World roundup: January 19 2021
Stories from China, Italy, Guatemala, and more
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THESE DAYS IN HISTORY
January 18, 1976: Christian militias linked to Lebanon’s Kataeb Party rampage through the poor and predominantly Palestinian Karantina neighborhood in east Beirut. They’re estimated to have killed somewhere in the neighborhood of 1500 people, making the Karantina Massacre one of the first major atrocities of the Lebanese Civil War.
January 18, 2002: The Sierra Leone civil war, which had begun in 1991, ends with the victory of the British-backed Sierra Leone government over the Revolutionary United Front rebels backed by Liberian President Charles Taylor. The conflict was known largely for its atrocities, from the copious use of child soldiers to the mass killing and rape of civilians. For his involvement in the conflict, the International Criminal Court convicted Taylor of war crimes in 2012 and he’s currently serving a 50 year prison term.
January 19, 1817: Argentine rebel leader José de San Martín leads his army, along with a group of Chilean rebels led by Bernardo O'Higgins, across the Andes Mountains into royalist-controlled Chile. Although San Martín lost by some counts as much as a third of his army in the crossing, the combined force emerged in Chile and won the decisive Battle of Chacabuco on February 12, forcing royalist forces to withdraw north into Peru. The crossing is considered a milestone in the course of the Latin American independence movement.
January 19, 1883: The borough of Roselle in New Jersey becomes the first community lit entirely with electric lighting via overhead wires. The wiring system was designed by Thomas Edison as proof that an entire town could be electrified in this way. Needless to say the concept caught on.
INTERNATIONAL
Worldometer’s coronavirus figures for January 19:
96,599,687 confirmed coronavirus cases worldwide (25,282,264 active, +585,749 since yesterday)
2,063,981 reported fatalities (+14,675 since yesterday)
In today’s global news:
An independent panel reviewing the World Health Organization’s COVID-19 response didn’t have very much positive to say in the report it issued on Monday. The group faulted the Chinese government for taking too long in moving to contain the initial outbreak of the virus in Wuhan, but most of its criticism was leveled at the WHO itself—specifically the fact that it failed to declare an international health emergency until the end of January. WHO critics will undoubtedly be pleased to hear these criticisms, but they might not like the panel’s deeper analysis, which suggests the WHO’s failures are largely due to the fact that its levels of funding and authority are wholly incommensurate with the degree of responsibility it’s been given. In other words, if the world is going to depend on the WHO to manage crises like this, then member states need to give it substantially more money and power. Something tells me the governments of those states aren’t going to like that idea.
The Iranian and Turkish governments moved on Tuesday to block the bids of several states to join the United Nations’ Conference on Disarmament. The Iranians blocked both Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates from joining the conference as observers, while Turkey blocked Cyprus from joining. The conference operates on member consensus, as do many other UN bodies, but it’s rare for members to bar observers and these moves led to some calls to change the conference’s procedures.
MIDDLE EAST
SYRIA
13,224 confirmed coronavirus cases (+92)
850 reported fatalities (+9)
Syrian state media is reporting a large explosion that sparked a fire at an oil facility in Homs province. There’s no indication of casualties but details are still sparse. There’s a good change this was an industrial accident of some kind, but given the location it seemed worth mentioning.
YEMEN
2115 confirmed cases (+2)
612 reported fatalities (+0)
The Trump administration’s Houthi terrorist designation officially went into effect on Tuesday, amid renewed warnings about the effect the designation is going to have on humanitarian relief efforts and on remittances, which play a large role in Yemen’s war-ravaged economy. The administration on Tuesday did announce some very vague exemptions and licenses that are supposed to permit humanitarian aid and the continued importation of critical goods. But such exemptions never work—it’s very debatable whether they’re really intended to work—and these in particular seem to be little more than an afterthought.
IRAQ
609,852 confirmed cases (+823)
12,962 reported fatalities (+9)
Those Iraqi “airstrikes” that were BREAKING NEWS on Twitter yesterday appear not to have been airstrikes after all—at least, not according to the Iraqi government. Baghdad says the Islamic State was responsible for explosions that were initially misconstrued as airstrikes (my Persian is extremely degraded but that BBC headline reads “Iraq: Last Night’s Explosions Were the Work of Daesh; America: We Did Not Conduct an Airstrike”). On a related note, then, Iraqi authorities say they’re beefing up security along the country’s border with Syria, in part to interdict IS fighters but also to deal with drug trafficking and other types of smuggling. The Iraqis say their border security is compromised by the fact that there are multiple factions in control of different parts of that border on the Syrian side.
The Iraqi cabinet voted Tuesday to postpone the country’s forthcoming snap election until October 10. Iraqi election officials apparently need more time to prepare for the vote, which had been scheduled for June. There’s no legal jeopardy here, since the current parliament’s term isn’t technically over until next year, but there could be political jeopardy if the delay sparks new anti-government protests.
