South Asia
On behalf of the Indian government, T.S. Tirumurti, India’s permanent representative to the United Nations, pledged $150,000 to further the international organisation’s peacekeeping efforts in crises across the world. He expressed India’s commitment to “the building of governance structure to strengthen democracy and the rule of law.” [ANI]
The Pakistani Supreme Court has upheld a lower court’s order acquitting all those accused in American journalist Daniel Pearl’s kidnapping and murder. The Sindh High Court had previously ordered their acquittal, following which the Sindh provincial government suspended the order and called upon the Supreme Court to decide on the issue. Since the incident in 2002, the United States and India have called upon Pakistani authorities to ensure the expedited conviction of all four accused in the case, which includes British citizen Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh. [Al Jazeera]
Central Asia and the Caucasus
Sadyr Japarov, a former hostage, was sworn in as Kyrgyzstan’s president yesterday. Japarov won in a landslide victory earlier this month by winning over 79% of the vote. Prior to being elected, he was serving a 10-year jail sentence for protesting against a mining operation in northern Kyrgyzstan in 2013. He succeeds Sooronbay Jeenbekov, who resigned in October 2020 amid widespread protests. [RFE/RL]
East and Southeast Asia
Thailand’s parliament has legalised abortion in the first trimester by an overwhelming majority but will continue to penalise women who will undergo it in later stages of their pregnancies. The penalty includes potential fines and up to six months in prison. In this light, activists have said that the measure is “not a real development” and does not go far enough, as women who have had abortions were not made part of the lawmaking process. [The New York Times]
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said that he expects 300,000 people from Hong Kong to seek resettlement in the UK once the new visa route to leave the former British colony and settle in the UK opens on Sunday. This offer was extended by the UK after China imposed the National Security Law last June, which significantly restricts Hong Kong’s sovereignty. Three million citizens are eligible to take this visa route. [Live Mint]
Europe
The highly contentious near-total ban on abortion in Poland went into effect on Wednesday night, despite massive opposition from hundreds of thousands of citizens who have been marching on the streets since the announcement was first made in October, staging the largest protests the country has seen since the fall of communism in 1989. Women’s rights advocates on Thursday vowed to keep fighting against the move, calling it a breach of human rights. [The New York Times]
Ukraine has launched a criminal investigation looking into attempts to interfere in the November 2020 US election. State officials said that they would do everything in their power to punish those within the country and abroad who attempted to damage relations between Washington and Kyiv. [RFE/RL]
A Russian court on Thursday rejected opposition leader Alexei Navalny’s appeal to be released from prison. Simultaneously, his allies and supporters were rounded up by authorities, who also sent warnings to social media companies about promoting protests demanding his freedom. [Associated Press]
According to the United Nations Human Rights Committee, Italy failed to protect 200 migrants and refugees, who had died after their boat was capsized while attempting to cross the Mediterranean Sea over seven years ago. According to a statement by the committee, the authorities “Failed to respond promptly to various distress calls from the sinking boat, which was carrying more than 400 adults and children,” [Al Jazeera]
Latin America and the Caribbean
Hundreds of journalists and opposition activists have continued to protest in Haiti, demanding an end to police brutality and corruption. It is estimated that 80% of prisoners in Haiti are held without trial, demonstrating how the state is engaging in political suppression. [Associated Press]
Both Germany and the Dominican Republic have withdrawn their support for Venezuelan opposition politician Juan Guaidó. Germany Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesperson Christofer Burger reasoned, “The political situation in Venezuela has evolved for the better.” Meanwhile, the Dominican Republic’s Foreign Affairs Minister, Roberto Alvarez, said, “We believe Maduro is the only one who can promote a solution to Venezuela's political situation, whether we like his government or not.” [Telesur]
Middle East and North Africa (MENA)
Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby said that unless the Taliban “renounces terrorism” and “stops the violent attacks” on Afghan troops, it is “very hard to see a specific way forward for the negotiated settlement”. [Al Jazeera]
Following Algerian Foreign Minister Sabri Boukadoum's recent visit to Libya, Algeria announced that it would be reopening its embassy in Tripoli after seven years. Boukadoum expressed his confidence that Libya would hold elections in December and remarked that Algiers is prepared to offer whatever support necessary to bring an end to the current crisis. [Middle East Monitor]
North America
US President Joe Biden took a series of actions on healthcare on Thursday. This included reopening enrollment for the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and reversing restrictions on abortion access domestically and abroad, which were imposed and expanded by his predecessor. The White House said that in the midst of a raging pandemic, it was “even more critical that Americans have meaningful access to affordable care.” [The White House Briefing Room]
The US has called on Russian and Turkish forces to immediately withdraw from Libya, after the deadline for them to leave—which was set by the UN-backed ceasefire agreement in October for Saturday, January 23—was ignored. [Al Jazeera]
South Carolina public health officials announced on Thursday that they had confirmed two cases of the South Africa coronavirus variant and that they were almost certain that there were more infections that had not been identified yet. The cases were discovered in two adults in separate regions of the state, with neither of the patients having any recent travel history. [Associated Press]
Oceania
Following New Zealand’s newly-signed free trade agreement with China, many experts have cast their eyes to Australia, who has contrastingly been at the receiving end of multiple trade restrictions by China. Commenting on this disparity, New Zealand Trade Minister Damien O'Connor said, “If (Australia) were to follow us and show respect, I guess a little more diplomacy from time to time and be cautious with wording, then they too could hopefully be in a similar situation.” [Channel News Asia]
Sub-Saharan Africa
China has granted Kenya a six-month deferral on a debt repayment of $245 million, Kenyan Treasury Ukur Yatani said, adding, “[This] will give us an opportunity and break on the kind of liquidity that we desire.” This comes at a time when Kenya has entered a recession for the first time in almost two decades, after two consecutive quarters of negative growth. [The Africa Report, African Business]
Former South African President Jacob Zuma is set to appear in front of an anti-corruption commission over allegations of “widespread” corruption during his tenure from 2009 to 2018. If the commission finds that he is guilty, their findings could be passed along to the public prosecutor’s office, who could then charge him for his alleged offences. [Africa News]
Tanzanian President John Magufuli severely dented the country’s ability to fight off the coronavirus pandemic, after urging his citizens not to take the “dangerous” vaccinations and be “careful”. He suggested that the vaccinations could have been made to harm Tanzanians. [The East African]
World News Monitor: 29 January, 2021
A quick look at events from around the globe.
January 29, 2021
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS