BLACKWATER USA | DAILY BRIEF

Posted by BW Actual on Dec 28th 2022

BLACKWATER USA | DAILY BRIEF

Russia

  • Pres. Putin announced a response to the new $60 per barrel price cap for Russian oil: Russia will ban oil exports to any countries that agreed to the price cap. In reality, all the countries that agreed to the price cap have already banned Russian oil imports, so Putin's ban is a moot point.
China
  • Japan said it will require travelers from mainland China to show a negative COVID test to enter Japan, starting Dec. 30.
  • The U.S. is also considering new travel measures for visitors from China over concerns about China's lack of transparent COVID data and the possibility of new variants emerging from the rampant spread of COVID within China.
DRC
  • A military court in Ituri sentenced eight Congolese soldiers - including two colonels - and a civilian to death for organizing and carrying out a robbery of a Chinese mining convoy in March 2022. Those sentenced can still appeal and will probably see their death sentence commuted to life in prison.
Afghanistan
  • The UN Security Council denounced the Taliban's latest announcements banning women from attending university or working at non-governmental organizations and called on the Taliban to reverse the bans. The Taliban prefers to ignore international opprobrium, so it's unlikely to lift the bans.
Other News
  • Serbia's Pres. Vucic placed his army on its "highest level of combat readiness" to potentially intervene in northern Kosovo, where ethnic Serbs have sought to isolate themselves from the Albanian majority with roadblocks.
  • This latest round of tensions was sparked a few weeks ago when an ethnic Serbian former Kosovo police officer was arrested and his fellow ethnic Serbs mounted roadblocks in protest. Despite calls to stand down, they've only added new roadblocks since. The EU is calling for "maximum restraint and immediate action" from both sides.