Mozambique President conducts aerial survey of cyclone-hit areas
President Filipe Nyusi flew over some of the worst-hit areas in Mozambique on Monday. Later, Nyusi said in a statement that over 1,000 might be feared dead in the cyclone. He then went on to describe what he saw during his aerial inspection and how dead bodies were seen floating in the water.
The storm made a lethal landfall in Mozambique’s port city of Beira, which has a population over half a million people.
Gerald Bourke from the UN Food Program told the BBC, “No building is untouched. There is no power. There is no telecommunications. The streets are littered with fallen electricity lines. The roofs of so many houses have caved in, likewise the walls. A lot of people in the city have lost their homes.”
British PM gets ready for extension as Speaker denies vote on another Brexit bill
British Prime Minister Theresa May’s hopes of finally getting the Brexit bill cleared in its third attempt have been torpedoed by the House of Commons Speaker John Bercow. Bercow has said that the bill will not be tabled unless its language is substantially different. He said that the deal must be “fundamentally different” for the Parliament to reconsider it.
While this left May’s officials rattled, the Prime Minister only has limited options now. She will be preparing to seek an extension from the European Union (EU) at the EU summit on Thursday.
Trudeau loses his top bureaucrat amid SNC-Lavalin scandal
The SNC-Lavalin scandal has shaken up the Justin Trudeau’s Canadian government. Various departments and officials of his government are facing allegations of interfering in the SNC-Lavalin corruption case to seek a verdict in their favour.
In a fresh development, the top-most bureaucrat of the government, Michael Wernick has quit. Wernick was the clerk to the country’s esteemed Privy Council. He has quit after he was being accused of acting in a partisan manner in the corruption case.
This is likely to further deteriorate Trudeau’s standing as he faces an election in October this year.
Elections across a set of emerging markets are likely to increase volatility
The emerging markets have seen a bull run of sorts in 2019. But, this might be beginning to unsettle as a series of elections are set to take place in emerging markets this year.
Most of these elections are slated to take place in Asian countries, including India, Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines, Turkey, and Israel. Beyond Asia, elections will be taking place in Ukraine, Guatemala, El Salvador, Panama, Bolivia, Uruguay, and Argentina.
In other News:
France set to ban Champs Elysées protests in wake of riots, Financial Times
Christchurch shooting: Australia PM calls for social media crackdown, BBC
Life inside Kabul’s fortified green zone for foreigners: ‘don’t expect a blossoming social life’, South China Morning Post
The Gay Enemy in Poland’s Culture War, Bloomberg