South Asia
Around 30 women protestors gathered at a mosque in Kabul to protest against the Taliban’s treatment of women and repeated attacks on soldiers who worked for the previous United States-backed government. The Taliban arrested several journalists and photographers attempting to cover the demonstrations and confiscated their equipment and deleted the photographs. [Al Jazeera]
India provided emergency use approval to two new vaccines—Corbevax and Covovax—along with an antiviral COVID-19 pill, Molnupiravir, on Tuesday. India’s first mRNA and nasal vaccines are also in their final phases of trials and are likely to be assessed for emergency use next year. [Times of India]
Central Asia and the Caucasus
The Georgian parliament is set to vote on banning an independent human rights and data protection watchdog. The move was opposed by the Georgian opposition and civil society members and concerns were raised against it by the United Nations (UN) and the United States. The UN Human Rights Council said that it was ‘deeply concerned’ about the proposal to ban an organisation that plays a key part in reporting torture, referring to reports of the torture of jailed former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili. [RFE/RL]
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan participated in an informal meeting of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) member states in St. Petersburg on Tuesday. The meeting was hosted by Russian President Vladimir Putin and attended by the leaders of Belarus, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. [Public Radio of Armenia]
East and Southeast Asia
Hong Kong police arrested six members of Stand News, a news organisation that is critical of China and the Hong Kong government, under a colonial-era law of “conspiracy to print or distribute seditious materials.” This followed a six-hour raid of the outlet's office by over 100 officers. [South China Morning Post]
Taiwanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Joanne Ou thanked the United States for its support, ater Joe Biden signed the $770 billion National Defense Authorization Act into law on Monday. The Act focuses greatly on countering China and protecting Taiwan’s security, and also advises the government to invite Taiwan to join the Rim of the Pacific Exercise. [Taipei Times]
Europe
On Tuesday, Russian media reported that Ksenia Fadeyeva, a former coordinator for jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, had been detained in Tomsk, Siberia for allegedly forming an extremist group. Similarly, authorities in the Siberian city of Irkutsk also detained Zakhar Sarapulov, Navalny’s former regional head. Earlier this year, Russian courts blacklisted Navalny’s anti-Corruption Foundation on ‘extremism’ charges. [The Moscow Times]
European Commission Vice President Maroš Šefčovič said the United Kingdom’s threat to withdraw from post-Brexit trade rules on Northern Ireland are “enormously disruptive” and warned that the entire deal would collapse if the trade rules are cancelled. He also said that Britain’s threat to invoke Article 16 of the Northern Ireland Protocol would severely affect Northern Ireland’s economy. [Politico]
Pharmacies across the United Kingdom have been struggling to combat the growing shortages of the COVID-19 lateral flow tests (LFT) amid supply-chain disruptions caused by Christmas and Boxing Day holidays. In addition, government websites are also showing that there are no slots available for PCR tests and walk-in LFTs. [The Guardian]
Latin America and the Caribbean
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has called on the country's armed forces to ensure that the country becomes “100 per cent free [...] of Colombian armed drug-trafficking terrorists” in 2022. Back in March, fighting between Colombian ‘irregular groups’ and the armed forces in the Apure state left 29 dead, of which 29 were Venezuelan troops. [Telesur]
At least 20 people have been killed and over 50,000 have been displaced by heavy floods in northeastern Brazil. President Jair Bolsonaro is expected to visit the Bahia state in the new year. [The New York Times]
Middle East and North Africa (MENA)
On Tuesday, hundreds of troops loyal to Somali Prime Minister (PM) Mohammed Hussein Roble camped near the residence of President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed ‘Farmaajo’. The move came a day after the President suspended all executive powers of the PM, who has accused Farmaajo of plotting an “open coup attempt” against the government. [Reuters]
Israeli warplanes on Tuesday fired several missiles at the Syrian port of Latakia, causing large explosions and fires. In doing so, Israel targeted Latakia for the second time in a month, citing Iranian weapons shipments to Lebanese militant group Hezbollah via the strategic port. [Times of Israel]
North America
United States (US) Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin on Tuesday ordered a fleet of six Navy vessels to remain in the Mediterranean Sea instead of making their way towards the Middle East. A defence official said the move indicates the need for a “persistent presence” in Europe, as Washington and its Western allies remain worried over a possible Russian invasion of Ukraine due to Moscow’s troop build-up along the Ukrainian border. [Associated Press]
On Tuesday, the House committee investigating the January 6 Capitol Riots acceded to requests by the Biden administration to ‘delay’ or ‘withdraw’ the release of Trump-era White House records on the insurrection due to the risk it may pose to national security. Biden, however, has rejected Trump’s call for all internal White House documents on the riots to be withheld due to ‘executive privilege.’ [The New York Times]
Oceania
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison will convene a meeting of his cabinet on Thursday to discuss several issues related to the rampant spread of the Omicron variant of the COVID-19. Morrison could discuss potential changes to the definition of “close contact” and update guidelines around when people should get tested for COVID-19. [News.com.au]
New Zealand’s Ministry of Health deemed the Delta variant of COVID-19 to be the biggest threat to the country and said it is too early to predict the community spread of the newer Omicron variant. New Zealand has recorded 16 new cases at the border, including five with the Omicron variant. The total Omicront cases identified at the country’s border stands at 54. [NZ Herald]
Sub-Saharan Africa
A military tribunal in Cameroon has sentenced to jail 47 supporters of opposition leader Maurice Kamto’s Movement for the Rebirth of Cameroon and other opposition parties who had planned protests against President Paul Biya back in September. At the time, over 500 people were arrested, of which 124 remain in detention. The dozens of people were sentenced on charges of “attempted insurrection.” Kamto was the runner-up in the 2018 election and was imprisoned in January 2019, although he was later released. Biya, meanwhile, has been in power since 1982. [The East African]
A South African High Court has suspended oil giant Shell’s seismic testing for oil and gas along the country’s eastern coast. The case now awaits a final ruling. Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe, however, has said that opponents of the project will harm South Africa’s access to crucial energy resources. [BBC]