South Asia
A senior official from the Indian Ministry of Health reported that a “double mutant variant” has been detected in 206 samples in Maharashtra, the worst-hit state in India. According to the National Centre for Disease Control, this was also detected in nine samples in New Delhi. [Reuters]
Speaking to The Hindu, Afghan Foreign Minister Haneef Atmar said that excluding India from the Moscow talks on peace negotiations in Afghanistan was a mistake. Further, he said that the Afghan government had spoken to the organisers of the discussions that the success of the peace process was not possible without India’s support. [The Hindu]
Central Asia and the Caucasus
On Wednesday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said that Turkey will continue to “closely monitor” the compliance of signed agreements between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region. Erdogan also said that the OSCE Minsk Group, founded in 1992 by the US, Russia, and France to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, has further muddled the conflict. [Azer News]
Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov met with his Uzbek counterpart, Shavkat Mirziyoev, in Tashkent to resolve the border dispute between both countries over the Ferghana Valley, which has seen numerous flare-ups recently. Mirziyoev, who took office in 2016, has said that improving ties with Kyrgyzstan is a key foreign policy agenda. [RFE/RL]
East and Southeast Asia
On Wednesday, Myanmar freed over 600 protestors who were jailed during the course of the protests against the military coup. A silent strike was called by anti-coup protestors and businesses remained shut in Yangon after a seven-year-old girl was shot dead in her home when security forces opened fire during a crackdown in Mandalay. She is the youngest of the 275 people killed so far in the crackdown. “We released 360 men and 268 women from Insein prison today,” a senior official from the jail said. [The Straits Times]
Anger against Nike Inc. erupted on Chinese social media after Nike released a statement expressing concern regarding forced labour in Xinjiang. “We are concerned about reports of forced labour in, and connected to, the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR). Nike does not source products from the XUAR and we have confirmed with our contract suppliers that they are not using textiles or spun yarn from the region,” Nike said in its statement that invited criticism from several thousand Chinese citizens. [Channel News Asia]
Europe
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday signed a bill lifting age limits on government positions. This means that civilian officials appointed by the Kremlin could remain in their posts past the age of 70 if they choose. [Reuters]
After temporarily suspending the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine, Finland and Iceland have decided to once again permit administering the vaccine candidate to citizens aged above 65. The two countries’ health ministries assured citizens that there is no increased risk of blood clots amongst this age bracket. [YLE News, NDTV]
Latin America and the Caribbean
Bolivian President Luis Arce is on an official visit to Mexico, where he has already met his counterpart, Andrés Manuel López Obrador. His visit comes just a few days after his government ordered the arrest of interim President Jeanine Áñez, who led the country from November 2019 to November 2020 after Evo Morales was ousted from power via a US-backed coup. In fact, after Morales was deposed, Arce received political asylum in Mexico. The two leaders are thought to have held discussions on debt relief, regional integration, and political interference by the Organisation of American States (OAS). [Telesur]
Jamaican Minister of Education, Youth and Information Fayval Williams announced on Wednesday that following Cabinet approval, the government is working towards establishing diplomatic ties with Liberia and Togo. She said, “Jamaica has consistently sought to deepen relations with countries in Africa given the shared historical connections,” adding, “The establishment of diplomatic relations with these countries will cement Jamaica’s strategic plans to establish a greater presence in, and intensify relationships with the developing states of the Pacific.” [Jamaica Observer]
Middle East and North Africa (MENA)
Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid, the deputy ruler of Dubai and finance minister of the United Arab Emirates, died on Wednesday at the age of 75. Sheikh Hamdan, who was the brother of the current ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, is credited with turning Dubai into a global trade and business hub. He was also the head of UAE’s delegation at the International Monetary Fund and the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries. [Al Jazeera]
Bahrain abstained from voting in a United Nations Human Rights Council resolution on Israel for the first time. The resolution, which calls for an arms embargo against Israel, was passed 32-6, with 8 abstentions. India and Britain also abstained from the vote while France, Italy and Germany voted in favour of the resolution. Manama’s abstention is attributed to the fact that Israel and Bahrain signed a normalisation agreement in September 2020 as part of the Abraham Accords. [Jerusalem Post]
North America
The US Senate on Wednesday confirmed Dr. Rachel Levine as the Assistant Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) in a 52-48 vote. The confirmation has made her the first openly transgender federal official in US history. [NBC News]
The US Department of Defence (DOD) on Wednesday approved a request from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to temporarily accommodate unaccompanied migrant children at two military bases in Texas. Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby said that the children would be put up at a vacant dormitory at Joint Base San Antonio – Lackland, and that a suitable temporary housing facility would be built at Fort Bliss. [US Department of Defence]
Oceania
New Zealand’s COVID-19 Response Minister, Chris Hipkins, announced that the government has approved expedited vaccine access to those who have an “urgent” need to travel overseas on “compassionate grounds or for reasons of national significance”. The reasons for compassionate grounds include: “needing to provide critical care and protection for a dependant; accessing critical medical care that is not available in New Zealand; and visiting an immediate family member who is dying.” [New Zealand Government]
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg put his weight behind Australia in its trade and diplomatic disputes with China, which began last year when Canberra first asked for an international investigation into the origins of the coronavirus. Since then, China has levelled a number of seemingly arbitrary trade restrictions on Australian exports. Keeping this fractured relationship in mind, Stoltenberg said that China had “behaved very badly against Australia.” He added, “It is important to demonstrate we’re able to stand together when we see China trying to bully countries all over the world.” [Sydney Morning Herald]
Sub-Saharan Africa
On ‘World Tuberculosis Day’ yesterday, the World Health Organization's representative in Nigeria, Walter Mulombo, delivered a speech in Abuja in which he noted that the country had recorded a 15% increase in TB infections in 2020. He further warned that Nigeria is only detecting about 27% of cases, suggesting that the true number of cases is much, much higher. In response, the governors of Nigeria’s 36 states issued a joint statement saying that they will work together to eradicate TB from the country by 2030. It is estimated that 157,000 Nigerians die from the disease every year. [Premium Times, Leadership]
Ugandan police arrested an American citizen in the western town of Fort Portal over his alleged “involvement in anti-government subversive activities” At this time, no further details have been released on the nature of his arrest, but it does follow a trend of critics of the ruling administration of President Yoweri Museveni being arbitrarily arrested. [The East African]
World News Monitor: 25 March, 2021
A quick look at events from around the globe.
March 25, 2021
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg SOURCE: AFP PHOTO