Play The Diplomat’s Quiz: April 10, 2016 Edition

U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter will visit India and the Philippines starting tomorrow to boost two of the United States’ critical relationships in the region.

In January 2016, 20 containers of Russian arms arrived in Suva, the capital of Fiji. Speculations have abounded as to the ramifications of the weapons shipment. The weapons will likely be used to arm Fiji’s peacekeepers. This makes sense—45 Fijian peacekeepers were captured by the al-Nusra Front in Syria in 2014, which prompted calls to upgrade the military’s obsolete equipment. But why is Fiji receiving arms donations from faraway Russia, and why now?

Couples seeking to get married in Turkmenistan will have one more hoop to jump through before tying the knot: an HIV test. According to state-controlled media–as reported by AFP and AP–Ashgabat passed a law this week mandating HIV tests for “persons entering marriage” as well as blood donors, prisoners, foreign citizens applying for work visas, and “persons suspected of narcotics use.”

Gulbuddin Hekmatyar has been fighting in Afghanistan since the Communists were the enemy. Over the last 40 years he, and the group he founded in 1975, Hizb-i-Islami, have fought the Soviets, other Afghan mujahideen, the Taliban, the Americans, and the government in Kabul. But in recent weeks, Hizb-i-Islami spokesmen have entertained the idea of coming to the negotiating table. The biggest hurdle–a precondition that foreign troops completely withdrew before any negotiations–seems to have been dropped.

Rayani Air is Malaysia’s first sharia-compliant airline – there is no alcohol on the plane, female Muslim cabin crew have to wear the hijab while non-Muslims have to be decently dressed, and prayers are recited before the aircraft takes off.

The airline scored another first when it issued handwritten boarding passes to its passengers in March.

Rayani Air’s handwritten boarding passes came to the public’s attention when passenger Lau Weng San uploaded a photo of his pass dated March 18, 2016 on his Facebook account. The post subsequently went viral.

The United States and the Philippines began this year’s iteration of their annual war games on Monday as China issued a pointed warning about outside interference in the ongoing South China Sea disputes.

Some 8,000 U.S. and Philippine will participate in the Balikatan exercises, which will run from April 4 to April 15. Australian troops will also participate in Balikatan this year, while several countries sent observers.

Over the last several years, Japan has seen a panoply of new political parties appearing and evaporating. On March 27, this trend culminated in the launching ofMinshin-To (Democratic Party, DP), which consolidated the Minshu-To (Democratic Party of Japan, DPJ) and Ishin no-To (Japan Innovation Party).

Though the new party has barely launched, it is already facing a significant challenge: the public’s expectations of the DP are extremely low. According toan opinion poll taken by Kyodo News in late March, a whopping 67 percent of the poll respondents replied that they are not expecting much from the new party, with only 8 percent saying they support the DP.

China has begun operating a lighthouse on one of its artificially-constructed islands in the South China Sea.

According to Xinhua, China’s transport ministry held a completion ceremony Tuesday marking the start of operations of the 55-meter high lighthouse on Subi Reef, one of seven features in the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea which China has controversially converted into man-made islands.

On Monday, the Chinese government announced that an old tiger was the latest to be ensnared in President Xi Jinping’s wide-ranging anti-corruption campaign. Guo Boxiong, a former vice chairman of the powerful Central Military Commission and a retired People’s Liberation Army (PLA) general, confessed to taking $12.3 million in bribes. Xinhua, citing a statement from the PLA’s military procuratorate said that Guo was additionally found to “have taken the advantage of his position to assist the promotion and relocation of other people.” Guo stepped down from the CMC in 2012.

Country-wise, more than $41 million – or almost 85 percent of the $49.72 million total amount this year – is going to the Philippines, consistent with what U.S. officials have said previously about the “lion’s share” of MSI funding for 2016 going to Manila.