AROUND THE WORLD THIS WEEK

SUDAN

Sudan’s transition to a civilian government was derailed this week when the military staged a coup d’etat and placed Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok under house arrest. Lieutenant General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, who led the coup, claimed the move was necessary to avoid civil war.

Burhan and Hamdok led a power-sharing administration that included civilian and military leaders, appointed after dictator Omar al-Bashir was ousted in 2019, to oversee the transition to a civilian-controlled government.

After the coup, the military committed to holding elections in 2023. However, large groups of protesters took to the streets in Khartoum, just as they did before Bashir’s fall.

POLAND

The European Court of Justice has imposed a €1-million daily fine on Poland for failing to adhere to an order to suspend a disciplinary chamber for judges, which the court said undermines judicial independence from Poland’s executive and legislature.

The daily fine isn’t the first the court has imposed. In September, it imposed a €500,000 fine on Poland for each day it continued to operate a coal mine near the Czech and German borders.

Poland’s deputy justice minister Sebastian Kaleta accused the EU of “usurpation and blackmail”. EU members want to withhold the €37-billion in pandemic recovery funds due to Poland while others have cautioned against creating further division.

ISRAEL

Prime Minister Naftali Bennet’s government has approved the construction of 3,130 new homes for Jewish settlers in the occupied West Bank. Housing Minister Zeev Elkin said it was “essential to the Zionist vision”.

Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh called on the international community to confront the decision. The US Department of State said it strongly opposed the move, which it said was inconsistent with efforts to reduce tensions.

UN envoy to the Middle East peace process Tor Wennesland said such settlements are illegal under international law and must stop immediately.

RUSSIA

A 10-day Covid-19 lockdown came into effect in Moscow on 28 October after a record high of 1,159 related deaths and 40,096 new cases were reported in Russia in the preceding 24 hours.

Non-essential shops, schools and gyms will be closed while eateries can remain open for takeaways. President Vladimir Putin has also announced a week-long paid holiday for all non-essential workers.

Health experts link the country’s soaring Covid-19 numbers to its relatively low vaccine rates and a public that appears to be ignoring physical distancing advice. Only 33% of Russia’s population is fully vaccinated. Vaccine hesitancy has prevented people from getting the jab.

UNITED KINGDOM

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange appeared in Britain’s High Court as the US appealed a ruling against his extradition.

The US wants to extradite Assange on espionage charges for releasing classified military documents over a decade ago. Assange has been detained in a London prison since 2019 after spending more than six years in the Ecuadorian embassy.

In January, a British court said Assange was at risk of committing suicide if he was extradited. The US Department of Justice argued that Assange’s psychological assessment was flawed, that he would not be held under maximum-security conditions if extradited and could serve his sentence in his native Australia if convicted.