Daily International News Roundup - 21/01/22
Saudi airstrikes in Yemen, Ireland lifts lockdown, Hindu rioter arrested, Tonga receives aid
This will be my first international news roundup, which covers headlines from outside the United States. I don't want to overload my subscribers, so I'll try to focus on those stories that are most relevant to the wider geopolitical situation, or that are more interesting to me. You might begin to notice which countries I have a bias towards; I'd be curious to know which you think they are since I consciously try to read news from all areas of the world indiscriminately.
I say this is going to be daily, but, given my sleep schedule, perhaps bi-daily is more apt. Now, to the news!
Note: no Ukraine/Russia news on here. That will be getting its own substack post.
Saudi-led airstrikes kill over 70 in Yemen.
The attack was prompted by Houthi drone strikes against neighboring UAE in the capital city of Abu Dhabi that killed three, leading to an emergency meeting by the UNSC.
The first response to the drone strikes were Saudi airstrikes that killed at least 20 on Monday evening in the city of Sana.
This morning, airstrikes hit a temporary prison set-up in the northern city of Saada, killing dozens, including African migrants fleeing from the Horn of Africa as the Ethiopian civil war continues to escalate.
Another set of airstrikes killed at least six civilians and injured over one hundred in the residential districts of Hudaydah, the fourth-largest city in Yemen and a crucial port to the Red Sea. The airstrikes knocked out a crucial telecommunications centre that has left thousands of Yemeni civilians in the dark. Saudi Arabia alleges the Hodeian port has been utilized for smuggling arms to the Houthis.
Read more:
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/21/world/middleeast/yemen-saudi-arabia-airstrike.html
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/2/11/saudi-arabia-women-rights-activists-that-are-still-in-jail
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jan/21/airstrike-yemen-prison-leaves-many-dead-or-wounded
Ireland lifts nearly all COVID-19 restrictions
In a move that starkly contrasts its previous stringent measures, it announced that restrictions to dining capacity, vaccine requirements, and a curfew on restaurants would be lift.
However, it's also important to keep in mind that Ireland had one of the highest rates of vaccination in the world, which has allowed it to prevent reaching the level of hospitalizations it reached during its last peak.
Though the Irish economy has recovered, 12% of workers are still on government financial support. The leader of the opposition (Sinn Fein) also argued that there should be a year-long subsidy to help small businesses to recover from the turmoil.
Read more:
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/ireland-covid-rules-lifted-tomorrow-b1998202.html
https://www.nytimes.com/live/2022/01/21/world/omicron-covid-vaccine-tests/ireland-covid-restrictions-st-patricks-day
Dinesh Yadav, an Indian man, was imprisoned for his involvement in the 2020 New Delhi riots
Dinesh was part of a group of nearly 200 Hindus that participated in arson during the 2020 riots. The riots were sparked after mass protests previously in the year against an immigration law that would expedite immigration for Hindus from Muslim majority countries.
“Even if just 100 of us become soldiers and kill two million of them, we will be victorious,” Sadhvi Annapurna Maa of the far-right Hindu Mahasabha (Grand Assembly of Hindus) told a cheering crowd at the event.
The Delhi High Court also released six other rioters from bail last week. Some Hindu religious leaders have recently argued they should prepare for a religious genocide against the Muslim minority.
The first aid to volcano-striken Tonga arrived from New Zealand today.
Onboard the New Zealand navy ship was 250000 litres of water to prevent terminal dehydration as the volcanic ash pollutes the natural water sources. Two Japanese aircraft carrying supplies recently departed for the country of islands from Komaki Airbase.
The volcanic eruption killed three people and, for a time, severed the nation's population access to the outside world.
Yet, the death toll and impact was less severe than many had anticipated. A Parliamentarian of Tonga, Fatafehi Fakafanua, described a blanket of ash that the citizens themselves are helping to clean up. The capital city was fortunately spared the worst of the eruption, and the internet is close to being online again.
Read more:
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/19/climate/tonga-volcano-tsunami.html
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/60065407