South Asia
India and Taiwan have begun talks on a free trade agreement that would help India establish itself as a manufacturing hub for semiconductors at a time of global shortages. If confirmed, this will only be the second such foreign semiconductor manufacturing hub set up by a Taiwanese company. [Hindustan Times]
Indian Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla said that Bangladesh will receive critical defence items under a $500 million Line of Credit. The announcement comes as Indian President Ram Nath Kovind continues to meet several prominent leaders during his maiden visit to Bangladesh, which is currently celebrating its 50th year of independence from Pakistan. [Economic Times]
Central Asia and the Caucasus
Kyrgyzstan has begun exporting fuel to Afghanistan for the first time in ten years as the war-torn country is facing a dire fuel shortage. Hospitals are running out of electricity and oxygen supplies needed for COVID-19 patients. [24.kg, Associated Press]
Azerbaijan’s Mine Action Agency and British NGO Mines Advisory Group (MAG) on Thursday signed an agreement whereby MAG will train Azerbaijani officials on mine clearance. Even though Azerbaijan cleared more than 10,000 anti-personnel and 4,500 anti-tank mines last month, thousands of mines planted by Armenian forces during the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war are yet to be defused. Earlier this month, Baku reported that 29 civilians and 7 soldiers have been killed in mine explosions since November 10. [Azer News]
East and Southeast Asia
Hundreds of villagers in Myanmar fled to Thailand after fighting between rebel group Karen National Union and the junta broke out on Wednesday in the town of Lay Kay Kaw near the Thai border. It was the first such clash in months. [The Bangkok Post]
Chinese Ambassador to Japan Kong Xuanyou asked for Japan’s support for the upcoming Winter Olympics on Thursday. Kong lamented that the event is being “used as a political tool.” Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said yesterday, however, that he has no plan to attend the Winter Olympics at the moment. [Taipei Times]
Europe
Amid the rampant spread of the Omicron variant, the United Kingdom (UK) once again broke its daily record of new COVID-19 cases on Thursday with 88,376 new cases. In response, France announced travel restrictions on inbound passengers from the UK. [Al Jazeera]
On Thursday, the European Union (EU) leaders warned Russia of massive consequences if it invades Ukraine. The statement released following a summit in Brussels stated, “The European Council reiterates its support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. Any further military aggression against Ukraine will have massive consequences and severe cost in response.” [Euronews]
On Thursday, Poland’s Minister of Climate and Environment, Anna Moskwa, said Warsaw will not with the European Union’s (EU) emissions reduction scheme ‘Fit for 55’ if it doesn’t align with the country’s economic interests. While speaking during a press briefing in Brussels, Moskwa stressed that the climate package must be adopted unanimously. Poland is still heavily reliant on fossil fuels and argues that EU targets are unrealistic. [The First News]
Latin America and the Caribbean
Ahead of Mercosur’s virtual heads of state summit today, Argentina’s ambassador to Brazil, Daniel Scioli, has downplayed suggestions that the summit will be fraught with tensions, given that Brazil and Uruguay have in recent months hit out at Argentina’s lack of flexibility in modernising the organisation. Some members of Mercosur have called for the removal of the common external tariff and to be allowed to enter into trade agreements with third parties. In fact, Uruguay recently said that it would sign an agreement with China with or without Mercosur’s approval. [MercoPress]
Venezuelan Foreign Minister Felix Plasencia on Thursday criticised the European Parliament’s interference in Cuba following a meeting with his Cuban counterpart Bruno Rodríguez in Havana. Plasencia argued that Western powers, like the EU, have ‘manipulated’ the issue of human rights with their underlying political motives. [Telesur]
Middle East and North Africa (MENA)
Israel on Wednesday said that it will donate 2.5 million doses of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines to several African countries through the United Nations-backed COVAX programme. The move is part of Israel’s push to strengthen ties with African countries. [Haaretz]
Ukraine’s ambassador to Israel, Yevgen Korniychuk, said on Thursday that Kyiv could recognise Jerusalem as the “one and only” capital of Israel by next year and open a branch of the Ukrainian embassy in the city. However, Korniychuk added that Israel has to meet certain security and defence preconditions before such a move can happen. He did not specify what the preconditions were. [Times of Israel]
North America
On Thursday, the 12 remaining members of Ohio-based Christian Aid Ministries were released by Haitian gang 400 Mazowo. This follows the release of two other missionaries last month, and three more earlier this month. In October, 16 Americans and one Canadian were taken hostage while visiting an orphanage in Port-au-Prince. The group was made up of five men, seven women, and five children. Officials did not comment on whether a ransom was paid. [The New York Times]
New York District Judge Colleen McMahon on Thursday rejected Purdue pharma’s bankruptcy settlement due to a provision protecting members of the Sackler family. The lawsuit accuses American pharma giant Purdue pharma of pushing doctors to prescribe OxyContin, the drug that sparked an opioid crisis and was linked to 500,000 deaths in the United States. [The Voice of America]
Oceania
On Friday, Australia’s New South Wales (NSW) registered a daily record of 2,213 new COVID-19 cases, with one death. 215 people were admitted to hospital on Friday compared to 192 on Thursday and 166 on Wednesday. So far, the state has recorded 185 cases of the new Omicron variant. [The Sydney Morning Herald]
Three contacts of New Zealand’s (NZ) first Omicron variant patient have tested positive for COVID-19, and two may have the new variant. The case was detected within NZ’s hotel quarantine and is not yet found in the community. Director-General of Health Ashley Bloomfield said, “We’ll continue to do everything we can to make sure we keep Omicron either out of the country or at the border if it does come on a flight.” [The Canberra Times]
Sub-Saharan Africa
South Africa reported yesterday that it had recorded 26,976 new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, its highest-ever figure since the start of the pandemic. However, there are suggestions that vaccinations are working and that a level of herd immunity is being built. The previous highest daily case count was 26,485 on July 3, when 108 people died. On Wednesday, however, although the case numbers were higher, the death toll was lower at 54. [The East African]
A report by research and intelligence firm SB Morgen determined that 322 police officers and 642 soldiers were killed in Nigeria between Q4 2020 and Q3 2021. 973 Boko Haram members, 290 cultists, 129 vigilantes, and 100 members of the separatist group Indigenous People of Biafra also died during the same period. [Vanguard]