World update: May 2-3 2020
Stories from Syria, Kazakhstan, Ireland, and more
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THESE DAYS IN HISTORY
May 1, 1707: The Acts of Union, separately passed by the English and Scottish parliaments, go into effect, merging the two kingdoms into the newly christened Great Britain. The Scottish Stuart dynasty had been ruling both kingdoms since James VI of Scotland succeeded Elizabeth I as James I of England, but the crowns had been held in personal union only. The 1707 Acts of Union made it a legal union and thereby completed the Scottish takeover of England. Or at least that’s how I like to think about it.
May 1, 1977: The Taksim Square Massacre
May 1, 2003: George W. Bush flew to the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln in a Lockheed S-3 Viking, paused to let reporters photography his codpiece and give Chris Matthews a thrill, and then gave a speech declaring “Mission Accomplished” in Iraq. There was a banner and everything. The “mission,” as it turns out, was “breaking Iraq.”
I’d say this was the dumbest moment in American history but, sadly, we all know I’d be lying (US Navy photo via Wikimedia Commons)
May 2, 1611: This is allegedly the date upon which English printer Robert Barker produced the very first edition of the King James Version of the Bible. I say “allegedly” because it’s the date you most often find cited for the KJV’s publication but as far as I know there’s nothing but tradition backing it up. Regardless, the KJV proved to be a monumental achievement that not only stands as probably the most important vernacular (meaning I’m excluding the Latin Vulgate) translation of the Bible but also a monumentally important text in the development of the English language. So it’s probably worth commemorating.
May 2, 1941: British aircraft begin bombarding Iraqi forces besieging the Royal Air Force base at Habbaniyah, just west of Baghdad, kicking off the brief Anglo-Iraqi War. The conflict ended on May 31 with a British victory and the ouster of a coup government led by former Iraqi prime minister and Axis sympathizer Rashid Ali al-Gaylani. British authorities restored Prince Abd al-Ilah as the regent for Iraqi King Faisal II and reimposed their control over the country.
May 3, 1815: In a clash that offered a kind of foreshadowing of the later Battle of Waterloo, an army led by the Napoleon-installed king of Naples, Joachim Murat, is badly defeated by a smaller Austrian army at the Battle of Tolentino. Murat abandoned Naples altogether and fled to Corsica, leading to the end of the Neapolitan War and the restoration of Ferdinand I as king of Naples and Sicily.
INTERNATIONAL
Worldometer’s coronavirus figures for May 3:
3,563,689 confirmed coronavirus cases worldwide (+82,260 since yesterday)
2,161,696 active cases
248,146 reported fatalities (+3481 since yesterday)
The Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospital in London is starting a trial using blood plasma from patients who have recovered from COVID-19 to treat current patients. In theory the antibodies in the plasma should help bolster immune response in those patients. Research is continuing on both a treatment and vaccine for the virus.
MIDDLE EAST
SYRIA
44 confirmed coronavirus cases (unchanged)
3 reported fatalities (unchanged)
Syrian billionaire Rami Makhlouf is openly complaining about his cousin, Bashar al-Assad, accusing him of using state security forces to try to take over Makhlouf’s businesses. Makhlouf’s main business has for several years been moving money from the Syrian treasury into his own pockets via his vast conglomerate network that controls most sectors of the Syrian economy. In turn he’s been by most accounts pretty generous to Assad—though apparently not generous enough, as the government is now demanding that he fork over tens of billions of dollars in taxes based on accusations that he’s been understating his corporate profits.
It’s unclear why Assad has decided to go after his cousin now, but a couple of theories have emerged. One is that he wants Makhlouf’s money to help finance postwar reconstruction. Another is that he’s looking to claim Makhlouf’s business empire so that he can turn around and hand large pieces of it to Russian firms, in order to appease a Russian government that is increasingly frustrated with Assad’s reticence to negotiate with rebel leaders.
YEMEN
10 confirmed cases (unchanged)
2 reported fatalities (unchanged)
The Yemeni government and Southern Transitional Council separatists have reportedly cut a deal to end fighting on the island of Socotra and will share administration of its capital city, Hadibo. Reports emerged a few days ago of fighting on Socotra, which is home to one of the world’s most unique ecosystems.
IRAQ
2296 confirmed cases (+77)
97 reported fatalities (+2)
Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces, the umbrella group for its large number of semi-official militias, reported Saturday that at least ten of its fighters had been killed in an overnight Islamic State attack near the city of Samarra. Details are sketchy but this seems like one of IS’s most sophisticated attacks in Iraq in months, if not years, and could signal that the group is making a resurgence.
