🔎Picks of the Week — August 14
🔎Picks of the Week — August 14
Lebanese Government Resigns, Harris U.S. Foreign Policy, Jimmy Lai Arrested, Greek-Turkish Tension, Mauritius Oil Spill, Afghan-Taliban Peace Talks
Hello! It’s Friday which means it’s time for another Picks of the Week where we round up the most important news from around world. We’ll travel to Lebanon where the government has resigned after last week’s explosion, to D.C. where we look at what impact Kamala Harris could have on U.S. foreign policy, to Hong Kong where China arrested and released media tycoon Jimmy Lai, to the Mediterranean where Greek-Turkish tensions are at boiling point, to Mauritius where an oil spill is slowly deteriorating into an environmental emergency, and to Afghanistan where peace talks between the government and the Taliban have made positive progress. And a quick note on the historic agreement between Israel and the U.A.E. announced yesterday to establish diplomatic ties, which we’ll dissect next week once we know more. Be sure to check out the election round-ups from Belarus and Sri Lanka from earlier this week. Okay, let’s get to it! ✊
Deadlines this week include at Archant, Fourth Estate Alliance, the Oxford Mail and Proxy Insight…
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Lebanon Latest
After last week’s explosion in Beirut that left 200 people dead and injured thousands more, government negligence and years of incompetency and corruption have spilled out onto the streets. In response, the entire Lebanese government resigned on Tuesday, though it will remain in place until a new one is formed. Amid spiralling Covid-19 cases and an escalating economic crisis, the international community will do its best to make sure a power vacuum doesn’t take hold of the country, something that’s led many of Lebanon’s neighbours into civil war. France has led efforts to make sure aid goes directly to the civilians that need it most, while the U.S. is preparing sanctions against Hezbollah, the Shia Muslim political party backed by Iran and Syria, and widely recognized by the West as a terrorist organization.
Source: Worldometers 👇
Harris U.S. Foreign Policy
Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden has finally chosen his running mate for November’s election, picking California senator Kamala Harris to be his potential vice president. Harris will break several barriers if the Democrats win — Harris will become the first female vice president in U.S. history — and her ancestry could prove vital in shaping future U.S. foreign policy — Harris’ mother was born in India and her father in Jamaica. What hasn’t been talked about in great detail is the fact that Harris will “share a perspective on foreign policy that looks at the world’s two largest democracies as critical allies”, according to Neil Makhija for Foreign Policy.
Jimmy Lai Arrested
Moving to Hong Kong now as media tycoon Jimmy Lai has been released by authorities after being arrested Monday on suspicion of foreign collusion, as police raided the offices of his Apple Daily newspaper. The move comes after violent clashes between pro-democracy and pro-China advocates over the past couple of years. China recently imposed a new security law over Hong Kong that gives the Communist government increased power over dissenters in the region. Among the most notable new powers, courtesy of the BBC:
China will establish a new security office in Hong Kong with its own law enforcement personnel, neither of which would come under the local authority's jurisdiction
The office can send some cases to be tried in mainland China, but Beijing has said it will only have that power over a “tiny number” of cases
China will have power over how the law should be interpreted, and not any Hong Kong judicial or policy body. If the law conflicts with any Hong Kong law, the Beijing law takes priority
People suspected of breaking the law can be wire-tapped and put under surveillance
The law will also apply to non-permanent residents and people “from outside who are not permanent residents of Hong Kong”
Greece Turkey Tension
Greece has recalled its naval and air force officers from holiday as the military has been placed on high alert. The move comes as tensions with Turkey have reached boiling point over exploration of offshore energy reserves in the Mediterranean. The waters where Turkey is conducting seismic research are disputed, with the Greeks calling the activity illegal. The two countries have a torrid history stretching back thousands of years, and the relationship has steadily soured in recent months over the disputed Aegean islands. France has stepped up by boosting its military presence in the area to calm the situation, in addition to its work in Lebanon.
Mauritius Oil Spill
The Indian Ocean island of Mauritius has declared a “state of environmental emergency” after a Japanese oil tanker carrying almost 4,000 tonnes of fuel ran aground near two environmentally protected marine ecosystems near the island’s coast. More than 1,000 tonnes of oil has already leaked and the situation could become much worse with the very real threat of the entire ship breaking in two. Mauritius is a biodiversity hotspot and the impact of the spill will likely be devastating.
Afghan Taliban Peace Talks
As usual, we’ll finish with some positive news as the Taliban, the hardline Islamic group that control and influence large parts of Afghanistan, reaffirmed its commitment to ending violence in the war-torn country. The news comes after the Taliban and the U.S. agreed a deal to end the almost 20-year war in February. No date has been set for the intra-Afghan peace talks between the Taliban and the Afghan government, though the very fact we’re even talking about peace in Afghanistan is a welcome sign in such times. That’s all for today, see you next week.