North America
- El Salvador’s government reported last Monday (Jan 16) that at least 130 homes were impacted by a burst of seismic activity at the department of Ahuachapan, leaving over a dozen people in shelters. 219 earthquakes occurred from last Sunday (Jan 15) until last Monday (Jan 16), and while no deaths were reported, the tremors damaged homes and caused at least 20 landslides. The largest earthquake occurred last Sunday (Jan 15) with a magnitude of 5.1 and a shallow depth of nine kilometres, in the municipality of San Lorenzo. A red alert has been declared for towns in the area.
- Thousands of anti-abortion activists gathered in Washington DC last Friday (Jan 20) for the first annual March for Life since Roe v Wade was overturned in June last year. The crowd spread across the National Mall, celebrating the Supreme Court’s decision after decades of activism. The rally has been held every January since 1973 when Roe v Wade guaranteed abortion access nationwide. A counter-protest numbering dozens of pro-choice activists also gathered at the Supreme Court.
- Google’s parent company, Alphabet Inc, will be cutting around 12,000 jobs, or six per cent of its workforce, according to a staff memo last Friday (Jan 20). The cuts come during a delicate time for the company, where it has been facing increased competition in the field of artificial intelligence (AI) from Microsoft, which also announced job cuts this week. The job cuts come as companies are looking to stake their future on AI, with Google and Microsoft focusing on using AI to enhance their products. The company has been working on a major AI launch, which is expected to take place early this year.
- Eight people were injured, one critically, in a shooting at a family-friendly Martin Luther King Jr Day event at a Florida park last Monday (Jan 16). According to the Lucie County Sheriff’s Office, the shooting occurred around 5:20 pm local time during the MLK Car Show and Family Fun Day event at Ilous Ellis Park, where more than a thousand people had gathered. The shooting erupted from some kind of disagreement, according to the sheriff’s office. Four others, including a child, also suffered injuries as people fled from the gunshots. The investigation is ongoing.
- United States (US) President Joe Biden and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte met at the White House last Thursday (Jan 19) to discuss issues relating to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, protections of supply chains, and an upcoming Summit for Democracy. The US is seeking to shore up its allies’ support for restrictions that aim to limit China’s ability to access advanced computing chips, develop and maintain supercomputers, and make advanced semiconductors.
South America
- Teachers and other public-sector workers in Venezuela demanded better pay last Monday (Jan 16). According to economists, this comes as a result of rising inflation, reaching an estimated 305 per cent last year. The government has not adjusted salaries since March last year despite announcing efforts to reduce spending and increase taxes. The minimum monthly salary for a public school teacher is about US$10 (S$13.20), and university professors earn US$60 (S$79.18) and US$80 (S$105.58). The Vice President of the ruling party blames the economic strife on sanctions imposed by the United States.
- Protesters in Peru descended on the capital Lima last Thursday (Jan 19), calling for change and demanding the resignation of President Dina Boluarte, snap elections and finding a new constitution. The protests were also sparked by the ousting of former President Pedro Castillo, as well as police brutality, inequality and rising prices. With 45 deaths reported, this was the worst violence in the country in over two decades.
- Glencore’s Antapaccay copper mine in Peru suspended operations last Friday (Jan 20) after protesters attacked the site for the third time this month, looting and setting fire to the workers’ area of the camp. The demonstrators demanded that the mine cease operations and join their call for the resignation of President Dina Boluarte. Peru, the world’s second-largest copper producer, has been gripped by growing unrest following weeks of anti-government protests triggered by the ouster of the country’s former president last month. Mines and other parts of Peru’s extractive industry faced disruptions due to road blockades set up by protesters.
- The United Nations (UN) expressed concern last Wednesday (Jan 18) over Guatemala’s decision to investigate former anti-corruption investigator Iván Velásquez, who led the UN’s anti-corruption efforts in Guatemala from 2013 to 2019. Prosecutors in Guatemala are investigating Velásquez for “illegal, arbitrary and abusive acts”. Critics warned that this was the latest effort by Guatemala’s government to backtrack on anti-corruption efforts. Velásquez and other members of the UN’s anti-corruption campaign continue to enjoy privileges and immunities even after their positions have ended.
