Jakarta, 7.4 magnitude earthquake with no deaths or major damage

Today's headlines: U.S. Secretary of State Blinken promises to strengthen ties with Southeast Asia against "aggressive actions by Beijing, Pakistan invites Afghanistan to the Organization of Islamic Cooperation summit, China sends one million vaccines to Nicaragua, in Japan protests against the U.S. military base in Henoko.

INDONESIA

There was a 7.4 magnitude earthquake that triggered a tsunami warningthis morning in Indonesia, later lifted by the meteorological department. So far no casualties or serious damages have been reported.

USA - INDONESIA

U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken has promised that Washington will strengthen ties with Southeast Asia in an effort to counter Chinese power. According to his statements, the United States will also strengthen (military) cooperation with Indo-Pacific countries in response to Beijing's "aggressive actions."

SINGAPORE

Dickson Yeo Jun Wei is a Singaporean citizen who spent 14 months in U.S. prison last year for spying for China. On his return to Singapore, he was detained again and later released after the city-state's Department of Homeland Security clarified that he poses no threat.

PAKISTAN - AFGHANISTAN

Pakistan has invited "the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan" to the Organization of Islamic Cooperation summit to be held in Islamabad on Dec. 19. An Afghan Foreign Ministry official said the meeting's agenda will focus on "the economy, the banking system and the normalization of Afghanistan's relations with the world."

CHINA

After breaking ties with Taiwan, Nicaragua received one million vaccines from China. Local media showed footage of an AirChina aircraft arriving in the Central American country with the first 200,000 doses from Sinopharm.

JAPAN

Demonstrators in Okinawa protested against the relocation of an American military base in the district of Henoko by paddling canoes and small boats off the coast. The governor of the prefecture has faced a long legal battle against the central government in Tokyo, but the relocation is part of an agreement between the US and Japan signed after three American soldiers raped a 12-year-old girl near Futenma (where the base is now located) in 1995.

RUSSIA

The Russian security services (FSB) have announced that they have arrested 106 neo-Nazi terrorists, belonging to the Ukrainian group MKB ("Murder Cult Maniacs"), who were preparing attacks in 37 regions of Russia. Weapons and explosives in large quantities were seized from the detainees. The group was founded in 2017 by Ukrainian citizen Egor Krasnov, born in 2000, is widespread in several former Soviet countries, and professes the theory called "accelerationism", which uses mass exterminations to hasten the extinction of the human species.

ISRAEL - UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

The Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett has met the Crown Prince of the United Arab Emirates Muhammed bin Zayed in Abu Dhabi   Talks focused on discussions the commercial relations between the two countries. The Jewish State aims at maintaining international sanctions against Iran, of which the Emirates are an important trade partner.