South Asia
An explosion at a hotel in Quetta, which was hosting several Chinese officials, resulted in the death of at least four people and left nine others injured. Following the attacks, the Taliban in Pakistan released a statement claiming responsibility. [Hindustan Times]
Following a meeting with Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani called for cooperation between India and Pakistan on their border issue along with the Afghan peace process. He said that security continued to be a “common concern” for the two warring neighbours. [Al Jazeera]
Central Asia and the Caucasus
The India-Kyrgyzstan Women Business Forum, a joint initiative of the Kyrgyz embassy in India and FICCI, has officially opened online. The Forum aims to support initiatives by women entrepreneurs from both countries by acting as a platform for increasing business interactions and creating networks in India and Kyrgyzstan in handicrafts, agriculture, tourism, IT, and pharmaceuticals. [AKI Press]
Kazakhstan released the first batch of its indigenously developed COVID-19 vaccine QazVac. The first batch of 50,000 doses of the vaccine will be immediately distributed to pharmacy hubs which will make it accessible to the entire country. The second batch of vaccines is expected to be produced by May. The country plans to start vaccination with QazVac on April 26. [KazInform]
East and Southeast Asia
A weekend summit on the ongoing political crisis and military coup in Myanmar will start in Jakarta, Indonesia tomorrow. The summit will see participation from members of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) that Myanmar is also part of. Coup leader Min Aung Hlaing will travel to Indonesia for the summit. This will be his first overseas trip since he forcefully overtook power from the democratically elected government on February 1. [Channel News Asia]
Malaysia’s King has agreed to an audience with a group that is appealing to end the state of emergency that was imposed on the country on January 12. The opposition committee will have direct access to Sultan Abdullah Ahmad Shah for the first time since the emergency was imposed. A date for the meeting is yet to be fixed. [The Straits Times]
Europe
The Russian Defence Ministry said on Thursday that it was pulling back troops from near the border with Ukraine, arguing that the surprise combat readiness inspection’s goals had “been achieved in full.” Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu announced that the troops had demonstrated their “ability to reliably defend the country” and said that it was, therefore, time to end the inspection measures and return troops to their permanent stations. [Russian Ministry of Defence]
The European Commission has launched its preparation to initiate legal proceedings against AstraZeneca. However, several members of the bloc, including Germany and France, have raised concern about the lawsuit resulting in further delays in the delivery of doses to the European Union. [Politico]
Latin America and the Caribbean
During his address at the Ibero-American Summit in Andorra, Argentinian President Alberto Fernández called on countries around the globe to “reinforce the role" of the World Health Organization (WHO) through an "international treaty on pandemics”. He also called for equitable access to the coronavirus vaccine, saying that the WHO-led COVAX initiative is “clearly insufficient, and must be strengthened to overcome the difficulties encountered in obtaining vaccines from developing middle and low-income countries.” He went on to say that debt relief during the ongoing pandemic should also be provided to these “middle-income countries”. [Merco Press]
United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with the foreign ministers of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) member states. He reaffirmed Washington’s commitment to strengthening already strong relations with Caribbean nations. The ministers reportedly discussed “plans to manage the COVID-19 pandemic and promote a regional economic recovery, cooperation on increasing climate resilience, and continued collaborations on strengthening security, democratic values, and human rights.” [US Department of State]
Middle East and North Africa (MENA)
Iran’s election to the United Nations (UN) Commission on Women’s Rights has been met with harsh criticism. Iranian dissident and women’s rights activist Masih Alinejad tweeted that it is “surreal” a regime that treats women as second-class citizens gets elected to the UN’s top women’s rights forum. According to UN Watch, a human rights NGO, Iran’s entry to the forum was backed by 43 countries, including at least four Western democracies. [Times of Israel]
On Thursday, the United States (US) formally removed Turkey from its F-35 fighter jets programme. The Pentagon updated the Joint MoU with eight countries participating in the programme but excluded Turkey. Washington suspended Ankara from the programme in 2019 over its decision to purchase the S-400 anti-aircraft weapons system from Russia. [Daily Sabah]
North America
US President Joe Biden on Thursday pledged to reduce the country’s greenhouse gas emissions by 50-52% over the next decade. The target more than doubles the country’s previous commitment under the 2015 Paris Agreement, when the Obama administration vowed to cut emissions by 26-28% by 2025. The announcement was made during the virtual Leaders Summit on Climate, which saw the participation of 40 world leaders. [The White House]
Gen. Kenneth “Frank” McKenzie, the commander of the US Central Command (CENTCOM), on Thursday expressed concern about the ability of the Afghan corps to confront the Taliban after US troop withdrawal from the country. McKenzie, who directs US forces in Afghanistan, told the Senate Armed Services Committee that the Afghan army would “certainly” collapse without some support from the US. [The Hill]
Canada has banned flights from India and Pakistan for 30 days, amid a sharp rise in COVID-19 cases in both countries and a new virus mutation. The measure applies only to passenger flights and will not affect cargo planes. [Global News]
Oceania
French Minister Delegate for Foreign Trade and Economic Attractiveness Franck Riester and Australian Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment Dan Tehan met in Paris to discuss boosting the countries’ goods and services trade, which currently stands at $10.6 billion. The two ministers also explored how to find a more equal level of investment in each others’ countries, given that French foreign direct investment (FDI) in Australia amounts to $12.6 billion but Australian FDI in France is only $3.8 billion. Similarly, 600 French companies currently have operations in Australia and employ 70,000 people. Conversely, only 140 Australian companies have operations in France. [Australian Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment]
Given that Australia has restricted the use of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine to individuals above the age of 50, individuals in this age group will now not be able to get the Pfizer vaccine until the end of 2021. Australia has also announced a 30% in arrivals from India due to a rapid surge in cases in the country, making it the first country to be added to Australia’s “high-risk list”. [Sydney Morning Herald]
Sub-Saharan Africa
Following Chadian President Idriss Déby's death on the frontlines of a battle with a rebel insurgency and the military's decision to take over the country for 18 months, the African Union’s (AU) Peace and Security Council met to discuss their concerns over the political turmoil in the country. In fact, opposition parties in Chad have labelled the military’s takeover as an “institutional coup d'état”. [Africa Feeds]
At the Leaders’ Climate Summit convened by US President Joe Biden, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa declared that the country’s carbon emissions would start falling from the year 2025, which is promising given that this is 10 years ahead of schedule. He said this is supported by his government’s commitment to renewable energy, and said that South Africa was reaching its climate goals while at the same time “overcoming poverty, inequality, and underdevelopment”. [News 24]
World News Monitor: 23 April, 2021
A quick look at events from around the globe.
April 23, 2021
SOURCE: ALEXANDER AVILOV / MOSKVA NEWS AGENCY