Ukraine

• Russia blamed its soldiers' "mass use" of personal cell phones for the New Year's Day Ukrainian strike in Makiivka that killed 89 of them (per the updated Russian Defense Ministry casualty count, which is lower than Ukraine's count).
• Russia bans its soldiers from using personal cell phones: ostensibly because their use can give away military positions - as it apparently did in Makiivka - but probably also because intercepted transmissions have revealed embarrassing chaos and confusion in the Russian ranks.
• A Russian war reporter criticized the Kremlin for blaming the dead soldiers for the strike that killed them, suggesting it was a premature accusation and "looks like an outright attempt to smear the blame."
• Meanwhile, Ukraine said it has killed over 800 Russian soldiers in intense fighting in Donetsk over the past day.

• The EU said its member states had "converged" on new measures "strongly encourag[ing]" all member states to require inbound travelers from China to show a negative COVID test. China has criticized the West for enacting such new "political" measures - even though it still has similar or stricter measures in place for incoming travelers.
• Separately, Quartz pointed out a new trend of Chinese carmakers vertically integrating into shipping logistics. China now exports about $13 billion of vehicles per year, which is about a quarter of U.S. car exports (though the U.S. also imports about three times more cars than it exports).

• Yesterday Myanmar celebrated 75 years of freedom from British rule. Now the country is ruled by a junta that has systematically discriminated against the Rohingya minority and imprisoned the opposition and journalists. The junta rolled tanks through the streets to celebrate independence.
• The precise moment of independence on Jan. 5, 1948 was 4:20 am: apparently an auspicious time of day for both Burmese astrologers of the time and stoners today.

• The Taliban government signed a deal with a Chinese company, Xinjiang Central Asia Petroleum and Gas Co., to extract oil from the Amu Darya basin in the north. It's the first known commodities deal the Taliban government has signed with a foreign company, and it's sure to be contested if and when a new government takes over.