August 2021 Kabul airport bombing that took place during the retreat of US and international forces from the country and in which more than 170 people died. The news was confirmed by US officials, but the name of the leader has not been revealed so far.

INDIA

The World Health Organisation has raised the alarm over a new batch of cough syrups from India exported to the Marshall Islands and Micronesia: tests on samples produced by Punjab-based QP Pharmachem showed excessively high levels of two compounds toxic to humans. India is the world's largest exporter of generic drugs, sending its products mainly to developing countries. So far, contaminated syrups have caused 66 deaths in The Gambia, 18 in Uzbekistan and three in the US.

MYANMAR

More than 130,000 children attend ethnic Karen schools on the border between Myanmar and Thailand, taking advantage of literacy in their mother tongue. Since the 1960s, courses of study in the Burmese language had been imposed by the Ministry of Education using the Karen language. After the coup in February 2021, teachers resumed old curricula, providing education to children even in refugee camps.

RUSSIA - ITALY

The international philological conference 'Homo Loquens' was held in St. Petersburg at the Christian-Humanistic University, with the participation of Italian Russianists and philosophers. In the words of Italian linguist and philosopher Stefano Capilupi, who works permanently in Russia, 'there were many dialogues in the night, and a great desire for rebirth and freedom'.

TURKMENISTAN

The Turkmenistan authorities forbade the mother of Khamida Babadžanova, a humanitarian activist who has now emigrated to Turkey, from travelling to Saudi Arabia for the Muslim pilgrimage. Since the spring of 2021, she has continued to disseminate videos and photos showing the country's severe economic crisis and violations of citizens' rights.

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