The world at aglance NEWS 910 August 2019 THE WEEKKampala
Academic jailed:
AUgandan
academic has been
sentenced to 18
months in prison for
aseries of profanity-strewn Facebook
posts criticising and insulting President
Yoweri Museveni, including one in
which she called him “a pair of buttocks”.
Dr Stella Nyanzi,aformer fellow of
Makerere University in Kampala, has
become well known asafierce critic of
Museveni–president for the past 31 years
–whom she accuses of beingadictator.
She has been detained since November,
and is currently being held atamaximum-
security prison. At her sentencing hearing
last week, which Nyanzi attended via a
video-link, she angrily denounced the
proceedings by shouting obscenities and
exposing her breasts to the camera.Yakutsk, Russia
Fires across Siberia:
Unusually hot weather,
dry thunderstorms and
strong winds have
combined to create an
emergency in Siberia this
summer. Russian officials
said last week that more
than 300 forest fires were
burning across three
million hectares–anarea
the size of Belgium. Entire
towns and cities, including
Yakutsk, one of the
coldest inhabited places
on Earth, have been
enveloped in black smoke.
The Kremlin has ordered
anew network of fire
monitoring and
prevention
centres.Riyadh
Guardianship
law eased:
Saudi Arabia
has recently
announced
asignificant
relaxation of
its “guardian-
ship” system
–meaning that
women will
no longer need the permission ofamale
guardian (such as their father or brother)
to travel abroad; registeramarriage,
divorce or birth; or apply for official
documents, includingapassport. The new
law, announced inadecree last week, also
gives women the right to equal treatment
in the workplace. However, women will
still need the permission ofamale relative
to get married or divorced.Western Visayas, Philippines
Dengue epidemic:The Philippines has
declaredanational dengue fever epidemic,
saying that the disease has killed 622
people this year. There have been 146,
cases since January–arise of 98% on the
same period last year. The mosquito-borne
disease causes flu-like symptoms and, in
severe cases, haemorrhaging and organ
failure. The outbreak followsanationwide
ban on the sale of Dengvaxia, the only
vaccine on the market, which is made by
the French company Sanofi Pasteur; some
14 children who were given the
vaccination during 2016-2017 died.Hong Kong
Chaos continues:Hong Kong’s Beijing-backed
leader, Carrie Lam, appeared in public for the
first time inafortnight this week, to warn that
the ongoing pro-democracy demonstrations
threatened to destroy the “stability and prosperity”
of the territory. Lam warned that the protests had
driven the territory “to the verge of an extremely
dangerous situation”.
Lam was speaking on Monday following another weekend of protests and clashes,
in which demonstrators blocked roads, attacked police stations, barricaded civic
buildings and vandalised symbols of Chinese rule. It was the ninth consecutive
weekend of demonstrations in the city. Last Friday, an estimated 13,000 civil servants
staged an unprecedented protest against the Hong Kong authorities, their employer.
As Lam spoke on Monday, Hong Kong was in the grip ofageneral strike that
paralysed the city, as well as fresh demonstrations involving tens of thousands of
people. Hong Kong’s leaders were this week summoned to the mainland Chinese city
of Shenzhen forameeting with Chinese officials–prompting speculation that Beijing
is preparinganew, harsher response to the unrest.Strait of Hormuz
Joint task force:The UK has joined a
US-led task force designed to protect
commercial shipping in the Persian Gulf,
having failed to convince other Western
allies to joinaEurope-led mission. Two
Royal Navy warships currently assisting
UK-flagged vessels in the Strait of Hormuz
will join two US navy destroyers, and
will make use of US intelligence. The
announcement on Monday suggestsashift
in approach following the appointment as
PM of Boris Johnson, who favours closer
ties with the US. Last weekend, Iranian
forces seized control of an Iraqi oil tanker
in the Strait–the third foreign vessel
captured after the seizure of Panamanian
and UK-flagged tankers last month. On
Tuesday it was announced that Iran and
Russia would hold joint naval exercises in
the area, raising the risk of confrontation.