The United States reportedly called for North Korea to join direct talks (Reuters) on its nuclear activities after Pyongyang tested an intermediate-range ballistic missile (Nikkei) yesterday, the largest in a string of launches this month.
 
The tests come ahead of South Korea’s presidential election in March and follow reports that Philip Goldberg, a staunch supporter of sanctions against Pyongyang, will be appointed U.S. ambassador to South Korea. South Korean President Moon Jae-in said yesterday that North Korea appears to be moving closer to ending a self-imposed moratorium (Yonhap) on nuclear and intercontinental ballistic missile tests.

In a new survey by the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of China, 66 percent of foreign journalists said officials had obstructed them from reporting (Guardian) at least once. They said they faced online trolling, physical assaults, and threats of legal action. 

Since the Taliban took over Afghanistan last August, its members or affiliates killed more than sixty-seven former Afghan government officials, security force members, and people who worked with international troops, according to “credible allegations” (AP) received by the United Nations.
 
India: Opposition parties said they will address Parliament (Indian Express) on the government’s alleged purchase of Pegasus spyware after a New York Times report said New Delhi bought the spyware in 2017.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog arrived in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) yesterday for the first-ever visit to the country by an Israeli president. The trip comes as ties between the two countries warm (Times of Israel) following the 2020 Abraham Accords.
 
CFR’s Steven A. Cook writes that the Middle East’s conflicts aren’t done with the UAE.
 
Iraq: Officials said government air strikes killed nine suspected members (AP) of the self-declared Islamic State after the militant group attacked an Iraqi army post earlier this month.  

Security forces killed one protester (Sudan Tribune) in Khartoum and wounded dozens of others during pro-democracy demonstrations across the country yesterday.
 
For the Africa in Transition blog, CFR’s Michelle Gavin discusses the protesters’ insistence on an end to military rule.
 
DRC: A military court in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) sentenced fifty-one people to death (AFP), several of them in absentia, over the 2017 killing of two UN experts who were investigating violence in the Kasai region.

With almost all votes counted from yesterday’s snap elections, the Socialists won 41.7 percent (Politico) of votes, ahead of the center-right Social Democratic Party’s 28 percent.
 
Italy: Lawmakers reelected President Sergio Mattarella (NYT) after six days of inconclusive secret votes. Mario Draghi, who was also weighed for the position, will stay on as prime minister.

OCP Ecuador began cleaning and repairs after a spill on Friday in the Piedra Fina zone of the Ecuadorian Amazon. The Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of the Ecuadorian Amazon said the spill has contaminated (Reuters) a river near a Kichwa community in Sucumbios Province.
 
Peru: The environment minister said more than eleven thousand barrels of crude oil spilled into the sea (MercoPress) following the volcanic eruption in Tonga earlier this month—almost twice as much as originally thought.

Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani today becomes the first Arab Gulf leader to visit the White House (WaPo) under U.S. President Biden. The two will discuss Afghanistan and Iran, as well as Qatar’s support for moving gas supplies to Europe amid tensions with Russia.
 
For Foreign Affairs, Dalia Dassa Kaye writes that Washington needs a new strategy, but not an exit strategy, in the Middle East.