EGYPT
6465 confirmed cases (+272)
429 reported fatalities (+14)
According to the Egyptian military, 15 of its soldiers have been killed in recent operations in Sinai along with some 126 alleged Islamic State fighters. Presumably that 15 includes the 10 who were killed by a roadside bomb on Thursday, and the 126 may include the 18 IS fighters the Egyptians allege they killed on Saturday in retaliation for Thursday’s bombing. But since the Egyptians just irregularly issue these pronouncements about casualties with very little detail as to when, where, or how they were incurred, it’s virtually impossible to map them to any specifics.
IRAN
97,424 confirmed cases (+976)
6203 reported fatalities (+47)
The Afghan government says it’s investigating a report that Iranian border guards beat a group of around 50 Afghans attempting an illicit border crossing into Iran and then threw them into a river to drown. Half or more of the group may have drowned. This is a sketchy claim but it seems the alleged incident took place late last month. Afghan migrants have been steering clear of Iran lately because of the pandemic, and many Afghan laborers already in Iran have been returning, raising fears that they might bring the coronavirus with them. But with Iran starting to reopen its economy and economic conditions in Afghanistan perpetually wretched, people are starting to attempt the border crossing again.
ASIA
KAZAKHSTAN
3920 confirmed cases (+63)
27 reported fatalities (+2)
In a sudden and potentially significant move, Kazkh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has removed Dariga Nazarbayeva from her post as head of the Kazakh Senate. This is significant because the president of the Kazakh Senate is constitutionally first in the line of succession for the presidency—it’s the job Tokayev held before he became president—and because Nazarbayeva is the daughter of former president Nur-Sultan Nazarbayev, who still controls most of the levers of power in Kazakhstan.
It has been conjectured that Nazarbayeva was being positioned as the long-term successor to Nazarbayev, with Tokayev merely bridging the gap between the two. While that could still be the case—it remains to be seen what position Nazarbayeva will take now, if any—it’s worth noting that this move also comes after Nazarbayeva and her son, Nurali Aliyev, were publicly embarrassed by a probe into their considerable wealth by authorities in the United Kingdom. It’s likely her father assented to her removal or even pushed for it, to get her out of the spotlight. But it may also be that Tokayev, tired of being surrounded by the Nazarbayev family, wanted to finally give himself some breathing room.
AFGHANISTAN
2704 confirmed cases (+235)
85 reported fatalities (+13)
Afghan authorities decided to randomly conduct 500 coronavirus tests in Kabul. The results, announced Sunday, showed that a third of those who were tested had the pathogen. That’s not great! It strongly suggests that the 2700 or so cases that Afghan officials have confirmed so far is an undercount.
INDIA
42,505 confirmed cases (+2806)
1391 reported fatalities (+68)
A battle between Indian security forces and militants in the northern Kashmiri town of Handwara on Saturday left at least five Indian personnel and two of the militants dead, according to the Indian army.
CHINA
82,880 confirmed cases (+3) on the mainland, 1040 confirmed cases (unchanged) in Hong Kong
4633 reported fatalities (unchanged) on the mainland, 4 reported fatalities (unchanged) in Hong Kong
The Department of Homeland Security has concluded that the Chinese government “intentionally concealed the severity” of the coronavirus in order to buy itself time to hoard protective gear and other medical supplies before the rest of the world started trying to do the same thing. It’s basing that finding off of sharp increases in China’s purchases of protective equipment in January, at the same time it was telling the World Health Organization that there was no evidence that the virus was contagious. Which admittedly looks a little weird. The Trump administration as a whole seems now to be running with the theory that the virus was released accidentally from the virology lab in Wuhan. This is at least better than the fringe theory that it’s a biological weapon, which has no scientific basis, but it still relies on alleged evidence that the rest of us apparently aren’t allowed to see for some reason.
NORTH KOREA
No acknowledged cases
With Kim Jong-un apparently back in charge, it’s still looking more and more like his disappearance last month was an effort to protect himself from the coronavirus. South Korean officials are now casting doubt on the story that it was a “botched heart procedure” that sidelined the North Korean leader, in that they have no evidence he underwent any medical procedure at all, botched or otherwise. Meanwhile, North and South Korean border guards exchanged fire on Sunday in an incident that started when shots hit a South Korean guard post. There were no reported casualties and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo later said the initial gunfire from North Korea was probably “accidental,” an interpretation South Korean officials seem to share.
