Key Storylines
- AFRICA: Nigerian police accused the separatist Indigenous People of Biafra group for attacking a prison and breaking out more than 1,800 inmates in the town of Owerri.
- AMERICAS: US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen called for the adoption of a global minimum corporate income tax.
- ASIA: North Korea will not participate in the upcoming Tokyo Olympic Games due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, according to a sports ministry website.
- EUROPE: Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny is suffering from a persistent cough and temperature following three reported cases of tuberculosis at the prison where he is being detained.
- MIDDLE EAST: Israeli President Reuven Rivlin has given Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu the first opportunity to form Israel’s next government.
- TECH & COMMUNICATIONS: Authorities in China ordered cinemas in the country to show propaganda films at least twice weekly ahead of the Chinese Communist Party’s 100th anniversary in July.
Top Story
- Global: US, Iran expected to hold indirect nuclear talks.
- The US and Iran will hold indirect talks in Austria over the possible revival of the 2015 JCPOA deal that Washington abandoned in 2018.
- Also attending the talks will be officials and representatives from China, France, Germany, Russia, and the UK.
- Representatives and negotiators of the other attending countries are expected to act as intermediaries between US and Iranian officials during the meeting.
- Iran has increasingly overstepped the limits on its nuclear program in response to US sanctions since 2018 and the US withdrawal from the 2015 accord.
- The US State Department called the talks a “healthy step forward” but added that “we don’t anticipate an early or immediate breakthrough as these discussions, we fully expect, will be difficult”.
- Reporting: BBC, AP, Reuters, WaPo, DPA, Guardian
Africa
- Burkina Faso: Eight members of the police and a civilian anti-jihadist force reportedly died after being attacked in the Gourma province. (AFP)
- Ethiopia: The US State Department is looking into reports of human rights abuses in the country’s embattled Tigray region. (Reuters)
- Nigeria: Police accused the separatist Indigenous People of Biafra group for attacking a prison and breaking out more than 1,800 inmates in the town of Owerri. (BBC)
- Rwanda: The lead author of a French government report commissioned by French President Emmanuel Macron said France’s role in the country’s 1994 genocide was a “monumental failure”. (AP)
- Tanzania: New President Samia Suluhu Hassan broke away from her predecessor and announced the government’s intention to create a committee for scientific research into the new coronavirus. (Reuters)
Americas
- Region: Venezuela has created a military unit for an area on its border with Colombia where illegal armed groups have battled since last month. (Reuters)
- Argentina: Russian President Vladimir Putin called President Alberto Fernández, who was diagnosed with COVID-19 despite taking a dose of Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine. (AP)
- Chile: The Senate agreed to delay the country’s upcoming constitutional referendum for five weeks due to a surge in COVID-19 infections. (AFP)
- Honduras: Civil rights groups demanded the “immediate” resignation of President Juan Orlando Hernandez and senior government officials for turning the country into a “narco-state”. (AFP)
- United States: Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen called for the adoption of a global minimum corporate income tax. (AP)
Asia
- Region: Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s spokesperson said Duterte was committed to peacefully resolving the ongoing row with China over the South China Sea. (Reuters)
- Region: Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will land in Pakistan for a two-day visit expected to focus on peace discussions in neighboring Afghanistan. (AP)
- Cambodia: Prime Minister Hun Sen told health officials to make arrangements that allow coronavirus patients to be treated at home amid a COVID-19 outbreak in the country. (Reuters)
- India: Multiple state governors are asking Prime Minister Narendra Modi to open up vaccinations to most of the country’s adult population amid a second coronavirus wave. (Reuters)
- North Korea: The country will not participate in the upcoming Tokyo Olympic Games due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, according to a sports ministry website. (DPA)
Europe
- Region: A senior European Medicines Agency official said, “it is clear there is a link” between AstraZeneca’s coronavirus vaccine and blood clots but added that “we still do not know what causes this reaction”. (AFP)
