South Asia
United States Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman will meet senior Pakistani officials in Islamabad on October 7-8 after visiting New Delhi and Mumbai, where she will hold meetings with officials and civil society leaders and address the US-India Business Council’s annual “ideas summit.” [Dawn]
India on Monday signed a deal with Bangladesh to develop a new railway link in the country. The deal will significantly modernise the country’s railway infrastructure. [DNA]
Central Asia and the Caucasus
Uzbek migrant rights defender Valentina Chupik, who has been detained at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport since Saturday, has said that she might be jailed and even killed if she is deported back to Uzbekistan. She told a Russian media channel that officers from Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) had informed her that she has been deprived of her refugee status and banned from entering Russia for 30 years. Chupik has been a vocal critic of corruption among Russian migration authorities. [RFE/RL]
Armenia and Azerbaijan on Monday marked the first anniversary of the start of the 44-day Nagorno-Karabakh war, which killed almost 7,000 people and ended with Azerbaijan regaining large swathes of territory. [RFE/RL]
East and Southeast Asia
The United Kingdom’s Royal Navy said a British warship sailed through the Taiwan Strait on Monday. This marks a rare passage through the sensitive waterway by a non-American military vessel. China condemned the move. [Channel News Asia]
China on Tuesday held its biggest airshow yet, featuring its increasingly sophisticated air power surveillance drones and jets, which are capable of jamming hostile electronic equipment. [Channel News Asia]
Europe
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has ordered the army to remain on standby to help fuel reach petrol stations. The move is a part of measures aimed at addressing a supply chain crisis that has led to fuel shortages amid panic buying by motorists. [Reuters]
On Monday, a volcano on Spain’s La Palma island, which erupted on September 19, once again began ejecting lava. No casualties have been reported so far. The lava has destroyed more than 500 houses, churches, and banana plantations. According to witnesses, “Spurts of vivid lava emerged from the Cumbre Vieja volcano in the early evening and snaked down the dark mountainside after a period of several hours without explosions.” [Reuters]
Latin America and the Caribbean
Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodríguez announced that the country will be striking six zeroes off the current value of the national currency, the Bolivar. [Telesur]
The United States’ deputy national security adviser for international economics, Daleep Singh, is scheduled to visit Colombia, Ecuador, and Panama over the next few days to meet with high-ranking officials, business leaders, and civil society activists to determine the feasibility of establishing a project in the region that rivals that of China’s Belt and Road Initiative. [Al Jazeera]
Middle East and North Africa (MENA)
During his maiden address to the United Nations General Assembly on Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett accused Iran of backing “terror groups” in the region, including Hamas and Hezbollah. Moreover, Bennett said Iran is violating its agreements with the IAEA and warned that “all red lines have been crossed” regarding its nuclear programme. [Israel Prime Minister’s Office]
The Beirut port blast probe was once again derailed as lead judge Tarek Bitar suspended his work in the case on Monday. Bitar’s move came after a cabinet minister demanded his resignation over the questioning of a former military intelligence officer regarding the explosion. [Associated Press]
North America
On Monday, United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Thai Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Don Pramudwinai in Washington. Aside from talking about bilateral cooperation in terms of trade, climate change, and post-pandemic economic recovery, the pair also talked about the implementation of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations’ Five-Point Consensus on Myanmar. [US Department of State]
On Monday, a federal judge in the United States approved the unconditional release of John Hinckley Jr., who shot former President Ronald Reagan back in 1981 in a failed assassination attempt. [ABC News]
Oceania
On Tuesday, New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian warned Sydney’s unvaccinated residents of social isolation when the COVID-19 lockdown ends. The State Premier said, “A lot of businesses have said they will not accept anyone who is unvaccinated. Life for the unvaccinated will be very difficult indefinitely.” She added, “People who choose not to be vaccinated could be barred entry to shops, restaurants and entertainment venues even after the state lifts all restrictions against them on Dec. 1.” [Reuters]
In an interview with CBS News, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison hit back at France for its anger over the scrapped submarine deal. He also rejected the possibility of military conflict with China amid the increased militarisation of the Indo-Pacific. [Sky News]
Sub-Saharan Africa
As many have long feared, Mali’s transitional government announced that it could postpone its election that was originally meant to take place in March 2022 as part of a promise to return the country to civilian rule. In an interview on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, transitional Prime Minister Choguel Kokalla Maïga said that the election could be postponed by “two weeks, two months, [or] a few months,” in order to ensure that it is held peacefully. [Africa News]
A report by non-governmental organisation Zimbabwe Coalition on Debt Development has determined that a minimum of 84% of Zimbabweans believe that public resources are not equally or equitably shared. [New Zimbabwe]
World News Monitor: 28 September, 2021
A quick look at events from around the globe.
September 28, 2021
Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett SOURCE: JOHN MINCHILLO / AP