3.5 Years On, UN Rights Chief Still Waiting for China to Agree to ‘Parameters’ of Visit to Xinjiang

More than three years after the U.N.’s top human rights official first asked China to allow a visit to Xinjiang to investigate reports of mass-scale atrocities, her office says discussions on “parameters” continue, ahead of a hoped-for visit before the middle of this year.  Read

Launching Yet Another Missile, Kim Jong Un Appears to Be Ditching His ICBM Test Moratorium

North Korea’s testing Sunday of a medium-range ballistic missile, its most provocative action since 2017, prompted warnings from Seoul and Tokyo that the Stalinist regime could be on the verge of abandoning its self-imposed moratorium on testing intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs).  Read

China Accuses US of Using Pandemic As an Excuse to Interfere With China's Hosting of Olympics

One week from the opening of the Winter Olympics, Beijing is accusing the United States of trying to interfere in its hosting of the event, with state media saying U.S. concerns about strict pandemic control measures are a pretext to disparage China.  Read

State Dep’t: ‘If Russia Invades Ukraine, One Way or Another, Nord Stream 2 Will Not Move Forward’

 A senior State Department official said Thursday that the Nord Stream 2 pipeline “will not move forward” if Russia invades Ukraine, one of the clearest statements yet that the divisive project’s future is on the line, but words that stop short of saying that it will be scrapped altogether.  Read

Lawmakers to Blinken: Stop the UN’s Unprecedented Permanent Inquiry Targeting Israel

Members of Congress from both parties are asking the Biden administration to prioritize efforts to shut down the U.N.’s first ever open-ended investigation targeting one country, arguing that “yet another unjustified U.N. investigation of Israel” at a time of severe budget constraints is an irresponsible use of “precious resources.”  Read

Blinken: Paper Handed to Russia Reiterates US Position That ‘NATO’s Door is Open, Remains Open’

 The U.S. government and NATO on Wednesday provided Russia with separate written responses to its demands for security guarantees, and in both cases made clear there would be no compromise on the principle of the alliance’s door being open to aspiring new members that meet entry requirements.  Read

Kremlin: Putin Awaiting US Written Response to Russia’s Security Demands

Russia is awaiting Washington’s written response to its calls for security guarantees in Europe – including a demand for no further admissions to NATO – and will then decide on its next move, the Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday.  Read

Belarus Leader Justifies Buildup Along Border With Ukraine, Denies ‘Whipping up’ Tensions

 Belarus’ autocratic president said Tuesday that upcoming military exercises with Russia were not aimed at increasing tensions with the West, but he also spoke of the need to bolster forces along Belarus’ border with Ukraine where, he said, “the situation is getting more complicated all the time.”  Read

79,678: December Border Encounters With Illegal Migrants Not From Mexico/Northern Triangle Up Tenfold

The number of “encounters” with migrants trying to enter the U.S. illegally at the southwest border, and coming from countries other than Mexico and the Northern Triangle, hit a new record high in December – 79,678 – more than ten times higher than the same month in each of the previous four years.  Read

US Troops on Alert; Carrier Strike Group Under NATO Command For ‘The First Time Since The Cold War’

 Defense Secretary Gen. Lloyd Austin has put up to 8,500 U.S. troops on “heightened alert” as Russia continues to bolster its forces near Ukraine’s border, according to the Pentagon.  Read

Ukraine Crisis: State Department Authorizes Departure of Embassy Staff, Families from Kyiv

Amid fears of Russian aggression against Ukraine, the State Department “out of an abundance of caution” late Sunday authorized the voluntary departure of non-emergency employees at the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv and ordered their family members to depart immediately.  Read

Response to Russian Invasion Will be ‘Severe’; Response to Other Aggression Will be ‘Calibrated’

As the Biden administration continues to lay out its stance on potential Russian aggression towards Ukraine, Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Sunday used two distinct adjectives – “severe” and “calibrated” – apparently differentiating between the types of Western response likely in the case of various forms of belligerence.  Read

Lawmakers: Int’l Olympic Committee Must Affirm That Free Speech is ‘Guaranteed’ at Beijing Games

A bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers is urging the International Olympic Committee to “immediately clarify its policies on athletes’ freedom to speak” during the upcoming Beijing Winter Games, after organizers warned that participants who express themselves in ways that violate Chinese laws will be “subject to certain punishment.”  Read

Blinken Warns Russia Against ‘A Clear Attack On Ukraine, Whether It’s One Soldier Or 1,000 Soldiers’

As the administration continued efforts to clarify President Biden’s press conference remarks on a “minor incursion” by Russia into Ukraine, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in Germany on Thursday that even a single Russian soldier crossing into Ukrainian territory would be “a profound problem.”  Read