- Brazil’s defence minister, Jose Mucio, said the country’s armed forces were not directly involved in the January 8 attack on the seat of government in Brasilia, led by supporters of former far-right President Jair Bolsonaro. He added that any element that participated would have to answer as citizens. This statement that was released last Friday (Jan 20) comes as the government has promised to hold to account those who enabled or participated in the riots, including the governor of Brasilia, Ibaneis Rocha, who was suspended from his post in the hours after the attack. The public prosecutor has charged at least 39 people so far in connection to the riots.
Asia Pacific
- Indian foreign ministry spokesman Arindam Bagchi said last Thursday (Jan 19) that talks with Pakistan would not be “conducive”. This comes after Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sherif called for the talks last Tuesday (Jan 17) to discuss several issues, including the disputed Himalayan territory Kashmir. Both states have ruled over parts of the territory since 1947, but tensions have been increasing since 2019 when India’s government revoked Article 370 of the Indian institution, granting Indian-administered Kashmir partial authority.
- An avalanche that occurred in Tibet last Tuesday (Jan 17) killed at least 28 people. Chinese state media reported that the avalanche had hit a highway tunnel near the city of Nyingchi in southwest Tibet and that an estimated 1000 rescue workers and emergency vehicles have been dispatched for the search and rescue operations.
- India’s Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar announced last Friday (Jan 20) that it is committed to boosting Sri Lanka’s investments in several areas including energy, tourism and infrastructure. Sri Lanka has been facing economic crises in recent years, resulting in high inflation and recession. While Sri Lanka tries to secure a US$2.9 billion payout package from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), India plans to support Sri Lanka’s debt restructuring plan.
- Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev announced last Thursday (Jan 19) that the lower house of parliament has been dissolved and called for snap elections to be held in March this year. Kazakhstan has had years of protests due to rising fuel prices, leading to several anti-government riots that killed 238 people. The snap elections were said to “give new impetus to the modernisation” of the natural resource-rich country.
- Some aid organisations restored some operations in Afghanistan last Monday (Jan 16) after receiving assurances from the Taliban that women are allowed to work in areas such as health again. Previously, the Taliban had restricted female workers from working in non-governmental organisations due to them allegedly not adhering to the Taliban’s interpretation of the Islamic dress code.
Europe
- Moscow’s forces advanced into Ukraine’s southern Zaporizhia region last Sunday (Jan 22). According to a Russian-installed official in the region, Vladimir Rogov, aggressive actions took place in the twins of Orikhiv and Hulyaipole. Russia claims that it has annexed the Zaporizhia region, but does not have control of it entirely. These reports are a result of states’ supplying of weapons to Ukraine, in which speaker of the lower house of Russia’s parliament Vyacheslav Volodin said it would trigger a “global catastrophe” if it continues.
- Burkina Faso suspended an accord with France last Wednesday (Jan 18) and ordered its troops last Saturday (Jan 21) to leave within a month. The 2018 military accord that allowed about 400 French troops into the country was meant for battling groups affiliated with al-Qaeda and ISIL (ISIS). The decision by the Agence d’Information du Burkina (AIB) signalled deteriorating relations between the two states. France has not responded to the decision.
- Russia’s Wagner mercenary group was designated as a “transnational criminal organisation” by the United States (US) last Friday (Jan 20). The group, which is led by Yevgeny Prigozhin, has been recruiting thousands of Russian prisoners to fight in the war against Ukraine. White House national security spokesperson John Kirby also highlighted that the group had received arms from North Korea for its operations in Ukraine. The designation of the group is said to allow for the wider use of sanctions.
- French President Emmanuel Macron said last Friday (Jan 20) that France will increase its military spending by more than a third from 2024 to 2030. The budget will be US$447 billion, which is double the budget when he took office in 2017. He said that the increased budget would allow the military to adapt to more intense conflicts in light of the Russian-Ukraine war through the modernisation of its nuclear arsenal and the investment in drones and military intelligence.
- According to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s wife Olena Zelenska last Wednesday (Jan 18), a letter inviting Chinese leader Xi Jinping for talks was handed over to the Chinese delegation at the World Economic Forum. Zelenskyy has been seeking to make contact with Xi since Russia invaded Ukraine in February last year. He hopes that the talks will result in Beijing influencing Russian leader Vladimir Putin. So far, Beijing has positioned itself as a neutral party in the war.
