South Asia
Nepalese Army Chief General Prabhu Ram Sharma commenced his four-day visit to India on Tuesday. During the trip, he is scheduled to meet with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and discuss defence ties. [India Today]
India, Sri Lanka, and the Maldives agreed to bolster trilateral cooperation to counter maritime threats such as terrorism and drug trafficking. The discussion was concluded at the three-day day Goa Maritime Conclave, which saw the participation of the three countries’ naval chiefs, along with representatives of 12 countries in the Indian Ocean region, including Myanmar, Indonesia, and Bangladesh. [Times of India]
Central Asia and the Caucasus
A flight carrying 191 Afghan refugees, including 143 American-trained pilots took off from Tajikistan’s capital, Dushanbe, on Tuesday to be relocated to the United States (US). The evacuees will be taken to a third country for processing before being granted the right to immigrate to the US. [RFE/RL]
The World Health Organization (WHO) has expressed doubts about Turkmenistan’s claim that it is COVID-19 free. “From the scientific point of view, it’s unlikely that the virus is not circulating in Turkmenistan,” a senior WHO official told the BBC on Tuesday. Turkmenistan is one of the few countries, including North Korea, that claim to have zero COVID-19 cases. [BBC]
East and Southeast Asia
A Myanmar military court is set to deliver its verdict next month on whether ousted democratic leader Aung San Suu Kyi broke the country’s coronavirus rules during the elections that her party won last November. [The Straits Times]
The Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party will introduce the guiding principles of the sixth plenary session, whose meeting agenda is top secret, through a press conference on Friday. [Global Times]
Europe
In response to the ongoing border crisis, Poland closed the Kuznica-Bruzgi border crossing and deployed 12,000 troops to the area. Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki described the current crisis as “the biggest hit from the East in at least several decades.” Resulting tensions have led to the European Commission seeking to impose sanctions on Belarus with the help of the United States and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. [The Warsaw Voice]
On Wednesday, Greek authorities accused Turkey of pushing boats filled with migrants into Greek territorial waters. In addition, Greece also urged the European Union to pressurise Ankara into fulfilling its international obligation regarding migrant arrivals. Athens has frequently blamed Ankara for failing to curb illegal migration and violating the 2016 agreement with the Union. [DW]
British Health Secretary Sajid Javid said the government is mandating COVID-19 vaccines for workers of its National Health Service (NHS). However, he said that there would be exceptions for individuals who do not physically meet patients and those that are medically exempt from taking the jabs. [Euronews]
Latin America and the Caribbean
Colombian President Iván Duque travelled to Jerusalem to meet with his Israeli counterpart Isaac Herzog and inaugurate a commercial office in the city. His visit has been interpreted as Colombia recognising Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. [Telesur]
On Tuesday, Chile’s lower house of parliament approved a motion to impeach Sebastián Piñera 78-67, with 3 abstentions. The motion will now go to the Senate, where it will need two-thirds approval. The impeachment motion is centred around his inclusion in the recent Pandora Papers. [MercoPress]
Middle East and North Africa (MENA)
Israel’s Immigration and Interior ministers have agreed to expedite the immigration of 5,000 Ethiopians claiming Jewish descent amid the ongoing civil war in the North African country. It is estimated that around 7,000 to 12,000 Ethiopians, including many from the war-torn Tigray region, are still waiting to be evacuated to Israel. [Times of Israel]
A Sudanese court has ordered the country’s telecom companies to restore internet access more than two weeks after it was cut following a coup by the military. According to internet advocacy group NetBlocks, Sudan remained largely offline on Tuesday despite the court’s directive. [Middle East Eye]
North America
On Tuesday, the Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled against drug manufacturer Johnson & Johnson in a landmark $465 million opioid case. The Court determined that the high court had wrongly interpreted the state’s laws. This was the first case of its kind in the United States to go to trial. Opioids killed more than 4,600 people in Oklahoma between 2007 and 2017. [ABC News]
United States (US) Vice President Kamala Harris landed in France with the hope of restoring ties after the submarine deal fiasco in September. Relations between the countries deteriorated last month after Australia abandoned a $65 billion submarine deal with France in favour of the AUKUS partnership with the US and the United Kingdom. Biden has since described his administration’s handling of the situation as “clumsy.” [The Voice of America]
Oceania
Former Prime Minister Paul Keating said Australia has lost its way and urged it to promote engagement with China to protect Indo-Pacific security, and indeed economic and social growth. He declared, “China’s simply too big and too central to be ostracised.” [Sky News]
New Zealand Trade Minister Damien O’Connor said the country remains open to China and Taiwan joining the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP). The Minister said New Zealand wishes to avoid prejudging China’s application to the agreement. However, he also warned the prospective applicants to meet the standards set under the partnership and that these benchmarks will not be lowered for anyone. [The Age]
Sub-Saharan Africa
The Democratic Republic of Congo's army announced that it had recaptured all the territory lost to rebels from the March 23 Movement in the eastern Rutshuru area. The villages captured are situated in a region that borders both Uganda and Rwanda and the army has said that the fighters came from Rwanda. [Africa News]
Hundreds in Ghana’s Volta region have been displaced following the onset of tidal waves. Minister for Works and Housing Francis Asenso-Boakye has announced the dispensation of funds to build a sea defence wall in the area. [Africa Feeds]
World News Monitor: 10 November, 2021
A quick look at events from around the globe.
November 10, 2021
Former Australian Prime Minister Paul Keating SOURCE: SKY NEWS AUSTRALIA