The Australian Parliament passed legislation that will force technology companies (CNBC) to pay media outlets for content the companies feature in their news feeds and search results. Social media giant Facebook had strongly opposed the law, banning users in Australia from sharing news stories and blocking content from Australian media companies globally last week. It reversed that decision on Monday in return for amendments to the legislation. However, the company said yesterday that it could block news (ABC) in Australia in the future.
 
The law has big implications for U.S. technology firms. Other countries, including Canada (CNN), could soon follow Australia’s lead. Meanwhile, the United Kingdom plans to launch (Bloomberg) antitrust investigations into Facebook’s practices, and leaders from Facebook, Twitter, and Google’s parent company, Alphabet, will face U.S. lawmakers next month to discuss their companies’ roles in misinformation.

More than five hundred thousand people registered to receive (Star, Asian News Network) COVID-19 vaccines yesterday, the first day of Malaysia’s phased vaccination campaign. The country has reported almost three hundred thousand coronavirus cases.

Facebook barred Myanmar’s military (NYT) from using the company’s platforms weeks after the armed services seized power. Meanwhile, supporters of the junta attacked pro-democracy protesters (Reuters) in the city of Yangon today.
 
This CFR Backgrounder explains Myanmar’s troubled history.
 
India/Pakistan: In a joint statement, the countries said they will strictly adhere (Dawn) to the cease-fire along their contested border in the region of Kashmir and other agreements. Though the cease-fire began in 2003, each side frequently accuses the other of violating it.

A study of more than one million people in Israel found that the COVID-19 vaccine made by Pfizer and BioNTech is 94 percent effective (WSJ) at preventing symptoms in people over age sixteen a week after patients receive the second dose.
 
Yemen: UN aid chief Mark Lowcock warned that war-torn Yemen will face large-scale famine (Middle East Eye) if the United Nations cannot raise the $3.85 billion it needs for humanitarian activities this year. He called on countries in the Persian Gulf to help fill the funding gap.
 
This CFR Backgrounder looks at war, stalemate, and suffering in Yemen.

The Central African Republic’s government said its military took over (Reuters) the western town of Bossangoa with help from Russian and Rwandan troops. The community was one of several captured by rebels loyal to former President Francois Bozize after he was prohibited from running in the December presidential election.
 
Nigeria: President Muhammadu Buhari greenlit the repatriation of Nigerian refugees (This Day) living in Cameroon, Chad, and Niger, according to the Nigeria’s refugee commission. The government is building housing complexes equipped with educational, work, and other facilities for displaced people.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan claimed that the military tried to stage a coup and fired the armed forces’ highest-ranking officer after a group of army officers demanded (BBC) that Pashinyan and his government resign. Russia called for calm (RFE/RL), and Pashinyan and hundreds of his supporters gathered in Armenia’s capital, Yerevan.
 
Turkey: An airline manager and two pilots were fined and given suspended prison sentences (WSJ) after an Istanbul court found them guilty of helping former Nissan chief Carlos Ghosn flee to Turkey from Japan, where he faced financial crime charges, in 2019. Four other people were acquitted or had their charges dropped.

President Nicolas Maduro’s government gave the European Union’s ambassador to Venezuela, Isabel Brilhante Pedrosa, seventy-two hours to leave the country in retaliation for recent EU sanctions (LAHT) on Venezuelan officials. It also formally protested the sanctions to diplomats from France, Germany, the Netherlands, and Spain, Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza said.
 
Argentina: The country’s month-over-month economic growth totaled just 0.9 percent (Bloomberg) in December, the worst such figure since the pandemic began. Surveys by the Central Bank of Argentina project that the economy contracted by 10.9 percent in 2020 but will grow 5.5 percent this year.

President Joe Biden revoked a proclamation (NYT) issued by former President Donald J. Trump that prevented many immigrants from coming to the United States on green cards. Trump claimed the measure would protect American jobs amid the pandemic, but Biden said it harmed U.S. interests.