Middle East
- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced last Saturday (Jan 22) that the next parliamentary and presidential elections will be held in mid-May. He claimed that a formal call will be made in March and that a second round of voting will be held near the end of May if no candidate secures more than 50 per cent of the votes. Erdogan has been in office since 2003.
- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismissed senior minister Aryeh Deri from office last Sunday (Jan 22). Israel’s Supreme Court decided that Deri would not be fit to serve as Cabinet minister due to his tax offences. Deri, leader of the ultra-Orthodox Jewish party Shas, was appointed to Cabinet after the elections in November last year.
- Canada determined last Friday (Jan 20) that it plans to repatriate 23 of its citizens currently detained in camps for family members of ISIL (ISIS) in northeastern Syria. The repatriation represents the largest group of ISIL family members repatriated to Canada at once. Canada’s foreign ministry said it would repatriate six Canadian women, 13 infants and four men. Federal judge Henry Brown directed Ottowa to request for repatriation of these people as soon as possible and to provide them with passports and travel documents.
- Germany’s lower house recognised the 2014 massacre by ISIL (ISIS) against the Yazidi minority group in Iraq and Syria as a “genocide” last Thursday (Jan 19). The motion urged the German judicial system to pursue other cases of violence against the Yazidi. In 2014, ISIL killed over 1200 Yazidis, enslaved 7000 other Yazidi women and girls and displaced most of its population from their homes in northern Iraq. Germany’s Greens lawmaker Max Lucks said that Germany had a responsibility to the Yazidi community since it is home to the world’s largest Yazidi diaspora.
- Turkey denounced Sweden last Saturday (Jan 21) after far-right supporters protested in front of its embassy in Stockholm and burned a Quran. The actions were allegedly led by the leader of the Danish far-right political party Hard Line Rasmus Paludan, who attacked Islam and immigration in Sweden. In response, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said it was an “anti-Islam act” that “targets Muslims and insult [their] sacred values, under the guise of freedom of expression”.
Africa
- According to Somalia’s Defence Minister Abdulkadir Mohamed Nur, government-led forces captured an Al-Shabaab stronghold on the Indian Ocean coast last Monday (Jan 16). It is said to be one of their most significant victories since launching an offensive against the Islamist group last year. The forces took the port town of Harardhere as well as the nearby town of Galcad in central Somalia’s Galmudug region, said Nur in a broadcast on state-owned television. Harardhere was a major base for pirates hijacking merchant ships until 2011. It was later taken over by Al-Shabaab, which first rose against the government in 2007 before pledging its allegiance to Al Qaeda.
- Gabon’s government announced last Saturday (Jan 21) that Minister of Foreign Affairs Michael Moussa Adamo died of a heart attack during a cabinet meeting. He was an ally of President Ali Bongo Ondimba and was 62 years old. Despite attempts by specialists to revive him, he passed away. President Bongo described him as “a great diplomat, a true statesman” and “a friend, loyal and faithful, whom [he] could always count on”.
- Kenyan security forces killed ten fighters from the Somalia-based al-Shabaab group in eastern Kenya, according to the deputy county commissioner of the Bura East sub-county Thomas Bett. The security forces also recovered rocket-propelled grenades and improvised explosive devices after fighting the group in the village of Galmagalla in Garissa county. The al-Qaeda affiliate has made incursions into Kenya for years to pressure the country into withdrawing its troops from the African Union-mandated peacekeeping force.
- Senegalese opposition leader Ousmane Sonko will face trial on charges of rape and making death threats to a beauty salon employee in 2021, an investigating judge has said last Tuesday (Jan 17). He denied the charges, and his supporters say the trial is politically motivated to eliminate him from the 2024 presidential race. There are fears that the trial could stoke political tensions in Senegal as clashes broke out in the country in March 2021 when Sonko was initially summoned by the investigating judge and arrested.
- Anglo American, the mining giant, was accused of knowing that toxic fumes and dust from a lead mine in Zambia were poisoning local women and children but failing to address the issue. Lawyers for the plaintiff made their case before a Johannesburg court last Friday (Jan 20), seeking approval for a class-action lawsuit against the British firm’s South African subsidiary. Anglo American denied responsibility, arguing that it was only indirectly involved in the mine and that the site always belonged to state-owned Zambia Consolidated Copper Mines.
