Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi rejected concerns about the treatment of the Uighur ethnic group, telling the UN Human Rights Council yesterday that genocide, forced labor, and religious oppression have never occurred (Al Jazeera) in China’s western Xinjiang region. He also invited UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet to visit Xinjiang. 

Wang’s denial came after British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab urged UN access to Xinjiang, where he alleged that abuses including torture, forced labor, and forced sterilization are occuring at an “industrial scale” (SMH). Separately, Canada’s Parliament voted to recognize (Guardian) China’s actions toward Uighurs as genocide, joining the United States in using the label. Similar efforts in the United Kingdom have been complicated by arguments over which body should determine genocide (Politico). Chinese authorities have allegedly detained more than one million Uighurs, who are mostly Muslim, in Xinjiang.

Facebook agreed to reverse its controversial ban on news content on its platform in Australia. In exchange, the Australian government changed proposed legislation (FT) that would require tech companies such as Facebook to compensate Australian media for news content.
 
This CFR In Brief looks at how countries regulate social media companies.

Afghan government and Taliban negotiators met in Doha, Qatar, and were asked to resume talks (TOLO) on an agenda for peace negotiations after a monthlong hiatus, a Taliban spokesperson said. Civilian deaths and injuries in Afghanistan increased after peace talks began in September, a UN report found (TOLO).
 
Malaysia/Myanmar: Malaysia deported nearly 1,100 people to Myanmar hours after the Kuala Lumpur High Court temporarily barred their removal (Al Jazeera). Advocacy groups had argued it would be cruel to send the people back to Myanmar, currently ruled by a military junta. Malaysia’s chief immigration official said the deportees returned voluntarily.

Thousands of Algerians protested in several cities yesterday to mark the second anniversary of the Hirak movement, which staged regular demonstrations before the pandemic and forced President Abdelaziz Bouteflika to resign in 2019. At least fifty-nine people were arrested, AFP reports.
 
Israel/Lebanon: An Israeli court issued a gag order that restricts media reporting (Jerusalem Post) on an investigation into an oil spill in the Eastern Mediterranean that has potentially irreversibly harmed (WaPo) Israeli ecosystems. Tar from the spill has also washed ashore in Lebanon, the Lebanese prime minister’s office said.

The Democratic Republic of Congo said it suspects (East African) that an exiled Rwandan Hutu militia killed Italy’s ambassador to the DRC, Luca Attanasio, and two others in an attack in North Kivu Province yesterday. Investigations are ongoing.
 
South Africa: A judicial panel investigating corruption during the administration of former President Jacob Zuma filed an urgent application (AFP) with the country’s Constitutional Court to jail Zuma after he ignored an order to testify. Zuma alleges that the panel is biased.

The European Union sanctioned nineteen Venezuelan officials (MercoPress) over December legislative elections that the bloc says were undemocratic. It also agreed to impose sanctions (Al Jazeera) targeting Myanmar’s military junta and Russian officials involved in the jailing of dissident Alexey Navalny. In addition, the bloc agreed (WSJ) to counter China’s crackdown on freedoms in Hong Kong.
 
This CFR Backgrounder explains how the EU works.
 
Georgia: Police arrested opposition leader Nika Melia (RFE/RL) and dozens of his supporters in a violent raid in the capital, Tbilisi. Georgia’s prime minister resigned last week over a plan to detain Melia. Yesterday, Parliament confirmed Irakli Garibashvili as the new prime minister.

Shares in Brazilian state-owned oil giant Petroleo Brasileiro S.A., known as Petrobras, fell and Brazil’s currency slid yesterday amid a plunge reminiscent of the early fallout (Bloomberg) of the coronavirus pandemic. It happened after President Jair Bolsonaro announced plans to name an army general (WSJ) to lead Petrobras.
 
Mexico: American authorities arrested Emma Coronel Aispuro (Guardian), wife of Mexican cartel leader Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, in the U.S. state of Virginia on charges for drug trafficking and helping Guzman escape prison in 2015.

Joe Biden will speak virtually (NBC) with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau today in his first meeting as president with another head of state. The White House said Biden and Trudeau will announce a bilateral plan focused on the climate crisis, the economy, military cooperation, and the pandemic.