South Asia
A Hindu temple was set ablaze in the Karak district in the Pakistani province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Police arrested 14 people in relation to the incident. However, the mob who set the temple on fire was likely much bigger, given that over a thousand people have demanded that the shrine be removed. [Dawn]
India has sent 2,400 vials of the BCG vaccine to the Maldives in order to support the country’s National Immunisation Programme. The Indian high commission in the Maldives said, “India’s Neighbourhood First foreign policy has demonstrated time and again, willingness and ability to assist Maldives with speed and scale, in times of need.” [WION]
India’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, TS Tirumurti, said that counterterrorism will be a major focus for New Delhi as it prepares to take its seat at the Security Council. He said that India would not seek to use the Council to resolve “bilateral issues” with China, and said that Pakistan’s recent “anti-India propaganda exercises [...] do not pose any challenge”. [The Hindu]
Central Asia and the Caucasus
Azerbaijan has begun the supply of natural gas to the European Union via the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP), as the region seeks to diversify energy supplies away from Russia. TAP is a part of the $40 billion Southern Gas Corridor, stretching 3,500 km from Azerbaijan to Europe and draws from Azerbaijan’s giant Shah Deniz II field in the Caspian Sea. [Reuters]
East and Southeast Asia
After confirming that the new COVID-19 variant, which was first spotted in the UK and is considered to be 70% more contagious, had reached Taiwanese shores, authorities announced a one month ban on non-resident foreigners entering the country. [Taipei Times]
In a growing illustration of its recovery from the coronavirus pandemic, China’s GDP is expected to expand by 9% in 2021, putting it on the path to overtake the US as the world’s largest economy by the end of the new decade. [South China Morning Post]
29 Taiwanese citizens deported from Spain were sentenced up to 14 years in jail by a Beijing court for telecom frauds. Taiwan has called the series of deportations as an abuse of human rights. According to the Taiwanese government, several countries in recent years have deported hundreds of Taiwanese citizens accused of telecom frauds to Beijing. [Reuters]
Europe
The United Kingdom (UK) has officially separated from the European Union following the end of the Brexit deadline at the end of 2020. PM Boris Johnson said that the UK now has “freedom in our hands” and the chance and ability to do things “differently and better”. [BBC]
The UK reached a deal with Spain to place British territory Gibraltar in the borderless Schengen Area, as a result of which there will no longer be immigration checks at the border between Gibraltar and Spain. [Euronews]
Russian President Vladimir Putin delivered his 17th new year’s address. He warned that the “epidemic has not yet been completely stopped” but said that Russians could “overcome everything” and “restore normal life”. However, how soon normal life will return is unclear, given that only 38% of Russians have said that they plan on getting the coronavirus vaccine. [The Moscow Times]
Latin America and the Caribbean
Argentina’s agriculture ministry announced a suspension on corn exports until February 28 to ensure that there is sufficient supply for domestic consumption. Corn is also used as a raw material in the production of pork, chicken, eggs, milk, and cattle. As the world’s third-largest corn producer, this has raised alarm and fury among Argentinian farmers. [Merco Press]
Peruvian President Francisco Sagasti vowed to take action against the police who enacted violence against agricultural protestors demanding an increase in the daily wages of farmworkers. During the demonstrations this week, protestors and police clashed, leaving three protesters dead, and 28 protestors and 15 police officers injured. Additionally, 45 demonstrators were arrested. [Al Jazeera]
Middle East and North Africa (MENA)
Days after the United Nations announced that it would be bringing its UNAMID peacekeeping mission in Darfur to an end, Sudanese citizens took to the streets to protest the decision, arguing that it will worsen the security situation in the country and open up a vacuum for violence and crime. [Radio Dabanga]
Major General Esmail Qaani, the commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), denounced the positive relations between Saudi Arabia and the United States (US), saying that Riyadh is “living under the weight of humiliation” and is being ‘subordinated’ by Washington. He also reiterated that Tehran still feels a “need to avenge” the assassination of Qasem Soleimani, his predecessor, who was killed by a US drone strike in January this year. [Middle East Monitor]
North America
Ontario Finance Minister Rod Phillips resigned today after it was discovered that he had been vacationing in St. Barts in the Caribbean since December 13, despite Premier Doug Ford’s administration advising against non-essential travel during the ongoing pandemic. [Global News]
President Donald Trump has extended a temporary ban on certain immigrant and work visas for three months. The order includes a ban on green card petitions filed by US citizens for their family members abroad, as well as the H-1B, H-2B, and J-1 visas, which is likely to affect tech workers, seasonal agricultural workers, and au pairs and other short-term workers. This is to prevent the spread of the coronavirus into the US, but it is also an effort to push for jobs to be reserved for US citizens. [CBS News]
American citizens have begun to receive their $600 stimulus checks through direct deposits in their bank accounts. However, the $2000 checks are still being blocked at the Senate level. [NBC News]
Oceania
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has pushed back against what he described as “very dangerous” calls to expedite the approval of coronavirus vaccines. [Sydney Morning Herald]
PM Scott Morrison also announced a change to Australia’s national anthem today to honour the unity among the country’s 300 national ancestries, Aboriginal communities, and immigrants. He thus changed the second line of the anthem, ‘Advance Australia Fair’, from “For we are young and free” to “For we are are one and free”. [The Guardian]
Sub-Saharan Africa
On Wednesday, Ugandan opposition politician Bobi Wine’s team tweeted that he had been arrested alongside his entire campaign team while campaigning in Kalangala. However, the police have since refuted these statements, saying that Wine was merely “prevented from continuing to organise mass rallies” due to the “increased threats from the coronavirus”. [Africa Feeds]
Rwanda has taken in over 130 asylum seekers who were stranded in Libya. Most of them hail from Somalia, Sudan, and Eritrea, and while they can apply for Rwandan citizenship or return to their respective countries of origin, most of them are destined for Europe and North America. [The East African]
Guinean health authorities have begun administering the Russian-made Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine. Guinea has ordered two million doses of the vaccine from Russia, and has also ordered China’s Sinovac vaccine. [Africa News]
World News Monitor: 1 January, 2021
A quick look at events from around the globe.
January 1, 2021
SOURCE: THE NEW YORK TIMES