What happened
American reporter Shelly Kittleson has been abducted in Baghdad as regional security concerns continue to intensify. Iraqi authorities said they had detained one suspect after intercepting a vehicle linked to the incident, while others remain at large. Officials believe that the kidnapping may involve a militia aligned with Iran.

Who said what
A US State Department spokesperson said efforts were under way to secure Kittleson’s freedom “as soon as possible”.

“It is unclear who is responsible for her abduction,” said CNN. However, sources told the broadcaster that Kittleson (pictured above) had been warned of threats against her “from Iranian proxy group Kataib Hezbollah”.

The incident marks a concerning development in a country that was “previously notorious for kidnappings and attempted abductions”, said France 24, although such incidents had “decreased as the security situation improved in recent years”.

What next?
Washington has reiterated its advice urging Americans to leave Iraq, warning that conditions on the ground are becoming increasingly dangerous.

What happened
The Eurovision Song Contest is launching its first Asia edition. Ten countries – including Bangladesh, the Philippines, South Korea, Thailand and Vietnam – have confirmed that they will take part in Eurovision Asia. And there are “more to follow”, according to Eurovision’s website.

Who said what
As this year marks the competition’s 70th anniversary, it felt “especially meaningful to open this next chapter with Asia, a region rich in culture, creativity and talent”, said Martin Green, director of the Eurovision Song Contest at the European Broadcasting Union, which is co-organising the event.

There have already been “multiple attempts to create an Asian version of the iconic contest”, but none “bore fruit”, said the BBC. Yet rising incomes, social media and “young people who adore K-pop and karaoke” have given the business a “boost over the years”.

This competition is “conspicuously not named ‘Asiavision’,” added the BBC, and some are questioning why “major Asian markets such as China and Japan” aren’t part of it. But Asia is a region that “really loves its music”.

What next?
Countries will host their own national selections before the final in Bangkok on 14 November.

India has long recognised a “third gender” and was one of the first countries to allow people to legally self-identify as transgender. But its parliament has just passed controversial amendments to such laws that remove the right to self-identification and narrow the definition of “transgender”.

The Bharatiya Janata Party-led government got the bill through both houses last week despite a boycott by opposition parties and widespread protests by the LGBTQ+ community.

Virendra Kumar, the minister for social justice and empowerment, claims that the amendments still protect people who “face severe social exclusion due to their biological condition”. But Congress Party leader Rahul Gandhi called it a “brazen attack” on transgender rights.

People of a “third gender” have been recognised in India for thousands of years. They feature heavily in Hindu holy texts – the half-male, half-female deity Ardhanarishvara, for example – and were often revered under Muslim rulers of the Mughal Empire.

In 2014, India’s Supreme Court “officially recognised third-gender people as being citizens deserving of equal rights”. And that paved the way for the 2019 Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, which affirmed the right to self-identify as transgender or non-binary. The new amendments to the 2019 law remove those rights to self-identify, requiring instead a medical certification of gender reassignment.

If India’s president Droupadi Murmu signs the bill into law, it will be “a major reversal” of “hard-won rights”, said Jayshree Bajoria, Asia director of Human Rights Watch. This law, said N Kavitha Rameshwar in The Times of India, “seeks to be that one rogue wave that will wash away” a decade of progress in transgender rights, “as if it were all but a castle of sand”.