More than one hundred million COVID-19 cases have been reported worldwide as dozens of countries work to quickly vaccinate their populations and new variants of the virus cause concern.

Just over one year since the coronavirus was first discovered, almost 1.3 percent of the world’s population has been infected with it (Reuters). It took only three months for cases to double from fifty million to one hundred million. The countries that have reported the most cases—the United States, India, Brazil, Russia, and the United Kingdom—and others are racing to ramp up their vaccination programs. However, many European countries have faced vaccine shipping delays (CNBC), and U.S. states have seen shortages. Low-income countries are scrambling to get vaccines at all. Public health officials are concerned about new variants of the coronavirus (WaPo) that are more transmissible, though scientists believe that vaccines will still be effective against most of them.

Chinese officials said that India’s ban on fifty-nine Chinese mobile applications, including the video-sharing app TikTok, violates World Trade Organization rules (Reuters). The Indian government decided this month to keep the ban in place. TikTok, which is owned by the Beijing-based company ByteDance, announced today that it will cut employees in India (CNN).

Japan: Clinical trials of the COVID-19 vaccine created by U.S. company Moderna have started in Japan (Kyodo). No COVID-19 vaccines have been approved in the country so far because it requires that they are tested in local trials (FT). Pfizer started a trial in October.

A spokesperson for Myanmar’s military warned that it could “take action” (Reuters) if its concerns over alleged fraud in the country’s November election aren’t addressed. He did not say whether the military would cooperate when the new parliament convenes next week, nor did he rule out staging a coup.

Kyrgyzstan: Authorities arrested former Prime Minister Mukhammedkalyi Abylgaziev on corruption charges (RFE/RL). He served as prime minister from 2018 to 2020, when he left office amid a steep rise in COVID-19 cases.

U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration plans to restore aid to Palestinians (NYT) and reopen diplomatic missions that were closed by the previous administration, said acting U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Richard Mills. Mills also reaffirmed U.S. support for a “mutually agreed two-state solution.”

This CFR Backgrounder explains U.S. policy on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Iran/Israel: The Israeli military’s chief of staff said that the military is revising plans to thwart Iran’s nuclear program (Haaretz) and that a return to the Iran nuclear agreement would be “wrong.” The comments were apparently in defiance of U.S. President Biden, who has said he could reenter negotiations with Iran to revive the nuclear deal, from which former President Donald J. Trump withdrew the United States. 

President Muhammadu Buhari replaced Nigeria’s top military commanders (Nation) amid widespread calls to do so as the country witnesses an increase in crime, including kidnappings and insurgent attacks. 

CFR’s John Campbell explains recent student abductions in Nigeria.

Mali: The military junta that ousted former President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita last year has disbanded (BBC). The junta had remained in place even after power was transferred to an interim civilian government.

During their first call since U.S. President Biden’s inauguration, Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to extend the New START treaty (NYT), the last remaining nuclear arms control agreement between their countries, for five years. It was set to expire on February 5. Both houses of Russia’s parliament voted unanimously today (AP) to extend the treaty.
 
Italy: Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte resigned yesterday (Politico) after the governing coalition that he led collapsed. He was set to face a vote this week that would have brought down his government. President Sergio Mattarella will begin consultations today to decide who should be given a shot at forming a new government.

The U.S. Justice Department rescinded the so-called zero-tolerance policy (AP) implemented by the Trump administration under which authorities arrested and prosecuted anyone caught crossing the U.S.-Mexico border without authorization. The policy resulted in the separations of thousands of families.
 
This CFR Backgrounder explains the U.S. immigration debate.
 
Peru: President Francisco Sagasti announced that the capital, Lima, and nine other regions will be locked down (Reuters) until at least February 14 as COVID-19 cases rise throughout the country.

All but five Republican senators voted against (WaPo) going forward with an impeachment trial of former President Trump. The vote indicated that the Senate will be unlikely to convict Trump for inciting an insurrection at the U.S. Capitol earlier this month. The trial is paused until at least February 9.