This article reports on major incidents across Asia, including Myanmar’s announcement of elections, police actions in Dhaka against an Islamist march, migrant tragedies off Yemen’s coast, church raids in China, a ruling on school hairstyles in Thailand, diplomatic developments involving Russia and the USA, and the closure of the Red Cross office in Azerbaijan.
The military government in Myanmar has announced the scheduling of general elections for either December 2025 or January 2026, as reported by state media. This marks the first specific time frame given for these elections, which opposition groups deem a coerced initiative amidst ongoing civil conflict following the military coup in early 2021, which displaced the elected government and incited armed rebellion against the junta. Aung San Suu Kyi, the head of the National League for Democracy and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, remains imprisoned.
In Dhaka, police employed tear gas and stun grenades to disperse demonstrators from the militant group Hizb-ut-Tahrir who aimed to replace the country’s secular governmental structure with an Islamic caliphate. The march, dubbed the ‘March for the Caliphate’, saw hundreds of participants rallying at the Baitul Mukarram mosque post Friday prayers, despite police reinforcement to halt the gathering.
In Yemen, four vessels carrying migrants capsized near the shores of Yemen and Djibouti, resulting in two confirmed fatalities and 186 individuals missing, as per the United Nations Migration Agency’s report. The International Organization for Migration noted that most of the passengers were likely Ethiopian migrants, with five presumed to be Yemeni crew members among them. Notably, at least 57 of the passengers were women.
Chinese authorities conducted a raid on a Protestant house church in Xinyi, Huinan district, amid a nation-wide crackdown coinciding with the National People’s Congress in Beijing. Nine individuals were taken into custody, including Pastor Zhao Hongliang, with four now facing criminal detention while the remaining five have been released on bail.
In Thailand, the Supreme Administrative Court has annulled a long-standing directive from the Ministry of Education dating back to 1975, which stipulated specific hairstyles for students: boys were required to have short hair, while girls were mandated to wear hairnets at ear height. This outdated directive had seen continued enforcement by various school authorities, but the court ruled it contravened constitutional freedoms.
In the diplomatic arena, the initial outcome of negotiations between the United States and Russia has led to the appointment of Aleksandr Darčiev as Moscow’s ambassador to Washington. Darčiev previously led the Russian delegation in Istanbul talks and served as ambassador from 2017 to 2024, succeeding Anatolij Antonov who had a brief tenure following the previous ambassador’s resignation.
Azerbaijan has officially closed the office of the International Red Cross, the sole organization capable of relaying information about the welfare of Armenian prisoners in Baku and sending humanitarian aid. The Azerbaijani government has accused the Red Cross of smuggling by improperly utilizing ambulances for transportation of materials without necessary state authorization.
In summary, the announcement of scheduled elections in Myanmar underscores ongoing political tensions and conflict, while various protests and government actions across Bangladesh, Yemen, China, Thailand, Russia, and Azerbaijan highlight global issues of human rights, governance, and international relations. The responses from law enforcement and state authorities illustrate a pattern of contentious actions amid evolving socio-political landscapes.
Original Source: www.asianews.it
