Why the Trump administration wants Palestinians stripped of refugee status, and star football faces ‘racial abuse’ at China game.
Earthquake kills 82 in Indonesia resort islands
At least 82 are reported to have been killed after an earthquake of magnitude 6.9 hit Indonesia’s resort islands of Bali and Lombok Sunday. Minutes later, a magnitude-5.6 aftershock jolted the region again, CNN reported.
Indonesia’s National Disaster Management Board reported that the first earthquake struck at 6.46 pm local time.
On 29 July, an earthquake of 6.4 magnitude had struck the same area, killing 17 and injuring more than 160.
According to CNN, the Indonesian archipelago is part of the “Pacific Ring of Fire — a 40,000-kilometre area of intense seismic and volcanic activity where most of the world’s earthquakes occur”. The area spans from Japan and Indonesia on the one side of the Pacific Ocean to California on the other.
Eight journalists ‘assaulted’ while covering Bangladesh student protests
At least eight journalists were allegedly beaten up by members of the ruling Bangladesh Awami League while covering student protests in Dhaka, Prothom Alo reported.
Students in Dhaka and a few other cities have been out on the streets seeking safer roads since a bus ran over and killed two youngsters last week. The journalists were said to be investigating reports of attacks on protesters by police and members of the Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL), an affiliate of the Awami League.
Witnesses said the reporters were attacked by members of the BCL and the Awami Juba League, the Bangladesh Awami League’s youth wing.
“Armed men” also attacked the convoy of the US ambassador to Bangladesh during Saturday’s protests.
Trump administration working to strip Palestinians of refugee status
The Trump administration and its allies are reportedly working to strip the refugee status of Palestinians displaced by the creation of Israel, with the latest push in this direction being a disruption in the functioning of a UN agency that has worked for Palestinian refugees for decades, Foreign Policy reports. The report suggests the ultimate aim is to take the issue of refugees’ possible rehabilitation in their previous land “off the table in negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians, according to both American and Palestinian officials”.
President Trump’s senior adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner has reportedly initiated the process of rendering the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) ineffective. In a leaked email by Kushner to US officials, the former called the agency inefficient, corrupt and fruitless in the peace process.
Earlier, in January, the Trump administration had announced that it was withholding $65 million of a proposed $125 million grant after the president remarked that the Palestinians were “ungrateful” for the aid provided by the United States.
According to the United Nations, the funding has come down to $60 million this year from $364 million last year.
The UNRWA commissioner general Pierre Krahenbuhl has stated that the cut in funding has severely affected basic services for the refugees.
ASEAN, China take a step ahead in resolving South China Sea row
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and China “have have agreed on a single draft document that will form the basis of negotiations for a code of conduct in the South China Sea”, Channel News Asia reports.
The foreign ministers of the two sides described the step as a milestone in their relationship.
Announcing the move, Singapore foreign affairs minister Vivian Balakrishnan “said the single draft negotiating text will be a ‘living document and the basis of future code of conduct negotiations’. Both sides also agreed on the key modalities for future rounds of negotiations”, the report adds.
The two blocs are intricately linked with one another in terms of trade. The volume of trade between China and ASEAN increased from $55.2 billion in 2003 to $514.8 billion in 2017.
The next round of talks could begin in Cambodia this month.
Hinting at American interference, Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi said at a press conference that negotiations between the two sides can take place properly “provided there are no disturbances from outside”, The New York Times reported.
A flat tyre started one of California’s worst wildfires
What started off as a minor fire when a flat tyre on a trailer caught fire has emerged as California’s sixth most-destructive blaze ever, CNN reports.
On 23 July, the sparks thrown up as the rim hit the asphalt spread across miles of dry bushes and even spread to residential areas. Nearly two weeks later, the fire is still burning.
Reportedly, the fire has claimed seven lives and scorched more than 145,000 acres to become the deadliest of the 17 blazes racing through the state.
Star footballer faces racial abuse at China game
Former Newcastle and Chelsea striker Demba Ba allegedly faced racial abuse at a Chinese Super League game, reported the BBC.
Demba Ba, who hails from Senegal, was reportedly insulted by Chinese opponent Changchun Yatai at Saturday’s game after the two got into an argument.
“I learned that a Yatai player used insulting language toward him [Ba],” the BBC quoted the manager of his team, Wu Jingui, as saying.
According to the South China Morning Post, there have been several calls for an investigation from social media users as well as traditional media.