Today’s headlines: two dead but less damage than expected as super typhoon Fung-wong passes over the Philippines; Pakistan is the country with the fastest growing solar energy sector in South Asia; Xi Jinping opens the Chinese National Games, organised for the first time jointly by Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao; Kyrgyzstan wants an International Day of Nomadic Culture.

THAILAND-CAMBODIA

Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul threatens to blow up the fragile peace agreement with Cambodia - signed just a few days ago - after an explosion of a mine wounded two Thai soldiers near the shared border. The soldiers stumbled upon what the Thai army suspects were newly laid mines during a routine patrol in Si Sa Ket province this morning. This was the seventh such explosion in four months, following a series of detonations in July that triggered the bloodiest border clashes in recent years.

PHILIPPINES

Weaker than forecast, super typhoon Fung-wong (locally known as Uwan) left the Philippines this morning and moved into the South China Sea, after its strong winds and torrential rains caused the deaths of at least two people and forced more than a million inhabitants to leave their homes as a precaution. Damage and flooding have been reported in the southern part of the archipelago. The new emergency came just days after Typhoon Kalmaegi swept through the central Philippine islands, killing at least 224 people.

INDIA

Indian police arrested dozens of people during a rare protest at the India Gate monument in New Delhi, where demonstrators demanded concrete measures to combat the recurring scourge of toxic air that envelops the capital and surrounding areas every year. The protest, which saw people of all ages participating with banners and slogans before the police dispersed them, was an unusual event, despite the fact that Delhi and the national capital region face the same serious air pollution problem every winter.

PAKISTAN

According to the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis, a US research centre, Pakistan is the South Asian country where the use of solar energy is growing the most, now accounting for a quarter of the electricity supply. Islamabad has seen electricity prices rise by 155% in three years, while solar panel prices have fallen by almost 50% and have been exempted from import duties and sales taxes, making solar energy a cheaper alternative for households and farmers.

CHINA

Chinese President Xi Jinping declared the 15th National Games open last night at the Guangdong Olympic Sports Centre, marking the first time that China’s premier multi-sport event has been jointly hosted by Guangdong Province and the Special Administrative Regions of Hong Kong and Macao. The cauldron - lit using combustible ice extracted from a depth of 1,522 metres in the South China Sea - was lit jointly by the last torchbearers: Guangdong sprinter Su Bingtian, Hong Kong Olympic fencing champion Cheung Ka-long and Macao Asian wushu champion Li Yi. Over 20,000 athletes will compete in 34 different sports.

ARMENIA

By decision of the Patriarch of the Armenian Apostolic Church, Catholicos Karekin II, a priest of the Eparchy of Tavuš, Father Taron Unanyan, who concelebrated with priest Stepan Asatryan, also expelled from the Church in conflict with the Catholicos, and whose liturgies are attended by Prime Minister Nikol Pašinyan to emphasise his criticism of the leadership of Karekin’s ecclesiastical structures and the clergy loyal to him.

KYRGYZSTAN

At the 43rd session of the UNESCO General Conference, a resolution proposed by Kyrgyzstan was unanimously approved, proclaiming 22 September as International Nomadic Culture Day, an initiative that has been worked on in recent years to achieve “global recognition of the cultural, historical and social significance of nomadic traditions and their important contribution to cultural diversity and the development of humanity’.