South Asia
A group of tribal elders in Afghanistan, known as Ariza, successfully brokered a ceasefire between the Afghan government and the Taliban. The ceasefire will be in place till June 21 for local farmers to harvest their crops and students to attend their exams. [Deccan Herald]
The Civil Aviation Authority of Sri Lanka announced a ten-day suspension of all international flights into the country from Friday. The decision was made to curb the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, with the total number of active cases going over 150,000 on Wednesday. [India Today]
Central Asia and the Caucasus
The Armenian Defence Ministry said on Wednesday that its soldiers fired warning shots at Azeri troops for an alleged incursion into its territory. Tensions between the two neighbours escalated last week, when Armenia accused Azerbaijan of sending troops across the border. Acting Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said that the situation at the border remains tense, noting that “about 500-600 Azerbaijani military servicemen remain on our sovereign territory.” [Reuters, TASS]
Kazakhstan President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev met with his Tajik counterpart Emomali Rahmon in Dushanbe on Wednesday as part of his two-day visit to Tajikistan. Both leaders agreed to strengthen ties in the fields of strategic partnership, political dialogue, trade, economic investment, and cultural cooperation. They also stressed on the importance of maintaining the “security and stability” of Central Asia, especially through multilateral cooperation at the United Nations, the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, and the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe. [Astana Times]
East and Southeast Asia
An Indonesian court has postponed issuing a verdict on a lawsuit against the government over the alarming levels of air pollution in Jakarta, reasoning that it has “many other cases (to hear).” The verdict was supposed to be handed down on May 20 but the hearing was postponed to June 10. [CNA]
Amid supply delays and safety concerns that have slowed global vaccination campaigns, South Korea on Thursday said that it will conduct a clinical trial that mixes COVID-19 vaccine doses developed by AstraZeneca with those from Pfizer-BioNTech and others. [CNA]
Europe
Alexander Kalashnikov, the head of Russia’s prison service, told reporters on Thursday that Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny has regained his health after his hunger strike and can speak with his family. “There are no special penalties, or violations now, and none are being imposed on him now. There is no goal to humiliate him in any way, or make his life more difficult, he is on general terms. I can say that he has regained his health more or less… He eats regular meals and has an opportunity to communicate with his family,” the official said. [TASS]
Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s trial resumed on Thursday. He currently faces charges for securing illegal financing for his 2012 election campaign. In a separate case, Sarkozy has already previously been convicted of corruption. [Reuters]
The European Parliament passed a motion to suspend the ratification of its investment deal with China over “crimes against humanity” by the Chinese government in Hong Kong and against the Uyghur Muslim minority. This comes following China’s decision to impose sanctions against ten Europeans, including five Members of the European Parliament. [Euronews]
Latin America and the Caribbean
Brazilian Foreign Secretary Lucas Ferraz said that the Bolsonaro administration is pushing regional trading bloc Mercosur to reduce its Common External Tariff by 20%, a call that has been supported by Uruguay, which wants the bloc to be more flexible and allow members to enter into independent trade deals with non-members. [Merco Press]
Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador warned international organisations like the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Organization of American States (OAS) against interfering in the country’s upcoming midterm elections. He said that Mexico is a “free, independent, and sovereign nation.” [Telesur]
Middle East and North Africa (MENA)
In a letter written to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh detailed the current situation in Gaza. Haniyeh said that the “Zionist regime” had been committing crimes against men and women who have been under siege for more than 15 years, referring to Israel’s blockade on the Gaza Strip, and blamed Israel for starting the hostilities by attacking the Al-Aqsa mosque, Jerusalem, and the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood. He also urged Arab and Islamic countries as well as international actors to make Israel “halt their terrorist attacks against Palestinians.” [IRNA]
The United States (US) on Thursday imposed sanctions against two leaders of the Houthi forces in Yemen, the US Treasury Department said. The sanctions were imposed on the Houthi leaders—Muhammad Abd Al-Karim al-Ghamari and Yusuf al-Madani—for leading the Marib offensive against the Saudi-backed Yemeni government militias. The US State Department also blacklisted al-Madani as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist. [Reuters]
North America
US Senator Bernie Sanders on Thursday introduced a resolution in the House of Representatives to block a $735 million weapons sale to Israel amid ongoing hostilities between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. Sanders said that the US “must help lead the way to a peaceful and prosperous future for both Israelis and Palestinians” and therefore “take a hard look at whether the sale of these weapons is actually helping do that, or whether it is simply fuelling conflict.” Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Mark Pocan, and Rashida Tlaib had introduced a similar measure in the chamber on Wednesday. [CBS News]
US President Joe Biden signed the ‘COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act’ into law on Thursday, in an effort to address the sharp rise in crimes against Asian-Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) during the coronavirus pandemic. The legislation requires the Justice Department “to facilitate expedited review of hate crimes and authorizes grants to State, local, and tribal governments to prevent, address, or respond to hate crimes.” [The White House]
Canada’s federal, provincial, and territorial privacy commissioners on Wednesday expressed concerns about the introduction of “vaccine passports” in the country, arguing that they could encroach on civil liberties. The officials noted that while such measures may offer “substantial public benefit,” they must be “developed and implemented in compliance with applicable privacy laws.” [Global News]
Oceania
Australian Council of Trade Unions Secretary Sally McManus has said that economic recovery from the ongoing pandemic will remain challenging unless the vaccine roll-out is accelerated and vaccine hesitancy is tackled. Keeping this in mind she said, “We absolutely need to be encouraging people and telling them the facts about the vaccine and about its safety and its risks as well, because if you have a vacuum you effectively allow other theories to circulate.” [7 News]
Roughly 150 refugees who are being held in Australia’s detention centres are set to be resettled in Canada. Of these, 66 have spent up to seven years in offshore detention facilities in Papua New Guinea and Nauru. [The Guardian]
Sub-Saharan Africa
Zimbabwean Vice President and Minister of Health and Child Care Dr Constantino Chiwenga confirmed that the country had recorded its first case of the B.1.617 COVID-19 variant, which was first reported in India and has a higher transmission, hospitalisation, and fatality rate. As a result, any travellers now entering the country from India will be forced to undergo a COVID-19 test and be required to stay at a quarantine centre at their own cost. [The Herald]
Due to the continuously rising water level of Lake Tanganyika since the beginning of the year, upwards of 30,000 people in Burundi have been displaced, with floods becoming a regular occurrence in Bujumbura and Gatumba, in particular. [The East African]
World News Monitor: 21 May, 2021
A quick look at events from around the globe.
May 21, 2021
Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh SOURCE: AFP