Turkmenistan: driving licence for women only at 40 and with marriage certificate

Today's headlines: Japanese fashion chain Uniqlo announces 40% salary increases against inflation; The US Navy seizes 2,000 rifles headed for the Houthis in Yemen; Pakistani army chief seeks funding in the Gulf; In Dagestan rehabilitation centres against homosexuality.

TURKMENISTAN

According to the new rules of the Lebap velayat in Turkmenistan, which have been set out verbally, but will soon be extended to the whole country, women will be able to obtain a driving licence no earlier than the age of 40, and only upon presentation of a marriage certificate.

JAPAN

While Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida visited the respective heads of government in Italy and the UK to sign security agreements, the Japanese fashion chain Uniqlo, known for its sober, monochrome garments, will raise the salaries of its employees by up to 40%. Last week the PM had called on all companies to do the same due to galloping inflation.

TAIWAN

A Taiwanese Air Force officer revealed details of the relationship between the island's military and Nato, saying he attended a six-month academic programme at the Nato Defence College in Rome in 2021 in contact with senior Nato officials. Taiwan, claimed by China as its own territory, has no formal diplomatic relations with any Nato member, but is supported militarily by the United States.

PHILIPPINES - CHINA - VIETNAM

The Supreme Court of the Philippines has declared "unconstitutional and void" an agreement signed in 2005 (and concluded in 2008) granting oil exploration rights to foreign companies from China and Vietnam in the disputed South China Sea. The court took 15 years to deliver its verdict. According to the judges, the agreement did not respect "constitutional guarantees" and undermined the sovereignty of the Philippines.

PAKISTAN

The Gulf tour of Pakistan's Chief of Army Staff, General Asim Munir,  ended yesterday. The General visited Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates in search of new loans to avoid financial default. While Pakistan will have to repay loans amounting to some USD 8.3 billion over the next three months, foreign exchange reserves have dropped to USD 4.5 billion. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif thanked the international community for pledging to donate billion following the floods that killed more than 1,700 people this summer.

YEMEN

The US Navy reported that in recent days it seized more than 2,000 assault rifles from a ship in the Gulf of Oman that it believes came from Iran and were headed for Yemen's Houthi rebels, backed by Tehran. "The illegal flow of weapons from Iran through international waters has a destabilising effect on the region," said General Michael Kurilla, CENTCOM commander.

RUSSIA

A series of clinics and rehabilitation centres for the 'treatment of homosexuality, bisexuality and atheism' have begun to open in the Russian republic of Dagestan. In the most important of them, the 'Alliance Recovery' in Makhachkala, 18-year-old Elina Ukhmanova, who had run away from home due to domestic violence and was forcibly rescued by two 'rehabilitators', was interned.

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