Key Storylines
- AFRICA: Sudan’s Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok met with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to discuss Saudi investment opportunities in the Red Sea.
- AMERICAS: A US prosecutor accused Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández of vowing to provide safety to drug traffickers using his country’s security forces and law enforcement agencies to flood the United States with cocaine.
- ASIA: South Korea agreed to increase its contribution to the cost-sharing arrangement to host US troops in the country by 13.9%, marking the highest annual contributions increase in nearly two decades.
- EUROPE: The Russian government is disrupting Twitter’s services in the country for the social media giant’s reported failure to remove “illegal” content from its platform.
- MIDDLE EAST: Pope Francis thanked Iraq’s people for allowing his recent historic visit and said they deserved to live in peace.
- TECH & COMMUNICATIONS: Russia’s Roscosmos and China’s National Space Administration signed an agreement to develop research facilities on the moon.
Top Story
- Global: Biden to join summit with Asia-Pacific ‘Quad’ leaders.
- US President Joe Biden will virtually join the leaders of “Quadrilateral Security Dialogue” countries Japan, India, and Australia later this week.
- White House spokesperson Jen Psaki said the meeting proved the importance shown by the Biden administration to US allies and partners in the Indo-Pacific.
- Psaki also said the leaders will discuss the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, economic cooperation and climate change during the summit.
- Representatives of the four “Quad” member states have periodically met since 2007, but this week will see the first-ever meeting between the leaders of all four countries.
- The four-country group is viewed as part of efforts to balance China’s growing military and economic power across Asia and the world.
- Reporting: Reuters, AP, AFP, Guardian, WSJ
Africa
- Nigeria: The UK vowed to return $5.8 million that was stolen from the country by former Delta State governor James Ibori, who was convicted of money laundering in the UK in 2012. (BBC)
- Sudan: Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok met with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to discuss Saudi investment opportunities in the Red Sea. (AP)
- Tunisia: The country received its first batch of coronavirus vaccines as authorities welcomed the shipment of 30,000 doses of Russia’s Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine. (AP)
Americas
- Region: The US said it is reviewing former President Donald Trump’s decision to blacklist Cuba as a state sponsor of terrorism but added that a larger shift on Cuba policy was not among President Joe Biden’s top priorities. (Reuters)
- Region: A US prosecutor accused Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández of vowing to provide safety to drug traffickers using his country’s security forces and law enforcement agencies to flood the United States with cocaine. (NYT)
- Brazil: The country reported a new record number of daily COVID-19 deaths with nearly 2,000 fatalities yesterday. (AFP)
- Mexico: Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard said the country is looking at China to help it overcome a coronavirus vaccine deficit with an order for 22 million vaccine doses. (Reuters)
- United States: Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin approved Capitol Police’s request to extend the deployment of National Guard members until May. (WaPo)
Asia
- Afghanistan: Russia said it plans to hold a conference in Moscow later this month to discuss the stalled peace talks between the government and the Taliban. (RFE-RL)
- China: President Xi Jinping called upon the military to be combat-ready in the face of “instabilities” and “uncertainties”. (DPA)
- Myanmar: Security forces raided the Mingalar Taung Nyunt neighborhood in Yangon, where railway workers are on strike in protest of the recent military coup in the country. (Reuters)
- South Korea: Seoul agreed to increase its contribution to the cost-sharing arrangement to host US troops in the country by 13.9%, marking the country’s highest annual contributions increase in nearly two decades. (Reuters)
Europe
- Region: European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced that Pfizer/BioNTech will provide the EU with an additional four million doses of their coronavirus vaccine in the next two weeks. (DPA)
- Region: The British government summoned the European Union’s envoy to the UK after European Council President Charles Michel claimed that the UK “imposed an outright ban on the export of vaccines”. (AP)
- Armenia: The government said Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s dismissal of Army Chief of General Staff Onik Gasparyan is now in effect, two weeks after his firing over an alleged coup plot. (Reuters)
- Greece: Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis condemned the violence of a group of young protesters angry over police brutality, who firebombed an Athens police station and severely injured one officer. (AP)
- Russia: The government is disrupting Twitter’s services in the country due to the social media giant’s supposed failure to remove “illegal” content from its platform. (AFP)
Middle East
- Iran: British-Australian academic Kylie Moore-Gilbert, who was imprisoned in the country for two years, said Tehran tried to recruit her as a spy in exchange for granting her freedom. (AFP)
- Iraq: Pope Francis thanked the country’s people for allowing his recent historic visit and said they deserved to live in peace. (AFP)
- Saudi Arabia: Recently released women’s rights activist Loujain al-Hathloul said she hoped a court would amend her sentence ahead of an appeals hearing. (Reuters)
- Yemen: The International Organisation for Migration urged the rebels in control of Sanaa to allow them access to dozens of migrants who were seriously injured in a suspicious fire set at a migrant detention facility last weekend. (AFP)
Tech & Communications
- Space: Russia’s Roscosmos and China’s National Space Administration signed an agreement to develop research facilities on the moon. (BBC)
World
- Cyclones: Nothing to report.
