World roundup: April 12 2023
Stories from Egypt, Afghanistan, Mali, and elsewhere
INTERNATIONAL
In today’s global news:
Worldometer is tracking COVID-19 cases and fatalities.
The New York Times is tracking global vaccine distribution.
MIDDLE EAST
SYRIA
US Central Command says its forces captured an Islamic State “operative” in a raid over the weekend in eastern Syria’s Deir Ezzor province. It’s unclear whether this will have any significant effect on IS operations, such as they are. The remnants of the group don’t really seem to be operating under much of a central command structure so the removal of any one person might not have that much impact.
From the “bygones” file, Syrian media reported on Wednesday that the Syrian and Tunisian governments have agreed to resume normal diplomatic relations. Tunis cut those ties back in 2012 along with most of the rest of the Arab world in the early months of the Syrian civil war. The two countries restored limited ties in 2017, mostly to track the thousands of Tunisians who went to Syria to fight for various rebel and/or jihadist groups. The Arab world in general is in the process of rehabilitating the Assad government and Tunisia is clearly no exception.
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