South Asia
The Westminster Magistrates Court in London ruled in favour of allowing the extradition of Nirav Modi, an Indian billionaire accused of fraud and money laundering, to India. He now awaits the decision of British Home Secretary Priti Patel for the final verdict to determine whether Modi will be extradited. [Reuters]
The Indian government launched the Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code, which aims to enforce stricter controls on social media platforms. This includes greater cooperation from the tech giants in domestic investigations, along with allowing the government to compel the platforms to take down content within 36 hours of notice. [Al Jazeera]
Central Asia and the Caucasus
Amidst the ongoing political crisis, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian has rejected the public’s calls to resign and has instead warned of “an attempted military coup”. The United States and Russia have called on all parties to deescalate the worsening political crisis. [RFE/RL]
Ahead of the expiration of a moratorium on land sales later this year, Kazakh President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev proposed a ban on the purchase and renting of farmland in the country by “foreign persons and companies”. [RFE/RL]
East and Southeast Asia
A new report by a human rights organisation has revealed that generations of South Koreans have been used as slave labour to work in the coal mines of North Korea to generate income for the country and its controversial weapons programme. The report also alleges that criminal gangs, including the Japanese Yakuza, have aided the regime in smuggling goods out of the country and selling them for an unknown “high” price. [BBC]
On Thursday, protests in Myanmar against the military coup turned increasingly violent. Supporters of the military attacked others with knives, clubs, pipes, and catapults. So far, at least three protestors and one policeman have been killed in the violence. [BBC]
Europe
European Commission Vice President Vera Jourova said on Wednesday that she had “big concerns” about the fairness of Hungary’s 2022 parliamentary elections, given the rampant erosion of rule of law in the country. The eastern European nation has come under constant fire from the European Union for undermining the independence of the federal judiciary and media organizations, engaging in brazen cronyism, and using its authority to wage culture wars against LGBTQ+ and women’s rights and migration, all of which have only worsened amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. [BloombergQuint]
A Belarusian court sentenced anti-government protester Aliaksandr Kardziukou to 10 years in prison on Thursday on charges of attempted murder for attacking security forces who were trying to quell demonstrations. However, he denied wrongdoing, and said that he was confronted by two plainclothes police officers in Brest who brandished a gun on him and killed another demonstrator as they tried to escape. [Reuters]
The Netherlands’ Parliament passed a non-binding resolution saying that China’s treatment of the Uighur Muslim community amounts to genocide. This is the first such move by a European country against the Chinese abuses against the Uighur minority in its territory. [Reuters]
Latin America and the Caribbean
Last month, US federal prosecutors filed motions with the Southern District of New York that allege that Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández accepted bribes from drug traffickers and directed the military to protect a cocaine laboratory and drug shipments to the US. Hernández has now responded by warning that if the US proceeds with the case, “It would mean, sooner or later, that the systems of effective cooperation that I helped build, that have been recognized and praised repeatedly by Washington, inevitably would collapse — and not only in Honduras, but in several countries of the Americas.” [Associated Press]
Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador and his Argentinian counterpart Alberto Fernández signed a joint 15-point declaration in Mexico on Wednesday, in which they pledged to increase bilateral cooperation and seek to uphold unity among Latin American states. [Telesur]
Middle East and North Africa (MENA)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Bahrain's Crown Prince Sheikh Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa held a telephone call on Thursday in which they both expressed interest in being involved in any potential talks on a new nuclear deal for Iran. [Middle East Online]
During his visit to Rabat, Burundian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Development Cooperation Albert Shingiro voiced his support for Morocco's sovereignty over Western Sahara. During his meeting with Moroccan Minister of Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation and Moroccans Abroad Nasser Bourita, the pair also discussed the establishment of a Moroccan embassy in the Burundian city of Bujumbura. [North Africa Post]
North America
Former US President Donald Trump’s elusive tax records have been handed over to the New York district attorney Cyrus Vance, who is leading a criminal investigation looking into Trump and his businesses on allegations of bank and insurance fraud. The documents were handed over to the prosecutors on Monday, just hours after the US Supreme Court denied the Trump team’s last-ditch efforts to keep them private. [CNN]
US President Joe Biden spoke with King Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud of Saudi Arabia on Thursday. The leaders discussed “regional security, including the renewed diplomatic efforts led by the United Nations and the United States to end the war in Yemen, and the US commitment to help Saudi Arabia defend its territory as it faces attacks from Iranian-aligned groups.” [The White House]
The US House of Representatives passed the Equality Act on Thursday with a 224-206 vote which enshrines LGBTQ+ protections in the country’s labour and civil rights laws. [Al Jazeera]
Oceania
On Wednesday, foreign ministry officials from Australia, India, and France held a Senior Officials’ Working Group via video-conference. They discussed: “next steps to advance practical cooperation in maritime safety and security; on marine and environmental issues (including the blue economy, renewable energy, and Illegal, Unregulated and Unreported (IUU) Fishing); and in multilateral fora”. [Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade]
After Australia’s Federal Government passed new legislation requiring media companies to be compensated for their news, Facebook restored all news articles in the country, one week after it blocked a number of Australian news portals and government websites. Meanwhile, Facebook has committed to investing a minimum of $1 billion towards supporting journalism over the next three years. [Sydney Morning Herald, TechXplore]
Sub-Saharan Africa
United States Department of State spokesperson Ned Price called for an “independent, impartial, credible, and thorough investigation” into Uganda’s presidential election on January 14, which saw incumbent Yoweri Museveni secure re-election under controversial circumstances. In fact, the principal opposition candidate, Bobi Wine, has alleged electoral fraud. Price said, “Uganda’s January 14 elections were marred by irregularities and abuses by the government’s security services against opposition candidates and members of civil society.” [Africa News]
Rwanda and Burundi are set to invest $190 million in the construction of the Akanyaru Multipurpose Dam. The Akanyaru River begins in the western highlights of Rwanda and Burundi and forms part of the Nile basin. The project has also been backed by the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the New Partnership for Africa’s Development) Infrastructure Project Preparation Facility (NEPAD-IPFF). [Afrik 21]
World News Monitor: 26 February, 2021
A quick look at events from around the globe.
February 26, 2021
SOURCE: SAI AUNG MAIN / AFP