South Asia
Speaking at the COP27 climate conference in Egypt, Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe shed light on how developing countries face a “double jeopardy” of having to balance both economic development and living standards while also combatting the effects of climate change caused by the “industrialised world.” In this regard, he called on developed countries to double climate financing for poorer countries. [Colombo Page]
Pakistan released 30 undocumented Afghan migrants held in detention centres across the country and deported them to Afghanistan. According to former Afghan President Hamid Karzai, over 1,000 Afghan migrants are detained in Pakistan’s Sindh province alone. He thus called on Pakistani authorities to “adopt a healthy approach befitting a good neighbour.” [Khaama Press News Agency]
Central Asia and the Caucasus
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev on Tuesday accused Armenia of failing to fulfil commitments made under the 2020 ceasefire deal that ended the 44-day Nagorno-Karabakh war. Speaking on the second anniversary of Azerbaijan’s victory in the 2020 war, Aliyev said Armenia has not taken any steps towards building a regional corridor or withdrawn troops from Nagorno-Karabakh. [RFE/RL]
On Tuesday, on the sidelines of the COP27 climate conference in Egypt, Kazakh Prime Minister Alikhan Smailov and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen signed an MoU on cooperation and strategic partnership in sustainable raw materials, green energy, and batteries. [Fergana News]
East and Southeast Asia
Taiwanese Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu opined that China is attempting to isolate Taiwan on all fronts—military, economic, and diplomatic—because “they want to hurt” the island. He said that such behaviour had instead made Taiwanese people “more resilient in efforts to defend themselves.” [Taiwan News]
South Korea’s military said on Wednesday that the recent missile launched by North Korea that flew across their de facto maritime border has been found to be an “SA-5” type missile, similar to the ones being used by Russia in the Ukraine war. [The Korea Herald]
Europe
The European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service reported that Europe experienced the “warmest October on record”, with temperatures 2°C higher than the average observed from 1991-2020. The deputy director of the earth observation programme, Samantha Burgess, warned that this is one of the “severe consequences of climate change” and stressed the need for a monumental agreement at COP27. [Euronews]
The United Kingdom signed a defence cooperation deal with Estonia in pursuit of “deterring aggression and defence European and NATO security.” The agreement will allow for a “more capable” presence of British troops in Estonia in order to achieve the commitments made during the North Atlantic Treaty Organization summit in Madrid earlier this year. [UK Government]
On Tuesday, at least 21 newly-mobilised Russian troops from Moscow surrendered near Svatove, Luhansk. According to videos on social media, the prisoners of war remarked that they were “sent to their rightful deaths” with no equipment or training. “We didn’t eat or drink for three days. We sat in the soaking trenches,” one of the prisoners said, while another claimed that their “own comrades were shelling [them].” [The Moscow Times]
Latin America and the Caribbean
On Tuesday at the COP27 climate conference in Egypt, in a panel titled “Amazon as a Pillar of Climate and Life Balance,” the presidents of Venezuela, Colombia, and Suriname - Nicolás Maduro, Gustavo Petro, and Chan Santoki - agreed to launch a “coordinated, efficient, conscious, and active recovery process" for the Amazon rainforest. In this respect, Petro announced $200 million in annual funding for the next 20 years. Meanwhile, Maduro sought to expand the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization, which currently comprises Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela. [teleSUR]
Two days after Haitian gang leader Jimmy “Barbecue” Cherizier on Sunday announced the removal of a two-month-long blockade, dozens of trucks queued at a main fuel terminal in capital city Port-au-Prince. The government has said gas stations will be resupplied from today until Friday and then allow customers to fill up their tanks from Saturday. [Associated Press]
Middle East and North Africa (MENA)
Israel and Jordan on Tuesday signed a ‘water-for-energy’ deal brokered by the United Arab Emirates on the sidelines of the United Nations climate conference in Egypt. Dubbed the ‘Prosperity Project,’ the agreement paves the way for Israel to provide Jordan with 200 million cubic metres of desalinated water per year in return for Jordan providing solar power to Israel. [Times of Israel]
Turkey has begun paying for some of its Russian natural gas imports in rubles, Turkish Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Fatih Dönmez said Tuesday. He noted that the share of ruble transactions in energy trade with Russia would increase in the coming months. [Reuters]
The eight former Indian naval officers detained in Qatar were reportedly arrested on charges of spying for the Indian and Israeli governments. They are accused of transferring sensitive data to India and Israel. [London Institute of Peace Research]
North America
During a phone call with her newly-appointed Canadian counterpart David Morrison on Monday, United States (US) Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman expressed her appreciation for the ongoing coordination between the two countries, specifically with respect to the recent sanctions against Haitian Senate President Joseph Lambert and former Senate President Youri Latortue for their involvement in international drug trafficking. She also noted Washington’s and Ottawa’s continued support for Ukraine and welcomed Canada’s interest in joining the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity. [US Department of State]
On Tuesday, the United States (US) Department of Defense stated that the Department of State had approved the potential sale of AIM-120C-8 Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missiles (AMRAAM) and related equipment worth $380 million to Belgium. [Reuters]
Oceania
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told a news conference in Canberra on Wednesday that he believes that “dialogue” with China “is a good thing.” He added that if a meeting is arranged with Chinese President Xi Jinping, “then that would be a positive thing.” [Reuters]
Brenton Tarrant, who killed 51 Muslim worshippers and attempted to murder 40 others at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand in March 2019, has filed an appeal against his conviction and life sentence. Tarrant was sentenced to jail for life without parole in August 2020 for the biggest mass shooting in the country’s history. [Al Jazeera]
Sub-Saharan Africa
French President Emmanuel Macron will announce the official end to Operation Barkhane, the country’s eight-year-long counterterrorism operation in the Sahel region, three months after the withdrawal of French troops from Mali. The roughly 3,000 troops stationed in Niger, Chad, and Burkina Faso, many of whom were relocated from Mali, will remain there. [Africanews]
The Democratic Republic of Congo bombed a number of M23 positions in the eastern region of the country using fighter yets yesterday. In recent weeks, the group has secured a number of critical victories against the Congolese army in the North Kivu province. The DRC has frequently accused neighbouring Rwanda of delivering financial and arms assistance to the Tutsi rebel group. [The East African]