South Asia
A United States (US) intelligence assessment said that the Taliban could take control over Kabul within the coming 90 days. Speaking to The Washington Post, an American official said that “everything is moving in the wrong direction.” Nevertheless, addressing a press conference on Tuesday, President Joe Biden said that the US has already spent “over a trillion dollars over 20 years” and that Afghan leaders must now “fight for their nation.” [Al Jazeera]
According to the Sri Lankan President’s office, authorities have levelled 23,270 charges against 25 individuals over the 2019 Easter Sunday attacks on churches and hotels that resulted in 269 deaths. The statement further said that the chief justice has been asked to appoint a three-member high court bench to expeditiously resolve the matter. [The Hindu]
Central Asia and the Caucasus
Kazakh authorities have labelled all regions of the country “red zones” following a new wave of COVID-19 infections. Kazakhstan registered 7,657 new COVID-19 cases on August 10, bringing the total caseload to over 650,000, with more than 7,100 deaths. Health Minister Aleksei Tsoi said 99.9% of the people who tested positive had not been vaccinated. [RFE/RL]
Russian Defence Minister Sergey Shoigu told his Armenian counterpart Arshak Karapetyan that Russia is willing to support the modernisation of Armenia’s military during a meeting in Moscow on Wednesday. “We are ready to continue supporting the implementation of the reform programmes in the Armenian Armed Forces,” Shoigu said. [Armen Press]
East and Southeast Asia
Malaysia’s King Sultan Abdullah Ahmad Shah has asked Prime Minister (PM) Muhyiddin Yassin to hold a parliamentary vote of confidence earlier than the originally scheduled date in early September. This comes amid growing pressure from the premier’s opponents this week to convince the monarch that the ruling Perikatan Nasional (PN) has lost its majority. It is unclear if the PM has agreed. [The Straits Times]
In a sign of cooperation resuming under the junta, China will transfer more than $6 million to Myanmar’s government to fund 21 development projects. [The Straits Times]
Europe
Germany on Tuesday arrested Davis S., a British citizen accused of spying for Russia while working at the UK embassy in Berlin. German prosecutors in a statement on Wednesday said, “Before his arrest, he worked as a local hire at the British Embassy in the German capital and allegedly passed on documents he received at work to the Russians. He received an unknown amount of cash in return.” The prosecutors added that the accused is suspected of spying for Russian intelligence since November 2020. [Euronews]
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson expressed concern over the increasing rate at which climate change is causing global warming and “extreme events” such as the floods in North America and China. This comes in response to a report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change that warned that human activity was “damaging the planet at an alarming rate.” [UK Government]
Latin America and the Caribbean
Mexican Foreign Affairs Secretary Marcelo Ebrard announced that the United States will be sending 8.5 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines amid a surge of infections from the Delta variant. The shipments will be made up of the AstraZeneca and Moderna vaccines. [NBC News]
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro’s proposal to require printed ballots in next year’s election was defeated in Congress, with just 229 votes in favour, well below the 308 required. Bolsonaro has repeatedly threatened to refuse to concede defeat if electoral authorities only use the electronic voting system, arguing that it leaves the door open for fraud. Experts, however, counter that these arguments are baseless. [Associated Press]
Middle East and North Africa (MENA)
Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani appointed Bandar Mohamed al-Attiyah as the country’s first ambassador to Saudi Arabia after a four-year-long regional dispute. The move comes amid Qatar’s initiatives to strengthen relations with Saudi Arabia, which severed ties with Qatar in 2017 over its alleged closeness to Iran. [Al Jazeera]
Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita hosted his Israeli counterpart Yair Lapid in Rabat on Wednesday. It was Lapid’s first visit to the North African country since both sides normalised ties last year as part of the Abraham Accords. The envoys discussed ways to bolster cultural, economic, and political ties. Bourita also stressed the need for Israel and Palestine to start peace negotiations, and expressed his support for “a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital, living side by side with a state of Israel.” [Associated Press]
North America
On Wednesday, North Korea once again threatened to retaliate against South Korea for its decision to hold joint military exercises with the United States, despite Washington maintaining that the drills are “purely defensive in nature.” Senior North Korean official Kim Yong Chol warned that South Korea would “realise by the minute what a dangerous choice they made and what a serious security crisis they will face because of their wrong choice.” [Associated Press]
On Wednesday, United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken denounced China’s sentencing of Canadian citizen Michael Spavor for 11 years for espionage and called for his release, along with that of another Canadian national, Michael Kovrig. Blinken said, “The practice of arbitrarily detaining individuals to exercise leverage over foreign governments is completely unacceptable. People should never be used as bargaining chips.” [US Department of State]
Oceania
On Thursday, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced a “phased three-speed plan” to reopen the country’s borders to international travellers in 2022. Ardern said, “The government will move to a new individual risk-based model for quarantine-free travel that will establish low-, medium- and high-risk pathways into the country from the first quarter of 2022.” The planned reopening also includes a boost for the vaccination programjme and a self-isolation pilot program. [The Sydney Morning Herald]
New Zealand restricted travel from Fiji this weekend following an outbreak of more than 24,000 active cases of COVID-19. Earlier this week, New Zealand designated Fiji as a “high-risk” country and limited travel. The announcement was made by COVID-19 Minister Chris Hipkins, citing the need to protect the health of New Zealanders. [RNZ]
Sub-Saharan Africa
Ahead of Zambia’s presidential election on Thursday, in which President Edgar Lungu is standing for re-election, United States Ambassador David Young warned of sanctions against any individuals who “promote violence, undermine electoral processes, engage in fraudulent or corrupt behaviour, or otherwise violate democratic rights and the foundations of free elections.” [CAJ News]
Data from the Central Bank of Kenya indicates that Kenya’s imports from Tanzania have now overtaken its level of exports to Tanzania for the first time in decades. Kenya largely imports cereals, wood, and edible vegetables from its fellow East African Community member state. [The East African]
World News Monitor: 12 August, 2021
A quick look at events from around the globe.
August 12, 2021
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro SOURCE: REUTERS