News Analysis India

Tag: sanctions

  • Sydney Residents Asked To Watch New Year Fireworks From Home Under New COVID Restrictions

    New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian on December 27 announced a set of new restrictions for Sydney on the occasion of the New year as NSW recorded 14 new cases of the coronavirus in the last 24 hours. In an official press conference, Berejiklian banned the congregation in Sydney’s downtown harbourside where the crowd gathers every year to watch the New Year fireworks at the Opera House, citing the deadly resurgence of the disease. Restrictions of the outdoor public gathering were also announced for Greater Sydney, including the Blue Mountains, Central Coast and Wollongong areas, according to NSW primer’s announcement. 

    “The CBD frontline worker fireworks vantage point offering is cancelled. Frontline workers will be offered another opportunity in 2021,” the NSW government informed in a release. Berejiklian told a press conference that a short, seven-minute fireworks display will continue at midnight and will be broadcast on ABC TV for the public to watch it from the home confinement. Boats will be permitted on Sydney Harbour to watch the midnight fireworks display with adherence to Exclusion Zones restrictions, speed limits, minimum wash requirements and anchoring restrictions. “Only approved vessels will be granted access into the Managed Access Area as defined by the Department of Premier and Cabinet and Transport for NSW Maritime,” NSW premier announced.

  • UK Detects 2 Cases Of South Africa’s Virus Strain, All Direct Flights Banned

    UK health secretary, Matt Hancock announced on December 23 that UK has identified a second ‘more transmissible’ COVID-19 variant linked to South Africa that is spreading at a dangerous rate, just as the tiering system was put in place to control the first new variant. At least two cases in London and North West England who were diagnosed positive to the coronavirus’ second new variant were put under quarantine. Both the patients had travelled from South Africa over the last few weeks, the health secretary said at the Downing Street conference.

    Effective 9 am today, December 24, those coming to England who has transited or had been to South Africa in the last 10 days will not be allowed to enter the country, Hancock said. Furthermore, the UK has banned all direct flights to South Africa with immediate effect barring the cargo and freight. All permanent residency visa holders and British and Irish nationals would be allowed to return to the UK but will have to mandatorily quarantine for at least 10 days as per the new rules. Under the new travel restrictions to South Africa, anyone in the UK who had returned from South Africa in the past fortnight was asked to immediately isolate and get themselves tested at the nearest centre. “By quarantine, I mean they restrict all contact with any other person whatsoever. We will be changing the law to give this legal effect imminently,” Hancock warned.

  • Iranian President Hassan Rouhani Equates Trump With Former Iraqi Dictator Saddam Hussein

    In a renewed attack on Donald Trump, Hassan Rouhani described the outgoing US President as a “madman” and equated him with former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. The Iranian president’s provocative remarks come ahead of Trump’s White House exit after one term in office, which saw a colossal rise in regional tension in the face of the US’s aggressive policies in the Middle East. 

     Rouhani called both Trump and Hussein, who launched a devastating war against Iran in the 1980s, mentally unstable. Saddam Hussein was captured by US forces after the 2003 invasion and occupation of Iraq and hanged to death in a Baghdad prison 14 years ago.

    With Trump’s exit, the Islamic Republic hopes to normalise diplomatic ties with the US under the incoming Biden administration. Earlier this month, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said the nation would fully implement the 2015 nuclear deal if US President-elect Joe Biden lifts all sanctions on Iran. Zarif’s remarks came after Biden reaffirmed his stance on Middle East foreign policies and said his administration would lift sanctions if Iran returned to “strict compliance with the nuclear deal.”

  • European Union extends economic sanctions against Russia for six months

    The European Union (EU) on Thursday officially decided to extend economic sanctions against Russia for the next six months. These sanctions were imposed on Russia in the year 2014 against the so-called destabilization of Ukraine. The decision was taken during a meeting of EU leaders on 10 December, which focused on assessing the status of the implementation of the Minsk agreements.

    Block concluded that the agreement was not fully implemented by Russia. The council said in a press release, “The council will target specific sectors of the Russian economy from today until 31 July 2021 Decided to pursue restrictive measures. These sanctions were imposed in 2014 against Russian action destabilizing the situation in Ukraine.

  • US Imposes Sanctions On Ally Turkey Over Purchase Of S-400 Missile System From Russia

    The United States on Monday, December 14 imposed sanctions on its NATO ally Turkey for purchasing S-400 surface-to-air missile system from Russia. The US Department of State imposed an embargo on Turkey’s primary defence procurement agency Presidency of Defense Industries (SSB) for purchasing the missile system from Rosoboronexport (ROE), which is Russia’s main arms export entity. The United States added that the sanctions are not meant to undermine the military capabilities or combat readiness of Turkey, but rather to impose costs on Russia. 

    The United States justified the sanctions on ally Turkey, saying Washington on numerous occasions had made clear to Ankara that its purchase of the S-400 missile system would not only provide funds to Russia’s defence sector but also endanger the security of the US military technology and personnel. The US said that Turkey, despite the availability of alternative NATO-interoperable systems, decided to go ahead with the testing and purchasing of the S-400 missile system from Russia. 

