South Asia
The Taliban said on Tuesday that the Afghan government will “adopt the constitution of the former King Mohammad Zahir Shah’s time for a temporary period.” The 1964 constitution gave voting rights to women for the first time and increased their political participation. However, “anything in the text found to conflict with Sharia law and the principles of the Islamic Emirate would be discarded,” the Taliban added. [The Hindu]
Pakistani security forces killed 10 terrorists in an intelligence-based operation in the country’s South Waziristan tribal district, the military said on Tuesday. A large quantity of ammunition was also seized during the operation. [Dawn]
Central Asia and the Caucasus
Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) members Armenia, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan took part in military drills in Armenia from September 24-28. The exercises, known as Thunder-2021, carried out anti-drug operations in difficult mountainous terrain and were aimed at raising the level of readiness of special forces units. [Armen Press]
An Armenian soldier was wounded by Azerbaijani shooting in the Gegharkunik province near the border on Tuesday, the Armenian Defence Ministry said. [Armen Press]
East and Southeast Asia
North Korea said that the “unidentified projectile” it fired from its coast on Tuesday was a hypersonic missile. Hypersonic weapons are capable of flying towards lower altitude targets and can achieve more than five times the speed of sound—or about 6,200 km per hour. [The Straits Times]
Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi held a virtual strategic dialogue with Josep Borrell, the European Union’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, on Tuesday. Wang said that China and the EU should “consolidate the momentum, adhere to mutual respect, seek common ground while shelving differences and reducing antagonism.” [Global Times]
Europe
Tensions between France and the United Kingdom (UK) escalated further on Tuesday after the British government rejected most applications from French boats to fish around its waters. France’s Europe Minister threatened “retaliatory action” and French fishing leaders called the move a “declaration of war on the water and on the land.” [The Telegraph]
Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny was nominated on Monday for the European Parliament's annual human rights prize for promoting democracy and free elections in Russia. The Putin-led central government banned all forms of opposition and won the parliamentary elections last week. Soon after, on Tuesday, the Russian government opened a new criminal case against Navalny, who has already been imprisoned for the past two and a half years on allegations of “founding and leading an extremist group.” [Reuters]
The French government faces backlash from northwest Africa over slashing the number of visas available to Maghreb countries—Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia. Government spokesperson Gabriel Attal said, “The decision was made because regional governments had refused to take back illegal migrants.” Morocco has condemned the decision and called it “unjustified.” [Euronews]
Latin America and the Caribbean
On Monday, Uruguayan President Luis Lacalle Pou hosted his Chilean counterpart, Sebastián Piñera, in Montevideo. The pair talked about pandemic cooperation and “integrating the Pacific Alliance with Mercosur.” [MercoPress]
Amid increasing suspicion over his involvement in the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse on July 7, Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry conducted an interview with the Associated Press. Henry rejected accusations that he is purposely delaying holding elections so that he can stay in power for longer. [Associated Press]
Middle East and North Africa (MENA)
Four Tunisian parties—Democratic Current, Ettakatol, Republican Party, and Afek Tounes—have announced a coalition to counter President Kais Saied’s power grab. In July, Saied indefinitely suspended the parliament and dismissed the Prime Minister in a move that was widely seen as a coup. [Al Jazeera]
On Tuesday, five Sudanese intelligence officers were killed in a shootout with suspected Islamic State militants in Khartoum. Authorities said agents arrested 11 militants and were chasing four others who managed to flee. [Associated Press]
North America
Annamie Paul, the first black female representative and leader of Canada’s Green Party announced that she is stepping down from her position on Monday, after failing to secure any seats in the recent federal election. Paul has been at odds with the party, which refused to provide her funding for campaign staff or a national campaign manager.[CBC News]
United States (US) national security advisor Jake Sullivan visited Saudi Arabia on Monday. This follows a recent decision by the US State Department to approve $500 million in military-support services to Saudi Arabia. Despite saying that he would seek to bring an end to the Trump era of friendly ties with “autocrats and dictators” during the campaign trail, President Joe Biden has made scant progress in this regard. [Al Jazeera]
Oceania
Former Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull lashed out at incumbent Scott Morrison for not being upfront with France over the submarine contract and said that Australia would need to develop its nuclear industry to sustain nuclear-powered submarines. He added, “The government should have explored the possibility of building a nuclear-powered fleet using low-enriched uranium with France and the United States.” [The Sydney Morning Herald]
New Zealand’s COVID-19 Minister, Chris Hipkins, urged citizens to “hold their nerve” after the island nation recorded a significant jump in COVID-19 community cases. The Minister said, “[The] jump from eight on Tuesday to 45 on Wednesday was sobering, but wouldn’t change NZ’s elimination strategy. We’ve still got to hold our nerve here … we’re still pursuing COVID-19. We’re still aiming to run it into the ground.” [The New Daily]
Sub-Saharan Africa
Independent investigators hired by the World Health Organization (WHO) have released a report revealing “clear structural failures” and “individual negligence” by the Organization’s employees in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The report details incidents of sexual exploitation and abuse while WHO staff were in the country to respond to an Ebola outbreak from 2018 to 2020. [Africa News]
On Tuesday, Zimbabwe officially opened its embassy in Rwanda. Its ambassador, Charity Manyerkue, said the office will be used to boost trade between the two countries, which she said remains “very low.” [The New Times]
World News Monitor: 29 September, 2021
A quick look at events from around the globe.
September 29, 2021
Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny SOURCE: REUTERS