South Asia
The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), with support from China, approved a loan of $250 million for Pakistan to help fight the damage caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. This a part of the AIIB’s $10 billion plan to help public and private sectors in their recovery following the outbreak. [Reuters]
The Indian Navy deployed 20 MiG-29K maritime fighter jets to Ladakh to strengthen defences along the India-China border. [Deccan Chronicle]
Learning from the damage caused by the COVID-19 outbreak, Nepal’s army announced its decision to “modernise” and “expand” its medical and healthcare facilities. [Kathmandu Post]
Central Asia and The Caucasus
Two senior officials of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) were ousted from their posts after their mandates were rejected by Tajikistan. Harlem Désir, the OSCE’s media freedom representative and Ingibjorg Solrun Gisladottir, the head of the OSCE’s human rights office, were blocked from extending their term with support from Azerbaijan and Turkey, respectively. [RadioFree Europe]
East and Southeast Asia
The Japanese Health Ministry has approved the use of dexamethasone, a cheap and widely used steroid, as a second treatment for COVID-19 patients, following the approval of Remdesivir in May. A trial in Britain showed that the drug reduced death rates among severe cases of COVID-19. [The Japan Times]
Europe
Greece put its armed forces on high-alert as Turkey declared its intention to conduct a seismic survey near Kastellorizo, a Greek island. Greece’s Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, warned of prospective sanctions against Turkey if it continues to escalate tensions in the region. [Politico]
Latin America and the Caribbean
Weeks after 29 global companies threatened to divest from Brazil over its lack of environmental safeguards, and days after President Jair Bolsonaro implemented a 120 ban on fire-setting in the Amazon, the Science journal has revealed that roughly 20% of Brazilian soy and beef exports to Europe are the products of deforestation. [Merco Press]
Middle East and North Africa (MENA)
Jordan’s Prime Minister Omar al-Razzaz said that the Kingdom “would look positively” towards the creation of a binational Israel-Palestine state in case Israel goes ahead with its unilateral annexation of occupied West Bank territory and nixes the two-state solution. [Al Jazeera]
Reports from July indicate an increment in Iraq’s crude oil exports, suggesting that the country, which is the second-largest OPEC producer, is violating its pledge in the cartel’s deal to cut supplies. [Reuters]
North America
The US Department of Justice (DOJ) has charged two Chinese nationals for spying on COVID-19 researchers and US defense contractors, and stealing terabytes of weapons designs, drug information, software source code, and personal data from targets that included dissidents and Chinese opposition figures. [Channel News Asia]
US President Donald Trump has expressed willingness to work with China or other countries to bring a successful COVID-19 vaccine to the US. The remarks come after researchers said that a drug developed by China’s CanSino Biologics and China’s military research unit appeared to be safe and induced immune responses in most subjects in a study. [South China Morning Post]
Oceania
Australia recorded 502 new cases of the coronavirus over the past 24 hours, its highest single day increase since the pandemic began. Of these, 484 came from the state of Victoria, where Premier Daniel Andrews revealed that 90%of people are not self-isolating “between the time they first felt sick and when they went to get a test”. [ABC News]
Sub-Saharan Africa
The European Union (EU) announced €14.6 million in humanitarian aid to Mozambique, from which €5 million is to help people affected by terrorist and the rest is to assist in natural disaster preparation. It is part of the €64 million aid package announced by the European Commission for countries in southern Africa. [All Africa]
Following the death of Prime Minister Amadou Gon Coulibaly, who was in line to replace Alassane Ouattara as President, the ruling party, RHDP, has said that it wants Ouattara to run for a third five-year term, despite him saying that he would step aside to respect term limits before Coulibaly’s death. [Africa News]
World News Monitor: July 22, 2020
A quick look at events from around the globe.
July 22, 2020
