Situation Reports

Malaysia announced plans to reform its anti-dumping legislation to counter an influx of cheap Chinese goods, Bloomberg reported on Jan. 17.

A Pakistani court sentenced former Prime Minister Imran Khan to 14 years in prison in a land corruption case, Reuters reported on Jan. 17.

The European nonprofit privacy group noyb, an acronym for "none of your business," filed six complaints against AliExpress, Shein, TikTok, Temu, WeChat and Xiaomi for unlawfully transferring European users' data to China, Reuters reported on Jan. 17.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a comprehensive strategic partnership treaty that includes cooperation on trade, defense, culture and science, though specific details were not publicized, AP reported on Jan. 17.

The U.S. Supreme Court rejected a free speech argument filed by Chinese-based TikTok owner ByteDance, upholding a law that will require the Chinese company to divest itself from the social media platform or face a nationwide ban by Jan. 19, NBC News reported on Jan. 17.

The European Union and Mexico updated their free trade agreement and enhanced bilateral trade and investments by slashing tariffs on agricultural and food products and eliminating non-tariff barriers to establish a level playing field in each other's markets, a press release by the European Commission showed on Jan. 17.

Executive chair of the International Steel Fabricators of South Africa Neels van Niekerk warned that up to 100,000 jobs could be lost in the country if steel manufacturing corporation ArcelorMittal halted its local production of long steel at the end of January as planned, News24 reported on Jan. 16.

Togolese Foreign Affairs Minister Robert Dussey refused to rule out Togo joining the Alliance of Sahel States, which Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso formed in light of their upcoming departure from the Economic Community of West African States, or ECOWAS, Jeune Afrique reported on Jan. 16.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban called for the European Union to lift sanctions against Russia, asserting that the incoming U.S. Trump administration would usher in a "new era" of sanctions-free relations with Russia, though he acknowledged such a shift would not come immediately, Bloomberg reported on Jan. 17, citing Orban's remarks to state radio.

Israel's security Cabinet voted to approve the three-phase ceasefire deal with Hamas, with the full Cabinet set to vote on Jan. 18, The Times of Israel reported on Jan. 17.