Covid-19, after Shanghai mass test also in Beijing

Today's headlines: Over 1.6 million Burmese lost their jobs last year; Japanese envoy visits Solomon Islands; Sri Lankan university students storm the premier's residence;  EU buys UAE oil to replace Russian oil; Dissident intellectual Vladimir Kara-Murza is imprisoned by Moscow's secret services; Tensions rekindled between Azerbaijan and Armenia.

CHINA

After a surge of infections over the weekend, Beijing has ordered mass testing against Covid-19. The measure primarily affects 3.5 million inhabitants of the Chaoyang district. Several parts of the country are in lockdown, especially Shanghai, where without warning authorities have cordoned off entire apartment buildings to prevent residents from moving around.

MYANMAR

Last year, more than 1.6 million workers, 3 percent of the country's 54 million population, lost their jobs. As the International Labor Organization explains, the country's employment slump is due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the civil war that erupted after the February 2021 military coup.

JAPAN

Japanese Vice Foreign Minister Kentaro Uesugi is visiting the Solomon Islands through April 27. The mission comes after the South Pacific archipelago concluded a security agreement with China. The signing of the understanding caused a harsh reaction from the U.S. and its allies in the region, especially Australia and New Zealand.

SRI LANKA

Thousands of university students stormed the residence of Prime Minister (and former President) Mahinda Rajapkasa yesterday, demanding his resignation. The country is grappling with a serious economic crisis marked by high inflation, energy blackouts, food and fuel shortages.

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

Europe is turning to Abu Dhabi to replace Russian oil,  after Moscow's invasion of Ukraine. The French company Total has chartered a tanker that will bring crude oil from the Emirates at the beginning of May. Other deliveries are expected in the coming months. The Gulf monarchy's last oil supply to the EU was in May 2020.

RUSSIA

Russian essayist and publicist Vladimir Kara-Murza, arrested for "suspicious behavoir in front of police forces," has been charged with spreading offensive information against the Russian army. This was announced to journalists by his lawyer Vadim Prokhorov. The dissident intellectual is now in solitary confinement in the Moscow prison of the FSB, the internal intelligence service.

AZERBAIJAN

President Ilham Aliev spoke at the Fifth Congress of Azerbaijanis Worldwide, held in Šuša, a recaptured city in Nagorno-Karabakh. He stated that he will refuse to recognize Armenia's territorial integrity if Baku's sovereign interests are not respected by signing the relevant peace agreement between the two countries.

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