Other news of the day: India has detected 11 sub-variants of Covid-19. Millions of people hired to carry out tests in China have been left without work. The transfer of the Indonesian capital could become a “big ecological disaster”. Giving up Belarusian citizenship will cost almost twice as much. Iran closes the French institute. Russian dissident Viktor Feinberg has died at the age of 92.
CHINA-AFGHANISTAN
The Taliban government has signed a contract with a Chinese company to extract oil in northern Afghanistan. The agreement, which will last 25 years, is the first major one after the return to power of the “Koranic students”. A Chinese state company is also in talks to mine copper in the east of the country.
INDIA
India has detected 11 subvariants of Covid-19 in international travelers who entered the country between December 24 and January 3, sources from the Ministry of Health reported yesterday, adding that the data includes new variants and others that already exist. Of 19,227 passengers tested during that period, 124 tested positive. At this time the test is mandatory for people from China, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, South Korea and Thailand.
CHINA
Millions of people who were hired to take samples from people in China have run out of work These are pharmacists, health professionals, laboratory technicians or temporary personnel who are now mainly dedicated to selling rapid tests or other medicines to treat flu symptoms.
INDONESIA
Indonesia’s new capital, Nusantara, would be built in eastern Borneo to replace increasingly flooded Jakarta, and should be ready by the end of 2024. But the city could have a severe impact on the region’s biodiversity. Environmentalists fear it will become “a great ecological disaster“.
BELARUS
As of January 1, Belarus increased the consular fees for services related to passports, expatriation and identity that citizens request at offices abroad; for example, the renunciation of Belarusian citizenship will now cost 400 euros instead of 250, the renewal of the passport exceeds 100 euros and the divorce decree 200 euros.
RUSSIA
Russian dissident Viktor Feinberg, who was the organizer of the demonstration in Moscow’s Red Square in August 1968 to protest against the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia, has died at the age of 92. They immediately arrested him along with his companions and broke his teeth in the cell. He was convicted of “spreading false information and discrediting the authorities.”
IRAN – FRANCE
Iran closed the headquarters of the French institute in Tehran following Charlie Hebdo’s publication of cartoons mocking Ayatollah Khamenei sent by its readers in support of anti-government protests by Iranian youth. The French weekly published a special issue on the occasion of the anniversary of the attack on its offices in Paris.
