Friday, September 24, 2021

*) Day 3 of UNGA: Leaders highlight disparity in Covid vaccine availability The Covid-19 vaccine distribution inequity has come into sharper focus as many leaders of African countries spoke at the UN General Assembly. South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa urged member states to support a temporary trade waiver to allow more countries to produce Covid-19 vaccines. Other African leaders said it was "appalling" that while rich countries debate booster shot doses, many poor countries have only been able to vaccine 1 or 2 percent of their populations. Namibia’s President Hage Geingob called the situation a "vaccine apartheid.” *) Blinken sees unity on Taliban after meeting with Pakistan, China US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said he believes the world was united on pressing the Taliban after speaking with Pakistan, China and Russia. Blinken met with his Pakistani counterpart, Shah Mehmood Qureshi Thursday, on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. He also held talks with ministers of the four other veto-wielding Security Council members, including China and Russia. *) Erdogan: US not 'acting honestly' with Turkey, ties at low point Turkey's President Erdogan says the trajectory of ties with the US do not bode well and that Washington needs to "sort out" issues over Ankara's purchase of S-400 defence systems. Relations between the two NATO allies struck a low point earlier this year when Washington sanctioned Turkey's defence industry. According to broadcaster Haberturk, Erdogan said the two countries should work together as friends but he and US President Joe Biden had "not gotten off to a good start". *) Catalan separatist leader Puigdemont arrested in Italy Former Catalan president Carles Puigdemont has been arrested in Italy. Puidgemont was accused of sedition after he helped organise a 2017 independence referendum, which Spanish courts ruled illegal. He has since been living in self-imposed exile in Belgium, where he holds a seat in the European parliament. But the EU body voted