The United States and Russia could salvage the New START treaty, their last remaining nuclear arms control agreement, which is set to expire on February 5. U.S. President Joe Biden proposed extending (AP) the treaty for five years. Russian President Vladimir Putin’s spokesperson said Russia welcomes the idea but is waiting to see the details of the proposal. Separately, a global treaty banning nuclear weapons enters into force today (Guardian), though none of the world’s nuclear powers has signed it.
 
Nuclear arms control is one of several issues that the Biden administration plans to focus on in its approach to Russia. Officials told the Washington Post that Biden plans to order Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines to assess Russia’s alleged interference in the 2020 election, use of a nerve agent on a prominent dissident, and bounties on U.S. troops in Afghanistan. Biden will also seek more information about the massive cyber breach of U.S. agencies, which officials believe Russia carried out.

Google warned that it could disable its search engine (SMH) in Australia if Parliament approves the government’s proposal to force digital platforms to pay media companies for news content. Lawmakers are expected to vote on the bill early this year.

Japan: Nearly six months until the Olympic Games are set to begin in Japan, officials denied reports (Kyodo) that the already postponed Games would be canceled due to COVID-19.

Prime Minister Khurelsukh Ukhnaa resigned and submitted a proposal (Bloomberg) to dissolve his government, a day after protests in the capital of Ulaanbaatar against the government’s COVID-19 measures. Protests erupted after a video went viral showing a mother being hastily discharged from a maternity hospital because she tested positive for COVID-19.

India: The government has in recent days shipped more than three million free doses of (WaPo) COVID-19 vaccines to neighboring countries, including Bangladesh, the Maldives, and Nepal. It plans to ship more to other nations. India started vaccinating its own population last weekend.

This CFR In Brief examines the global COVID-19 vaccine rollout so far.

The self-proclaimed Islamic State said it was responsible for a suicide bombing (Al Jazeera) in the Iraqi capital yesterday that killed more than thirty people and injured over one hundred. It was Iraq’s deadliest suicide bombing in nearly three years.

Israel/Syria: Syrian state media reported that Israeli air strikes in the region of Hama killed four people (Reuters). In recent years, Israel has launched hundreds of air strikes in Syria against suspected Iranian military deployments.

The Central African Republic will enter a fifteen-day state of emergency (AFP) as armed rebels try to blockade the capital of Bangui. Rebel groups have recently increased violence in a bid to oust President Faustin-Archange Touadera, who was reelected in December.

South Africa: The country will have to pay nearly 2.5 times more (Guardian) than most European nations for the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, South Africa’s health ministry said. South Africa, hit hard by the coronavirus, has ordered more than one million shots that will cost $5.25 each, a health official said. AstraZeneca did not immediately confirm the price.

It became the first European Union country to approve the Russian COVID-19 vaccine (FT) known as Sputnik V, said Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s chief of staff, Gergely Gulyas. Gulyas criticized the EU vaccine program as being too slow.

Honduran migrants whom Guatemalan authorities blocked from caravanning toward the United States plan to march today (Reuters) against the Honduran government in the capital, Tegucigalpa. Guatemalan authorities returned more than four thousand Hondurans to their country this week.
 
Canada: The country’s governor general, Julie Payette, and her secretary both resigned (CBC) after an independent consulting firm found that they created a toxic work environment. The governor general is largely a ceremonial position.

President Biden plans to sign an executive order (NYT) today that will increase federal food assistance to low-income families. He will also sign an executive order to lay the groundwork for increasing the minimum wage for federal employees to $15 an hour, and he will direct the Treasury Department to help deliver stimulus checks to millions of eligible people who haven’t received the funds yet.

This CFR Backgrounder looks at how COVID-19 hurts state and city budgets.