Leading UN Watchdog Says Facebook Has Dropped a Threat to Delete His Account Over Taliban Post

A threat by Facebook to permanently shut down the account of the head of a leading Geneva-based non-governmental group prompted an outcry this week – and the tech giant reversed an earlier decision to take down a post for allegedly violating its “Community Standards.”  Read

‘Disaster.’ ‘Train Wreck.’ ‘Incoherent’: GOP Critics Lash Biden’s Remarks on Ukraine and NATO

The White House quickly issued a clarifying statement on Wednesday evening after President Biden during a rare press conference suggested that a “minor incursion” by Russian forces into Ukraine – as opposed to an invasion – may not prompt a unified response from the West.  Read

China Dismisses Concerns About Olympic Participants’ Cyber Security

The Chinese government has slapped down criticism after several countries’ national Olympic committees advised their athletes not to take personal mobile devices to Beijing for the upcoming Winter Games due to hacking and surveillance risks.  Read

‘Diplomacy Is Not Dead’: Amid Deepening Crisis, Blinken to Meet With Russian Counterpart

After three sets of talks in Europe last week failed to bridge the gulf between Russia and the West over Ukraine and NATO expansion, the diplomacy rises to Cabinet level this week with a planned meeting in Geneva on Friday between Secretary of State Antony Blinken and his Russian counterpart.  Read

State Dept: Senate Nord Stream 2 Sanctions Bill Will ‘Undermine’ Transatlantic Unity Against Russia

 A year-long dispute in Washington over how best to respond to a Russia-to-Germany gas pipeline that has attracted bipartisan opposition in Congress is coming to a head, as the Senate prepares to vote on a new sanctions bill opposed by the Biden administration. Read

UN Human Rights Council Mum on Deadly Violence in Kazakhstan, One of its Members

 Mass arrests and the deaths of both protestors and security force personnel in Kazakhstan elicited a statement of concern Thursday from the U.N.’s top human rights official but the U.N. Human Rights Council – which Kazakhstan recently joined – remains silent.  Read

European Governments Ratchet Up Pressure, Mandates on Unvaccinated

Italy’s government on Wednesday issued a decree making COVID-19 vaccination mandatory for everyone aged 50 and other, while French citizens pondered President Emmanuel Macron’s assertion – using coarse language – to the effect that he wanted to make life so unpleasant for the unvaccinated that they would submit.  Read

Blinken: US to Raise Malign Russian Actions in Upcoming Talks, Including Invasions, Poisonings

 The U.S. and its allies will raise a series of malign Russian actions during interactions in the coming weeks, ranging from invading neighboring territory to poisoning opponents on foreign soil, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Wednesday.  Read

Following Drone, Rocket Attacks in Iraq, Pentagon Says Mission Shift Doesn’t Reduce Risk to Troops

U.S. troop locations in Iraq and Syria have come under attack for three consecutive days, and the Pentagon said on Tuesday the recent formal end of the combat mission in Iraq does not mean U.S. personnel there are “under any less threat” from Iran-backed militias.  Read

Is Nuclear Energy ‘Green’? Germany Miffed by EU Proposals

As Europe weathers a severe energy crisis, a European Union proposal to include nuclear energy in its plan to combat climate change is attracting opposition from advocates who object to nuclear power despite significantly lower greenhouse gas emissions than traditional sources.  Read

German FM Heads to U.S. As New Chancellor Reportedly Seeks Reset With Putin

Germany’s new foreign minister heads to Washington this week for talks likely to be dominated by the Russia-Ukraine crisis, amid reports that her boss, Chancellor Olaf Scholz, is looking to reset strained relations with Moscow and plans to meet with President Vladimir Putin this month.  Read

Russia Claims Credit As 5 Nuclear Powers Endorse Reagan-Gorbachev Stance on No Nuclear War

The Russian government on Monday claimed credit for initiating a joint statement by the five recognized nuclear-armed powers, pledging to prevent a nuclear war. Moscow expressed the hope it would help to ease tensions “amid the current challenging international security environment.”  Read

Finland Rejects Putin’s NATO ‘Ultimatums’; Reiterates That Europe Must Be Included in US-Russia Talks

As the U.S. and Russia prepare for strategic talks this month on issues including Moscow’s demands for an end to NATO expansion, Finland’s leaders are sounding a warning – don’t cut us and other prospective alliance members out of the deliberations.  Read

Anniversary of Soleimani’s Death: Ayatollah Anticipates ‘Retribution’ Against Trump

The Iranian regime is marking the second anniversary of the assassination of Qassem Soleimani with a mixture of praise for the venerated “martyr” and threatening rhetoric directed at the United States.  Read