African Union leaders chose Chad’s candidate to chair the 54-nation body. In the last round of voting, Chadian Foreign Minister Moussa Faki Mahamat beat Kenya’s top diplomat Amina Mohamed to secure the post as head of the commission of the AU, which is headquartered in the Ethiopian capital. A Chadian official told a group of reporters that his nation’s candidate had secured 39 votes in the final round. Faki, born in 1960, has served as foreign minister since 2008. His previous posts also included a stint as prime minister.” (Reuters http://reut.rs/2kLi4AU)
Welcome back to the club…The African Union decided Monday to allow Morocco back in the fold after a 33-year absence, despite stiff resistance from some member states over the status of Western Sahara. (AFP https://yhoo.it/2kLlKlY)
20,000 refugees affected by new U.S. policy…The U.N. Refugee Agency just calculated the global impact of Donald Trump’s new executive order. As many as 20,000 people will be prevented from resettling to the United States over the next four months. “This week alone, over 800 refugees were set to make America their new home, but instead find themselves barred from traveling to the U.S. UNHCR estimates that 20,000 refugees in precarious circumstances might have been resettled to the United States during the 120 days covered by the suspension announced Friday, based on average monthly figures for the last 15 years.” (UN Dispatch http://bit.ly/2kMNrH4)
Quote of the day: “African borders remain open for those in need of protection when so many borders are being closed, even in the most developed countries in the world,” said U.N. chief Antonio Guterres speaking at the AU meeting. (AFP https://yhoo.it/2kke4GM)
Top Stories
Authorities in the Turks & Caicos Islands say they have detained 178 Haitian migrants aboard two boats in waters near the British Caribbean territory. (AP https://yhoo.it/2kMRdR1)
Syria’s foreign minister called on the country’s refugees to return home, official media reported, without directly commenting on a US ban targeting them. (AFP https://yhoo.it/2kMWU1c)
A large-scale campaign vaccinated 5.6 million Iraqi children against polio. (WHO http://bit.ly/2kLeR4d)
Mexico’s top diplomat says his country will spend about $50 million to hire lawyers for migrants facing deportation in the United States. (AP https://yhoo.it/2kN9Hk9)
More than 200 refugees who had been heading to the U.S. for resettlement have been told they cannot travel as a result of President Donald Trump’s executive orders that temporarily suspend all immigration of citizens from seven majority-Muslim countries, a Somali refugee and officials said Monday. (AP https://yhoo.it/2kMVfZn)
Syria said that any attempt to create so-called safe zones for refugees without coordinating with Damascus would be “unsafe” and violate Syria’s sovereignty, the state news agency SANA reported. (Reuters https://yhoo.it/2kMXHPy)
When President Trump abandoned the Trans-Pacific Partnership Deal, there was a sense of relief in India, where sectors such as apparel and pharmaceuticals were bracing for a hit. (VOA http://bit.ly/2kLmMhP)
In the face of growing international and domestic criticism under a presidential decree, several measures have been introduced to ease some of the most controversial aspects of Turkey’s state of emergency. (VOA http://bit.ly/2kMUtvD)
The United Nations’ top torture expert warned U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday that endorsing waterboarding and other abuse as an interrogation technique would be illegal and have disastrous global consequences. (AFP https://yhoo.it/2kMSWWn)
Opinion/Blogs
Syrian refugees: U.S. not doing its ‘fair share’ before Trump shut the door (Humanosphere http://bit.ly/2kLi7Nc)
This Man Directed Refugee Policy for George H.W. Bush. He explains how the Refugee Ban is totally unprecedented. (UN Dispatch http://bit.ly/2kLQ8ZA)
Borders or bans can’t stop me from being a Muslim doctor (PRI http://bit.ly/2jOtTlx)
Syria’s forgotten siege: The noose tightens around Deir Ezzor (IRIN http://bit.ly/2kMWpEr)
The proposed new European Consensus on Development: has the European Commission got it right? (ODI http://bit.ly/2jLFIvg)
Is the Rohingya Situation Improving in Myanmar? (VOA http://bit.ly/2kMATzs)
Kenya: Why More Needs to Be Done About Antibiotics in Meat (The Conversation http://bit.ly/2jLLnl3)
Trump’s idea for Mexican wall tax is illegal and would hurt US (CNN http://cnn.it/2kMYz6J)
Pakistani Reporters in the Crosshairs (Inter Press Service http://bit.ly/2kN4GIl)
Trump action derails global refugee resettlement efforts (IRIN http://bit.ly/2kkhIRb)
Can ECOWAS Tactics in Gambia Serve As Model? (VOA http://bit.ly/2kMX6xs)
