An independent panel commissioned by the World Health Organization (WHO) documented how governments and public health officials failed to respond quickly and effectively (NYT) to the spread of COVID-19. The interim report specifically called out China (AP) for its slow response in curbing the spread of the coronavirus in January 2020 and criticized the WHO for early missteps, including not declaring an international health emergency sooner.

The findings came as WHO officials warned that global deaths from COVID-19 could soon top one hundred thousand per week (Reuters). The United States is on the verge of reporting an astounding four hundred thousand deaths from COVID-19, leaping from three hundred thousand in just five weeks (WaPo).

China’s gross domestic product (GDP) rose 2.3 percent (WSJ) in 2020, Beijing said, making China the only major world economy to report growth last year amid the pandemic. However, it was China’s weakest annual rate of growth in decades.

Thailand: A Bangkok court sentenced a former civil servant (Nikkei) to forty-three years in jail for sharing a post online that criticized Thailand’s royal family. It is the harshest-ever sentence for criticizing the monarchy.  

Gunmen killed two female Supreme Court judges (RFE/RL) in Afghanistan on Sunday. The victims’ families blamed authorities for failing to provide security. The Taliban has denied responsibility for the attack. U.S. and Afghan officials have blamed the group for a string of targeted killings throughout Afghanistan in recent months.

India: The country’s technology minister asked WhatsApp to withdraw proposed changes to its privacy policy (Reuters), creating a new hurdle for the Facebook-owned messaging platform as it tries to expand its reach in India. The changes would allow WhatsApp to share limited user data with Facebook companies.

Demonstrators fed up with high unemployment and a financial crisis have protested in several Tunisian cities (Al Jazeera) since Friday. Protesters have clashed with police, and authorities have arrested more than six hundred people.

CFR examines the legacy of the Arab Spring uprisings, including in Tunisia, since the upheaval began ten years ago.

Israel/Palestinian territories: The Israeli government approved the construction (Times of Israel, AFP) of nearly eight hundred housing units in settlements in the occupied West Bank. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged Israel to reverse the decision, calling it a “flagrant violation under international law.”

President Yoweri Museveni was declared the victor (NYT) of Uganda’s election last week, winning his sixth five-year term in office. The opposition candidate known as Bobi Wine—whose home has been surrounded by security forces since the election—has rejected the results, and independent observers questioned their validity.

CFR’s Michelle Gavin argues that the world should not look away from Uganda’s undemocratic elections.

Sudan: More than 130 people have died (AFP) in recent days due to violence between ethnic groups in the country’s Darfur region. The bloodshed came just weeks after a UN–African Union peacekeeping force ended operations there.

A judge ordered Alexey Navalny, a prominent critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, to be jailed for thirty days (NYT) following his return to Russia on Sunday from Germany, where he had been recovering after being poisoned by a nerve agent in August.
 
Netherlands: The cabinet of Prime Minister Mark Rutte resigned (Politico) on Friday over a child welfare scandal in which thousands of parents were falsely accused of fraud. The government will stay on in a caretaker capacity until a new coalition is formed, and a general election will be held in March.

Guatemalan soldiers and police used tear gas and riot shields (AP) to break up a group of migrants who had spent two nights stalled on a rural highway. Up to nine thousand migrants are believed to have entered Guatemala from Honduras last week.
 
Canada: The government is reportedly urging U.S. President-Elect Joe Biden against canceling the controversial Keystone XL pipeline (Reuters) that would carry oil from the Canadian province of Alberta to the U.S. state of Nebraska. Various media reports have said Biden is planning to cancel a permit for the pipeline.

Incoming White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain outlined in a memo several actions President-Elect Biden will take (Politico) during Biden’s first days in office, including rejoining the Paris Agreement on climate change, rescinding a ban on travel from several Muslim-majority countries, and issuing a mask mandate on federal properties and for interstate travel. Biden’s inauguration is tomorrow.
 
CFR’s James M. Lindsay looks at what Biden can accomplish.