South Asia
Hundreds of Afghan refugees in the United Arab Emirates protested the delay in their resettlement to the United States. The protestors highlighted that they are being housed in “prison-like conditions” in Abu Dhabi. [Khaama News Press Agency]
Pakistan rejected India’s decision to dismiss three officers over March’s accidental firing of an unarmed BrahMos missile into Pakistan, calling the action taken after an internal inquiry “unsatisfactory, deficient, and inadequate.” Instead, the Pakistani Foreign Office reiterated its call for a “joint inquiry.” [Associated Press of Pakistan]
Central Asia and the Caucasus
Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said on Wednesday that Russia plans to increase the combat readiness of its military bases in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan for “possible crisis situations.” He added that Russia will hold military drills with Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan in the coming months and plans to host Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) member militaries next year for the ‘Peace Mission 2023’ counterterrorism exercise. [Russian Defence Ministry]
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan discussed the situation around Nagorno-Karabakh during a phone call on Wednesday. Both leaders agreed that preserving regional stability is important and vowed to fulfil the ceasefire agreements reached with Azerbaijan following the 2020 war. [Kremlin]
East and Southeast Asia
Indonesian Ambassador to the Philippines Agus Widjojo called on all claimants of the South China Sea to comply with international law, particularly the 1982 United Nations Conduct on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and said the Southeast Asia region must be “free, neutral, and peaceful.” He also encouraged the international community to support efforts made by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in maintaining peace and stability in the region. [Manila Times]
Chinese President Xi Jinping exchanged congratulatory messages with his South Korean counterpart Yoon Suk-yeol on Wednesday, which marked the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between their countries. Xi said that bilateral relations have developed because both sides “respect and trust each other, accommodate each other’s core interests and major concerns, and enhance understanding and trust through sincere communication.” Yoon, meanwhile, expressed hope that the two will continue to “strengthen substantive cooperation” in the areas of economic security and climate change. [Global Times]
Europe
French President Emmanuel Macron warned that the world is witnessing an “end of abundance,” pointing to increasing droughts and wildfires instigated by climate change. He further declared that the country could face even more difficult times during the upcoming winter, with surging fuel prices and rising inflation. [France 24]
The United Kingdom’s Trade Union Congress demanded that the minimum wage be raised to $17 per hour to deal with the unprecedented rise in prices and the surging cost of living. The government responded by saying that increasing the minimum wage could increase unemployment. [BBC]
In a meeting with the defence ministers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in Tashkent on Wednesday, Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu accused the United States of breaking up the security architecture in Southeast Asia in an effort to maintain its “hegemony.” “Hot spots of tension are being shaped with a hard-to-predict scenario of unfolding developments,” Shoigu noted, adding that Washington was establishing political-military alliances like QUAD and AUKUS in order to “contain” China. [TASS]
Latin America and the Caribbean
On Wednesday, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador hailed United States President Joe Biden’s move to terminate the controversial “Remain in Mexico” policy, stating that “we never accepted turning ourselves into a so-called third country, a migrant camp for waiting until things are resolved in the US.” He described the US Supreme Court’s June ruling that backed Biden’s initiative as a “good thing,” noting that asylum seekers of all nationalities will now be allowed to wait in the US until their applications are processed. [Telesur]
Brazilian Deputy Attorney General Lindôra Araújo on Wednesday directed a preliminary investigation into President Jair Bolsonaro’s speech to a meeting of 40 foreign diplomats on July 18 in Brasilia, wherein he questioned the credibility of Brazil’s electronic voting system without giving any evidence. The probe will determine whether his speech was broadcasted live. Opposition parliamentarians condemned his allegations and had earlier approached the Federal Supreme Court accusing Bolsonaro of “violent abolition of the democratic rule of law” and “incitement of animosity of the armed forces against the constitutional powers.” [Prensa Latina]
