President Barham Salih said he would resign (AP) rather than approve an Iran-backed candidate for prime minister who has been rejected by protesters in monthslong anti-government demonstrations.
 
Iraq’s protest movement, which led to the resignation of Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi earlier this month, calls for new political leaders (AFP) without ties to the current establishment. Following the nomination by the parliamentary bloc of mostly Iran-backed lawmakers, a rival bloc said it would not put forth (FT) its own candidate. More than 450 people have been killed and around twenty thousand others injured in unrest related to the protests, and government offices and schools are closed across much of the country’s south.

Authorities in Uttar Pradesh State issued notices to more than two hundred people calling for them to pay for damages (Al Jazeera) incurred during protests against a new citizenship law. An activist group denounced the move as illegal and indiscriminate.
 
In Foreign Affairs, Pratap Bhanu Mehta describes how Prime Minister Narendra Modi pushed India into revolt.
 
Kazakhstan: The country will now allow all births on its soil (UN) to be registered regardless of the legal status of the baby’s parents. The United Nations hailed the move as an important step in ending statelessness. Separately, a Bek Air plane crashed shortly after takeoff from Almaty International Airport early Friday, killing at least a dozen people (NYT).

In a leadership vote for his Likud party, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu comfortably defeated (Times of Israel) lawmaker Gideon Saar, paving the way for Netanyahu to lead the party into the general election set for March 2.

Gulf of Oman: China, Iran, and Russia are holding joint exercises (AFP) today through Monday as part of efforts to deepen military cooperation, China’s defense ministry said.

Voters will choose between (DW) former Prime Minister Domingos Simoes Pereira, from the country’s ruling party, and opposition candidate Umaro Sissoco Embalo in the Sunday runoff.
 
Zambia: Copper mining companies will soon be required to report (Reuters) the amount of gold they produce, the Ministry of Mines announced. Mining accounts for more than 70 percent of the country’s foreign exchange earnings.

The country’s top court ruled that Wikipedia may no longer be banned (Hurriyet), overturning a 2017 rule.

Authorities are investigating an attack (Reuters) on the offices of a comedy group that released a Netflix special in which Jesus is portrayed as gay. In a video circulated on social media, men saying they were part of a far-right group claimed responsibility for the attack.
 
Chile: President Sebastian Pinera said there is evidence that fires in the coastal city of Valparaiso that destroyed around 250 homes were intentionally set (Reuters).

The New York City Police Department is investigating (CNN) five possible anti-Semitic hate crimes during the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah this past week.