South Asia
During a live interview, Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan said that Pakistan would not conduct bilateral talks with India until it revises its decision to abrogate the special status of Jammu and Kashmir. He added that the matter was not an “internal issue” of India. [Economic Times]
Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said that Pakistan would not allow the United Stated to use Pakistani air bases following the withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan. This comes in response to American President Joe Biden’s claim that the United States intends to “reorganise its counterterrorism capabilities and assets in the region.” [Arab News]
Central Asia and the Caucasus
The Kazakh Parliament has agreed to extend Russia’s lease on the Baikonur space launch facility to 2050, with several conditions on environmental protection. The Kazakhstan Aerospace Ministry said that Russia has committed to cutting the number of launches of its heavy-lift proton launcher and aims to stop using the launcher by 2026. While Kazakhstan earns around $115 million annually in rent for Baikonur, the country is concerned about the serious environmental impacts of heavy launches. A Soyuz launch vehicle accident in 2018 led to 22 tons of rocket fuel being spilt and Russia is yet to pay Kazakhstan any compensation. [Eurasianet]
Kazakh police have detained at least nine people who have been protesting near the Chinese consulate in Almaty demanding the release of their relatives who are ‘illegally’ detained in China. Over the last few years, similar protests have taken place in Kazakhstan, with protestors demanding that Kazakh authorities officially intervene in the situation faced by ethnic Kazakhs in Xinjiang. Kazakhs are the second largest Turkic-speaking group in Xinjiang after the Uyghurs. [RFE/RL]
East and Southeast Asia
Hong Kong’s opposition-devoid legislature approved new powers on Wednesday that allow the government to remove public office holders and bar candidates from standing in elections if they are deemed to be “disloyal” by local authorities or China. This will dramatically reduce the number of directly elected politicians and ensure that only “staunch patriots” enter politics. [The Straits Times]
As the second China + Central Asia (C+C5) foreign ministers meeting took place, experts said that China, along with Central Asian partners, will strengthen cooperation on fighting “Three Evils”—terrorism, separatism and religious extremism—in the future to safeguard regional peace and stability after the complete withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan. [Global Times]
Europe
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Wednesday called for an urgent meeting of the Middle East Quartet—which includes Russia, the US, the UN and the EU—to resolve the Israeli-Palestine conflict. Lavrov’s remarks came after his meeting with UN Secretary-General António Guterres in Moscow. [Reuters]
The British government on Wednesday said that former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic—who was sentenced to life in 2016 for war crimes and genocide during the Bosnian war—will serve the remainder of his punishment in the UK. Karadzic is currently being held at The Hague’s detention unit but will soon be transferred to an unspecified UK prison. [Al Jazeera]
British Foreign Minister Dominic Raab declared that the United Kingdom would assign $31 million to several countries across Africa and the Indo-Pacific to counter Russian and Chinese attempts to “fill the multilateral vacuum” of cyberspace. He said that this would ensure that cyberspace remained free, open, and peaceful and would deter foreign efforts to meddle in democratic elections. [Reuters]
Latin America and the Caribbean
Healthcare facilities in the capital city of Colombia, Bogotá, have been described as “on the verge of collapse” after ICU occupancy rates touched 96%, in a dire indication of how the coronavirus is spreading beyond control. In fact, just on Monday, Colombia recorded 12,543 new cases and 488 deaths, bringing its grand total to over 3 million cases and more than 78,000 deaths. [The City Paper Bogotá]
Venezuela’s Supreme Court has called on Spain to extradite opposition politician Leopoldo López, who has been living in exile in the European country since last year. López has been handed down a prison sentence for supposedly “destabilising” the country, including alleged involvement in the attempted coup back in May 2020 that sought to overthrow President Nicolás Maduro. [Telesur]
Middle East and North Africa (MENA)
Former hardline President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad has registered to run in Iran’s presidential election in June. Ahmedinejad was president of Iran from 2005 to 2013. He could not contest the 2013 elections due to term limits and in 2017 his candidature was cancelled by the Guardian Council due to a rift with the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. [Reuters]
Syria has freed more than 400 civil servants, judges, lawyers, and journalists who were detained for criticising Bashar al-Assad’s government on Social media, especially over the country’s economic crisis. The decision to release the critics comes right before the May 26 presidential election and is seen by rights activists as a move to win over public opinion. [Reuters]
North America
The US on Wednesday sanctioned a Chinese Communist Party (CCP) official for his “involvement in gross violations of human rights, namely the arbitrary detention of Falun Gong practitioners for their spiritual beliefs.” Yu Hui, the former office director of the Central Leading Group on Preventing and Dealing with Heretical Religions, of Chengdu, Sichuan Province was designated as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken unveiled the State Department’s 2020 annual report on International Religious Freedom. [US Department of State]
House Republicans on Wednesday removed GOP Rep. Liz Cheney from her leadership post in the chamber for her persistent disavowal of former President Donald Trump’s false election rhetoric. Following her ouster, Cheney said she would lead the fight to bring her party back to the “fundamental principles of conservatism” and pledged to do everything in her power to ensure that Trump “never again gets anywhere near the Oval Office.” [Associated Press]
Canadian Foreign Minister Marc Garneau released a statement expressing concern over the situation in Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza on Wednesday, urging all parties to “take immediate steps to end the violence, de-escalate tensions, protect civilians, and uphold international law.” While supporting Israel’s right to live in peace and ensure its own security, Garneau condemned the violence in Jerusalem and the expansion of settlements and evictions in Sheikh Jarrah and Silwan, arguing that these actions “further jeopardise the prospects for a two-state solution.” [Global Affairs Canada]
Oceania
Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs Marise Payne released a statement on the unrest and violence in Israel, Gaza, and the West Bank, saying that Canberra is “deeply concerned” and “calls on all parties to refrain from unilateral actions that destabilise peace.” She also called on Israel to put a halt to its “land appropriations, forced evictions, and settlement activity.” [Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs]
Following the release of the new federal budget for 2021-22 this week, Australian Minister for Defence Peter Dutton said that the 10-year-funding model that amounts to $575 billion is aimed at “keep[ing] Australians safe, while protecting our national interests in a rapidly changing global environment.” To this end, he said that $270 billion would be put towards improving the “capability and potency of our defence force.” [Australian Minister for Defence]
Sub-Saharan Africa
Following a highly controversial election in January that opposition politician Bobi Wine alleges was rigged, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, who has been in power since 1986, was sworn into office on Wednesday for his sixth term. The ceremony was attended by heads of state from Kenya, Tanzania, Burundi, Somalia, Zimbabwe, South Sudan, Namibia, and Guinea. [Daily Monitor]
China gave Tanzania a $15.25 million loan that is directed towards improving and upgrading railway infrastructure, roads, health, energy, water, agriculture, and technology and in the country. The projects include the expansion of the Jakaya Kikwete Heart Institute (JKCI), the upgradation of the National Institute of Transport (NIT), and rock conservation in the Ngorongoro Geopark area. [The Citizen]
World News Monitor: 13 May, 2021
A quick look at events from around the globe.
May 13, 2021
Former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad SOURCE: EBRAHIM NOROOZI / AP