Two out of three villages in northern Mindanao at risk of landslides and flooding
Today's news: United Arab Emirates also hands out harsh prison sentences for Bangladeshi protesters; Netanyahu in Washington, families of American hostages: no dialogue without hostage liberation; Russia and China to open a new border crossing; Singapore world's safest city for tourists.
PHILIPPINES
More than a thousand villages in Northern Mindanao are at risk of landslides and flooding in case of heavy rains. This was announced by the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) of Northern Mindanao according to which 1,390 barangays in the region (69% of the total) are exposed to geological hazards. The map identifies areas susceptible to earthquakes, floods, landslides, and other geological processes that can compromise the safety of people and the environment.
ARAB EMIRATES-BANGLADESH
A court in the United Arab Emirates gave 57 Bangladeshis long prison sentences for demonstrating in the Gulf state on Friday 19 July against their country's government. Three of the defendants were sentenced to life imprisonment for ‘instigating riots on several streets in the UAE’, while 53 others were jailed for 10 years and one for 11 years, state news agency Wam reported. Amnesty International condemned what it called the UAE's ‘extreme reaction to the mere existence of a public protest’ on its territory.
ISRAEL-UNITED STATES-GAZA
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has arrived in Washington where he is expected to meet President Joe Biden and deliver a speech to Congress tomorrow. Not until Thursday - after these appointments - is the Israeli delegation expected at the ceasefire negotiating table. In a press conference, the families of some of the hostages with American citizenship held in Gaza objected to this scan, arguing that any speech by Netanyahu in the United States without the announcement of an agreement to free the hostages would represent a failure.
RUSSIA-CHINA
Funds have been allocated to open a border crossing between Russia and China on Bolshoi Ussurijskij Island, Chinese for Heixiazi Island, a sedimentary river island at the confluence of the Ussuri River in the Amur, whose sovereignty has been divided between Moscow and Beijing since 2008. This was announced by Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mišustin during a visit to Khabarovsk.
SINGAPORE
Singapore is the safest city in the world for tourists, according to research by Forbes Advisor. The study analysed factors such as crime, quality of healthcare and risk of natural disasters. Tokyo came second in the ranking based on data from 60 destinations worldwide. Among Asian cities, the most insecure is Yangon, which ranks third last. Just a little higher in the ranking are Manila and Dhaka.
CHINA-SOUTH KOREA
Chinese ecommerce giant Alibaba will launch a new online business-to-business (B2B) platform for Korean small and medium-sized enterprises next month, with the aim of supporting their businesses and increasing sales to consumers around the world. The new platform, called South Korea Pavilion, will debut on 8 August.
RUSSIA-CENTRALASIA
According to data from the Russian statistical institute Rosstat, the average migrant in Russia is a married man of working age from Tajikistan or Kyrgyzstan. In 2023 the total number of migrants was 560,000 out of 15 million foreigners who entered, 23% lower than the previous year and the lowest in the last 10 years, from 482,000 in 2013.
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15/07/2023
