Week 144 (07-13/03/2022)
South Korea’s presidential election has been concluded early on Thursday (10/03), with the opposition conservative Yoon Suk-yeol declared as the winner. | Picture: Joint Press Corps
AFRICA AND THE MIDDLE EAST
Some Nigerians who have been evacuated from Ukraine tested positive for COVID-19 (10/03). Around 60 out of 700 people who have been evacuated from the war-torn country tested positive by the Nigeria's Centre for Disease Control, pushing the daily cases to 118. The cases were reported in Abuja and Lagos.
In Syria, the terrorist group Islamic States (IS) announced a new leader (11/03). The announcement came after the group confirmed the death of its previous leader, Abu Ibrahim al-Qurayshi, by the US troops. IS did not disclose the identity of the new leader, but there has been a speculation that the most likely candidate was Bashar Khattab Ghazal al-Sumaidai, an Iraqi man also known as Abu Khattab al-Iraqi, Hajji Zaid, or Ustath Zaid.
The redevelopment of the city of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia has caused a lot of complaints from the residences (11/03). The complaints come from residence whose houses have been demolished for the city redevelopment. They asked for better information access regarding the city redevelopment and compensation of their homes.
The Ukrainian United Nations (UN) peacekeeping troops have been withdrawn from Africa and Europe to defend their country from Russia (11/03). The majority of the Ukrainian peacekeeping troops was located in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo). They also brought back their eight helicopters and other military equipment to Ukraine.
ASIA
South Korea’s presidential election has been concluded early on Thursday (10/03), with the opposition conservative Yoon Suk-yeol declared as the winner. Yoon, a political novice and avowed anti-feminist, managed to defeat his rival Lee Jae-myung from the incumbent Democratic Party. “This is a victory of the great South Korean people,” he said.
Reported in AP (12/03), Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has left about 6,500 Russians—in addition to 1,000 Ukrainian tourists—stranded in Thailand’s beach resorts. Many of them are unable to pay their bills or return home because of sanctions and canceled flights. Moreover, the Ukraine-Russia crisis has further exacerbated the Southeast Asian nation’s tourism industry—Thailand hosted more visitors from Russia than any of its neighbors before the pandemic hit and Russian tourists also accounted for the largest bloc of arrivals in February this year.
Reported in Aljazeera (13/03), facing the worst COVID-19 outbreak in two years, China has decided to place about 17 billion residents under lockdown. The number of cases has doubled nationwide to nearly 3,400 as of today, a majority of which are attributed to the Omicron variant. Some regions have taken strict measures, including the suspension of public transport such as in Shenzhen; school closures in Shanghai; and confining people to their homes in Jilin and Shenzhen.
Reported in Bloomberg (13/03), India’s Mumbai has announced detailed plans to zero out carbon emissions by 2050, making it the first South Asian city to detail net-zero roadmap. In the plan, the city has proposed exhaustive changes across six domains, including investments in housing; electrifying public transport and more walkable roads; flood-resistant drainage and water conservation; adding open spaces; clean water and sanitation; and rooftop solar capacities. By 2050, rising sea levels are expected to flood parts of the city, and unabated climate change could cost the city USD 920 million.
AUSTRALIA AND OCEANIA
New Zealand has been included in Russia’s “unfriendly country” list (08/03). Other countries that are included in the list are Australia, the European Union (EU) states, the UK, US, Canada, Ukraine, Singapore, Japan, and Taiwan. On the other hand, New Zealand banned travel and exports of goods to the Russian military and security forces. In addition, New Zealand could freeze Russian assets in the country and impose sanctions on trade.
Fiji’s High Commissioner in Canberra, Australia dispatched humanitarian aid to its Tongan counterpart (09/03). The aid was part of recovery efforts from the devastating impact of the volcanic eruption and tsunami that hit Tonga in January. Fiji collected donated items from hospitals, schools, and government agencies in Canberra.