Middle East and North Africa (MENA)
Israeli President Yair Lapid on Wednesday urged the West not to sign a nuclear deal with Iran amid reports that a deal is imminent. Lapid said an agreement with Iran would give it a hundred billion dollars a year “that will be used to undermine stability in the Middle East and spread terror around the globe.” Lapid warned that Iran would use this money to fund more attacks on American bases in the Middle East, strengthen its proxies, and on its nuclear programme. “In our eyes, it does not meet the standards set by President Biden himself: preventing Iran from becoming a nuclear state,” he added. [Israeli Government]
The United States military conducted airstrikes late Tuesday targeting groups affiliated with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) in Syria’s Deir Ez Zor province on the orders of President Joe Biden. “These precision strikes are intended to defend and protect US forces from attacks like the ones on August 15 against US personnel by Iran-backed groups,” the military said. According to reports, ten militants from the Fatemiyoun brigade were killed in 24 strikes. [US Central Command, Associated Press]
North America
On Wednesday, the United States (US) “strongly” condemned Russia’s plan to hold tribunals in Russia-controlled Mariupol, calling them “illegitimate and a mockery of justice.” “The Kremlin is attempting to deflect responsibility for President Putin’s war of aggression and distract from the overwhelming evidence of the atrocities Russian forces have committed in Ukraine,” US Department of State spokesperson Ned Price asserted in a statement. Washington also said that all Ukrainian forces captured should be treated as prisoners of war under the Geneva Conventions. [US Department of State]
Canadian Minister of Indigenous Service Patty Hajdu announced on Wednesday that Canada and New Zealand have signed an Indigenous Collaboration Arrangement to formalise their “shared commitment to promote and advance the priorities of Indigenous Peoples.” “The Arrangement follows the signing of the Indigenous Peoples Economic and Trade Cooperation Arrangement (IPETCA) last year, and is just another step in our shared journey of reconciliation,” Hajdu said in a statement. According to her, the “unique” Arrangement supports relationship-building, collaboration, and information exchange between Indigenous peoples on economic, cultural, political, social, and environmental policy issues. [Government of Canada]
United States President Joe Biden declared on Wednesday that he would cancel up to $10,000 in student loans for people earning less than $125,000 per year; recipients of Pell grants could get up to $20,000 in relief. He also extended the COVID-19 pandemic pause on student debt repayment till December 31 this year. [The Washington Post]
Oceania
In an opinion piece for The Guardian, New Zealand Prime Minister (PM) Jacinda Ardern said that the world is at a “greater risk of nuclear catastrophe than at any time since the height of the Cold War.” She called on nuclear weapons states “to step back from the nuclear abyss” and “provide leadership by committing to negotiate a new multilateral nuclear disarmament framework.” [The Guardian]
On being questioned about the cost-of-living crisis in Australia, Prime Minister (PM) Anthony Albanese said that it is “beyond” the government’s “control.” “Some things beyond our control, for example, the Russian invasion of Ukraine had an enormous impact on energy prices and on supply chains around the world,” he said on Wednesday. The PM added, “And we’ve seen inflation rise to double digits in the UK, for example, in North America it is much higher than it is here.” [Sky News Australia]
Sub-Saharan Africa
On Wednesday, Kenya’s Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) Member, Boya Molu, reaffirmed that he is “very confident there was no violation of any procedure, rules or regulation” in the recently concluded presidential elections, in which Deputy President William Ruto was declared victorious. Molu submitted election result forms 34A, 34B, 34C, and 34D in the Kenyan Supreme Court in response to opposition candidate Raila Odinga’s petition contesting the election results. [Nation]
Over 1,000 South African workers marched to the Union Buildings in Pretoria on Wednesday to protest against the rising cost of living, after inflation skyrocketed to a 13-year high of 7.8% and the unemployment rate crossed 35%. Led by the South African Federation Trade Unions and the Confederation of South African Trade Unions, the protesters urged President Cyril Ramaphosa to reduce food and fuel prices, improve job creation, increase salaries, and instate a basic income grant of $89. [Africanews]