Key Storylines
- AFRICA: US officials are increasingly concerned that the junta will allow Russia to build a naval base on Sudan’s strategic Red Sea coast.
- AMERICAS: Former Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva signed a pact between his leftist Workers’ Party and the ruling Morena Party of Mexico.
- ASIA: US President Joe Biden and the prime ministers of India, Australia and Japan will hold a virtual meeting of the Quad that comes a week into the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
- EUROPE: President Sauli Niinisto called on Finland to remain calm while deciding whether to apply to join NATO as a defense against potential Russian aggression.
- MIDDLE EAST: An Emirati Diplomat said that Abu Dhabi and Washington are facing a “stress test” in their relationship as Russia’s war in Ukraine strains ties.
- TECH & COMMUNICATIONS: Amazon announced it will close all of its brick-and-mortar bookstores and pop-up shops in favor of its grocery and department stores.
Top Story
- Ukraine: Refugee Flows Top a Million as Russia Besieges Ukrainian Ports.
- The UN High Commissioner for Refugees announced that one million people have now fled Ukraine since Russia’s invasion.
- A growing tide of Ukrainian refugees fleeing a Russian invasion continued to stream into central Europe as volunteers and officials accelerated efforts to process arrivals whose numbers crossed the one million mark.
- According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), around half of the refugees are in Poland, with Hungary, Moldova and Slovakia being the other top destinations, while others have fled to various other European countries.
- The new total of refugees from Ukraine amounts to a little more than 2% of the country’s total population of 44 million.
- According to frequently updated UNHCR data, 1,002,860 have now fled Ukraine since Russia launched the full-scale invasion on Feb 24.
- AP, Reuters, NPR, TIME, AFP
Africa
- Guinea: The opposition threatened to hold demonstrations against the country’s transitional authorities over poor management. (BBC)
- Libya: Former interior minister Fathi Bashagha accused his rival in Tripoli of blocking ministers-in-waiting from traveling to the eastern-based assembly to be sworn in. (AFP)
- Mozambique: President Filipe Nyusi sacked six ministers, including that of the finance, in a major reshuffle. (BBC)
- South Africa: Satellite broadcaster Multichoice cut Russia’s RT news channel from its pan-African DStv service after EU sanctions forced the move. (AFP)
- Sudan: US officials are increasingly concerned that the junta will allow Russia to build a naval base on the country’s strategic Red Sea coast. (WSJ)
Americas
- Region: Former Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva signed a pact between his leftist Workers’ Party and the ruling Morena Party of Mexico. (Reuters)
- Brazil: Agriculture minister Tereza Cristina Dias announced a national fertilizer plan to stimulate investment in potash and phosphorus mines. (Reuters)
- Honduras: Lawmakers repealed legislation that critics dubbed the “official secrets law” for classifying public documents on national security and defense, marking one of the first efforts under a new leftist administration to curb corruption. (Reuters)
- Peru: A local community has reportedly blocked the road to the Las Bambas copper mine, the third such blockade this year. (Reuters)
- United States: Oath Keepers member Joshua James pleaded guilty to seditious conspiracy, the first January 6 rioter to do so. (WaPo)
Asia
- Region: US President Joe Biden and the prime ministers of India, Australia and Japan will hold a virtual meeting of the Quad that comes a week into the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (AP)
- Japan: Former Nissan executive Greg Kelly was convicted of helping Carlos Ghosn hide income from financial regulators. (Reuters)
- Philippines: Troops killed seven insurgents aligned with the Islamic State in a recent offensive in the southern province of Lanao del Sur and recovered 45 heavy firearms and several bombs and land mines. (AP)
- South Korea: The trade ministry announced that talks on a free trade deal with Mexico will resume after being suspended since 2008. (Yonhap)
- Taiwan: A massive blackout affected the island’s two largest cities, Taipei, and Kaohsiung. (Nikkei)
Europe
- Finland: President Sauli Niinisto called on the country to remain calm while deciding whether to apply to join NATO as a defense against potential Russian aggression. (AFP)
- France: Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drain expressed fear that the worst phase of Russia’s war on Ukraine could be yet to start, with key Ukrainian cities at risk of encirclement by Russian forces. (AFP)
- Romania: Two separate air force accidents kill eight army personnel in bad weather near the Black Sea. (AlJazeera)
- Russia: Ekho Moskvy radio station will shut down after it was taken off air over its coverage of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. (AFP)
- Spain: Hundreds of people tried to climb over the fence that separates the city of Melilla in North Africa from Morocco for a second day. (AP)
Middle East
- Afghanistan: UN special envoy Deborah Lyons warned that the country’s economy is nearing “a point of irreversibility.” (AP)
- Iran: Satellite images indicate the failed launch of a satellite-carrying rocket at Imam Khomeini Spaceport in Semnan province earlier this week. (AP)
- Syria: The UN said humanitarian needs in the country continue to rise with 14.6 million people in need in 2022 and an estimated 6.9 million internally displaced persons (IDPs). (Xinhua)
- United Arab Emirates: A Diplomat said that Abu Dhabi and Washington are facing a “stress test” in their relationship as Russia’s war in Ukraine strains ties. (AFP)
- Yemen: Houthi rebels fired ballistic missiles against a military base of the Saudi-led coalition in the country’s northwestern province of Hajjah killing 10 Sudanese soldiers. (Xinhua)
Tech & Communications
- Technology: Amazon announced it will close all of its brick-and-mortar bookstores and pop-up shops in favor of its grocery and department stores. (Reuters)
World
- Cyclones: Nothing to Report.
- Hurricanes: Nothing to Report.
- Earthquakes: Nothing to Report.
- Volcanoes: Nothing to Report.
- Global Disease Outbreaks:
- COVID-19 Coronavirus Disease: Global (as of 03MAR22)
- Confirmed cases: 441,048,833
- Deaths: 5,976,554
- Countries with confirmed cases: 192
- Sourcing: John Hopkins University
- COVID-19 Coronavirus Disease: Global (as of 03MAR22)
Tomorrow’s Outlook (04MAR22)
- Event: Atlantic Council discussion on Russian invasion of Ukraine.
- Global: World Ocean Summit Virtual Week
- Global: World Obesity Day
- Asia: US-Thailand Cobra Gold military exercises (to 05MAR)
- Belgium: Visit by Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
- Brazil: Rio de Janeiro Carnival (to 05MAR)
- China: Beijing Winter Paralympic Games (to 13MAR)
- China: People’s Consultative Conference National Committee annual session
- China: Long March 3C rocket expected to crash into the moon
- Europe: EU justice ministers’ conference
- Europe: NATO foreign ministers’ meeting in Brussels
- France: Paris International Agriculture Show (to 06MAR)
- Germany: German Chancellor Olaf Scholz visits Bundeswehr Operations Command in Schwielowsee.
- South Korea: Early voting underway ahead of presidential elections.
- United Kingdom: 4th anniversary of poisoned former Russian spy found unconscious in UK.
END
