Daily News Brief

September 23, 2022

Top of the Agenda

Amid strong condemnation (NYT) by Ukrainian and Western leaders, voting began today in four occupied regions of Ukraine on whether to become part of Russia. Voting is set to continue until Tuesday (AP). The referendums are seen as a pretext for Russia to escalate its war in Ukraine and coincide with a Russian military mobilization. When a similar referendum was held in Crimea in 2014, Russia moved to annex the peninsula soon after. 

Many residents have, in recent months, fled the regions where voting is taking place, and some who remain reported pressure from the Russian military to participate. Of the four regions where referendums are being staged, Russia controls nearly all of Kherson and Luhansk but only parts of Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia.

Analysis

“The sham, hastily organized referenda in the Luhansk and Donetsk Oblasts of the Donbas region and occupied territories of the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia Oblasts will inevitably lead to their annexation by Russia, perhaps as early as next week,” CFR’s Thomas Graham writes. 

“For many living under Russian occupation and repression the vote is about as far as possible from an expression of free will,” the Financial Times’ Ben Hall and Max Seddon write.

Pacific Rim

Hong Kong will no longer require (SCMP) inbound travelers to quarantine in hotels beginning September 26, while Japan will allow visa-free travel (Nikkei) for tourists beginning October 11.

China: Authorities in the southeastern province of Jiangxi declared a water supply “red alert” (Reuters) as China’s largest freshwater lake hit a record low amid a drought. 

This Backgrounder looks at water stress, a global problem that is getting worse.

South and Central Asia

Sri Lankan officials will present (Reuters) a proposal to the country’s creditors in a virtual meeting today. Japan, which holds around $3.5 billion of Sri Lanka’s $10 billion in bilateral debt, said it will support (Reuters) the process.

Bangladesh/Myanmar: Cross-border shelling by the Myanmar military has raised tensions between the countries and sparked concerns of a new exodus of Rohingya refugees into Bangladesh, Al Jazeera reported.

Middle East and North Africa

Speaking at the UN General Assembly, Prime Minister Yair Lapid said that a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is “the right thing” (Times of Israel) for Israel’s security and economy. 

This Backgrounder unpacks U.S. policy on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

U.S./Iran: Washington announced new sanctions (Treasury Dept.) on Iran’s morality police and seven leaders of state security agencies, citing violence against women and violations of protesters’ rights, in the wake of the death of a Kurdish Iranian woman after she was detained by police.

Sub-Saharan Africa

UN-backed investigators said they found evidence (AP) of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by Ethiopian government forces, Eritrean government forces, and Tigrayan rebels in the northern region of Tigray.

South Africa: The government signed deals (Daily Maverick) for three renewable energy projects to boost the country’s electricity supply as it suffers frequent blackouts.

Europe

The snap parliamentary elections on Sunday could see (Politico) Giorgia Meloni of the right-wing Brothers of Italy party named Italy’s first woman prime minister.

For Foreign Affairs, Elettra Ardissino and Erik Jones argue that the United States and the European Union should root for Meloni.

Americas

CNN’s English-language headquarters said the government did not give a justification for taking CNN en Español off the air. It was one of the few remaining news outlets in Nicaragua that was critical of President Daniel Ortega.

Americas: The board of the Inter-American Development Bank unanimously voted in favor of firing (Bloomberg) President Mauricio Claver-Carone after a probe found that he violated ethics rules.

United States

World Bank Group President David Malpass said yesterday that he believes human activity (NYT) is warming the planet, after refusing at a public event earlier this week to say that burning fossil fuels causes climate change. The bank continues to fund oil and gas projects around the world.

This Backgrounder explains how the U.S. oil and gas industry works.

Friday Editor’s Pick

Using satellite imagery, Reuters shows how unprecedented floods have submerged Pakistan’s cities.

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