The European Union has slapped new security screening on imports from Bangladesh, a move that is likely to make it costlier for businesses in the South Asian country to sell products to EU nations. Just over half of Bangladeshi exports go to the European bloc, accounting for $18.68 billion in revenues during the last fiscal year. Those shipments, by air or sea, will now have to be screened by bomb-detecting dogs and devices. Bangladesh has none of these facilities, so cargo will have to be routed through a third country where security screening is possible. Siddiqur Rahman, president of the Bangladesh Garments Manufacturers and Exporters’ Association, representing 70 percent of the textiles industry, also described the move as “disastrous.” During fiscal 2015-16, the garment industry exported $17.15 billion in goods to the EU — 60 percent of the industry’s exports” (VOA http://bit.ly/2s5c4q8)
Election Day in the UK…The vote will decide whether May or her Labour Party rival Jeremy Corbyn takes control of Britain’s exit from the European Union – a two-year negotiation which will plot a new course for the $2.6 trillion economy. The prime minister called the snap election in a bid to strengthen her hand in Brexit negotiations, to win more time to deal with the impact of the divorce and to strengthen her grip on the Conservative Party. While she is still expected to win, with a lead of between one percentage point and 12 points in polls released over recent days, financial markets are now digesting a bigger range of outcomes than they previously had considered. (Reuters http://reut.rs/2s5vj32)
Stat of the Day...A stunning 64% of men in Egypt admit to having harassed a woman on the street. (UN Dispatch http://bit.ly/2s5gk93)
Top Stories
Assailants with rifles, explosives and women’s disguises stunned Iran with audacious attacks on the Parliament building and tomb of its revolutionary founder, the worst terrorist strike to hit the Islamic republic in years. (NYT http://nyti.ms/2s5bsAQ)
India’s Information and Broadcasting Minister, M. Venkaiah Naidu refuted allegations that raids carried out by the country’s main investigative agency on a top broadcaster were an infringement on press freedom. (VOA http://bit.ly/2rChirX)
Italy broke up a criminal ring smuggling migrants safely to Sicily for about $3,379 on a speedboat capable of making the crossing from Tunisia in less than four hours, magistrates said on Tuesday. (Reuters http://bit.ly/2rW98eJ)
Canada will increase its military spending and its activities in international organizations as the United States seems to be stepping back from its international role, the country’s foreign affairs minister said on Tuesday. (NY Times http://nyti.ms/2sgIyNO)
The U.N. Food and Agricultural Organization says more than half of West Africa’s fisheries are dangerously depleted. (VOA http://bit.ly/2sgT9IM)
More Central American women are fleeing their homes, crossing borders to escape domestic violence in the region with the most female murders in the world. (Guardian http://bit.ly/2qXuDbF)
A microcredit scheme in India that helps rickshaw workers to buy their vehicles hands the purse strings to women, considering them more reliable at repaying debts. (Guardian http://bit.ly/2rMEXVe)
Turkish authorities on Tuesday detained the local chair of Amnesty International for suspected links to the network of the Muslim cleric Ankara blames for last year’s failed coup, the rights group said. (Reuters http://bit.ly/2r787MO)
Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned Tuesday that by 2050 global demand for fresh water is projected to grow by more than 40 percent and at least a quarter of the world’s population will live in countries with a “chronic or recurrent” lack of clean water. (AP http://bit.ly/2r6MjAT)
South Sudan’s civil war, which erupted in late 2013, has uprooted a quarter of the population, shattered families and left thousands of orphans, abandoned children and runaways to fend for themselves in the city. With few options, sex work has become a form of survival for many girls and young women. (Reuters http://bit.ly/2rWh6ob)
Some 32% of internally displaced persons in Ukraine suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of the conflict in the east. (International Alert http://bit.ly/2qXkXhs)
Opinion/Blogs
Africa’s democratic prospects (Devpolicy http://bit.ly/2rCezPv)
Are good school principals born or can they be made? (Development Impact http://bit.ly/2r6TA3x)
The Road Ahead — Building Momentum for Justice in the Central African Republic (Justice in Conflict http://bit.ly/2r6QQU3)
Empowerment and Accountability in Messy Places. Need your advice on Nigeria, Pakistan, Myanmar and Mozambique. (From Poverty to Power http://bit.ly/2qXGiHj)
The battle for Raqqa begins (IRIN http://bit.ly/2r2VCqe)
Does the UN Have an Anti-Israel Bias? (VOA http://bit.ly/2rCcP8X)
From Grand Bargain to beneficiary: an analysis of funding flows through the humanitarian system (ODI http://bit.ly/2rC1m94)
Susan Rice says Western democracy hasn’t entirely collapsed — yet (PRI http://bit.ly/2qXBwK7)
He Called Himself An ‘Honorary Woman’: Remembering A U.N. Crusader (NPR Goats and Soda http://n.pr/2qXmIv4)
Naming and Shaming Human Rights Violators (Inter Press Service http://bit.ly/2rMxvt0)
