LEBANON
The explosion of a weapons depot in the Palestinian refugee camp of Burj al-Shemali, near Tyre, caused casualties and serious damage last night. According to witnesses, about 20 people died. There are a total of 12 Palestinian refugee camps in the country under the control of Palestinian groups, off-limits to the Lebanese army by virtue of an agreement made years ago.
AFGHANISTAN
The World Bank will send US$ 280 million in international aid to Afghanistan to tackle the country’s humanitarian emergency. The money, which comes from a fund frozen after the Taliban seized power, will be managed by UN agencies. According to the World Food Programme, 23 million people are in need of urgent food assistance this winter.
CHINA – UNITED STATES
The United States added China’s leading developer of artificial intelligence systems, SenseTime, to the list of Chinese companies subject to sanctions. The company is accused of using facial recognition technologies to determine people's ethnicity in areas such as Xinjiang, home to the Uyghur minority. The company rejects the accusations, calling them unfounded and claiming it has been dragged into a geopolitical dispute.
INDIA
Indian farmers celebrated in New Delhi with a last demonstration their victory in the battle over the laws reforming agricultural markets, officially withdrawn by the Modi government. At the end of the rally, the groups that had been posted with their tractors at entry points to the capital for 14 months will return to their homes.
SOUTH KOREA
South Korea has been hit once again by COVID-19 with 80 deaths in one day, making it the most affected country in East Asia by the new wave of the pandemic. President Moon Jae-in asked the health minister to speed up the administration of booster doses of the vaccine; so far, 83.6 per cent of the population has received at least one dose.
RUSSIA
Russia’s Strategic Analysis Institute presented a report on the problems related to the green energy transition. Referring to the negotiations at the recent Glasgow conference, aimed at limiting the rise in the planet's temperature to less than two degrees Celsius by 2050, the think tank estimated that such an effort would cost Russia more than 10 trillion roubles, about 125 billion euro, a figure that would be difficult for the state budget to bear.
