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Foreign affairs update - 23rd July 2021
- The Olympics 2020 begin: The opening ceremony of the 2020 Olympics, postponed by a year due to the coronavirus pandemic, began in Tokyo. The Games, beset by local apathy, cost overruns, bears, oyster infestations, and internal scandals added one more before today’s launch: Its opening ceremony creative director, Kentaro Kobayashi, was fired the day before the ceremony after old footage emerged of Kobayashi performing a comedy skit mocking the Holocaust. Daily new COVID-19 infections in Tokyo have increased from an average 882 per day last week to 1,373 recently, as the testing positivity rate reached 10.7 percent, a level that indicates a higher number of cases in the population than officially reported.
- Cuba sanctions: The United States imposed fresh sanctions on a Cuban security minister and a special forces unit in the Biden administration’s first concrete actions following protests on the island earlier in July. President Biden warned that the move was “just the beginning” and that the United States “will continue to sanction individuals responsible for oppression of the Cuban people.” Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez called the sanctions “unfounded and slanderous” and urged the United States to reflect on its own “systematic repression and police brutality.” Hundreds of Cubans involved in the protests now face charges of inciting unrest.
- Brazil’s election: Brazil’s political leaders have been forced to deny reports that the 2022 presidential election must meet new conditions before a vote could be held. Defense Minister Walter Braga Netto is reported to have told House Speaker Arthur Lira that the election would not take place unless paper ballots were universally used. Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has claimed electronic voting systems in the country are vulnerable to fraud, a claim Brazil’s electoral court denies. Bolsonaro has yet to provide evidence to back up his claim as he trails his likely challenger, former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, in polls.
- Pegasus snooping scandal fallout: French President Emmanuel Macron has switched to a new phone following revelations from the Pegasus Project that his device may have been targeted as part of a widespread government-led hacking program using spyware licensed from an Israeli company. Prosecutors in Hungary and Algeria have ordered investigations into the use of the program, while Israel has formed a commission to review the approval of spyware licenses.
- China's deadly floods: Residents of China's Henan Province in central China were hit by even more rain as a historic crisis worsened for one of the country’s poorest provinces. Record rainfall led to mass flooding across a region home to nearly 100 million people. The provincial capital of Zhengzhou received the equivalent of one-third of its average annual rainfall in the space of one hour. The impact was devastating, and entire neighborhoods have been submerged. Henan is home to large numbers of factories, and consumers can expect several disruptions to global supply chains already rattled by the coronavirus pandemic. Apple and Nissan factories are wrecked by the flooding. Officials described the amount of rainfall as a “once in a thousand years” event.
- Pakistan parliament passes FATF-related bill: Pakistan was placed on the grey list by the Paris-based Financial Action Task Force (FATF) in June, 2018 and was given a plan of action to complete it by October, 2019. Since then the country continues to be in that list due to its failure to comply with the FATF mandates. Now, Pakistan's parliament has passed a bill for providing legal assistance in international criminal matters as part of efforts to fulfil the conditions set by the global financial watchdog FATF. The Mutual Legal Assistance (Criminal Matters) Amendment Bill was passed by the Senate, the upper house, on Friday amidst protest by the Opposition. According to the statement of objects and reasons of the bill, an increase in transnational organised crime has made it necessary for the international community and Pakistan to improve the effectiveness of legal instruments because lack of uniformity in law and weak coordination mechanism between countries affects combating of crimes across borders. Opposition parties tried to stop it by saying that it would give unhindered power to the government to hand over to other countries Pakistan citizens based on allegations. With Pakistan's continuation in the 'grey' list, it is increasingly becoming difficult for Islamabad to get financial aid from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank, Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the European Union, thus further enhancing problems for the debt-ridden nation.
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