South Asia
On Tuesday, the Indian Ministry of Electronics and Information imposed an additional ban on 43 Chinese mobile applications. According to the statement by the ministry, the ban was imposed pursuant to a report by the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Center of the Ministry of Home Affairs that said that the applications engaged in activities “prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, security of state and public order.” [Indian Express]
The Sri Lankan Foreign Ministry said that it was expediting the development and infrastructure projects that were initiated in collaboration with China. The two countries’ efforts will now ensure a “special focus” on “poverty alleviation and livelihoods generation.” [The Hindu]
Central Asia and the Caucasus
India on Tuesday unveiled new development initiatives for Afghanistan. These include a dam to supply water to Kabul and 150 community projects worth $80 million. India’s development portfolio of over $3 billion is aimed at improving governance and building capabilities of the local people and institutions. [Hindustan Times]
Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev visited land recently retaken by his forces in the Nagorno-Karabakh region. Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a deal to end fighting in Nagorno-Karabakh after six weeks of war that saw Azerbaijan secure major territorial gains. Russia now patrols the buffer zone. [Al Jazeera]
East and Southeast Asia
Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen is boosting the nation's defense capabilities after Beijing stepped up military exercises near Taiwan this year. The new fleet of eight submarines is expected to be ready by 2025. [DW]
China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi is currently visiting Tokyo, the first high-level trip since Prime Minister (PM) Yoshihide Suga came to power in September. His visit comes amid mounting concerns over Beijing’s growing assertiveness in the region. It is highly expected that Wang could make a courtesy call on the PM, who has so far sought to balance Japan’s deep economic reliance on China while addressing security worries, including Beijing’s claims over disputed East China Sea islets. [Al Jazeera]
Europe
Russia on Tuesday said that its ‘Sputnik V’ COVID-19 vaccine is 95% effective, adding that it aims to produce 1 billion doses next year. Russia’s sovereign wealth fund RDIF said that the two-shot vaccine will cost less than $20 per person on international markets, and will be administered free of charge to Russian citizens. [France24]
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced on Twitter on Tuesday that the free trade agreement signed between Ukraine and Israel in 2019 will take effect on January 1, 2021. The leader said that the deal would boost Ukrainian exports, and facilitate closer cooperation between the two nations in the fields of technology, engineering and investment. [Kyiv Post]
Several photos and videos of French officials using force to vacate a refugee camp resulted in an outrage across France. Accordingly, the French Interior Minister has launched an investigation into the incident. [Al Jazeera]
Latin America and the Caribbean
Amid mounting public pressure on President Sebastián Piñera to resign, opposition lawmakers from the Socialist Party (PS), the Communist Party (PC), and the Social Green Regionalist Federation (FRVS) have pushed to bring forward the elections from November 2021 to April. The lawmakers decried government mismanagement and the “systemic violations of human rights” for creating the current “social and political crisis” in the country. [Telesur]
Middle East and North Africa (MENA)
Djibouti President Ismail Omar Guelleh has offered his support to Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, who has come under fire for launching what some see as an indiscriminate military offensive in his country’s Tigray region. Guelleh said, “Ethiopia is faced with a major problem: a political organisation known as the TPLF is stripping its federal authority and has structured itself so as to bring the central government to its knees.” He added that Ahmed is merely seeking to “restore law and order at the federal level, and punish those seeking to break up the country”. [The Africa Report]
On Tuesday, a Turkish Court, which is hearing the case against the Saudi Arabian officials who have been charged for the death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, added six Saudi officials to the list of 20 that are being tried in the court. This includes the vice consul, who has been accused of “premeditated murder with monstrous intent.” [Al Jazeera]
North America
The Trump administration has issued a new temporary rule that could require tourists and business travellers from 24 nations – mostly from Africa – to pay a bond of as much as $15,000 to visit the US. The State Department said that the six-month pilot program, which will begin Dec. 24, targets countries whose nationals have higher rates of overstaying their B-1/B-2 visas. They include Afghanistan, Iran, Syria, Yemen, Libya, Mauritania, Eritrea, Sudan, Angola, Bhutan, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cabo Verde, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, The Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Laos, Liberia, Myanmar, Papua New Guinea, and Sao Tome and Principe. [Al Jazeera]
Oceania
It is predicted that the current coronavirus pandemic will result in Australia accruing $1.4 trillion in net debt by 2024, a problem which is sure to be exacerbated by JobKeeper and JobSeeker payments and by tax cuts. [Sydney Morning Herald]
Sub-Saharan Africa
In response to the Nigerian government’s brutal response to the #EndSARS movement last month, parliamentarians in the United Kingdom are considering whether or not to impose sanctions on Nigerian government and security officials. [This Day]
Former Niger president Mamadou Tandja, who was in office for two terms from 1999 to 2010 after the country was returned to civilian rule, died at the age of 82. [Africa News]
World News Monitor: 25 November, 2020
A quick look at events from around the globe.
November 25, 2020
SOURCE: FINANCIAL TIMES