South Asia
On Thursday, Indian company Adani entered into a $700 million deal to build a strategic deep-sea container terminal in Sri Lanka. The move is seen as a way to counter China’s rising influence in the region. [France24]
The Pentagon has said that the United States has “honest concerns” about Pakistan being a haven for terrorists. “We’ve been very honest about our concerns with Pakistan for a long time, about the safe havens that exist on their side of the border. And those concerns are still valid today,” Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said. [Hindustan Times]
Central Asia and the Caucasus
Uzbek migrant rights activist Valentina Chupik, detained at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport last week, has applied for asylum in Ukraine. Chupik, a critic of Russian migration authorities, faces the possibility of being deported to Uzbekistan, where she faces arrest and torture. [RFE/RL]
Former Armenian Defence Minister (DM) Davit Tonoyan has been arrested on fraud charges. According to security services, Tonoyan is accused of supplying faulty equipment to the military. He was the DM during last year’s war with Azerbaijan, which Armenia lost. [RFE/RL]
East and Southeast Asia
“The US should not fall back on empty slogans calling for dialogue, but should demonstrate sincerity and come up with a realistic dialogue proposal,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said regarding the issue of the Korean Peninsula on Thursday. [Global Times]
North Korea fired a newly developed anti-aircraft missile on Thursday, making it the country’s second known weapons test this week after a hypersonic missile was fired on Tuesday. [Channel News Asia]
Europe
French politician Jean-Pierre Pont said on Thursday that French fishermen could block British ports or disrupt the flow of trucks into the Channel Tunnel over a post-Brexit fishing dispute with Jersey. [Independent]
The European Union, the United Kingdom, and Italy have urged Russia to commit to net-zero carbon dioxide emissions by 2050 and initiate measures to tackle climate change. It comes ahead of the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference in Glasgow, Scotland from October 31 to November 12. International pressure on Russia is consistently increasing because, despite being one of the largest polluters, Russia has refused to commit to net-zero carbon emissions. [Euractiv]
Latin America and the Caribbean
Lawmakers of Free Peru called for the resignation of Foreign Affairs Minister Oscar Maurtua and Vice-Chancellor Luis Chavez on Wednesday. They accused Maurtua of contradicting President Pedro Castillo’s decision to strengthen diplomatic relations with Venezuela. [Telesur]
On Tuesday, marking the Global Day of Action, thousands of women joined demonstrations across Latin America to demand access to legal, safe, and free abortion. Protest marches were held in Venezuela, Mexico, Peru, Chile, Ecuador, and Colombia. [Al Jazeera]
Middle East and North Africa (MENA)
Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian held a phone conversation with his South Korean counterpart Chung Eui-Yong on Thursday to discuss the unfreezing of Iranian financial assets. Abdollahian “strongly criticised” South Korean banks for their refusal to return Iranian assets. [Iran Ministry of Foreign Affairs]
Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid officially opened Israel’s embassy in Manama, Bahrain, a year after both countries normalised ties. “Israel made a major, historic step today in the Gulf,” Lapid said. [Times of Israel]
North America
United States President Joe Biden signed into law a temporary measure to avoid another federal shutdown and keep the government funded until early December. Congress narrowly passed the bill hours before funding would have lapsed. [BBC]
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau drew criticism for flying to Tofino on Thursday on holiday on the first National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, which honours lost Indigenous children and survivors from residential schools. [Reuters Canada]
Oceania
On Friday, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison confirmed the opening of international borders from next month for fully vaccinated citizens. Morrison said, “Today, rising vaccination rates enabled people who have had both doses of a TGA-approved vaccine to leave Australia and then to quarantine inside their homes on their return for seven days. It’s time to give Australians their lives back.” For the unvaccinated, Morrison said that restrictions would remain in place, along with a 14-day quarantine period. [9 News]
Former Australian Prime Minister (PM) Tony Abbott said, “An India-Australia trade deal would be a very important economic component of the developing Quadrilateral security partnership involving Australia, India, Japan and the US.” He also mentioned that a liberalised trade deal between Australia and India could be the most important deal for the island nation. The comments come after Abbott’s meeting with Indian PM Narendra Modi. [Brisbane Times]
Sub-Saharan Africa
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has eased COVID-19 restrictions to the lowest level as the country seeks to open its economy. The move was also made as the number of COVID-19 cases have dropped recently. “The current trends in the progression of the pandemic mean that a number of the restrictions in place can be eased,” Ramaphosa said on Thursday. [Reuters]
On Thursday, Clement Chiwaya, the former deputy speaker of Malawi, shot himself dead inside the parliament building in the capital, Lilongwe. [Al Jazeera]
World News Monitor: 1 October, 2021
A quick look at events from around the globe.
October 1, 2021
Global Day of Action in Chile. SOURCE: AP