SAUDI ARABIA
365,325 confirmed cases (+226)
6335 reported fatalities (+6)
During her Senate confirmation hearing on Tuesday, Director of National Intelligence nominee Avril Haines said that the Biden administration plans to declassify the US intelligence community’s report into the 2018 murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. That does not mean Biden actually will declassify the report, of course, but if he does that will probably (depending on what’s in the report) oblige the US government to acknowledge that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was responsible for the killing. That would be an interesting footing on which to begin the Biden-Saudi relationship, though whether it will mean anything ultimately is up to Biden.
IRAN
1,342,134 confirmed cases (+5917)
56,973 reported fatalities (+87)
The Iranian government has blacklisted Donald Trump and a number of current and former officials in his administration, chief among them Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.
Unless the soon-to-be-ex president was planning to build a Trump Hotel Isfahan or bring his Trump University scam to the Iranian market this move is entirely symbolic, but it’s still kind of funny in its way.
ASIA
AFGHANISTAN
54,278 confirmed cases (+137)
2354 reported fatalities (+8)
Multiple attacks across Afghanistan late Monday left dozens of people dead and wounded. In Kunduz province, Taliban attacks on several security checkpoints killed either four (according to the Afghan defense ministry) or 25 (according to a provincial council member) security personnel along with at least 15 Taliban fighters (according to the ministry). Elsewhere, gunmen murdered an administrator in Helmand province, and at least 10 people were wounded by a bomb in Uruzgan province.
THAILAND
12,594 confirmed cases (+171)
70 reported fatalities (+0)
A Thai court on Tuesday sentenced former civil servant Anchan Preelert to 43 years in prison for, apparently, sharing “audio clips” online that authorities deemed to be critical of the Thai monarchy. She was to have received 87 years in prison but got that cut in half in a plea bargain. So that’s nice. I share this story not because this newsletter is turning into an international crime blotter, but to highlight why Thai activists have been organizing protests against the country’s absurd lèse-majesté law over the past several months. Ironically, I guess, the protest movement has sparked a new push by the Thai government to enforce that law, which has only stiffened resistance to it. The circle of life, I guess.
CHINA
88,454 confirmed cases (+118) on the mainland, 9721 confirmed cases (+56) in Hong Kong
4635 reported fatalities (+0) on the mainland, 164 reported fatalities (+1) in Hong Kong
In another parting shot at China, Mike Pompeo’s State Department on Tuesday declared that Chinese activities in Xinjiang constitute a genocide targeting the Uyghur community. This declaration opens China up to further US sanctions, though of course it would be up to the Biden administration to impose those. It’s worth noting, then, that Biden’s presidential campaign already characterized the Uyghur situation as a “genocide” last year. It would be difficult for him to go back on that characterization now.
For its part, Beijing has begun to target the United States in an area that could really hurt—rare earth minerals:
China’s control of strategically important minerals and metals are poised to become new weapons in the increasingly acrimonious trade conflict with the United States. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) last week submitted a new policy proposal that aims to tighten export controls on rare earths, a group of minerals essential to manufacturing electronics, of which China controls 60% of the global market.
The ministry’s proposed policy was unveiled soon after the Trump administration on Thursday sanctioned Chinese tech giant Xiaomi over allegations (unproven) that the company maintains ties with the People’s Liberation Army.
But given that MIIT appears willing to weaponize its dominance in certain mineral supply chains, then it’s reasonable to assume that China’s outsized influence in the cobalt sector will also be in its arsenal.
Cobalt is, among other things, a key component in electric automobiles, and China dominates the market for it.
AFRICA
SUDAN
26,279 confirmed cases (+0)
1603 reported fatalities (+0)
The situation in Sudan’s West Darfur state appears to have calmed down a bit—a “tense calm,” as Al Jazeera puts it. It’s believed that at least 155 people have been killed in inter-communal violence that broke out in the city of Geneina on Friday, with scores more wounded and roughly 50,000 people displaced. Darfur has a well-documented history of often violent tension with the Sudanese government, but there’s no obvious connection between that history and this latest violence, which started with an argument in a displaced persons camp in Geneina and quickly escalated from there. I mean, no connection apart from the constant tension between Arab and non-Arab communities in the region.
TUNISIA
184,483 confirmed cases (+2598)
5844 reported fatalities (+94)
Cities across Tunisia experienced another tense night of often violent protests on Monday, as this France 24 report describes:
CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC
4973 confirmed cases (+0)
63 reported fatalities (+0)
A group of 15 Central African opposition parties on Tuesday issued a joint statement rejecting the outcome of last month’s presidential election, which incumbent Faustin-Archange Touadéra won with just over 53 percent of the vote. The parties cited allegations of voting irregularities as well as the turnout, which was just over 35 percent—meaning Touadéra actually got the votes of around 17 percent of Central African voters. It’s not much of a mandate when you put it that way, but it’s also not really a legal basis for overturning the result—especially when some of that low turnout can probably be attributed to pre-election violence by rebel groups opposed to Touadéra.
