January 7, 2022

*) Peacekeepers of Russia-led military bloc begin Kazakhstan mission Russian paratroopers have been deployed to Kazakhstan for a peacekeeping operation, along with troops from four other former Soviet republics. The deployment came in response to an appeal from the president of Kazakhstan to help stabilise the country amid a wave of protests sparked by a fuel price rise. Reports of casualties continue to emerge from the oil-rich country. The media reported dozens of protesters killed while the Kazakh interior ministry said 26 "armed criminals" had been "liquidated". *) Trump's Twitter alternative TRUTH Social to be launched next month Former US president Donald Trump's new media venture plans to launch its social media app Truth Social on February 21st. TRUTH Social, the Trump Media & Technology Group alternative to Twitter, offers features to follow other people and trending topics. Its message equivalent to a tweet will be dubbed "truth". The app's launch would come 13 months after Facebook and Twitter banned Trump over his encouraging supporters to participate in the January 6th Capitol attack. ​​​*) Banned from Olympics, North Korea blames Covid and 'hostile forces' A letter from North Korea to China blamed "hostile forces" and Covid-19 risks for not being able to attend the upcoming Winter Olympics in Beijing. Pyongyang also accused the United States of trying to prevent the Games' success. But, North Korea had already been suspended from the International Olympic Committee until the end of 2022 in September for refusing to send a team to the Tokyo Summer Games. *) Almost 100,000 children lost parents to Covid in Peru Covid-19 has killed at least one parent or primary caregiver for nearly 100,000 children in Peru, its government has reported. "Unfortunately our country has almost 98,000 children who lost their father, mother or guardian during the pandemic," said Peru's Minister of Women Anahi Durand, citing figures published in the medical journal The Lancet. Peru has the world's highest