Timeframe: January 15th to January 21st, 2022
Contributors: Redwan Reham and Farhan Uddin Ahmed.
To read the Bangla version, click here.
1. Politics
EU Re-Establishes “Minimum” Presence In Afghanistan
The European Union on Thursday announced it had begun re-establishing a “minimal presence” in Kabul to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid in Afghanistan.
“Our minimal presence in Kabul must not in any way be seen as recognition” of the Taliban government there,” EU foreign affairs spokesman Peter Stano said in a statement.
“This has also been clearly communicated to the de facto authorities,” he added.
Source: NDTV
Indonesia names new capital that will replace Jakarta
Indonesia has announced that its new capital will be called Nusantara, meaning “archipelago” in Javanese. In building a new capital in East Kalimantan, an Indonesian province on the island of Borneo, the government hopes it can take some of the pressure off Jakarta. Planning Minister Suharso Monoarfa said, “the new capital has a central function and is a symbol of the identity of the nation, as well as a new center of economic gravity.” But critics have argued that the construction of the new city will lead to the expansion of palm-oil plantations and logging in an area rich in diverse wildlife and lush rainforests.
Some have said that the new name could prove confusing because Nusantara is an old Javanese term used in Indonesia to refer to the archipelago nation as a whole. The planning minister said the president chose the capital’s new name because it reflected Indonesia’s geography and was iconic internationally. Indonesia is not the first country to change its capital – Brazil, Pakistan, and Nigeria have all changed theirs to newly planned and constructed cities.
Source: BBC
2. Economics & Business
GSK rejects Unilever’s $68.4bn offer for Consumer Healthcare business
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) has rejected three unsolicited, conditional, and non-binding proposals from Unilever for the acquisition of GSK Consumer Healthcare business in a deal worth nearly $68.4bn (£50bn).
Claiming that the proposals ‘fundamentally undervalued’ the Consumer Healthcare business and its future prospects, the company rejected the offer.
Source: Pharmaceutical Technology
Afghanistan: 500,000 jobs lost since Taliban takeover
In a warning that the economy has been “paralyzed” since the de facto authorities took control last August, ILO said that there have been huge losses in jobs and working hours.
Women have been hit especially hard.
By the middle of this year, it’s expected that job losses will increase to nearly 700,000 – with direst predictions topping 900,000 – as a result of the crisis in Afghanistan and “restrictions on women’s participation in the workplace”.
Source: UN News
3. Science & Technology
Amazon and Stellantis partner to deploy smarter cars, cleaner vans
Amazon.com Inc and Stellantis NV said Wednesday they would collaborate to develop cars and trucks with Amazon software in the dashboards and deploy electric vans made by Stellantis on Amazon’s delivery network. They could help Stellantis close the gap with Tesla In in developing vehicles with sophisticated, software-powered infotainment features connected to the data processing cloud. The agreements between Stellantis and Amazon, the online retailer and cloud computing power, announced in conjunction with the CES technology conference, are wide-ranging, involving software and hardware. Under what Stellantis said is a separate agreement, Amazon will be the first customer for Stellantis’ new electric delivery vans due to launch in 2023.
Source: TBS
4. Environment
Tonga: First foreign aid planes arrive bearing crucial supplies
The first foreign aid planes have arrived in Tonga, bearing much-needed supplies for the Pacific nation which was left devastated by a volcanic eruption and subsequent tsunami on Saturday.
New Zealand said its military plane landed at Tonga’s main airport after workers cleared ash from the runway.
Australia also confirmed the first of its relief planes had arrived.
Aid efforts had initially been hampered by ash from the volcano.
At least three people have died communications have been crippled, and Tonga has only just begun to re-establish global contact after five days cut off from the rest of the world.
Source: BBC
Disclaimer: The information provided here is obtained solely from the third parties mentioned above. Youth Policy Forum (YPF) is not responsible for any misinformation or misrepresentation.