- Region: The European Union has reportedly blocked the shipment of 3.1 million doses of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine to Australia. (Reuters)
- Georgia: Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili has tested positive for the new coronavirus. (AFP)
- Russia: Opposition politician Alexei Navalny is suffering from a persistent cough and temperature following three reported cases of tuberculosis at the prison where he is being detained. (BBC)
- Ukraine: Pro-Russian separatists in the country’s east killed two of the country’s servicemen. (Reuters)
Middle East
- Region: One Palestinian person was reportedly shot and killed by Israeli fire near Ramallah, in what the Israeli army claimed was an “attempted car-ramming attack”. (AFP)
- Iran: A prosecutor said ten officials have been indicted over the 2020 shooting down of a Ukrainian passenger plane. (AP)
- Israel: President Reuven Rivlin has given Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu the first opportunity to form the country’s next government. (AP)
- Lebanon: Experts warned that the grain silos which absorbed the port blast in Beirut last year will need to be demolished to avoid a collapse. (AFP)
- Jordan: The prosecutor general in the capital city Amman banned the publication of any information about an alleged plot involving the king’s half-brother Prince Hamzah. (AFP)
Tech & Communications
- Media: Authorities in China ordered cinemas in the country to show propaganda films at least twice weekly ahead of the Chinese Communist Party’s 100th anniversary in July. (DPA)
World
- Cyclones:
- Tropical Cyclone Seroja
- Location: 429 nautical miles N-NW of Broome, Australia
- Wind: 60 mph
- Movement: W-SW at 9 mph
- Map
- Tropical Cyclone Seroja
- Hurricanes: Nothing to report.
- Earthquakes: Nothing to report.
- Volcanoes:
- Iceland
- Steam and lava were expelled from a new eruption fissure in the volcano at the Reykjanes Peninsula.
- Sourcing: AP
- Iceland
- Global Disease Outbreaks:
- COVID-19 Coronavirus Disease: Global (as of 06APR21)
- Confirmed cases: 131,869,262
- Total recovered cases: 74,898,414
- Deaths: 2,862,248
- Countries with confirmed cases: 192
- Sourcing: John Hopkins University
- Ebola Virus Disease: Guinea (as of 28MAR21)
- Confirmed cases: 18
- Deaths: 9
- Sourcing: WHO
- Ebola Virus Disease: DR Congo (as of 28MAR21)
- Confirmed cases: 12
- Deaths: 6
- Sourcing: WHO
- COVID-19 Coronavirus Disease: Global (as of 06APR21)
Tomorrow’s Outlook (07APR21)
- Global: The WHO’s World Health Day – Unknown
- Global: Amnesty International will release its annual report on the global human rights situation.
- Global: The IMF and the World Bank will hold their annual spring meeting. (to 11APR)
- Global: Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry will visit the United Arab Emirates, India, and Bangladesh. (to 09APR)
- Global: Maintenance work will be carried out on the Russia to China Power of Siberia gas pipeline.
- Global: Human Rights Watch will release a human rights report on the Middle East and North Africa.
- Africa: Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez is expected to visit Senegal and Angola. (to 09APR)
- Americas: US Special Envoy for the Northern Triangle Ricardo Zuniga will visit Guatemala and El Salvador. (to 08APR)
- Asia: Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is expected to visit India, Pakistan, and Kazakhstan. (to 08APR)
- Europe: The European Medicines Agency will meet again to discuss the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine. (to 09APR)
- Bangladesh: Authorities will start administering second doses of coronavirus vaccines.
- Brunei: Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin is visiting the country.
- Iraq: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will participate in the virtual US-Iraq Strategic Dialogue.
- Israel: President Reuven Rivlin is due to make a decision on the country’s next government.
- Lebanon: Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry will visit and meet with President Michel Aoun.
- Libya: Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi will visit.
- Russia: Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan will visit and meet with President Vladimir Putin.
- Rwanda: The UN’s International Day of Reflection on the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda – 2004
- Serbia: Crown Prince Salman of Bahrain is on a visit to the country.
- Serbia: Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias will visit and meet with President Aleksandar Vucic.
- Turkey: A verdict is expected in the trial of around 500 defendants accused of being connected to the 2016 failed coup in the country.
END
