South Asia
Taliban Interior Minister Sirajuddin Haqqani said on Tuesday that the group is working to reopen universities and workplaces to women and girls. This came just days after the UN’s Thursday statement, which warned of “life-threatening consequences” of the Taliban’s restrictions on women. [Khaama Press News Agency]
India secured $1.22 billion in infrastructure loans from the Asian Development Bank on Tuesday. The Indian Finance Ministry said it will deploy the loans for power and transport projects in Tripura and Assam and improving metro connectivity in Tamil Nadu. [Reuters]
Central Asia and the Caucasus
Russian President Vladimir Putin held a phone call with his Kazakh counterpart Kassym-Jomart Tokayev on Tuesday. The duo discussed improving bilateral ties, particularly in the fuel and energy sector, and talked about their “strategic partnership and alliance.” [Kremlin]
Turkmen President Serdar Berdimuhamedov will pay a two-day visit to China starting Thursday at the invitation of his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying announced on Tuesday. [Xinhua]
East and Southeast Asia
South Korea’s Fair Trust Commission fined Tesla 2.8 billion won ($2.2 million) for failing to inform customers about the electric vehicles’ shorter driving range in low temperatures. [Reuters]
Hong Kong’s jailed Roman Catholic Cardinal, Joseph Zen, was given permission to go to Vatican City to pay his respects to the late Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. Zen, along with five others, was found guilty in November for failing to register a now-defunct fund that aimed to help pro-democracy activists arrested during the city’s 2019 protests. [Associated Press]
Europe
German inflation rates fell to 9.6% in January amid government subsidies on gas, a drop in oil prices, and an increase in the euro’s value. The inflation rate in 2022 is estimated to be 8.7% above the previous year’s average, the sharpest increase on record. [Politico]
On Tuesday, Bulgarian gas company Bulgargaz signed a 13-year agreement with Turkish gas company Botas to transport 1.5 billion cubic metres of natural gas from Turkey to Bulgaria annually, in the presence of Bulgarian Acting Minister of Energy Rosen Hristov and his Turkish counterpart Fatih Dönmez. Calling it “historic,” Hristov said that Sofia could now buy natural gas from “all world producers” and unload it in Ankara, which would hopefully solve the problem of insufficient infrastructure for unloading liquefied natural gas. [Novinite]
Latin America and the Caribbean
After Colombian President Gustavo Petro announced a six-month bilateral ceasefire with five of the largest armed groups in the country on 1 January, the National Liberation Army (ELN) rebels denied this declaration on Tuesday. In a statement, ELN said that although this “unilateral decree” cannot be accepted, it is open to discussing the proposal in the coming weeks. [Anadolu Agency]
As part of protests that have spread across the farming region of Santa Cruz in Bolivia since 28 December, hundreds of trucks grinded to a halt and lined up along highways on Tuesday, as protesters blockaded the routes with tires, branches, and stones. The protestors have been demanding the release of local right-wing governor Luis Camacho, who was arrested on “terrorism” charges linked to a purported 2019 coup against then president Evo Morales. [Reuters]
Middle East and North Africa (MENA)
A rocket was fired at Israel from Gaza on Tuesday following National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir’s visit to the flashpoint Temple Mount/Haram Al-Sharif in Jerusalem on the same day. The projectile failed to reach its target and landed in the enclave, causing no casualties. It is not clear who launched the rocket. Hamas had warned of “explosive violence” if Ben Gvir visited the site. [Times of Israel]
On Tuesday, an Iranian court indicted two French citizens and a Belgian national, accusing them of spying on behalf of a foreign government and working to undermine Iran’s national security. [Al Jazeera]
North America
Republican leader Kevin McCarthy on Monday refused to give up the House of Representatives’ Speaker race in any scenario after failing to secure the required 218 votes in three rounds of voting, becoming the first House Speaker nominee failing to win majority in his own party in a century. He said former US President Donald Trump “reiterated support” in a phone call on Tuesday, saying that Trump “wants to see the Republicans united to be able to accomplish the exact things we said we’d do.” [Associated Press, CNN]
In a phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday, Canadian PM Justin Trudeau supported Ukraine’s 10-point peace formula, expressing hope that “2023 will bring a just and sustainable peace to the people of Ukraine.” He further reaffirmed Ottawa’s commitment to provide Kyiv with humanitarian, military, financial, and other assistance for “as long as is necessary, to safeguard their free, democratic, and secure future.” [Prime Minister of Canada]
Oceania
Australian Treasurer Jim Chalmers said on Wednesday that Australia’s COVID-19 measures against travellers from China were “out of an abundance of caution”. He argued that there was “a lot of concern” regarding “the transparency and quality of [COVID-19] data” coming out of China. [Reuters]
New Zealand’s COVID-19 minister, Ayesha Verrall, said on Wednesday that the country would not require travellers from China to produce a negative COVID-19 test. “There is minimal public health risk to New Zealand,” she said. [Reuters]
Sub-Saharan Africa
Four security officials have been confirmed dead in a car bomb attack targeting former governor Ikedi Ohakim’s convoy in Imo State in southeast Nigeria on Tuesday. Although Ohakim was able to escape the ambush, Police Commissioner Mohammed Barde said that the incident was a hindrance to government efforts to restore peace in the conflict-ridden region. Experts say that separatists, identifying as the Indigenous People of Biafra, are becoming increasingly violent amid calls for a referendum. [Associated Press]
Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan lifted a six-and-a-half-year ban on political rallies on Tuesday, calling on opposition leaders to conduct their rallies lawfully and responsibly. Hassan’s predecessor John Magulfi, who died in 2021, had instated the ban that had led to several clashes between the police forces and opposition leaders. This move is part of Hassan’s 4R (Reconciliation, Resilience, Reforms, and Rebuilding) strategy. [Reuters]