The Capitals: Delhi's template for Big Cat diplomacy; Korean doctors take to Seoul streets; and more

Islamabad has returned to a Sharif's premiership after Shehbaz Sharif was elected as the prime minister by the lawmakers of Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz), Pakistan Peoples' Party, and others. Sharif won202 votes of the lawmakers against 92 secured by Omar Ayub Khan, the prime ministerial candidate supported by PTI-backed members of the national assembly.

Returning to the top job for the second time with purported support from the country's powerful military, Sharif has to helm over the challenge of Pakistan's persistent economic crisis with inflationhovering around 30 per cent.

Meanwhile, in Moscow, staunch Putin-critic Alexei Navalny was laid to rest.

Add WION as a Preferred Source

In New Delhi and Dhaka, the moments of animal conservation emerged as developments of significance.

Read this and more in The Capitals this week:

Doha, Qatar

For a second week in a row, The Capitals is reporting on Doha's vital role in mediating between the nation-states and the purported non-state actors. This week, an 84-year-old Austrian far-right nationalist who was arrested in Afghanistan last May, arrived in the Qatari capital.

The Taliban had held Herbert Fritz in a prison in Kabul over alleged suspicions of spying.

In Vienna, the Austrian foreign ministry said it was working to secure Fritz's release since May, and thanked Qatar and the European Union representation in Kabul for assisting its efforts to bring about his return to Austria.

"The State of Qatar has proven, regionally and globally, that it is a trusted international partner in various important issues," Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. "It spares no effort in harnessing its energy and ability in the areas of mediation, preventive diplomacy, and settling disputes through peaceful means."

Washington DC, United States of America

A US airman died in the US capital earlier this week after setting himself on fire outside the Israeli embassy at the weekend in protest over the war in Gaza.

The man had filmed himself shouting "Free Palestine" as he lit himself on fire, according to footage shared on social media.

In the video, he declared that he would "not be complicit in genocide" before dousing himself in liquid, lighting himself on fire, and crying "Free Palestine!" until he collapsed.

A memorial to Aaron Bushnell is setup near the Israeli embassy in Washington, DC, on March 2, 2024 | AFP

Palestinian militant group Hamas described it as "an expression of the growing state of anger among the American people" over the Israel-Hamas war.

The war which began after Hamas attacked southern Israel on October 7 to massacre nearly 1200 Israelis has pushed the region into turmoil.

Israel's military launched a devastating response, aimed at destroying Hamas, that in less than five months has killed nearly 30,000 people in the Gaza Strip, most of them women and children, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory.

Seoul, South Korea

Thousands of South Korean doctors have been protesting in Seoul in an escalating standoff with the government over medical training reforms, which has seen junior doctors quit en masse, throwing hospitals into chaos.

The medical personnel in South Korea are protesting the government's plans to sharply increase medical school admissions to cope with shortages and an ageing society.

A doctor holds a placard reading "Stop populist medical policy!" during a rally to protest against the government’s plan to raise the annual enrolment quota at medical schools | AFP

The striking professionals have already defied a February 29 government deadline for them to return to work or face legal action, including potential arrests or suspensions of their medical licenses.

Doctors fear that reforms will erode the quality of service and medical education.

But most South Koreans support the reforms, the latest poll shows.

With legislative elections in April, President Yoon Suk Yeol's party is looking to win back a parliamentary majority. The government has shown no signs of compromising quickly.

But doctors have also vowed not to back down, stating that the government's reforms do not address the country's medical sector's real problems.

Dhaka, Bangladesh

In a major win for Animal Rights in South Asia, a High Court in Bangladesh's capital Dhaka issued a comprehensive ban on the adoption of critically endangered wild elephants and has implemented measures to safeguard them from exploitation. The move suspends all licenses that previously allowed the capture and captivity of young Asian elephants.

The court's decision addresses the distressing practices of utilising these majestic creatures for purposes such as begging, circuses, and street performances. With only approximately 200 wild elephants remaining in Bangladesh, and half of them currently living in captivity, the need for protective measures has been widely felt.

Bangladesh, once a thriving habitat for the Asian elephant, has witnessed a dramatic decline in their population due to rampant poaching and habitat loss.

New Delhi, India

Much of the news cycle from India comprised of developments related to a surprising 8.4 per cent GDP growth in the last quarter of 2023 as well as the first list of ruling Bharatiya Janata Party's candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

But another crucial development with far-reaching consequences came in the form of formalisation of the International Big Cat Alliance.The Modi cabinet allotted aone-time grant of ₹150 crore to be utilised till 2028.

As many as 16 countries, including Brazil, Nepal, Bangladesh, and, Malaysia, have formally joined the newly formed big cat alliance — a culmination of New Delhi's yearslong diplomatic effort to ensure multinational cooperation for Big Cat conservation.

Launched in April 2023 in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of India's flagship Tiger conservation initiative Project Tiger, IBCA'smain objective of the alliance is to ensure cooperation for the conservation of seven big cats: Lion, Tiger, Leopard, Cheetah, Snow Leopard, Jaguar, and Puma.

The IBCA "has been conceived as a multi-country, multi-agency coalition of 96 big cat range countries". The alliance will also include "non-range countries interested in big cat conservation, conservation partners, and scientific organisations working in the field of big cat conservation".