- Hurricanes: Nothing to report.
- Earthquakes: Nothing to report.
- Volcanoes:
- Nicaragua
- The San Cristobal volcano spewed ash that blanketed the city of Chinandega.
- Sourcing: AFP
- Nicaragua
- Global Disease Outbreaks:
- COVID-19 Coronavirus Disease: Global (as of 10MAR21)
- Confirmed cases: 117,641,483
- Total recovered cases: 66,677,462
- Deaths: 2,612,102
- Countries with confirmed cases: 192
- Sourcing: John Hopkins University
- Ebola Virus Disease: Guinea (as of 07MAR21)
- Confirmed cases: 18
- Deaths: 9
- Sourcing: WHO
- Ebola Virus Disease: DR Congo (as of 07MAR21)
- Confirmed cases: 11
- Deaths: 4
- Sourcing: WHO
- COVID-19 Coronavirus Disease: Global (as of 10MAR21)
Tomorrow’s Outlook (11MAR21)
- Global: The 1st anniversary of the WHO declaration of a COVID-19 pandemic.
- Global: The United States Institute of Peace will release its Global Trends in the Rule of Law Index 2021.
- Global: The UN Security Council will hold an open debate on food security.
- Global: The WTO will hold a meeting to discuss India and South Africa’s request to waive patent rights on vaccines, drugs and diagnostics for the new coronavirus.
- Global: The 137th session of the International Olympic Committee will be held. (to 12MAR)
- Europe: The European Medicines Agency will hold a meeting to consider the authorizing of Johnson & Johnson’s coronavirus vaccine.
- Europe: The European Central Bank will make an interest rate announcement.
- Middle East: Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will visit the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar. (to 12MAR)
- Cambodia: The Senate is expected to convene an extraordinary session to draft tougher COVID-19 laws.
- Canada: The country will hold a National Day of Observance to commemorate the victims of the coronavirus pandemic.
- China: The country’s top legislature, the National People’s Congress, will hold its annual session.
- Estonia: The government will impose a month-long coronavirus lockdown.
- Israel: Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis will visit and meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to discuss the response to the coronavirus pandemic.
- Japan: The country will mark the 10th anniversary of a 9.0 magnitude earthquake and subsequent tsunami that caused a meltdown at the Fukushima nuclear plant.
- Malaysia: The government is expected to start forcing people testing positive for COVID-19 to wear an electronic tracking device for 10 days.
- Mali: The trial of former coup leader Amadou Sanogo could resume.
- Norway: British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab will visit.
- United States: President Joe Biden will deliver his first primetime address since taking office to mark the anniversary of the country’s first coronavirus shutdown.
- United States: Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen will brief President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris on the economy.
- United States: Indian ambassador to Washington, Taranjit Singh Sandhu, will speak at an event organized by think tank Hudson Institute.
- United States: The son of Sinaloa cartel leader Damaso Lopez Nunez is expected to be sentenced in relation to drug smuggling charges.
- United States: Secretary of State Anthony Blinken will give a closed briefing to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
- Uzbekistan: Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov will visit. (to 12MAR)
END
