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🗳️ Election unrest in Mauritania

🗳️ Election unrest in Mauritania

and Beijing and Moscow emphasise warm relations

Billy Robinson
July 05, 2024

Good evening and good morning,

Today, Israel's strike in Khan Younis killed seven Palestinians amid mass evacuations, exacerbating safety concerns in Gaza.

In Mauritania, election protests turned violent, resulting in three deaths in detention, while Hizbollah retaliated against Israel after the killing of commander Muhammad Nimah Nasser, escalating regional tensions.

Meanwhile, Russian and Armenian nationalist ambitions fueled territorial disputes, amplified by religious backing. At the SCO summit, Beijing and Moscow reaffirmed their strategic partnership amid global instability.

Top 5 Stories

1️⃣ 🇵🇸 🇮🇱 Israel strikes Khan Younis: An Israeli strike on a five-story building near Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis killed seven Palestinians, following Israel's directive for 250,000 people to evacuate eastern parts of the city in southern Gaza. Andrea De Domenico, head of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in the occupied Palestinian territory, stated that Gaza has become a place where "nowhere and no one is safe" and people cannot find refuge or escape the conflict.

2️⃣ 🇲🇷 Election unrest in Mauritania: Three protesters died in detention in Mauritania following mass arrests during protests in Kaédi, an opposition stronghold, after the presidential election outcome. The interior ministry reported that violent protests in the southern town near the Senegal border led security forces to intervene. Two protesters died in detention in the presence of fellow detainees, and the third died later in the hospital. Details on their causes of death or the number of detainees were not provided, but an investigation is underway.

3️⃣ 🇱🇧 🇮🇱 Death of senior Hizbollah commander prompts airstrikes on Northern Israel: Hizbollah announced that a top commander, Muhammad Nimah Nasser, also known as “Hajj Abu Naameh,” was killed in an Israeli attack in southern Lebanon. This marks the third high-ranking Hizbollah official killed in nearly nine months of cross-border conflict, raising concerns about regional escalation. Following Nasser's death, Hizbollah launched 100 katyusha rockets at Israeli military positions. Nasser's killing occurred in the Hosh area of Tyre, and he held the same rank as Taleb Abdallah, another top commander killed by an Israeli attack in June. Abdallah's death had previously prompted one of Hizbollah’s largest rocket barrages on northern Israel.

4️⃣ 🇦🇲 🇷🇺 The geopolitics of Russia and Armenia’s religious rivalry: Of the fifteen USSR republics, only Russia and Armenia harboured revanchist territorial claims. Putin's view of the USSR as 'Historic Russia' reflects this, with Russian nationalists envisioning a larger Russia. Similarly, Armenian nationalists aspired to a 'historic Armenia,' occupying parts of Azerbaijan after the First Karabakh War. Democratic forces in both countries are overshadowed by imperial nationalists, supported by their respective churches. Armenian Prime Minister Pashinyan advocates for peace within Armenia's Soviet-era borders, facing opposition from nationalist factions. The Russian Orthodox Church strongly supports Russia's war in Ukraine, framing it as an internal conflict rather than a war.

5️⃣ 🇨🇳 🇷🇺 Beijing and Moscow emphasise warm relations: Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping praised their countries' "partnership" during the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Astana, Kazakhstan. They highlighted the SCO's expanding membership, which includes Central Asian countries, India, Iran, and soon Belarus. Both leaders emphasised the China-Russia relationship as a stabilizing force amid global chaos.

Major Story

🇪🇺 EUROPEAN UNION CONFRONTS POPULISM

Despite the EU’s centre holding against the far-right surge, the recent European elections confirmed pre-vote expectations for its key players. French President Emmanuel Macron’s state visit to Berlin, the first in nearly 25 years, aimed to revive the Franco-German alliance at the core of European integration and urged Europeans to combat populism's threat to democracy. While the far-right performed well in both France and Germany, prompting Macron to call a snap election, the leaders’ vision for Europe remains compelling.

In a joint editorial in the Financial Times, Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz advocate for a European awakening through an enhanced Single Market and increased EU innovation and investment to strengthen the bloc’s sovereignty amid global tensions. They emphasise a "robust, open and sustainable" approach to trade, avoiding the pitfalls of protectionism.

By implementing an ambitious external economic agenda, including trade policy, the EU can boost competitiveness, diversify supply chains, and advance its green and digital transitions. This strategy aims to benefit citizens and SMEs, address the roots of populism, and support the growth of Europe’s global partners.

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Other News

1️⃣ 🇷🇺 🇺🇦 Russian airstrike devastates Dnipro, Ukraine: A Russian missile and drone strike in Dnipro, southeastern Ukraine, killed at least five people and injured dozens, including a 14-year-old, according to officials. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, urging Western nations to provide more air defences and long-range weapons, shared footage on Telegram showing a massive explosion followed by a fireball.

2️⃣ 🇵🇬 🇦🇺 Australia and Papua New Guinea broker asylum seeker deal: The Albanese government will establish a new funding agreement with Papua New Guinea (PNG) to support asylum seekers after PNG threatened to return them to Australia without a new deal. In December 2021, the Morrison government made a secret arrangement for about 75 refugees and asylum seekers to remain in Port Moresby after the Manus Island processing centre closed. When the funding was depleted within six months, PNG's chief migration officer, Stanis Hulahau, accused Australia of abandonment and threatened to "shut the program and send the refugees back to Australia." Australia previously stated it had no responsibility for the welfare of these asylum seekers and refugees, most of whom were sent to PNG in 2013 and 2014. Government regulations tabled on Tuesday indicate that Australia will now provide "further capability support and funding ... to PNG to assist its continued independent management and resolution of the residual caseload" of people transferred before January 1, 2022. PNG is developing a settlement framework to help integrate these individuals into the community, either permanently or temporarily while awaiting other migration outcomes.