South Asia
Incumbent Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba will likely retain his position after his Nepali Congress party secured the most seats in Nepal’s election and won 89 seats. In total, his coalition won 136 seats in the 275-member Parliament. [Indian Express]
Reserve Bank of India Governor Shaktikanta Das cautioned that the threat of inflation has not passed, warning of a further increase in the lending rate after announcing a spike of 35 basis points to 6.25%. He said that the “worst” is over but said there is no room for complacency, given that the “moderation of inflation will be very grudging.” [Reuters]
Central Asia and the Caucasus
The Kazakh Defence Ministry on Wednesday dismissed reports by Russian media that the Ukrainian military launched a drone against Russia from a Kazakh airfield as false, saying that such claims “do not correspond to reality.” Urging observers to trust only official information, the ministry stated that Ukrainian drones have never been in service with the Kazakh military. [AKI Press]
Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan said on Wednesday that no Armenian troops are stationed in Nagorno-Karabakh in response to Azerbaijan’s claim last month that Armenian soldiers are present in the region. He noted that only the self-declared Republic of Artsakh maintains a defence force in the region, whose aim is self-defence against threats of “ethnic cleansing” from Azerbaijan. [Armen Press]
East and Southeast Asia
Vietnamese Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien urged South Korean companies to “invest in mineral resource development” in the country, which he said is “essential” to Vietnam’s energy industry. [The Korea Herald]
South Korea has issued another return-to-work order for an additional 10,500 cargo truckers. Prime Minister Han Duck-soo said during an extraordinary Cabinet meeting that the country is “feeling a sense of urgency… for striking truckers to voluntarily return to work.” “We will not compromise with any unlawful acts and (those who refuse to comply) will face serious consequences,” he declared. [The Korea Herald]
Europe
The British government has ordered $279,000 worth of anti-tank weapons from Swedish manufacturer Saab. The United Kingdom previously delivered thousands of Next Generation Light Anti-Tank Weapons to Ukraine to combat the Russian invasion. [UK Government]
The United Kingdom and the United States entered into a new energy security arrangement to reduce global reliance on Russian energy exports and enhance renewable energy capabilities. British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said the agreement will ensure that the national supply cannot be “manipulated by the whims of a failing regime.” [UK Government]
According to a report released by the United Nations on Thursday, Russian troops killed at least 441 Ukrainians extrajudicially in 102 villages and towns near Kyiv between 24 February and 6 April, of which 90% were men. The report noted that the total number of deaths could be “considerably higher,” as civilians were killed for wearing camouflage-patterned clothes and for their text message histories. It also said that some Ukrainians killed in detention facilities had their hands bound with gunshot wounds, and injuries alluding to torture, while others were shot dead in their backyards, in cars trying to flee, on bikes, or while walking to buy food or see family. [The Washington Post]
Latin America and the Caribbean
Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard announced on Twitter that following the impeachment of Peruvian President Pedro Castillo, the Pacific Alliance Summit, which was scheduled to take place on 14 December in Lima, has now been postponed. Mexico holds the pro tempore presidency of the grouping. [Prensa Latina]
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and incoming Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on Wednesday offered their support to Argentine Vice-President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, after she was sentenced to six years in prison in a $1 billion corruption scandal. Maduro described the sentencing as “media and political persecution,” while Lula said the former president had been subjected to “lawfare.” [Buenos Aires Times]
Middle East and North Africa (MENA)
A United States National Security Council official told the Associated Press on Wednesday that Russia is seeking to acquire advanced weapons from Iran for its war in Ukraine as Moscow’s weapons stockpile continues to deplete. The source said that the US is concerned that Iran could supply Russia with surface-to-air missiles after already giving Moscow drones and ballistic missiles. Furthermore, a United Nations diplomat said that Tehran plans to send hundreds of drones and missiles to Moscow shortly, a move that would have “massive implications for security of the region.” [Associated Press]
The Greek Foreign Ministry on Wednesday condemned Turkey’s aggressive rhetoric over the status of the Aegean islands. A day earlier, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu threatened possible military action against Greece if Athens does not withdraw its troops from the Aegean islands. “Greece […] once again rejects the Turkish unilateral claims in their entirety and describes the repeated threats of war as totally unacceptable,” the ministry said. [Greece Foreign Ministry, Greek Reporter]
North America
Former United States President Donald Trump’s lawyers found two more documents labelled classified at a storage unit in Florida after an outside team was hired to search four Trump properties for any pending documents. Though the relevance of the documents is unclear, they were handed over to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It also proves that Trump and his team violated the May grand jury subpoena, which had asked them to return all classified items. [The Washington Post]
On Wednesday, Canada and the Netherlands filed a joint declaration of intervention in Ukraine’s case against Russia at the International Court of Justice, wherein Kyiv seeks “to establish that Russia has no lawful basis to take action in and against Ukraine for the purpose of preventing and punishing any purported genocide.” Ottawa and Amsterdam asserted that “it is in the interest of all states parties that the Genocide Convention not be misused or abused.” [Global Affairs Canada]
Oceania
Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong will use her speech in Washington DC today to urge the United States and China to increase economic engagement and manage their growing strategic competition responsibly. She will also warn that their “nationalistic domestic posturing” could stir a catastrophic conflict. [The Guardian]
Australian Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek announced that Canberra will overhaul its “broken” environment laws and set up an independent Environment Protection Agency, which will make decisions on development projects. [Reuters]
Sub-Saharan Africa
The South African government announced on Wednesday that Janusz Walus, the killer of anti-apartheid activist Chris Hani, has been released from prison on parole. The Constitutional Court recently unanimously ruled that Walus, who has been in prison since 1993, should be released. He had been eligible for parole for around 20 years but all his applications until this point were rejected. The polarising nature of this case is indicated by the fact that he was released from hospital just yesterday after he was stabbed in prison by another inmate after the court ruling from last month. [Africanews]
The Tanzanian health ministry has revealed that more than 47.2% of the country's 62 million people have been vaccinated against COVID-19. This figure is made all the more impressive because this 29.1 million figure represents 94% of the government’s target of 30.7 million. Moreover, it is a far cry from the presidency of the late John Magufuli, who, prior to his death, rejected vaccines and told citizens to pray or engage in steam therapy. [The East African]