Hard Numbers: Colombian violence, Ottawa vs Tehran, New Delhi’s weekend curfew, anti nuclear war consensus
23: At least 23 people have been killed in northern Colombia near the Venezuelan border in recent days amid violent clashes between rival guerrilla groups ELN and FARC rebels, who rejected the 2016 Colombian peace process. Among other things, the ELN and the FARC are vying for control of crucial drug trafficking routes.
5: Five nuclear powers and permanent members of the UN Security Council — the US, UK, Russia, China, and France — pledged this week to avoid nuclear war, agreeing that it “cannot be won and must never be fought.” Reaching consensus at this time is significant considering ongoing tensions between China and Russia and the Western states.
107 million: A Canadian court has awarded damages of $107 million to six families of victims killed when a Ukrainian airline taking off from Tehran was shot down by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in January 2020. Canada, along with four other countries, has given Tehran until January 5 to engage in negotiations over reparations to victims' families, but so far Tehran won’t come to the party.
37,379: Authorities in some major cities like New York and London say they are done with large-scale lockdowns. But not India’s capital Delhi: after recording 37,379 new COVID cases Tuesday, the highest figure since September, officials have ordered residents to stay home on weekends. Good thing omicron doesn’t spread Monday-Friday.