UGANDA
38,534 confirmed cases (+449)
305 reported fatalities (+1)
Ugandan security forces on Tuesday barred US ambassador Natalie Brown from visiting opposition leader Bobi Wine at his home outside Kampala. Wine has been under house arrest since last Thursday’s presidential election, which he officially lost to incumbent Yoweri Museveni though he is challenging the outcome in court. Ugandan authorities say they’re detaining Wine in order to tamp down any post-election unrest. There have been reports that police are not allowing food and other basic necessities into the house, and so Brown says she was attempting to check on the condition of Wine and his family. Ugandan officials have accused her of attempting to cause trouble.
EUROPE
Donald Trump signed an executive order on Monday evening lifting, effective January 26, pandemic-related restrictions on travel to and from Brazil and most of Europe (including the United Kingdom, which is only sort of “European” these days). The thing is, Trump won’t be in office on January 26, and aides to President-elect Joe Biden quickly chimed in to say they won’t be lifting those restrictions after all.
This hiccup notwithstanding, polling indicates that Biden enters office with a great deal of Western European enthusiasm about his presidency. Largely this is due to the comparison with his predecessor, who was for the most part loathed in Europe, and it suggests there’s considerable public support for improving the transatlantic relationship.
SLOVENIA
151,137 confirmed cases (+1690)
3231 reported fatalities (+25)
Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Janša’s government dodged a bit of a bullet on Tuesday, when the group of five opposition parties that last week lodged a no-confidence motion in parliament withdrew the measure ahead of Wednesday’s scheduled vote. Their decision appears to have been motivated less by any change of heart than by the fact that two opposition lawmakers have since tested positive for COVID-19 and would have been unavailable for Wednesday’s vote. The confidence vote was already a long shot even with a full slate of MPs.
ITALY
2,400,598 confirmed cases (+10,497)
83,157 reported fatalities (+603)
Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte and his government survived the second of two confidence votes on Tuesday, this time in the Italian Senate where Conte recently lost his majority. The Italia Viva party, whose defection from the ruling coalition is the reason Conte lost said majority, abstained from the vote, ensuring Conte’s government would survive. It will therefore muddle on, though without a working Senate majority “muddle” is probably all it will be able to do.
AMERICAS
VENEZUELA
121,117 confirmed cases (+673)
1116 reported fatalities (+4)
The Trump administration on Tuesday got in one last round (I assume, unless they’re planning something for Wednesday morning) of Venezuela sanctions. This time around the administration blacklisted three individuals, 14 organizations, and six oil tankers for their various roles in helping Nicolás Maduro’s government skirt US efforts to block Venezuelan oil exports.
GUATEMALA
150,277 confirmed cases (+1131)
5313 reported fatalities (+35)
After spending days trying to break up the large (at least 8000 person) migrant caravan that left Honduras last week bound for the US-Mexico border, Guatemalan security forces appear to have succeeded. Buses full of returning migrants were reported to be crossing the border back into Honduras throughout the day on Tuesday, and Guatemalan authorities say they’ve turned some 2300 migrants back thus far. Security forces have spent days trying to dissolve the caravan into more containable sub-groups and then targeting those groups with tear gas and other riot control measures.
CANADA
719,751 confirmed cases (+4679)
18,266 reported fatalities (+146)
Joe Biden has made it clear he intends to cancel the Keystone XL pipeline project. While undeniably the correct move from an environmental standpoint, this is nevertheless creating an immediate challenge for a US-Canadian relationship that otherwise should be in line for a major reset:
After four years of trade clashes, unpredictable foreign policy and insults lobbed at the prime minister by tweet, Canadian officials are optimistic that the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden will mean a return to traditionally close relations between Canada and the United States.
But this week, they were dealt a stinging reminder that Biden will also bring the return of more familiar bilateral irritants — including the difference over a project that a former U.S. ambassador to Canada once described as a “toe stubber”: the Keystone XL pipeline.
Biden’s plans to quickly terminate the project were greeted with disappointment in Canada’s prairie provinces and in Ottawa, even if they could not have been a surprise. Biden pledged to shut down the pipeline during the campaign as part of his green agenda, but Canadian officials hoped they would still have a chance to catch his ear and change his mind.
As the kids say: “too bad, so sad.”
UNITED STATES
24,806,964 confirmed cases (+171,525)
411,486 reported fatalities (+2768)
Finally, at his Substack newsletter Kelsey Atherton offers some thoughts on America’s chickens coming home to roost:
What we gain from thinking about 2021 Inauguration DC as a Green Zone is a sense of solidarity across occupations, even as the degrees of violence and imposition through force vary. President Trump, more explicitly than virtually every one of his predecessors, saw little distinction between enemies foreign or domestic, and sought to do what violence he could to his enemies where he found them.
“Trump’s domestic politics are the same as his foreign policy, turned inward: the failure of the state was that it was insufficiently violent against its enemies,” I wrote in Hell World the week of the Capitol assault. “Make America Great Again was a call for a new baptism in blood, and specifically the blood of people in the United States who did not subscribe to the same specific strain of nationalism that Trump ingested on Fox News and then found throughout the entire voting base of the Republican Party.”
I think that this war nationalism, pointed inwards as well as out, is essential to understanding the present. That war nationalism persists, even as the wars that animated it barely capture public imagination.