Key Storylines
- AFRICA: The Supreme Court of Kenya is due to rule on a controversial government-backed proposal aimed at amending the country’s constitution and potentially expanding the executive and legislature
- AMERICAS: Peruvian Authorities said they would comply with a request from the Inter-American Court of Human Rights to halt former President Alberto Fujimori’s release from prison.
- ASIA: Former Australian intelligence chief Richard Maude warned it may be too late to stop China’s proposed security deal with the Solomon Islands
- EUROPE: Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba could meet within two weeks for talks, after Turkey hosted negotiators from both sides earlier this week.
- MIDDLE EAST: Israeli Security Forces raided a refugee camp in the occupied West Bank, setting off a gun battle that killed two Palestinians and wounded fifteen others.
- TECH & COMMUNICATIONS: Facebook parent Meta revealed that last year they released user information to hackers impersonating law enforcement.
Top Story
- China: The Search and Rescue Crash Search of a China Eastern Airlines is Complete.
- China has completed the main search and rescue work at the site of a China Eastern Airlines plane crash last week and plans to complete a preliminary report within 30 days of the event.
- The two “black boxes” — the flight data recorder and the cockpit voice recorder — have been found and sent to Beijing for examination and analysis.
- More than 40,000 pieces of wreckage have been transferred for investigation near where the Boeing Co. 737-800 NG jet nosedived into a hillside on March 21.
- Investigators will try to piece together the plane’s final moments from images reviewing trajectory, altitude, the force of impact and air-traffic data.
- The head of the Civil Aviation Administration of China Zhu Tao said both black boxes of the crashed plane are being decoded, preliminary analysis is being carried out at the crash site, and debris distribution has been located and photographed.
- Reuters, AP, SCMP, Bloomberg, CGTN
Africa
- Region: US Ambassador to the AU Jessica Lapenn said the US hopes for “a strong African response” to Russian aggression and has plans to mediate the conflict’s economic effects in Africa. (AFP)
- DR Congo: Parliament voted to remove Economy Minister Jean-Marie Klumba, blaming him for rising prices and mismanagement of the fishing industry. (Reuters)
- Kenya: The Supreme Court is due to rule on a controversial government-backed proposal aimed at amending the country’s constitution and potentially expanding the executive and legislature. (BBC)
- Mali: The junta government has taken delivery of combat helicopters from Russia to help its army fight a bloody jihadist insurgency. (AFP)
- Niger: Authorities announced a plan to recruit 5,000 soldiers into the national army to boost its fight against various armed groups unleashing violence in the country. (BBC)
Americas
- Brazil: Federal police conducting a probe of alleged police interference by President Jair Bolsonaro concluded that he committed no crime. (Reuters)
- Cuba: A man who staged a rare protest over the detention of a dissident rapper has been slapped with a five-year prison term for disobedience and “enemy propaganda.” (AFP)
- El Salvador: The country experienced its first homicide-free day since imposing a state of emergency on Sunday. (AP)
- Peru: Authorities said they would comply with a request from the Inter-American Court of Human Rights to halt former President Alberto Fujimori’s release from prison. (AP)
- United States: President Joe Biden is preparing to order the release of up to 1 million barrels of oil per day from the national strategic petroleum reserve. (AP)
Asia
- Region: Former Australian intelligence chief Richard Maude warned it may be too late to stop China’s proposed security deal with the Solomon Islands. (The Guardian)
- China: President Xi Jinping strongly backed Afghanistan at a regional conference, while making no mention of human rights abuses by the country’s Taliban leaders. (AP)
- Hong Kong: Chief Executive Carrie Lam rejected claims that the city’s judiciary was losing its independence after two British judges resigned from the courts in the semi-autonomous territory. (AP)
- New Zealand: A man was sentenced to one year in prison for threatening to kill Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern. (AP)
- Philippines: A doctor accused of being a leader of a Maoist rebel group and held in jail for 40 days has been freed after a judge threw out the case. (AFP)
Europe
- Region: Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba could meet within two weeks for talks, after Turkey hosted negotiators from both sides earlier this week. (AFP)
- Armenia: Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan will meet with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in Brussels on April 6 to lay the groundwork for peace talks to end the decades-long conflict over the separatist region of Nagorno-Karabakh. (AP)
- Russia: Former US Marine Trevor Reed, imprisoned in the country since 2019, has begun a hunger strike, his parents said. (Reuters)
- Spain: The Popular Party (PP) will formally hand the reins to Alberto Nunez Feijoo, an experienced politician who will become Spain’s main opposition leader. (AFP)
- Ukraine: President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russia is planning a new offensive in the east after suffering setbacks near Kyiv. (Reuters)
Middle East
- Region: Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian met with his Qatari counterpart Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani to discuss the nuclear talks, regional issues, and bilateral relations. (Al-Monitor)
- Afghanistan: The UN’s aid coordination agency is launching its biggest-ever appeal for funds in hopes of collecting $4.4 billion to help the country. (AP)
- Israel: Security Forces raided a refugee camp in the occupied West Bank, setting off a gun battle that killed two Palestinians and wounded fifteen others. (AP)
- Saudi Arabia: A Turkish prosecutor asked a court to halt the trial in absentia of 26 suspects over the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018 at the consulate in Istanbul and transfer the case to the kingdom’s authorities. (AlJazeera)
- Yemen: Houthi forces said that they “regret” that Saudi Arabia has not given a “clear” reaction to their ceasefire offer, but said they were open to “any positive response.” (AFP)
Tech & Communications
- Cybersecurity: Facebook parent Meta revealed that last year they released user information to hackers impersonating law enforcement. (AFP)
World
- Cyclones: Nothing to Report.
- Hurricanes: Nothing to Report.
- Earthquakes:
- Tadine, New Caledonia
- Magnitude: 7.0
- Depth: 10.0 km
- Map
- Volcanoes: Nothing to Report.
- Global Disease Outbreaks:
- COVID-19 Coronavirus Disease: Global (as of 31MAR22)
- Confirmed cases: 486,945,975
- Deaths: 6,139,129
- Countries with confirmed cases: 192
- Sourcing: John Hopkins University
- COVID-19 Coronavirus Disease: Global (as of 31MAR22)
- Tadine, New Caledonia
Tomorrow’s Outlook (01APR22)
- Global: United Kingdom takes over from the United Arab Emirates as President of the UN Security Council.
- Cyprus: National Day.
- Europe: European Union-China Summit, virtual.
- Hong Kong: COVID-19 travel restrictions eased.
- India: Visit by Nepali Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba.
- Iran: Islamic Republic Day.
- San Marino: Investiture of Captains Regent.
- Taiwan: Halifax International Security Forum Taipei.
- United States: Norwegian-American Defense Conference in Arlington, VA.
- United States: President Joe Biden delivers remarks on the March job report.
- United States: National Emergency continues with respect to ‘significant malicious cyber-enabled activities’.
- Vietnam: Gasoline and diesel taxes to be halved to offset rising fuel costs.
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