South Asia
Pakistani Interior Minister Sheikh Rasheed said that the country’s government intends to ban the far-right Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan party. This decision comes after days of violent protests organised by the party resulted in the death of at least two policemen, with over 340 injured during clashes with protestors. [Al Jazeera]
According to an official notification published by the Sri Lankan government, 11 Islamist organisations, including the Islamic State and al-Qaeda, have been banned over their involvement in extremist and terrorist activities. The list of banned organisations also includes the Sri Lanka Islamic Students Movement. The government’s decision comes just weeks before the two-year anniversary of the 2019 Sri Lank Easter Bombings, which resulted in the death of 359 people. [The Hindu]
Central Asia and the Caucasus
Weapons captured from Armenian forces by the Azerbaijani army have been kept on display in a newly built open-air museum in Azerbaijan’s capital Baku. President Ilham Aliyev inaugurated the opening of the ‘Spoils of War Museum’ on Tuesday, exhibiting tanks, armoured vehicles, artillery, missile systems and other equipment captured from Armenia during the Nagorno-Karabakh war last year. The museum displays the remains of a Russian Iskander missile, allegedly used by Armenia during the war, at its entrance. However, both Moscow and Yerevan have denied using the Iskander missile. [Daily Sabah]
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has urged Kyrgyzstan to investigate the harassment of journalists covering the constitutional referendum held on Sunday, which reduces the size of the parliament and widens the power of President Sadyr Japarov. There have been reports of journalists being detained and attacked over their coverage of the nationwide vote and the CPJ has urged Kyrgyz authorities to ensure that “all members of the press can cover events of national significance freely and safely.” [RFE/RL]
East and Southeast Asia
On Tuesday, Taiwan launched its first domestically built 10,000 ton-class amphibious transport dock in Kaohsiung. The ship is expected to enhance the defence capabilities of the island and escalate tensions in the volatile Taiwan Strait; however, Chinese state-owned media outlet Global Times posits that it will not be a significant threat to the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) due to its “much inferior” capabilities. [Global Times]
Pro-democracy activists sprayed red paint on the streets of Myanmar yesterday to symbolise the civilian lives lost and the bloodshed that took place following the beginning of protests against the military coup that took place on February 1. In Mandalay, red paint was also spilt on the streets, with accompanying signs that read: “hope our military dictatorship fails, ” “overthrow the era of fear”, and “blood has not dried on the streets”. [The Star]
An American delegation led by former Senator Chris Dodd arrived in Taipei on Wednesday afternoon. This is the first international visit by a US delegation since President Joe Biden took office in January. During their stay, the delegation will meet with President Tsai Ing-wen today and other top Taiwanese officials responsible for national security, foreign affairs, and national defence. [Focus Taiwan]
Europe
A spokesperson of the British Government announced its decision to respond to the legal proceedings initiated by the European Union by mid-May. The bloc has initiated legal action against the United Kingdom over its decision to bring in new trading rules in Northern Ireland. [Reuters]
The Kremlin on Wednesday said that it would consider US President Joe Biden’s proposal for a summit with Russian premier Vladimir Putin, noting, however, that any such meeting would be contingent on Washington’s behaviour. [Reuters]
Latin America and the Caribbean
Following months of intense protests against the ruling government, Haitian Prime Minister Joseph Jouthe resigned. President Jovenel Moïse has already appointed his replacement, Claude Joseph. Citizens in Haiti have taken to the streets to demand the resignation of Moïse, claiming that his term in office ended in February and accusing him of political suppression and failing to tackle rising crime and poverty. [France 24]
Amid a continued and monumental surge in migrants attempting to cross the United States’ southern border since President Joe Biden’s inauguration, Vice President Kamala Harris announced that she will be travelling to Mexico and Guatemala to “discuss their government’s response to the migration crisis.” This is in line with Biden’s stated objective of curbing migration into the US by working with its Central American partners to address the root causes of emigration from those countries. To this end, Harris said, “The U.S. aims to give Central American citizens hope to stay in their countries despite high levels of violence and poverty.” Harris could also visit Honduras and El Salvador during her Central America tour. [Telesur]
