European Union foreign ministers are meeting today to discuss a response (RFE/RL) to Russia’s crackdown on protesters over the weekend, as well as its arrest of prominent dissident Alexey Navalny a week ago. Some countries—such as the former Soviet republics of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania—have called for sanctions on Russian officials.

Russia saw its largest protests (NYT) since at least 2017 on Saturday. Tens of thousands of people in more than one hundred cities rallied in support of Navalny, whom police detained after he returned to Russia from Germany, where he had been recovering from a near-fatal poisoning by a nerve agent. More than three thousand protesters were arrested (BBC), and human rights groups reported incidents of excessive use of force by police, including beatings. The United States joined European nations in condemning the crackdown, with the U.S. State Department calling for Russia to release Navalny and the jailed protesters. Russia accused Western countries of encouraging the protests.

Chinese warplanes flew through the Taiwan Strait (NYT) on Saturday and Sunday. Taiwan, which China claims as part of its territory, said it warned the planes and dispatched aircraft to monitor them, while the U.S. State Department urged China to stop pressuring Taiwan. Also on Saturday, a U.S. aircraft carrier entered the South China Sea, a large portion of which China claims. 

For CFR’s Strength Through Peace blog, Yun Sun explains why a U.S.-China confrontation over Taiwan is one of the top conflicts to watch in 2021.

Indonesia: The country’s coast guard seized two tankers (Reuters), one Iranian-flagged and one Panamanian-flagged, saying the vessels were involved in a suspected illegal oil transfer in Indonesia’s waters.

Indian officials said that a clash last week with Chinese troops along the China-India border in the Himalayas resulted in minor injuries (WaPo) on both sides. The countries have been locked in a standoff since June, when their deadliest border clash in decades occurred.

CFR’s Alyssa Ayres explains the China-India border dispute.

Pakistan: The military said it killed five members (Al Jazeera) of Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, including two senior members of different factions of the armed group, in two operations.

Talks over a UN-facilitated prisoner exchange between Yemen’s internationally recognized government and the Houthi rebels resumed yesterday (AP). The talks came less than a week after the United States labeled the Houthis a foreign terrorist organization. Yesterday, twenty-two aid groups working in Yemen called on Washington to revoke the designation.

Israel/UAE: Months after the countries agreed to normalize relations, Israel announced that it will open an embassy (Al Jazeera) in the United Arab Emirates’ capital, Abu Dhabi, and the UAE’s cabinet approved the establishment of an embassy in Tel Aviv.

CFR’s Steven A. Cook explains the Israel-UAE normalization agreement.

A court ordered the army and police to leave the compound (Nation) of the opposition leader known as Bobi Wine, who has essentially been under house arrest since running in Uganda’s presidential election earlier this month. The court also said Wine’s continued detention was unconstitutional. 

Mozambique: Around seven thousand people were displaced (AFP) and five thousand homes damaged by a cyclone that hit a region of the country battered by two other cyclones in 2019. Aid workers are racing to provide people with safe drinking water to avoid cholera, which broke out following one of the 2019 cyclones.

President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa won a second five-year term (FT) in the country’s election yesterday. Voter turnout was expected to near a record low, as the election was held during a national lockdown and an increase in COVID-19 cases.

Thousands of protesters in more than a dozen Brazilian cities demanded that President Jair Bolsonaro be impeached (MercoPress) over his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. Analysts believe his impeachment is unlikely.
 
For Think Global Health, a CFR initiative, Brian Winter examines whether the pandemic is a moment of truth for Bolsonaro.
 
Mexico: President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador tested positive for COVID-19 (AP) and said that his symptoms are mild. His response to the pandemic has been criticized. He has rarely been seen wearing a mask and has maintained a busy travel schedule.

President Joe Biden is expected to sign an executive order (WSJ) today that will make it harder for federal agencies to purchase imported products and encourage them to boost purchases of products made in the United States.

A new study commissioned by the International Chamber of Commerce found that if wealthy nations are able to vaccinate most of their citizens by the middle of this year and poorer nations are largely unable to vaccinate, then the global economy will suffer losses exceeding $9 trillion (NYT).