MONTH IN BRIEF – October 2024
MONTH IN BRIEF
Yunus calls for Rohingya resettlement

The head of Bangladesh’s interim government, Muhammad Yunus, has called for a fast-tracked third-country resettlement of Rohingya Muslims living in the country, as a new wave of refugees flees mounting violence in Myanmar’s Rakhine state. Some 8,000 Rohingya Muslims – who are denied many basic rights at home – have escaped to Bangladesh in recent months as fighting intensifies between Myanmar’s ruling junta and the Arakan Army, a powerful ethnic militiafrom the country’s Buddhist majority.This new influx hasswelled the more than one million Rohingya refugees already living in overcrowded camps in Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar district.
Takaichi in bid to be Japan’s first woman PM

Japan’s Economic Security Minister Sanae Takaichi has launched a fresh bid to become the country’s first female prime minister with a pledge to use public money to enhance jobs and fuel growth. The protégé of late former PM Shinzo Abe and his uncompromising views on monetary and fiscal policy is the seventh Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) lawmaker to formally enter the race to become ruling party leader at an election on Sept. 27. Due to the LDP’s dominance in Parliament, the winner of the leadership contest will most likely become Japan’s next prime minister.
China, Russia: message of support for Kim Jong-un

Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin have both sent greetings to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on the occasion of North Korea’s founding anniversary, September 9th. Putin expressed confidence that ‘the comprehensive strategic partnership between Russia and the DPRK will be strengthened in a planned way thanks to our joint efforts’, while President Xi called for deeper strategic communication and cooperation with North Korea in his message.In 2023, Mr Kim marked the country’s founding day on Sept 9 with a parade of paramilitary groups and diplomatic exchanges in which he vowed to deepen ties with China and Russia.
Fears for fate of Taj Mahal

Extensive damage to the walls and floors of India’s iconic Taj Mahal after recent heavy rainfall has sparked concerns about threats to the world-famous monument.Heavy rains in Agra led to visible cracks and damage to the Taj Mahal, including worn inscriptions and chipped stones. Despite these issues, the Archaeological Survey of India has asserted that there are no serious structural problems, and conservation work continues to maintain the monument.
China-Singapore ‘bright spot’

The warm relationship between Singapore and China is a ‘bright spot’ in a more volatile world, Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan told his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi on Sept.9, during a bilateral meeting at the Diaoyutai State Guest house in Beijing. Dr Balakrishnan said that the upgrading of the relationship in 2023 reflected ‘the unique, the longstanding and the very close ties between our two countries’.He noted in his opening remarks that 2025 will mark the 35th anniversary since diplomatic ties were established, and acknowledged Mr Wang’s earlier remarks that Singapore ‘successfully completed a leadership transition’ in May 20
Mumbai teen breaks record with shoulder-level limb transplant

A 15-year-old teenager from Goregaon, Mumbai, has become the youngest person in the world to undergo a shoulder-level limb transplant. Anamta Ahmad underwent the surgery on Sept. 18, after losing her right arm in an electrocution accident in 2022, causing critical burns to both her arms.Her right hand subsequently developed gangrene and she had to undergo multiple amputations. The teenager’s left arm was also severely injured in the aftermath, leaving limited functionality.Anamta received the donated limb from the family of a nine-year-old girl who had been declared brain-dead in the western Indian city of Surat.
Freed from Death Row

The world’s longest-serving death row prisoner has thanked his supporters for helping him achieve ‘complete victory’ after a Japanese court overturned his decades-old murder conviction.After a long fight for justice led by his sister, 88-year-old Iwao Hakamada was on Sept 26 declared innocent of the quadruple murder that led to him spending 46 years on death row.Japan is, along with the US, one of only two major industrialised democracies to retain capital punishment, which has broad support among the Japanese public.
‘Pensioner’ pandas return to China

Japan’s much loved elderly giant pandas, Shin Shin and Ri Ri, were safely returned to China on Sept 29, Tokyo’s Ueno Zoological Gardens reported on its website.The two pandas arrived at the Ueno zoo in 2011, bringing a little light relief to Japan just months after a devastating earthquake and tsunami hit the country on March 11 of that year, and continued to draw fans of all ages over the years.When it was announced in August that the pandas would soon be returned to China to be treated for high blood pressure, visitors flocked to see the pair before they left.