Middle East and North Africa (MENA)
The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) released a report which concludes that there are “reasonable grounds” to believe that the Syrian regime used chemical weapons in Saraqib in northwestern Syria in 2018. According to the report, which was based on the findings of the Investigation and Identification Team (IIT), a helicopter of the Syrian Air Force hit Saraqib by dropping at least one cylinder and released chlorine. The report states that although no one died as a result of the attack, 12 people were treated for symptoms of chlorine poisoning. [OPCW, UN News]
Foreign firms, including companies from Russia, China, Turkey, France, and Germany, are competing to re-build the Beirut Port, which was completely destroyed after a massive explosion rocked the Lebanese capital last year. Apart from commercial interests, reconstruction efforts are also aimed at influencing the geopolitics of the region, especially through oil exploration. [The Daily Star]
North America
More than a hundred US companies and executives—including Apple, Amazon, Google, Netflix, and Warren Buffet—have come together to oppose GOP efforts to curb access to voting in several US states. Organised by Kenneth Chenault, the former CEO of American Express, and Kenneth Frazier, the chief executive of Merck, industry leaders said in a statement on Wednesday that there was “overwhelming support” for the principle of voting rights in corporate America, and that the protection of such rights should garner support from both sides of the aisle. [The New York Times]
Kim Potter, the former police officer who shot and killed Daunte Wright during a traffic stop in Brooklyn Centre, Minnesota on the weekend, was charged with second-degree manslaughter on Wednesday. Potter was booked into Hennepin County jail but was released just a few hours later after she posted bail. She will appear in court on Thursday afternoon via Zoom. [Reuters]
More than 60 former world leaders and over 100 Nobel Laureates have called on US President Joe Biden to support a waiver of intellectual property on COVID-19 vaccines, as proposed by India and South Africa. In a joint letter published on Wednesday, they argued that such a measure was crucial to end the pandemic, as it would help ramp up vaccine production in poorer nations which would otherwise have to wait years in order to be able to do so. [People’s Vaccine Alliance]
Oceania
The Director of the United States’ National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and the Chief Medical Advisor to President Joe Biden, Anthony Fauci, delivered a speech at the Inaugural David Cooper Lecture. In his speech, he lauded the “capability and uniformity” of Australian citizens during its coronavirus-induced lockdowns, which he described as ‘very effective’. Nevertheless, he warned, “Even if you control it well in your own country, the way Australia has done ... when you ultimately get it controlled, if you want to maintain the control, you want to have control throughout the entire world because as long as there’s the dynamic of virus replication somewhere, there will always be the threat of emergence of variants which can then come back and even though most of the rest of the world is vaccinated, it can threaten the world that has felt that is has controlled the virus when they’re still quite vulnerable.” [news.com.au]
Australia is set to follow in the footsteps of the United States (US) in withdrawing all of its troops from Afghanistan by September. Australia currently has 80 defence personnel stationed in the country. Hinting at the impending troop withdrawal, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said, “Without going into national security matters you can be assured that the Australian government has been working closely with our American partners and allies on these issues.” [ABC News]
Sub-Saharan Africa
Amid a continued drop in global demand for gold, crude oil, and cocoa, Ghana’s export industry, which contributes to 80% of the country's revenue, took a major hit in 2020. This comes as a huge blow to a country whose debt is now above 70% of its GDP. [African Eye Report]
On Monday, communal clashes between the Lunguda and Waja ethnic groups in Nigeria’s Gombe state resulted in the death of fifteen people, Governor Inuwa Yahaya revealed on Tuesday. Yahaya has thus declared a curfew in Nyuwar and Jessu and assured that anyone who participated in the violence “would be made to face the full wrath of the law”. [Pulse]
A fire at an elementary school in Niamey, Niger on Wednesday killed 20 children between the ages of 7 and 13. While the cause of the fire has not been determined, the incident has prompted intense scrutiny and criticism over the use of straw huts, as the absence of an escape route and the fact that the straw burns more easily are believed to have caused the pupils’ deaths. [Al Jazeera]
World News Monitor: 15 April, 2021
A quick look at events from around the globe.
April 15, 2021
The now-former PM of Haiti, Joseph Jouthe SOURCE: REUTERS