Japanese and Chinese leaders visit opposing capitals in Ukraine war
If ever you needed a demonstration of how the war in Ukraine is echoing in Asia, the schedule of the Japanese and Chinese leaders offers a prime example.
Both are on strategic foreign visits on opposing sides of the conflict.
Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is in Kyiv where he is promising unwavering support to Ukraine's president, with talk of reconstruction and humanitarian aid.
China's Xi Jinping, meanwhile, is in Moscow and has been described by Russia's Vladimir Putin as a friend and a partner. China may insist it is neutral, but it looks more Moscow-leaning than honest broker right now.
Punjab hit by internet blackout as authorities hunt for Sikh preacher
Shutdown imposed as part of search for Amritpal Singh Sandhu, accused of disrupting communal harmony
Economic life in the north Indian state of Punjab has been paralysed by an internet shutdown, affecting 30 million people, imposed as part of a huge manhunt for a Sikh preacher fighting for a separate Sikh state.
Police have been searching for Amritpal Singh Sandhu, who is wanted for allegedly disrupting communal harmony, since Saturday.
The internet and SMS shutdown was imposed to stop the spread of fake news but it has also paralysed shops, businesses, colleges and digital payments for everyone in the state. Originally in place until noon (0630 GMT) on Monday, the outage was extended for a further 24 hours.
London's Metropolitan Police slammed in report
A review into Britain's largest police force has found "institutional racism, sexism and homophobia" and has called for "radical reform."
An independent review of London's Metropolitan Police has produced a number of damning findings including institutional racism, misogyny and homophobia.
The final 363-page report, which was released on Tuesday, found "systemic and fundamental problems" in the force which required "radical reform."
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak told the BBC that it was essential to "regain people's trust."
London Mayor Sadiq Khan, who initiated the review, called for the recommendations put forward by the report to be implemented quickly.
Did Russian ties to Koran-burning outside Turkish embassy derail Sweden’s NATO bid?
The timing couldn’t have been worse. Turkey had already threatened to derail Sweden’s NATO aspirations when a far-right extremist set fire to a Koran outside the Turkish embassy in Stockholm. On Friday, Ankara issued its verdict on Sweden and Finland’s joint NATO bid: For now, Turkey would only start ratifying Finland's application. Several reports have since emerged, meanwhile, pointing to suspected Russia ties among the organisers of the damaging Koran-burning protest.
On January 21, far-right provocateur Rasmus Paludan travelled from Denmark to Sweden to set the holy book of Islam alight in what appeared to be a one-man show in front of the Turkish embassy in Stockholm.
The act sent shockwaves across large parts of the Muslim world, sparking mass protests in Pakistan, Iraq, Iran, Lebanon, and of course in Turkey, where anti-Sweden rallies grew so violent that the Swedish embassy in Ankara was briefly forced to close.
Arab states condemn Israeli minister’s ‘no Palestinians’ remark
Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Bezalel Smotrich says there ‘isn’t a Palestinian people’.
The Palestinian Authority, Egypt and Jordan have condemned as “racist” a firebrand Israeli minister’s remarks denying the existence of the Palestinian people, with Amman summoning Israel’s ambassador for a rebuke.
Israel’s far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich is part of veteran leader Benjamin Netanyahu’s hard-right government that took office in December.
Smotrich had already faced international rebuke in early March after calling for a Palestinian town in the occupied West Bank to be “wiped out” after its settlers rampaged through it, killing one Palestinian and setting fire to cars and homes.
Screenings of Winnie the Pooh horror film cancelled in Hong Kong
Distributor gives no reason for cancellation, but Chinese censors have targeted Pooh before due to Xi Jinping comparisons
The screening of Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey, a British slasher film due to be released in Hong Kong this week, has been cancelled, its distributor said on Tuesday, without giving a reason for pulling it.
VII Pillars Entertainment said on its Facebook page that it was with “great regret” that the scheduled release of the film on 23 March had been cancelled. It did not give further details.
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