The China Development Bank will loan Pakistan an additional $700 million this week. The decision, taken on Wednesday, will boost Pakistani foreign reserves by 20%, helping the country mitigate its economic crisis as it secures a bailout deal from the International Monetary Fund.
India’s National Investigation Agency (NIA) arrested six in recent country-wide raids targeting Khalistani terror activities. The NIA further noted that several leaders of the terrorist group are leading anti-India activities from countries including Pakistan, Canada, and Australia.
The UN’s Special Rapporteurs on Wednesday raised concerns about the “continued denigration of the history and identity of Ukrainian people as a justification for war and hatred” by Russia. This includes the deliberate destruction of buildings “clearly marked” as shelters, museums, libraries, and churches. Although the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) has estimated that over 240 buildings appeared to have been damaged, the rights experts believe the number of attacks could be more than 1,000.
The US is reportedly mulling over releasing intelligence on China’s potential arms transfer to Russia for the Ukraine war. According to a senior western official, there “has been a certain amount of ambiguity about what practical help China might give Russia,” but the intelligence received by the US and its allies is “much less ambiguous.”
Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Jordan condemned the Israeli military raid in Nablus on Wednesday, in which 11 Palestinians were killed and 102 injured. Israeli troops entered the volatile region in the West Bank to arrest Hussam Isleem, a member of the Lion’s Den terrorist group, who is believed to have shot dead an Israeli soldier in October. Six rockets were fired from Gaza towards southern Israel following the raid.
A bipartisan group of Israeli lawmakers met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv this week and urged PM Benjamin Netanyahu to provide Ukraine military assistance, Axios reported on Wednesday. It was the first time Israeli lawmakers from the ruling and opposition parties unanimously called for Israel to change its policy towards Ukraine.
Australian Defence Minister Richard Marles and his Philippine counterpart Carlito Galvez discussed annual joint patrols in the volatile South China Sea. “As countries which are committed to the global rules-based order, it is natural that we should think about ways in which we can cooperate in this respect,” Marles told a press conference.
On Wednesday, Indonesia’s Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi announced after a meeting with her Chinese counterpart Qin Gang in Jakarta that the two countries will intensify negotiations on a code of conduct regarding the South China Sea. “Indonesia and ASEAN would like to produce an effective, substantive and actionable [code of conduct],” Retno said.
The deadly floods and landslides across São Paulo state, Brazil, which were triggered by heavy, incessant rainfall beginning on 18 February during the Brazilian Carnival holiday weekend, have claimed 48 lives, with 1,730 people displaced and 1,810 left homeless, according to official government figures. In addition to landslides, incidents of criminals looting aid donation trucks have blocked and restricted the amount of supply reaching survivors, as they scramble for shelter and basic necessities.