South Asia
During a meeting scheduled to be conducted by 70 countries in Geneva on Monday and Tuesday, the leaders are set to impose strict political and human rights conditions on providing the Afghan government with access to their donations. With Afghanistan’s dependence on foreign aid for its development projects, combined with the setback caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, this is predicted to act as a major setback for the Afghan government’s peace-building efforts. [Reuters]
Following the introduction of a set of laws by the Pakistani government that will increase the powers of the country’s media regulators, Google, Facebook, and Twitter have threatened to leave the country over the alleged curtailment of freedom of expression. [India Today]
Central Asia and the Caucasus
India and Kazakhstan are exploring widening defence partnership including joint production as well as opening a new chapter in the heavy engineering sector. [Economic Times]
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has met negotiators from the Afghan government and the Taliban in Doha, amidst signs of progress in their stalled talks and an uptick in violence that threatens to jeopardise the peace push in the war-torn country. This was the first meeting of the top American diplomat with the Taliban and the Afghans representatives after the US’ recent announcement that it will reduce the number of American troops in Afghanistan and Iraq to 2,500 each by January 15 next year. [Hindustan Times]
East and Southeast Asia
China is planning to include new measures to encourage more births and address its rapidly ageing population as part of its new 2021-2025 “five-year plan”, state media reported on Monday. China will offer extensive financial and policy support to encourage couples to have more children. [Reuters]
Prominent Hong Kong pro-democracy activist Joshua Wong said on Monday that he plans to plead guilty to charges related to a demonstration outside police headquarters during anti-government protests last year. [The Hindu]
Europe
On the 25th anniversary of the ‘Dayton Accords’, which ended the war in Bosnia, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell urged the nation’s leaders to overcome their ethnic divisions and implement the reforms needed to prepare the country to join the bloc. [Euronews]
Thousands of demonstrators took to the streets of Paris to protest a bill in the French Parliament that would criminalise the circulation of images of on-duty police officers that would harm their “physical or psychological integrity.” [Al Jazeera]
Latin America and the Caribbean
Over the weekend, demonstrators in Guatemala set fire to the nation’s Congressional building to protest against the decision of the legislature, led in part by President Alejandro Giammattei, to approve a new budget that introduces spending cuts to education and health. The budget was particularly controversial, as it approved additional funding for meals for lawmakers, but those same lawmakers voted for cuts in spending on coronavirus patients and decreased funding for human rights agencies. [Associated Press]
Middle East and North Africa (MENA)
Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed put out a statement about the military offensive in the country’s northern Tigray region, saying that the first phase of “remobilising and strengthening our defence forces” and the second phase of “removing the TPLF militia from various areas” have been completed, meaning that operations are now heading into the “final and third phase”. He remarked that this phase involves “bringing the treasonous TPLF clique to justice”. [Abiy Ahmed, Twitter]
Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister, said that his government was working towards the resolution of its three-year diplomatic standoff with Qatar, which has been going on since 2017. While he said that the Saudi government remains committed to reconciling the issues, he reiterated that any such progress would not ignore its security concerns. [Al Jazeera]
North America
The US and Taiwan signed a five-year agreement over the weekend establishing the US-Taiwan Economic Prosperity Partnership Dialogue, pledging future cooperation on health, technology, and security. [Associated Press]
The US on Sunday formally withdrew from the Treaty on Open Skies — which permits unarmed aerial surveillance flights over its 34 member nations — six months after first notifying other countries of its decision to pull out. [Al Jazeera]
Rear Admiral Michael Studeman, who is in charge of US military intelligence in the Indo-Pacific region, reportedly made an unannounced visit to Taiwan over the weekend. Neither the Pentagon, nor the Taiwanese foreign ministry have commented on the trip, which is expected to irk China. [Reuters]
Canada and the UK signed an interim deal on Saturday that will ensure continuity in trade between the two nations when the Brexit transition period expires. [Euronews]
Oceania
After a 15 week closure due to coronavirus-induced restrictions, the shared border between New South Wales and Victoria was re-opened, leading to massive travel between the two Australian states. [Sky News]
New Zealand PM Jacinda Ardern spoke to US President-elect Joe Biden to congratulate him on his electoral victory, and said that the two discussed climate change, the coronavirus pandemic, and trade. [Stuff]
Sub-Saharan Africa
The anti-corruption commission in Sierra Leone has named former President Ernest Bai Koroma, who was in office from 2007 to 2018, in a corruption investigation alongside 111 other individuals. He has been banned from leaving the country until the investigation is completed, at which point an arrest warrant could be issued against him. [Africa Feeds]
Voters are heading to the polls in Burkina Faso, with incumbent President Roch Marc Christian Kaboré seeking to secure a second term in office. Among the major concerns of voters are health, education, infrastructure, youth employment, and corruption. Kaboré’s closest competitor is Zephirin Diabre, who in fact lost to the current president in the 2015 election. [Africa News]
World News Monitor: 23 November, 2020
A quick look at events from around the globe.
November 23, 2020
SOURCE: REUTERS