South Asia
The Afghan Public Health Ministry announced the commencement of this year’s nationwide polio campaign that aims to inoculate around 10 million children under five years of age. The campaign will see the involvement of 65,000 healthcare workers, who will conclude the drive in five days. [Al Jazeera]
Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan accused the Indian government of using the “false flag operation” in Balakot in 2019 for “domestic electoral gains”. This comment comes shortly after a series of conversations between an Indian journalist Arnab Goswami and the head of the Indian Broadcast Audience Research Council, Partho Dasgupta, suggested that Goswami knew about the government’s plan to attack Balakot in Pakistan even before the incident took place. [Economic Times]
Central Asia and the Caucasus
Soltan Achilova, a 71-year-old Turkmen journalist, has been nominated for the Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders in Geneva, for documenting “the human rights abuses and social issues affecting the Turkmen people in their daily lives” in a region where “freedom of speech is inexistent and independent journalists work at their own peril”. The panel consisted of several global activist groups, including Amnesty International. [RFE/RL]
East and Southeast Asia
The United States has requested China to cooperate with the team of WHO-led independent experts for a “transparent” investigation, inviting a stern response from Beijing. Washington has also called on Beijing to allow the WHO team to interview “caregivers, former patients, and lab workers” in Wuhan. [Reuters]
In response to sanctions imposed by Washington on six Chinese and Hong Kong officials over the arrest of 53 pro-democracy activists earlier this month, Beijing has retaliated with “reciprocal sanctions” on US lawmakers who have “blatantly intervened” in the internal affairs of Hong Kong. [ANI]
Europe
A group of members from French civil society, including Non-Governmental Organisations and lawyers, presented a written complaint before the United Nations Human Rights Council (OHCHR) urging the body to act against France’s “breadth of state abuse against Muslims” over the past two decades. They also accused France’s government of “entrenched structural Islamophobia”. [Al Jazeera]
The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) announced on Monday that it had decided to move the 2021 World Championship from Minsk due to security concerns that were “beyond its control.” The decision comes amid mounting EU pressure on the organisation asking for it to strip Belarus of its role as co-host of the tournament in May-June with Latvia because of an ongoing crackdown by authorities following a disputed election last year. [RFE/RL]
Russian consumer health watchdog Rospotrebnadzor told local media on Tuesday that the country’s second vaccine candidate, EpiVacCorona, which is being developed by Siberia’s Vector Institute, has shown 100% efficacy in early-stage trials. [Reuters]
Within a day of his return to Russia, Kremlin critic and opposition leader Alexei Navalny has been sentenced to 30 days in prison. His allies have planned “large rallies” across the country over the weekend, though protesters have already started taking to the streets to demand Navalny’s release. [Associated Press]
Latin America and the Caribbean
Despite FARC fighters signing a peace deal in 2017, 253 ex-combatants have been killed since; four have already been killed in 2021. [Al Jazeera]
Bolivian Vice President expressed the newly-elected Luis Arce administration's support for the Palestinian cause, saying, “The crimes committed by the Zionist regime, especially against civilians, especially women and children, should not be forgotten, but rather tried in an exemplary manner.” [Telesur]
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has sent 107,000 cubic metres of oxygen to neighbouring Brazil amid another severe spike in coronavirus cases. Seeing as Brazil recognises opposition leader Juan Guaidó as the legitimate leader of Venezuela, this may be an attempt by the Maduro administration to mend increasingly tense bilateral ties. [Associated Press]
Middle East and North Africa (MENA)
Riots have broken out across 15 cities in Tunisia amid a severe economic downturn. The army deployed troops to various cities to protect government buildings, while the police arrested 240 people. The demonstrators are protesting against poverty, corruption, and injustice. [Middle East Online]
The European Union (EU) has levied sanctions against Syrian foreign minister Faisal Mekdad, as a result of which he has been placed on a travel ban list and his assets have been frozen. This follows the EU’s decision to impose sanctions on eight ministers in the Assad regime back in November. [Middle East Monitor]
The United States Central Command revealed that it flew two B-52 strategic bombers over the Middle East on Sunday in an apparent act of intimidation towards Iran. [Al-Masdar News]
North America
US Acting Secretary of Defense Christopher Miller said on Monday that the department in cooperation with the FBI would vet more than 25,000 National Guardsmen who have been deployed to Washington DC to secure the US Capitol on Inauguration Day. Miller noted that though there was no evidence of an insider threat, they were leaving “no stone unturned.” [US Department of Defense]
The Canadian province of Alberta is considering selling core materials of the controversial Keystone XL pipeline project if the incoming Biden administration in the US decides to cancel the crude pipeline’s license. “If the project ends, there would be assets that could be sold, such as enormous quantities of pipe,” Alberta Premier Jason Kenney said in a press conference Monday. “That would offset construction costs.” [Al Jazeera]
Oceania
Australian Bureau of Statistics revealed that Chinese citizens accounted for the largest percentage of “overseas departures” last month, with 18.7%. 24.1% of all the overseas departures were individuals who were on temporary student visas. [news.com.au]
Health Department Secretary Brendan Murphy has urged against relaxing travel restrictions and said that Australia’s borders must remain “largely closed” due to the continued risk of the spread of the coronavirus. He also said that it is highly unlikely that there will be “widespread overseas travel” at any point this year, saying, “I think we'll go most of this year with still substantial border restrictions.” [Sydney Morning Herald]
Sub-Saharan Africa
Zimbabwe’s ruling party, Zanu-PF, has criticised the US ambassador to Zimbabwe, Brian Nichols, for not condemning the recent riots at Capitol Hill in Washington DC. Party spokesperson Simon Khaya said his failure to do so illustrates the US’ hypocrisy, given that the US has for years sanctioned Zimbabwe for the lack of a free and fair democracy. [New Zimbabwe]
Agai Mario, the Provincial Director of Economic Activities in Mozambique’s Cabo Delgado province, which is beset by Islamist violence, said that more than 80,000 households have “abandoned agriculture” since 2017 due to continued insecurity. He says that this has left the province on the precipice of a humanitarian disaster due to rising “chronic child malnutrition” and plummeting food production. [All Africa]
World News Monitor: 19 January, 2021
A quick look at events from around the globe.
January 20, 2021
SOURCE: MIDDLE EAST ONLINE