Australia’s minister for sport, Richard Colbeck, has supported the ban on athletes and teams from Russia and Belarus (09/03). More than 30 countries have agreed to bar Russia and Belarus from hosting, bidding on, or being awarded any international sporting events. This restriction should be carried out until cooperation under the basic principles of international law has been implemented again.
Australia will impose a ban on oil imports from Russia as did the US and UK (11/03). The ban will take effect once the ordered and paid shipments arrive in Australia. The decision made by the government has been confirmed not to jeopardize the safety of Australian fuel, where Australia has an adequate oil supply chain. Meanwhile, Viva Energy and Ampol had purchased two cargoes of crude oil from Russia before the conflict, so they are allowed to take the deliveries. However, after the events that took place between Russia and Ukraine, they will stop buying Russian crude oil.
EUROPE
Turkey-mediated negotiations between Ukraine and Russia has yet to become fruitful (10/03). Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said the meetings were “difficult” and accused his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov of bringing “traditional narratives” to the negotiation. Meanwhile, Lavrov reiterated that Russia was willing to continue negotiations, with President Vladimir Putin wanting to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to talk about “specific” issues.
Facing the threats from Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, the European Union (EU) leaders announced their plans to become independent from Russian food, energy, and military hardware (11/03). The bloc aims to be free from dependency on Russian gas, oil, and coal by 2027. Furthermore, the EU will stop importing iron and steel goods from the Russian Federation, as well as banning European countries from investing in Russian energy sector.
Foreign volunteers are called to fight alongside the Russians against Ukrainian troops (11/03). Sergei Shoigu, the defense minister of Russia, said that there were 16,000 volunteers from the Middle East ready to help his country’s forces. In response, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned that “thugs from Syria” would come to kill people “in a foreign land”.
Amid the Western countries’ sanctions, Russia is seeking help from China (13/03). Finance Minister Anton Siluanov, said that Russia had part of their gold and foreign exchange reserves in yuan. He expected that Russia and China’s partnership would continue despite the United States (US)’s warning to China to not provide the help. China is one of the few countries who avoided criticizing Russian invasion of Ukraine, with its officials telling Washington they could not complain about Russia’s actions as the US had invaded Iraq without evidence that Saddam Hussein was stockpiling weapons of mass destructions.
LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN
The US plans to lift sanctions on Venezuela (09/03). The US aims to establish energy cooperation with the Venezuelans after the boycott on Russian oil. However, this cooperation is still in talks, with US officials are set to meet President Maduro on Saturday (12/03).
The US Department of Homeland Security allowed a Ukrainian family to enter the states from the border with Mexico on Thursday (10/03). It came after criticism towards the ignorance of the US on thousands of refugees at the border. Previously, the US rejected the family on the grounds of preventing the transmission of COVID-19.
A mayor in Mexico was shot dead by an unknown person on Friday (11/03) in Michoacan Province. The Province was under attack by criminal violence and gang warfare. The governor and the police said they were looking for those responsible for the assassination.
Jamaica plans to impose a tax on environmental polluters. As reported on Saturday (12/03), the aim is to maintain air quality within Jamaica. Furthermore, the tax is also in line with their Climate Change and Emissions Policy Framework
THE UNITED STATES AND CANADA
The US banned imports of Russian oil, natural gas, and coal on Tuesday (08/03). The ban could increase domestic fuel and energy prices within the US. On that note, the White House said the increase would encourage a clean energy transition and reduce dependence on fossil fuels.
The People’s Convoy—a truckers’ protest rally in the US—reached Washington, D.C on Wednesday (09/03). Despite crowding the streets, the protests have been quite peaceful and conducive. The protest also received support from several political figures such as Senator Cruz from Texas.
Canada imposed sanctions on five Russian individuals on Friday (11/03). The sanctions are focused on reducing material for Russia’s defense equipment. Furthermore, Canada has also said that its borders are open for Ukrainian refugees.
Canada reported an increase in the number of jobs. As reported on Friday (11/03), Canada reported an additional 336,600 additional new jobs in February. The increase was due to the gradual lifting of COVID-19 restrictions.