بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
Headline News 06/07/2022
Headlines:
• Moscow Captures Luhansk Region
• Instability in Uzbekistan
• Libya on the Brink, Again
Details:
Moscow Captures Luhansk Region
Russian officials have announced Russian forces now control all of Ukraine's Luhansk region. The region along with the Donetsk region make up half of the Donbas province and with half of the province under Russian control, Russia could now attempt to gain the whole province. But their ability to fully capture the rest of Donbas in the near future is doubtful. This will require without extensive formal mobilisation measures, which Moscow will likely not conduct because of political and economic constraints. Russia has occupied nearly half of Donbas since 2014 and is trying to present the capture of the region as a military victory, but the fact that Russia has had years to intrench resource sans troops is really an indicator of Russian limitations.
Instability in Uzbekistan
At least 18 people were killed and 243 injured during last week’s unrest in Uzbekistan’s autonomous province of Karakalpakstan. The Karakalpakstan protests are the worst bout of violence in Uzbekistan since the 2005 Andijan massacre. The unrest over planned constitutional changes affecting Karakalpakstan’s status poses the most significant challenge yet to President Shavkat Mirziyoyev’s rule since he rose to power from the post of prime minister in 2016, when his long-serving predecessor Islam Karimov died. Mirziyoyev dropped plans to amend articles of the constitution concerning Karakalpakstan’s autonomy and its right to secede, a day after protesters tried to seize local government buildings in the worst bout of violence in nearly 20 years. The president also declared a month-long state of emergency in the northwestern province home to Karakalpaks, an ethnic minority group whose language is closer to Kazakh than Uzbek.
Libya on the Brink, Again
Protesters stormed Libya’s parliament building in the eastern city of Tobruk, demonstrating against deteriorating living conditions and political deadlock. Several television channels reported that protesters had managed to penetrate the parliament building and committed acts of vandalism, while media outlets showed images of thick columns of black smoke coming from its perimeter as angry young protesters burned tyres. Libyan protesters appear to have lost patience with the political class, saying they would continue to demonstrate until all the ruling elites had left power. Ever since Muammar Gaddafi was overthrown back in 2011 rival nations France and Britain on one side and the US on the other side have backed different factions in order to gain influence over Africa’s largest oil reserves. After a decade of false promises and elections that achieved little, the people, are back on the streets again.