South Asia
Nepalese Prime Minister Pushpa Kumar Dahal inaugurated the Pokhara Regional International Airport on Sunday. The China-funded $216 million airport is the first to be operational among Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative projects in Nepal. [Kathmandu Post, Twitter]
India and Pakistan shared a list of civilian prisoners and fishermen in another routine exchange on Sunday. Additionally, New Delhi and Islamabad participated in an annual exchange of details regarding their respective nuclear installations and facilities. In 1991, both countries ratified the Agreement on Prohibition of Attacks against Nuclear Installations and Facilities, under which both sides share a list of nuclear facilities annually to avoid any attacks on the projects. [MEA India, Associated Press of Pakistan]
Central Asia and the Caucasus
Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said on Friday that Azerbaijan and Armenia have made very little progress in resolving tensions over the Lachin Corridor, which Baku continues to block. She said Moscow would continue to take “consistent steps” to find a solution. For weeks, Azerbaijani protesters have blocked the strategic corridor, the only road connecting Armenia with Nagorno-Karabakh, accusing Armenian and Russian troops of stealing the region’s environmental resources. [Armen Press]
Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev fired the director of the Pharmaceutical Development Agency on Friday, following the deaths of 19 children who consumed an Indian-made cough syrup. “The death of children in Samarkand and Kashkadarya showed the state of affairs on the ground, the lack of control […] All those responsible for what happened will answer before the law,” Mirziyoyev said. [Fergana News]
East and Southeast Asia
China’s military incursions into Taiwan’s air defence identification zone (ADIZ) nearly doubled this past year. While the Chinese People’s Liberation Army made around 380 incursions in 2020 and 960 in 2021 , it sent 1,727 planes into the Taiwanese ADIZ in 2022. [AFP]
United States (US) Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that he discussed the US-China bilateral relationship and “maintaining open lines of communication” during a phone call with incoming Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang on Sunday. Qin has replaced Wang Yi, who was foreign miniter for the past decade and promoted to the politburo of the Chinese Communist Party in October. [Reuters]
Europe
On Friday, France became the third European Union member to announce stricter testing and quarantine rules for passengers travelling from China starting 5 January. Amid the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak and Beijing’s decision to lift travel restrictions, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom, the United States, Japan, and India announced additional screening requirements for inbound passengers travelling from China. [Politico]
Hungarian Minister of Regional Development Tibor Navracsis said on Friday that discussions on disbursing European Union funds between Hungary and the European Commission (EC) had been constructive. “We were and are willing to negotiate on everything; the deal will not depend on us,” he stressed. If the Hungarian parliament adopts a set of laws by March, then the EC could lift the suspension of funds in April or May. [Hungary Today]
Latin America and the Caribbean
The opposition legislature in Venezuela voted to terminate its interim government on Friday, effectively ending the leadership of Juan Guaidó, who led the resistance to the country’s authoritarian government for years. With 72 votes in favour, 29 against and 8 abstentions, it reflected that the opposition has lost faith in US-backed Guaidó’s ability to oust the current president, Nicolás Maduro, and restore democracy. [New York Times]
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was sworn in as the new president of Brazil for the third time on Sunday, after defeating predecessor Jair Bolsonaro, who went to the US on Friday to avoid the handover ceremony. Among other things, Lula vowed to revoke Bolsonaro’s controversial gun laws immediately, and “rebuild the nation and make a Brazil of all, for all.” [BBC]
Middle East and North Africa (MENA)
An Islamic State attack in Ismailia, Egypt on Saturday killed four people, including three police officers, and injured at least 12. The Egyptian military has been conducting security operations against ISIS militants in the Sinai Peninsula for years. [Associated Press]
On Sunday, the Iranian military used indigenous drones to hit simulated targets in the Strait of Hormuz as part of a large-scale military drill — Zolfaghar 1401 — that began last week. The stated goal of the exercise is to boost the military’s “self-confidence, power, and sustainable security” amid rising tensions with the West, which have been aggravated by reports of Iran supplying drones to Russia for use against Ukraine. [Anadolu Agency]
North America
After years of legal battle, the Democrats released former United States (US) President Donald Trump’s tax returns from 2015 to 2020, showing how he used the tax regulations to lower his tax liability. As per the records, Trump paid $641,931 in taxes in 2015, $750 in 2016 and 2017, almost $1 million in 2018, $133,445 in 2019 and nothing in 2020. Moreover, he appeared to pay more in foreign taxes than in domestic ones, with revenue reported in countries including Azerbaijan, China, India, Indonesia, Panama, and the United Arab Emirates. [Associated Press]
As a new law took effect on Sunday in Canada, Ottawa has banned some foreigners from buying houses as investments in the country for at least two years, excluding immigrants and foreign citizens with permanent residency, to offset the soaring real estate prices. “The desirability of Canadian homes is attracting profiteers, wealthy corporations, and foreign investors. This is leading to a real problem of underused and vacant housing, rampant speculation, and skyrocketing prices,” the campaign website of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberal Party of Canada noted this past year. [CNN]
Oceania
Australia has announced that it will temporarily require passengers from China, Hong Kong, and Macau to show negative COVID-19 test results before boarding flights to the country starting 5 January. Health Minister Mark Butler said it was due to a “lack of comprehensive information” about the situation in China. [Associated Press]
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced that up to 80,000 COVID-19 frontline workers in the country will receive a special military-style lapel pin for their “enormous contribution [...] often at great personal risk and sacrifice” in combatting the pandemic. [NZ Herald]
Sub-Saharan Africa
At least nine people died in a stampede during New Year’s celebrations in Kampala, Uganda on Sunday. Police say that “reckless” acts and “neglect” were among the causes of the stampede that occurred during the first New Year’s celebration after three years of Covid restrictions and security issues. [BBC]
A court in Mali sentenced 46 Ivorian soldiers to 20 years imprisonment on Friday for conspiring against the government. Forty-nine soldiers were arrested in Mali’s capital Bamako in July, three of whom were later released and have been declared dead in absentia. While Mali’s ruling junta accuses the soldiers of acting as mercenaries, the Ivory Coast maintains that they were part of a UN peacekeeping mission. These arrests have led to a major diplomatic dispute between the two countries, and Mali has courted widespread condemnation from regional allies. [Reuters]