Today, the Wagner Group leaves Ukraine. An attack in New Zealand, the storming of a Swedish embassy in Baghdad. And the House of Commons Defence Committee chair gets himself into some hot water over Afghanistan. From TLPR News, this is your daily briefing for Thursday 20 July 2023.
Wagner Group parts of Geniy Prigozhin has been seen for the first time since his paramilitary group's armed mutiny against the Kremlin last month. New video footage published on Telegram appears to show Prigozhin welcoming some of his fighters in Belarus, where he says they'll stay for some time to work with the Belarusian military. Prigozhin says, welcome to Belarus. We fought with dignity.
We did a lot for Russia. What's happening at the front now is a disgrace. We want no part of it. Suggesting that Wagner's time in Ukraine is over for now, he goes on to say, therefore, a decision was taken for us to station here in Belarus for some time.
I am sure that during this time we will make the Belarusian army the second greatest in the world, and if needed, we will defend them if it comes to it. Prigozhin's whereabouts has been uncertain ever since his mutiny nearly a month ago. He was initially thought to be in Belarus, where he and his fighters were due to be stationed as part of a compromise deal with the Kremlin. Then it turned out he'd actually met with Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin on June 29.
Then in early July, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said Prigozhin still was not in Belarus and that he may actually be in the Russian city of St Petersburg. So this new video footage, seemingly recorded sometime this week, may finally put an end to speculation over Prigozhin's location. So what now for the Wagner Group? Well, according to translations of the footage, Prigozhin seems to suggest that they'll be in Belarus for some time, but not permanently.
He says maybe we will return back to Ukraine when we will be confident that we will not be asked to make an embarrassment to ourselves and our experience. Perhaps more interestingly, Prigozhin says we should prepare, get better, and set off on a new journey to Africa, where the Wagner Group already has a presence in a number of countries like Mali and the Central African Republic. In fact, the Central African Republic is holding a constitutional referendum next week on July 30th. That, among other things, would remove the two term presidential limits.
More Wagner Group mercenaries have reportedly arrived in the country where they'll help secure the referendum process. There's more than a way, be sure to subscribe and ring the bell to make the daily briefing part of your daily routine. Or just search for us on your podcast app to listen along. Today marks the opening game of the Women's World cup, which is this year being jointly hosted by New Zealand and Australia.
While many were hoping for a jubilant day, it's been overshadowed by the tragedy of a shooting in Auckland last night. The gunman used a pump action shotgun and moved through a construction site floor by floor. Right now it's believed that the gunman, who's 24, was under house arrest and has a history of domestic violence, injured 10 people and killed two. The gunman was found in the upper levels of a construction site by police after a shootout.
He was found dead. It's not clear whether he died in this exchange with police or whether he shot himself. Questions are now being asked about how he got his hands on such a weapon given the country's infamously strict gun control laws. Prime Minister Chris Hipkins reassured New Zealanders that there was no wider security risk and the gunmen didn't appear to be ideologically or politically motivated.
So that's what's been happening in New Zealand today. Let's move and discuss what's been happening in Iraq. The Swedish Embassy in Baghdad has been stormed and set alight by protesters angry at a planned Quran burning in Sweden. The demonstration on Thursday was called for by supporters of Muqtada al Sadir, an influential Shiite cleric, and saw protesters scale compound walls and light a fire.
Sweden's Foreign Minister Tobias Bilstrom said our embassy staff are in safety, but criticized Iraqi authorities for failing to protect the embassy, which is their responsibility under the Vienna Convention. He he said, what's happened is completely unacceptable and the government strongly condemns these attacks. The government is in contact with high level Iraqi representatives to express our dismay. The Iraqi government says it will conduct an urgent investigation into the event, hold those responsible accountable and take necessary security measures.
Ahead of the incident in Baghdad, Swedish authorities had granted permission for a gathering outside the Iraqi Embassy in Stockholm, where two individuals were reportedly planning on burning a copy of the Quran and the Iraqi flag. One of the two individuals is an asylum seeker from Iraq who burned the Quran at a previous protest last month, which also sparked demonstrations in Baghdad. Senior British Conservative MP Tobias Elwood got himself in some hot water this week by posting a video in which he's seen praising the Taliban and crediting them with improving safety in Afghanistan. Ellwood is the chair of the Commons Defence Committee.
Specifically, Ellwood described Afghanistan as a country transformed, with him going on to say that security has vastly improved, corruption is down and the opium trade has all but disappeared. Many online criticized these comments, pointing out that under the Taliban the rights of women and girls have been eroded, with them not being able to go to school, being made to adhere to a strict dress code and being unable to travel more than 75km without a male chaperone. It wasn't just those online that criticised his comments. A Labour MP and fellow member of the Common Defence Committee told Sky News that this is not the first time that Pius Elwood has made statements which don't reflect the committee's stance.
This is beyond the pale. A vote of her confidence in Elwood has subsequently been tabled. The vote will take place on the 14th of September and is the first time such a vote has been tabled against a committee chair since the provision was brought in in 2010. We'll end the main section of the briefing with some uplifting news from the Joint UN Programme on HIV aids, also known as unaids.
A new report from the body says that there is a clear path to end AIDS by 2030. The report acknowledges that this path is not easy, but says that it's a political and financial choice, and adds that the countries and leaders who are already following the path are achieving extraordinary results. In Eastern and South Africa, for example, new HIV infections have been reduced by 57% since 2010. UNAIDS highlights that a number of countries, specifically Botswana, Eswatini, Rwanda, Tanzania and Zimbabwe have already achieved the 959595 goals before the 2025 target.
The 959595 target refers to 95% of those with HIV knowing their HIV status, 95% of those being on antiretroviral therapy and 95% of those having suppressed viral loads. A further 16 countries are close to reaching this target too. The UNAIDS executive director said we are hopeful, but it's not the relaxed optimism that might come if all was heading as it should be. It is instead a hope rooted in seeing the opportunity for success, an opportunity that is dependent on action.
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