South Asia
A speedboat carrying 36 passengers collided with a vessel in Bangladesh, resulting in the death of 26 passengers, including women and children. According to Rahima Khatum, a government official from the region, the passengers were violating the government imposed nationwide lockdown. [Al Jazeera]
Just days after the American and NATO troops commenced their withdrawal from Afghanistan, an attack by Taliban insurgents on an army post resulted in the death of at least seven members of the Afghan security forces. However, the Taliban did not immediately respond to claims that they were responsible for the attack. [NDTV]
Central Asia and the Caucasus
In a special parliamentary session, Armenian lawmakers rejected the candidacy of acting Prime Minister (PM) Nikol Pashinyan in the upcoming snap parliamentary elections, when he hopes to be re-elected. After the vote, Speaker Ararat Mirzoyan announced: “One lawmaker voted in favour, three against, and 75 lawmakers abstained. Pashinyan is not elected” as PM. If Pashinyan fails to secure support in a second session, which is set to take place on May 10, the Parliament will be dissolved and President Armen Sarkissian will schedule early elections for next month. [RFE/RL]
Uzbekistan has sent humanitarian aid to assist India in its ongoing fight against COVID-19. The aid, which includes 100 portable oxygen concentrators, 2000 units of Remdesivir, and other medicines, arrived in New Delhi on May 1. [Kun.uz]
East and Southeast Asia
In a televised briefing on Monday evening, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said that “China remains our benefactor… Just because we have a conflict with China doesn’t mean to say that we have to be rude and disrespectful.” The comments come as the Philippines hopes to increase vaccine deliveries from the mainland even amid escalating tensions in the disputed South China Sea. [The Straits Times]
Hong Kong on Monday reported that the city’s economy grew by 7.8% on year in the first three months of 2021, after six consecutive quarters of negative growth. This was a more prolonged downturn than the 1997 Asian financial crisis and the 2007-8 global recession. This upturn thus ends the city’s most pronounced period of recession in its modern history. [Channel News Asia]
Europe
The EU on Monday summoned Russia’s ambassador to the bloc to protest Moscow’s decision to ban eight EU officials from entering the country. The EU commission said that “Ambassador Chizhov was informed of the strong rejection and firm condemnation by the EU institutions and EU member states of this decision, which was purely politically motivated and lacks any legal justification.” [Reuters]
The European Commission unveiled a plan to reopen the bloc for “non-essential travel” for fully vaccinated individuals from June. This is an attempt to restart the EU’s tourism industry, and comes at a time when the vaccination drive in the Union has been “dramatically” expedited. [Guardian]
Latin America and the Caribbean
Venezuela has allowed the CITGO 6 to carry out their sentences under house arrest, in what appears to be another effort by Caracas to mend strained ties with Washington, which has imposed a number of crippling sanctions on the country, particularly on its energy industry. In fact, Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza said that it was a “goodwill gesture” in lieu of the “agenda of the new White House.” The CITGO 6 comprises five American and one Venezuelan, all of whom are oil executives who have been held in the country for over three years on charges of corruption. After being lured to Caracas under the false pretences of doing business with the state-owned oil company PDVSA, the six men were then arrested on corruption charges. [Latin American Herald Tribune]
Argentina’s Ambassador to regional trade bloc Mercosur, Mariano Kestelboim, said that Buenos Aires is pushing for a “new common external tariff that promotes productive development.” Brazil and Uruguay, however, continue to push for the reduction or elimination of a common external tariff so that member-states have a greater sense of independence in their trade policies. [Merco Press]
Middle East and North Africa (MENA)
A surge in Islamic State (IS) activities in Baghdad’s Diyala province has forced residents to flee the area. In the last week, IS terrorists carried out nine attacks against civilians and security forces in the province, according to the Peshmerga. While the Iraqi army, Popular Mobilisation Forces, and the Peshmerga have maintained a presence in Diyala, a lack of proper coordination among them has led to increased activity by the IS. [Rudaw]
Libyan Government of National Unity (GNU) Foreign Minister (FM) Najla al-Mangoush has called on Turkey to withdraw its foreign fighters and mercenaries from Libya. The comments were made during a joint conference with Turkish FM Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu in Tripoli. Turkey has been involved in the Libyan civil war and has sent soldiers and mercenaries to fight along with Tripoli militias against Khalifa Haftar’s Libyan National Army. [Ahram Online]
North America
US President Joe Biden on Monday announced that he was raising the US’ annual refugee admissions cap to 62,500 for this fiscal year, a significant jump from the previous administration’s “historically low number” of 15,000. The leader said that the move will reinforce efforts to expand the US' ability to take in refugees and help his administration reach its stated goal of 125,000 admissions for FY 2022. [The White House]
Former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Monday warned of grave consequences of the US’ withdrawal from Afghanistan, arguing that it could lead to a “resumption of activities by extremist groups and a subsequent outpouring of refugees from Afghanistan.” Describing the situation as a “wicked problem,” Clinton noted that there are consequences “both foreseen and unintended of staying and of leaving.” [CNN]
Canadian opposition leaders expressed frustration with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government on Monday, after a debate on whether to call Trudeau’s chief of staff to testify in the Gen. Jonathan Vance investigation was abruptly cancelled, with no explanations provided. Federal conservatives have called for Katie Telford’s resignation over the handling of the sexual misconduct trial and have blamed the Liberals for cancelling the meeting to protect the government and Telford. [CTV News]
Oceania
Amid rising criticism of PM Scott Morrison’s decision to pause repatriation flights from India and to impose fines and jail time for travellers returning from the country, it has emerged that Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly recognised the dangers of this policy. In a letter to Health Minister Greg Hunt in which he asked the minister to impose a travel ban, he wrote, “These include the risk of serious illness without access to health care, the potential for Australians to be stranded in a transit country, and in a worst-case scenario, deaths.” [ABC News]
Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs Marise Payne is set to embark upon a trip to the United Kingdom, Switzerland, and the United States. In the UK, she will attend the G7 Foreign and Development Ministers’ Meeting to discuss the promotion of “democratic values”. In the UK, she will meet with senior officials in the Boris Johnson administration to review Australia’s security, defence, development, and foreign policy partnership. She will also meet with the French and Indian foreign ministers during her trip to London. Next, she will fly to Geneva, where she will participate in discussions held by multilateral organisations on COVID-19, human rights, and humanitarian crises. Lastly, she will travel to Washington to meet with the Biden administration to discuss their Indo-Pacific strategy. [Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs]
Sub-Saharan Africa
Former Gambian President Yahya Jammeh, who ruled the country from 1994 to 2017 and has been living in exile in Equatorial Guinea ever since, reportedly told a member of his Alliance for Patriotic Reorientation and Construction (APRC) party that he plans to return to the country. [Africa Feeds]
The Democratic Republic of Congo’s (DRC) health minister, Jean-Jacques Mbungani, announced that the country has successfully brought an end to its 12th Ebola outbreak in the North Kivu province. There was a re-emergence of 12 new cases in February, with six deaths. The epidemic was brought to an end through an expedited and aggressive vaccination programme, which averted the damage caused by the crisis between 2013 and 2016, when over 11,000 people died across West Africa. [Africa News]
World News Monitor: 04 May, 2021
A quick look at events from around the globe.
May 4, 2021
Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte SOURCE: PRESIDENTIAL COMMUNICATIONS OPERATIONS OFFICE OF THE PHILIPPINES