North Korea has refused to answer routine calls from South Korean officials after threatening to sever all communication channels (Yonhap). 
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Pyongyang has been incensed by anti-North leaflets (AP) sent using balloons from South Korea. While announcing the move to cut phone lines, North Korean state media referred to Seoul as the “enemy” and said there is no need for discussions. Relations between Pyongyang and Seoul have deteriorated (NYT) since a summit last year between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and U.S. President Donald J. Trump ended without an agreement.

The country has begun resuming pre-pandemic life (NYT) after officials reported no active or new cases of the coronavirus. Its border remains closed and a contract-tracing program is in place.

India’s Supreme Court ordered the government to withdraw complaints and penal actions (Hindu) against migrant workers who violated coronavirus lockdown measures and to transport those workers to their homes within fifteen days. The measures have stranded thousands of workers.
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CFR’s Alyssa Ayers looks at how India’s coronavirus lockdown measures have hurt the country’s vast informal economy.

Afghanistan: People around the country protested police killings of Afghan migrants (TOLO) in Iran. Last week, a car carrying Afghan migrants caught fire after it was reportedly shot at by Iranian police. Three Afghans were killed.

Turkey and the United States reached agreements regarding the conflict in Libya (Al Jazeera) that could usher in a “new era,” Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said after a call with U.S. President Trump. Turkey has backed the UN-recognized Government of National Accord.
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Iran: An Iranian man who provided information to U.S. and Israeli intelligence services about Qasem Soleimani has been sentenced to death (Reuters). Soleimani, who led Iran’s elite Quds Force, was killed by a U.S. drone strike in January.

Mali’s government is investigating whether soldiers were involved in attacks on two villages (Al Jazeera) last week that killed more than forty people. Armed men wearing military fatigues carried out the attacks in the country’s Mopti region.
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Tanzania: President John Magufuli declared the country coronavirus-free (BBC), crediting prayers from citizens.

Russia and the United States will hold negotiations on nuclear arms (RFE/RL) this month and invited China to join. The New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, or New START, the last major U.S.-Russia arms agreement, is set to expire in February.

CFR’s Brian L. Sittlow explains New START.
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UK: The United Kingdom and Japan are set to begin negotiations today for a post-Brexit trade deal (BBC).

Critics lashed out against Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro after Brazil’s health ministry stopped reporting (NYT) the cumulative number of coronavirus cases and deaths. The ministry also revised Sunday’s daily death toll.
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Mexico: President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador nominated Jesus Seade (Reuters), who negotiated with the United States for the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement, to be director general of the World Trade Organization.

Democrats unveiled broad police reform legislation (WaPo) as protests continue over systemic racism in law enforcement. The bill would ban chokeholds, create a national database of police misconduct, and make it easier to sue officers in civil and criminal court. A funeral for George Floyd (CNN), whose killing by Minneapolis police sparked the protests, will be held today in Houston.

The head of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) warned that China’s rise threatens “open societies and individual freedoms” (FT), urging NATO members and other countries to resist “bullying and coercion.”