World roundup: April 14 2023

Stories from Yemen, Senegal, Brazil, 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

Foreign Ministers from the Gulf Cooperation Council member states as well as Egypt, Iraq, and Jordan all met in Saudi Arabia on Friday to discuss the issue of the day: whether to include the Syrian government in next month’s Arab League summit. There is still some resistance to the idea of restoring Bashar al-Assad’s club membership, most vocally from Qatar, but it’s clear that the winds are almost entirely shifted toward Syria’s re-inclusion.

The Jordanian government has apparently proposed a compromise between the “invite” and “don’t invite” camps in the form of a Syrian peace plan. In the main it sounds like this plan covers issues relevant to the rest of the Arab world rather than to Syrian rebels, like drug smuggling (a major concern of the Saudis) and refugee repatriation (a major concern of several countries including Jordan). The Gang may opt to present Assad with this Jordanian plan, or some variation of it, with the idea that he can accept it and be invited to the summit or reject it and not be invited.