What We're Watching: Yemen breakthrough, Turkey vs Russia, arresting Zuma?

February 04, 2020

Yemen's mercy flight – After 18 months of painstaking negotiations, a United Nations plane carrying sick Yemenis in need of urgent medical care took off from Sanaa, the country's rebel-held capital, headed for Jordan. The seven people onboard the UN's "mercy flight" require treatment for life-threatening conditions, while an additional 23 people are expected to take similar flights to seek medical care in Egypt and Jordan later this week. Sanaa airport has been closed to commercial flights since 2016, when heavy fighting began between the Saudi-backed coalition and the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels. Violence has eased in recent months as the two sides pursue back-channel talks to resolve a five-year conflict that's pushed much of the population to the brink of starvation. But a fresh outburst of fighting in recent days reminds us how elusive a workable peace in Yemen remains.

Turkey's search for friends – President Erdogan of Turkey once claimed a foreign policy of "zero problems with neighbors." He now appears to have zero friends. Consider: Turkey's relations with its longstanding allies – the US and the European Union – have been strained in recent years. Europe and Turkey are at odds over refugee policies, human rights, and oil drilling in the Mediterranean. The US, meanwhile, has threatened sanctions over Ankara's purchase of Russian missiles. As Turkey's relations with its NATO allies have soured, Erdogan has tried to cultivate closer ties with regional heavyweight Vladimir Putin. But rifts between Turkey and Russia have recently been opening too. In Syria, Turkey has exchanged deadly strikes with the Russian-backed forces of Bashar al-Assad, earning a warning from Moscow. In Libya, Turkey has sent troops to support the UN-backed government, which is currently at war with a warlord backed by…Russia.

Arrest warrant for Jacob Zuma – For months, South Africa's disgraced former president Jacob Zuma has tried to avoid showing up at his own corruption trial. First his legal team filed a flurry of appeals. When those were struck down, the 77-year old Zuma cited his deteriorating health as a reason not to face graft charges related to a $2.5 billion arms deal in the late 1990s. The court has now had enough – on Tuesday it issued an arrest warrant that takes effect if Zuma isn't present when the trial resumes on May 6. Lawyers for Zuma, who resigned the presidency in 2018 with more than 700 corruption charges against him, have accused the court of lacking "compassion." Zuma is reported to be in Cuba at the moment for medical treatment. There is no word on when he is set to return to South Africa.

The biodiversity-shaped piece in the climate crisis puzzle: How to solve it

Mastercard

The clock is ticking on efforts to help halt and reverse biodiversity loss, but there’s still time to help support the animals, plants, and ecosystems that are all necessary for a healthy planet. In order to protect biodiversity — every living organism and ecosystem from microbes to mangroves — citizens, companies, and countries all need to do their part. That’s why the Mastercard-led Priceless Planet Coalition is on a mission to restore 100 million trees and regenerate biodiversity-rich forests. Read more about the Coalition's approach and progress.

Hot topics at the IMF-World Bank meetings

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Delegates at the IMF and World Bank Annual Meetings have been giving rosy outlooks to the press while the cameras are rolling, but GZERO Senior Writer Matthew Kendrick heard a different story in private settings. He told Tony Maciulis that the global outlook depends heavily on US policy continuity — which is highly unlikely under a second Trump administration — and successful efforts in China to revive its own floundering economy.

Can the IMF change to help more women?

Matthew Kendrick

When a country hits rock bottom financially, the International Monetary Fund is meant to step in with funds to stabilize the economy without damaging its society — or the gender gap. But studies show that these programs often push women out of work at a disproportionate rate to men as the economy contracts. Matthew Kendrick reports from the World Bank-IMF Annual Meetings on a push to build more equitable programs.

North Korean troops move into Russia’s border area with Ukraine

Russia's President Vladimir Putin and North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un attend a farewell ceremony before Putin's departure at an airport in Pyongyang, North Korea June 19, 2024.

Gavriil Grigorov/Reuters

Kyiv says that roughly 12,000 North Korean troops are in Russia, a far greater number than reported by the US, though it remains unclear precisely how many have entered what Ukraine referred to as the “combat zone.”

What We're Watching: Yemen breakthrough, Turkey vs Russia, arresting Zuma?

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What We're Watching: Yemen breakthrough, Turkey vs Russia, arresting Zuma?

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More from GZERO Media

This week World Bank announced a bold initiative to bridge the gender divide by creating more economic opportunity, broadening female leadership, and reducing gender-based violence in the next 5 years as 2030 approaches.

There are times when we need more context, and there are times when we do not. How do we tell the difference?

GZEROMEDIA

Subscribe to GZERO Media's newsletter: Signal

Kyiv says that roughly 12,000 North Korean troops are in Russia, a far greater number than reported by the US, though it remains unclear precisely how many have entered what Ukraine referred to as the “combat zone.”

Georgian Dream insists the country is still on track to join the EU, as critics accuse the party of pushing Georgia in an increasingly anti-Western, authoritarian direction.

In 2001, a Goldman Sachs economist coined an acronym for the four largest and most promising “emerging market” economies: Brazil, Russia, India, and China became known as the “BRIC” countries.

With the latest polls still showing Donald Trump and Kamala Harris neck and neck in the swing states, both candidates are heading to Texas, a far less competitive state, with hopes of reaching key voter groups nationwide.