AFRICA
LESOTHO
No confirmed cases
Lesotho’s parliament is reportedly waiting for final approval from King Letsie III on a bill that would supposedly force Prime Minister Thomas Thabane’s resignation. Thabane is under a heavy cloud of suspicion over the murder of his former wife in 2017, a crime for which his current wife has already been indicted. He previously agreed to step down this summer but has adamantly resisted calls (even from within his own party) for his immediate resignation, and last month almost sparked a crisis by ordering Lesotho’s military into the streets to enforce his hold on power. South African mediators settled that situation with an alleged promise that Thabane would resign, only to have Thabane himself reject that idea.
The bill in question would bar Thabane from calling for a snap election should his government lose a confidence vote, which would seemingly leave him no choice other than to resign or be voted out of office. But still there’s been no indication from Thabane himself that he will step down.
EUROPE
BELARUS
16,705 confirmed cases (+877)
99 reported fatalities (+2)
It would seem that, as more and more Belarusian cases of COVID-19 emerge, fewer and fewer Belarusian people are listening when President Alexander Lukashenko says that the pandemic is no big deal:
Attendance is so poor for Belarus’s top soccer league that one club, FC Dynamo Brest, put mannequins with cutout photographs of fans in the stands. Some fan groups have called for a boycott.
Even in late March, when there were fewer than 200 confirmed cases in Belarus, a survey revealed 70 percent of participants considered it necessary to ban mass events.
“You can witness more and more people observing physical distancing in shops, for example, or wearing masks in public places,” said Batyr Berdyklychev, the World Health Organization’s representative in Belarus.
Don’t worry though—despite what is probably declining public support, Lukashenko’s iron-clad grip on power is not at risk.
IRELAND
21,506 confirmed cases (+330)
1303 reported fatalities (+17)
The Irish Green Party announced Sunday that it’s agreed to enter into coalition talks with Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, but that it will insist on a robust climate plan as a condition for its participation. Combined, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael are still about eight seats short of holding a majority following February’s election. The Greens’ 12 seats would be enough to put them over the top, but it’s far from certain that the two center-right parties will commit themselves to bold climate action. They do probably have other paths to a majority.
AMERICAS
VENEZUELA
375 confirmed cases (+12)
10 reported fatalities (unchanged)
The Venezuelan government claims that it foiled “an invasion by sea” on Sunday, after its security forces allegedly stopped a group of “terrorist mercenaries” from entering the country by sea at the coastal city of La Guaira. At least eight people were reportedly killed, though opposition politicians like would-be president Juan Guaidó have dismissed the whole thing as a stunt and distraction. Nicolás Maduro’s government accused the Colombian government of backing the supposed incursion, a charge the Colombians denied.
Meanwhile, the Committee to Protect Journalists says that Venezuelan authorities have arrested at least 10 reporters trying to cover the pandemic over the past two months. Venezuela is not a comfortable place for journalists under normal circumstances, but the level of interference seems to have increased amid the pandemic. Venezuela hasn’t reported many confirmed coronavirus infections, but there’s reason to be skeptical of those claims and the effort to suppress reporting may be intended to tamp down that skepticism.
UNITED STATES
1,188,122 confirmed cases (+27,348)
68,598 reported fatalities (+1154)
Finally, the Project On Government Oversight’s Mandy Smithberger looks at the inexplicable push to bail out defense contractors in the midst of the pandemic for TomDispatch:
Demands to use the Defense Production Act to direct firms to produce equipment needed to combat Covid-19 have sputtered, provoking strong resistance from industries worried first and foremost about their own profits. Even conservative Washington Post columnist Max Boot, a longtime supporter of increased Pentagon spending, has recently recanted, noting how just such budget priorities have weakened the ability of the United States to keep Americans safe from the virus. “It never made any sense, as Trump’s 2021 budget had initially proposed, to increase spending on nuclear weapons by $7 billion while cutting Centers for Disease Control and Prevention funding by $1.2 billion,” he wrote. “Or to create an unnecessary Space Force out of the U.S. Air Force while eliminating the vitally important directorate of global health by folding it into another office within the National Security Council.”
In fact, continuing to prioritize the U.S. military will only further weaken the country’s public health system. As a start, simply to call up doctors and nurses in the military reserves, as even Secretary of Defense Mark Esper has pointed out, would hurt the broader civilian response to the pandemic. After all, in their civilian lives many of them now work at domestic hospitals and medical centers deluged by Covid-19 patients.
The present situation, however, hasn’t stopped military-industrial complex requests for bailouts. The National Defense Industrial Association, a trade group for the arms industry, typically asked the Pentagon to speed up contracts and awards for $160 billion in unobligated Department of Defense funds to its companies, which will involve pushing money out the door without even the most modest level of due diligence.
What was the end of that Makhlouf story?