More than three hundred boys are missing after gunmen raided their secondary school in the northwestern Nigerian state of Katsina on Friday, sparking fears of a mass kidnapping in a country that has suffered similar attacks before. Security agencies searched for the students all weekend, and parents protested (Guardian) in the streets of Katsina, calling on authorities to rescue their children. 

More than eight hundred students, all boys, studied at the school. No deaths were reported from the Friday attack. No one has claimed responsibility, though it is believed to have been carried out by a group of bandits known for kidnapping people for ransom (AP). The attack is reminiscent of those carried out by the Islamist militant group Boko Haram, which does not operate in the region (WaPo). In 2014, Boko Haram militants kidnapped more than 270 girls, drawing international condemnation and an online rallying cry: “#BringBackOurGirls.” The attack in Katsina sparked a similar call to “#BringBackOurBoys.”

Japan reported over three thousand COVID-19 cases (Reuters), a record, on Saturday. South Korea also reported its largest daily caseload—1,030 infections—yesterday, and schools in Seoul will close tomorrow. Meanwhile, New Zealand announced plans to establish a travel bubble (SMH) with Australia in March that would allow citizens to fly between the countries without quarantining.
 
China: President Xi Jinping announced during the United Nations’ Climate Ambition Summit that by 2030, China will cut its carbon intensity (SCMP)—which measures emissions relative to gross domestic product (GDP)—by 65 percent compared to 2005 levels.
 
This CFR Backgrounder explains global climate agreements.

Farmers throughout India began a hunger strike today (Hindustan Times), stepping up their nearly twenty days of protests against new agricultural laws. The government has held five rounds of talks with farmers’ organizations, but a stalemate continues.
 
Pakistan: Thousands of people attended a rally (VOA) organized by a coalition of opposition parties in the city of Lahore yesterday. Opposition leaders who have criticized the government since its 2018 election demanded Prime Minister Imran Khan’s resignation.

A business forum between European countries and Iran that was set to begin today was postponed (AFP) after France and other European nations boycotted the event to protest Iran’s execution of France-based dissident journalist Ruhollah Zam on Saturday.
 
Israel: The country established full diplomatic ties (TOI) with Bhutan over the weekend. The deal was not linked to recent U.S.-brokered agreements between Israel and Arab countries.
 
CFR’s Philip H. Gordon explains Israel’s latest normalization agreement with an Arab state.

Prime Minister Ambrose Mandvulo Dlamini died at the age of fifty-two (AFP) in a South African hospital after contracting COVID-19. The prime minister’s role is limited because the king names all ministers and controls Parliament.

Unnamed U.S. officials said that Russian government hackers breached the Commerce and Treasury Departments (WaPo), along with other U.S. government agencies, in a campaign that could have begun as early as spring. The FBI is investigating the intrusions.
 
This episode of The President’s Inbox podcast looks at how President-Elect Joe Biden will handle Russia.
 
UK: Prime Minister Boris Johnson and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen agreed to continue talks (FT) on a post-Brexit trade deal until the end of the year following intense negotiations in Brussels this weekend.

The government will end Cuba’s dual-currency system (Miami Herald) starting in January. The Cuban convertible peso will be removed from circulation, and the Cuban peso will be the only usable currency.
 
Venezuela: Fourteen people believed to have left Venezuela and headed to Trinidad and Tobago by boat were found dead (Reuters) off the Venezuelan coast. At least forty thousand Venezuelans live in Trinidad and Tobago, a majority of them having fled their country’s economic crisis.

Nearly three million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine created by Pfizer and BioNTech are expected to arrive (WaPo) in 145 facilities nationwide today. The Food and Drug Administration approved the vaccine for emergency use on Friday, kicking off the biggest vaccination effort in U.S. history. The coronavirus has killed nearly three hundred thousand people in the country.