Jega backs youth involvement in politics

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett calls on young people to get vaccinated against Covid-19 during the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem. The Israeli health ministry reimposed compulsory mask-wearing in enclosed public places on June 25, following a surge in Covid-19 cases since the rule was dropped 10 days earlier.

The CCP was founded in 1921, and this week, top party brass are touting their achievements with big public relations campaigns. But as the party bolsters its image, is there weakness behind the facade?

an explosion of Chinese podcasts are wrestling with social issues considered taboo under the country's strict media controls. More than 7,000 new podcasts came online last year with an audience tipped at nearly 10 million -- a small but fast-growing group in the world's largest market for web audio content. While podcasting has long been part of western media appetites, it has just started gaining ground in China's tightly managed media ecosystem, serving up counter-narratives and critical social analysis.

The assassination of President Moise tops off a crisis that has been smoldering in the Caribbean state for years. Politicians and organized crime gangs are equally responsible for Haiti's problems.

Thousands of Kashmiri youth are becoming addicted to heroin, amid extreme economic and psychological stress. Experts say recent lockdowns and the widespread availability of the drug are major contributing factors.

Teen pop star Olivia Rodrigo features in a Twitter video posted by the White House encouraging young Americans to get vaccinated against Covid-19. "It doesn’t matter if you’re young and healthy," Rodrigo says, "getting the vaccine is about protecting yourself, your friends and your family. Let’s get vaccinated!"

The shocking image of a violently ill Alexander Litvinenko as he lay dying from radioactive poisoning in a London hospital bed is how much of the world remembers the ex Russian spy. But a new opera in London based on a book by his wife Marina and composed by former London financier, Anthony Bolton seeks to tell more of his story. A British public inquiry in 2016 concluded that Russian President Vladimir Putin had "probably approved" Litvinenko's killing, which it said was likely to have been FSB-directed, but no one has ever been brought to justice.

Hong Kong's fencing gold medallist Edgar Cheung Ka-long has stirred up a surge of local interest in the sport after winning the Chinese territory's first Olympic gold in 25 years and only its second ever. The fencing school where Cheung hailed from said they received over 60 enquiries from prospective students just the morning after Cheung's win in the men's foil in the Tokyo Olympics on Monday. Morale is high among the students. "I feel very happy, but I also feel that he is a good role model for me," says a 10-year-old fencer at the school.

Carrie Lam has warned the territory's top legal bodies that ties will be cut if they pursue political paths. Civic and legal organizations are facing increased political pressure.

As candidates jostle for the top leadership, analysts fear the country's challenges are too big and voters too impatient for any leader to remain in office long enough to make a tangible difference.

In the central Romanian city of Targu Mures, a former archaeologist and political newcomer is seeking to heal ethnic divisions and clean up corruption and mismanagement.

The often controversial president has said he will not take part in elections in June 2022, opting to step down at the end of his term.