South Asia
Vietnamese Missile Ship 379 participated in a training session with Indian destroyer and submarine chaser INS Shivalik last week. The three-day training session involved knowledge sharing, skills and abilities exercises, training for unexpected encounters, and implementing code of conduct. [VN Express]
Afghan authorities set fire to 20 tonnes of expired and substandard food on Saturday, which they claim had accumulated over eight months. The environmental health director of the Public Health Kunduz Directorate, Ahmad Noor Omarzai, said his department would take legal action against those selling low-quality products to prevent illnesses. [Khaama News Press Agency]
Central Asia and the Caucasus
The Russian Defence Ministry on Friday announced that it had successfully tested a new missile defence system at the Sary Shagan test facility in Kazakhstan. The move follows the United States and several Western countries’ decision to send Ukraine long-range missiles. [The Moscow Times]
Officials opened the only road connecting Artsakh [Nagorno-Karabakh] to Armenia on Saturday, hours after Azerbaijani officials in civilian clothes allegedly blocked the road on the claim of investigating illegal mining. Russian peacekeepers lifted the blockade after holding negotiations with Azerbaijan. [Hetq News]
East and Southeast Asia
The militaries of the Philippines and the United States (US) conducted a planning conference for next year’s “Salaknib” exercise, which aims to boost their readiness and interoperability. The Philippines also participated in a second round of talks with the South Korean navy to discuss joint exercises and ship visits. [Inquirer]
The United States’ director of national intelligence, Avril Haines, said that Chinese President Xi Jinping is hesitant to accept “better” western COVID-19 vaccines despite the challenges his government is facing in containing the infection along with mounting public protests. She opined that while the protests are not a “threat” to his rule, how the situation “develops will be important to Xi’s standing.” [The Guardian]
Europe
During a meeting with Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu in Minsk on Saturday, Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko described the Russian and Belarusian armies as a “single group of forces, a single army” with “no divisions.” He declared, “We are getting ready today. Everybody knows about it. We are not hiding it. In today’s world it is impossible to hide such things.” [BelTA]
Thousands protested in Valletta on Sunday to voice opposition to the government’s decision to amend Malta’s restrictive anti-abortion laws. Malta is the only European Union member that bans abortion under all circumstances, including in situations where the pregnancy threatens the woman’s life. [The Malta Independent]
French President Emmanuel Macron said on Saturday that the West must address Russia’s security concerns, such as the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s eastward expansion and weapon deployment, to bring Moscow to the negotiation table. The statement attracted criticism from several leaders, including Ukrainian presidential advisor Mykhailo Podolyak, who said that the “civilised world” needs guarantees against Russia’s “barbaric intentions.” [Euronews]
Latin America and the Caribbean
On the heels of his visits to Turkey, Russia, and China, Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel will visit St. Vincent and the Grenadines as well as Barbados and Grenada this week. While in Barbados, he will participate in the Caribbean Community (CARICOM)-Cuba Summit. [teleSUR]
White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan is flying to Brazil today to meet with incoming Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who will take the reins at the start of next year. The two sides will discuss a potential meeting between Lula and US President Joe Biden in a bid to recalibrate ties, which have taken a downturn under outgoing President Jair Boslonaro due to differences over environmental regulations regarding the Amazon rainforest. [MercoPress]
Middle East and North Africa (MENA)
Tadesse Wereda, the commander-in-chief of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), on Sunday said more than 65% of Tigrayan troops have withdrawn from Tigray as part of last month’s peace deal ending the two-year-long conflict. “Our army left the front lines and moved to the place prepared for them to camp. Our forces withdrew on vehicles and on foot,” Wereda said. However, the TPLF has stressed that it would not completely withdraw from Tigray unless Eritrea pulls out its forces from the region. [Reuters]
The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies decided on Sunday to continue with its October policy of cutting oil production by two million barrels per day till the end of 2023, a move severely criticised by the United States, which said cutting production would increase energy prices and help Russia fund its war in Ukraine. [CNBC]
Israeli President Isaac Herzog on Sunday landed in Manama, Bahrain, the first official visit by an Israeli president to the Gulf country, where he met with King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa. Bahrain and Israel normalised ties in 2020 as part of the landmark Abraham Accords, which also saw the United Arab Emirates, Sudan, and Morocco establish formal diplomatic relations with Israel. [Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs]
North America
Former National Security Agency contractor-turned-whistleblower Edward Snowden last week swore allegiance to Russia and collected his Russian passport. Snowden has spent nearly ten years in exile after exposing highly-classified domestic and international mass surveillance tactics used by the United States and the United Kingdom. The US security establishment maintains that he endangered the lives of security forces and secret operations, but Snowden insists that the leaks were necessary to shed light on how the government was encroaching on civil liberties. [TASS]
United States Secretary of State on Friday met with Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Ali Sabry, wherein the pair discussed the nearly $240 million in assistance the US has provided as well as the importance of debt restructuring and adhering to the conditions of the International Monetary Fund's bailout package. Blinken also pressed Sabry on economic and political reforms, with a focus on “transparency, inclusion,and good governance.” [US Department of State]
Oceania
A bipartisan delegation of Australian parliamentarians arrived in Taiwan yesterday for a five-day visit, during which, they will meet with President Tsai Ing-wen and other senior officials. The delegation is expected to discuss the island nation’s possible membership in the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for the Trans-Pacific Partnership. [Taiwan News]
New Zealand Minister of Broadcasting Willie Jackson said that the government is working on legislation that will require tech companies such as Alphabet’s Google and Meta Platforms to pay the country’s “small regional and community newspapers” for local news content that appears on their feeds. Jackson remarked that several of these outlets are “struggling to remain financially viable as more advertising moves online.” He added that the law will be drafted on the basis of similar laws in Australia and Canada. “It is critical that those benefiting from their news content actually pay for it,” he stated. [Reuters]
Sub-Saharan Africa
A Nigerian university student who was detained for over two weeks for alleging that Nigerian first lady Aisha Buhari, the wife of President Muhammadu Buhari, has embezzled public funds has been released after issuing an apology. He said that it was “never [his] intention to hurt [her] feelings” and promised to “change for the better.” He expressed gratitude to the first lady for her forgiveness, describing her as "our mother." Amnesty International claims the apology was made under duress, arguing that Mohammed was subjected to torture. [BBC]
South Africa’s ruling African National Congress party’s working committee met yesterday to discuss the future of President Cyril Ramaphosa and whether he should be allowed to contest in the party’s leadership election next year and the nationwide presidential election the following year if he wins the ANC vote. An independent parliamentary panel found that Ramaphosa likely violated anti-corruption laws and abused his power by concealing the theft of over $4 million in cash from his farmhouse in 2020. [Associated Press]