    The decision of Turkey to purchase the missile system from Russia led to the suspension and their temporary removal from the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter partnership, which is a global coalition between the US and its allies to invest in the development and procurement of F-35 fighter jets that are being developed by American firm Lockheed Martin.

  • Russia Threatens Retaliatory Response Against UK Sanctions Over Alleged Chechen Abuse

    On December 12, Russia said that it will issue a “retaliatory response” to the UK sanctions over alleged human rights abuses in Russia’s Chechen Republic. Calling the UK’s sanctions as “groundless” and asserting that Russia reserved the right to retaliate, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that Kremlin was “perplexed” by the decision announced by the UK government on December 10. The UK sanctioned at least three Russian citizens and a Russian National Guard, and the Terek Special Rapid Response Unit due to alleged humanitarian crimes.

    “Undoubtedly, this politically biased demarche will have a negative impact on Russian-UK interstate relations. Taking into account the principle of reciprocity, we reserve the right to take adequate retaliatory measures,” Zakharova reportedly said. He added, that Moscow regards “this groundless decision as a clear demonstration of the unwillingness of the UK authorities to abandon their confrontational policies towards Russia.” UK has recently adopted its own amended Magnitsky Act which was introduced by the US in 2012 to target foreign citizens and organisations in case they violated human rights. 

  • COVID-19 Vaccine Procurement Process Hampered Owing To US Sanctions, Says Iran Official

    The US sanctions on Iran are hampering the country’s ability to procure the COVID-19 vaccine through the COVAX initiative, which is being co-led by GAVI and the World Health Organisation (WHO), an official in Tehran said on Monday. Abdolnasser Hemmati, the Governor of Iran’s Central Bank, said that the “inhumane” US sanctions on the Islamic Republic are causing capital transfer issues as banks are unwilling to convert their money into dollars. 

    According to Bloomberg, Hemmati alleged that billions of Iranian money are stuck in South Korean accounts as US banks are refusing to convert their won into dollars. Hemmati said that the dollars will then be converted into Euros to procure vaccines through COVAX. South Korea has assured Iran that their money won’t be blocked or seized if they transfer it to US banks. Meanwhile, GAVI claims that there is no “legal barrier” for Iran to procure vaccines as the US Treasury’s Office on Foreign Assets Control has already issued a license covering the issue.

    The sanctions on Iran were reimposed by the Trump administration in 2018 after the United States withdrew from the 2015 Nuclear Deal. The sanctions have since pushed Iran’s economy into a ditch making it hard for the country to recover from the coercive action. Iran has often alleged that the US sanctions were hampering its ability to carry out humanitarian works, including the COVID-19 handling. 

  • Biden May Be Hard On China Too; Trump May Run Again In 2024: Chinese Economist

    Even as tensions between the United States and China continue to worsen under the current administration of outgoing President Donald Trump over a score of issues, a leading economist has said that the incoming Joe Biden administration might further impose sanctions on Beijing, that could adversely affect its economy next year.

    As per reports, David Li Daokui, a professor at Tsinghua University and a former adviser to China’s central bank, has warned that economic planners should consider the possibility of a Trump comeback in 2024 and added that President-elect Biden might continue his predecessor’s “hard-line approach” towards China.

    The economist claimed it would be much easier to communicate with Biden’s team than Trump’s administration, with whom it has locked horns ever since the outbreak of the pandemic. However, he also warned that China should be prepared for Trump’s possible return in 2024. “It is very likely [that Trump will run again], he is still very healthy,” Li said.

    A Chinese government advisor had also stated that China must ‘drop the illusion’ that its relations with the US will improve automatically under Biden’s administration and asked Beijing to be prepared for a ‘tough stance’ from Washington

    Zheng Yongnian, the Dean of the Advanced Institute of Global and Contemporary China Studies, advised that the Chinese government should utilise every opportunity to mend ties with the US.

    “The good old days are over… the cold war hawks in the US have been in a highly mobilised state for several years, and they will not disappear overnight,” Zheng said in a recent interview.

    During elections, Biden had pledged that he would force China “to play by the international rules” regarding trade, treatment of foreign companies, and its actions in the South China Sea.

  • Delhi Capitals’ IPL season was satisfying, humbling, enriching: Mohammad Kaif

    “Can you come for the batting nets, bhai?” It was Shikhar Dhawan on the phone in July in New Delhi. It had become our Covid routine of sorts; by the time I would reach, he would be ready, waiting. It would come to my mind later when he started to find touch midway during IPL; everyone does prepare well and sometimes when it clicks as well as it had done for him, it does feel good.

    Those stints were our gentle re-entry to the game in these unusual times. I was eagerly looking forward to the tournament, to exchange notes with Ricky Ponting, Delhi Capitals’ coach, to discuss strategies and to the pre-game buzz. Truth be told, I was also not troubled by the quarantine restrictions – neither before nor now after enduring it – but just glad that BCCI had managed to pull off one of the greatest competitions of our times. It of course helped that my team, Delhi Capitals, reached the final for the first time ever in 13 years.

    In the first half, we were the team to beat and though we slipped later, we clawed our way back though we eventually lost to a very professional unit in Mumbai Indians.