South Asia
The Pakistani Foreign Office released a statement applauding itself for facilitating crucial breakthroughs in the peace process in Afghanistan, including the deal between the United States and the Taliban and the Taliban and the Afghan government. This comes shortly after the Afghan government blamed the Taliban leaders, who were being housed in Pakistan, for acting as a significant obstacle to securing peace in the region. [Express Tribune, Arab News]
As India prepares to grant emergency approval for the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine in the next few days, several Indian states commenced trial runs to test their vaccine delivery systems. India aims to administer 600 million vaccines in the next six to eight months. [Reuters]
Central Asia and the Caucasus
The earlier claims made by Azerbaijan that six members of “an illegal Armenian armed group” attacked an Azerbaijani military unit in the village of Agdam in the Khojavend district adding that all of the attackers were killed have been rejected by the Armenian authorities. The Armenian Defence Ministry regarded the accusations as a “propaganda provocation,” saying it was “strictly observing” the Russia’s brokered cease-fire that brought an end to six weeks of fighting in Nagorno-Karabakh. [RFE/RL]
East and Southeast Asia
Ten of the 12 pro-democracy activists from Hong Kong who tried to flee to Taiwan on a speedboat that was intercepted by Beijing showed up for their trial yesterday in Shenzhen, China. The ‘Hong Kong 12’ group is being charged with illegal border crossing. [Hindustan Times]
The Vice Minister of the International Department of the Communist Party of China, Guo Yezhou, led a high-level delegation to meet with the top leaders of the Nepal Communist Party (NCP) to discuss the political situation in the country and prevent a vertical split in the party. The Chinese delegation also met with former prime minister Madhav Kumar Nepal, who has replaced Oli as chairman of the Prachanda-led faction. [The Tribune]
Europe
The Russian Foreign Ministry expelled Lieutenant Colonel Mitko Borisov, the Bulgarian embassy’s assistant military attaché, after Sofia expelled the Russian military attaché “due to actions incompatible with his diplomatic status” earlier this month. He was the sixth Russian diplomat to be expelled by Bulgaria since October 2019 due to suspicion of espionage. [Euronews]
According to the spokesperson for the German Presidency of the Council of the European Union, the bloc’s ambassadors have “unanimously approved” the “provisional application” of the Brexit trade deal that was signed between the United Kingdom and the European Union. [Politico]
Latin America and the Caribbean
It is estimated that Venezuela’s heavily-sanctioned oil industry would require $3 billion to reach a production capacity of 1.3 million barrels per day (bpd). Crippling sanctions by Washington on state-owned oil company PDVSA have caused oil production to plummet from 1.9 million bpd in 2017 to around 800,000 bpd in 2019. [Latin American Herald Tribune]
Argentina will begin vaccinating its citizens against the coronavirus using the Russian-made Sputnik V vaccine starting today. Last week, the country received a shipment of 300,000 doses. At this stage, the plan is to administer the vaccine to health personnel and at-risk individuals first. [MercoPress]
US President Donald Trump signed a bill that has reduced foreign military aid to El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras. The countries are now set to receive the same level of assistance as countries like Israel and Egypt, and the plan has been criticised for undermining the US’ efforts to support its regional allies. [Associated Press]
Middle East and North Africa (MENA)
Reuters photographer Kumerra Gemechu was arrested by the federal police in Ethiopia; his arrest follows a similar incident on December 16 when another Reuters photographer, Tiksa Negeri, was assaulted by Ethiopian police officers. Reuters Editor-in-Chief , Stephen J. Adler, condemned the arrest of Gemechu and stressed that the outlet focuses on reporting in a “fair, independent, and unbiased way” and said that there was “no basis for [Kumerra's] detention”. [Reuters]
On Monday, Saudi Arabia extended a ban on entry to the Kingdom by air, land and sea for another week amid concerns over a fast-spreading variant of the new coronavirus. Previously, the ban was imposed until December 28, with international flights being allowed to leave the country. Under the new ban, non-citizens are allowed to leave the country and entry is allowed only in exceptional cases. [Dawn]
North America
The House approved the $2,000 coronavirus pandemic stimulus checks today, massively increasing the $600 checks that President Donald Trump signed off on over the weekend. The bill passed via a 275-134 vote, indicating that several Republicans supported the bill as well. The fate of the bill now rests in the hands of the Republican-controlled Senate. [USA Today]
Also on Monday, the House voted to overrule President Trump’s veto of the $740 billion defense authorisation bill, after Trump attempted to remove sections that extend liability protections to tech companies and call for military bases named after Confederate leaders to be renamed. [NBC News]
Oceania
Australian Health Minister Greg Hunt expects and hopes that Australians will be vaccinated agains the cornavirus by the end of October. The vaccine is being provided free of charge and is voluntary, despite Prime Minister Scott Morrison earlier hinting that it could be made mandatory. [7 News]
It is estimated that up to 150 contractors in South Australia, including workers and haulage-truck operators, have lost their jobs as a result of China's bans on Australian timber exports; 100 people have lost their jobs in Tasmania as well. It is expected that similar job losses will soon be reported in New South Wales, Western Australia, Victoria, and Queensland. [ABC News]
Sub-Saharan Africa
Electoral authorities in Niger have begun counting the votes from the recently concluded election. President Mahamadou Issoufou, who was elected into power in 2011, has agreed to step down from power and hand over power to Mohamed Bazom, the former interior and foreign minister. [Africa News]
South Africa has now recorded more than one million coronavirus cases and recently reported that the new variant of the virus has been found in the country. Close to 27,000 South Africans have died from COVID-19. [Africa Feeds]
World News Monitor: 29 December, 2020
A quick look at events from around the globe.
December 29, 2020
SOURCE: REUTERS