Friday, October 1, 2021

*) US Democrats block Republican bid to cut benefits for Afghan refugees The US Senate has narrowly defeated Republican-backed legislation that would have curtailed assistance for thousands of Afghans evacuated last month. The voting underscores the deep divide over how the country should deal with a flood of Afghans desperate for new homes after the US withdrawal from their homeland. President Joe Biden’s withdrawal order has ended the longest war in US history which led to Kabul's fall to the Taliban and an outflow of refugees to several countries. *) Israel's foreign minister opens embassy on landmark visit to Bahrain Israel's top diplomat Yair Lapid has begun a landmark visit to Bahrain where he opened the Israeli embassy one year after the US-brokered normalisation of ties. Lapid met with King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, in what Israeli media said was the first public meeting of a Gulf monarch with an Israeli official. The UAE, Bahrain and Morocco became the first Arab states in decades to normalise relations with Israel last year, following negotiations spearheaded by former US president Trump. *) North Korea fires newly developed anti-aircraft missile in latest test North Korea says it has successfully fired a new anti-aircraft missile, the latest in a flurry of weapons tests by the nuclear-armed nation. The new test comes even as Pyongyang pushes to reopen dormant communication channels with South Korea in a small reconciliation step. Pyongyang is under multiple international sanctions over its weapons programmes, which have made rapid progress under Kim Jong-un. *) Ethiopia expels seven senior UN staff for 'meddling' Ethiopia says it would expel seven senior UN officials for what it called "meddling in the internal affairs of the country.” UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has said he was "shocked" by the decision and expressed full confidence in his staff in Ethiopia. Ethiopia's northernmost Tigray region has been mired in conflict since November, when Abiy sent troops to topple the re