South Asia
Three healthcare workers in Afghanistan who had been participating in the polio vaccination drive were shot dead in Jalalabad. The incident occurred on the second day of the recently launched five-day anti-polio drive, which the country has been struggling to successfully conduct due to the COVID-19 pandemic. [Al Jazeera]
India attended the virtual meeting of the Group of Seven (G7) Sherpas on Tuesday. The meeting was also attended by representatives from France, Canada, Japan, Italy, the United States, and the United Kingdom. Apart from India, Australia, South Korea, and South Africa were also invited as guest countries for the meeting. [ANI]
Central Asia and the Caucasus
Izzat Amon, an activist who has spent his life assisting Tajik migrant labourers in Russia, has gone missing after he was forcibly deported from Russia last week. Amon was deprived of his Russian citizenship and was forcibly sent to Tajikistan’s capital, Dushanbe, where he faces charges of fraud related to his activities in Moscow. Amon has been critical of the Tajik government for not doing enough regarding the rights abuses faced by Tajik migrants in Russia. [RFE/RL]
On Monday, officials from Azerbaijan and Pakistan met in Baku to discuss potential cooperation between the two countries’ Air Forces. Talks were held on the prospects for developing a partnership between the two sides regarding military, military-educational and military-technical spheres. While the Pakistani delegation congratulated Azerbaijan on its victory in the war with Azerbaijan, both sides expressed satisfaction with the development of strategic ties between Baku and Islamabad. [Azer News]
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, said that Moscow maintains good relations with both Baku and Yerevan. Peskov highlighted Putin’s personal role in achieving the armistice which ended the Nagorno-Karabakh war fought between Armenia and Azerbaijan in 2020. Peskov stressed that Russia’s relations with Azerbaijan were based on “mutual respect”, and said that ties with Armenia have been “historically good.” [Armen Press]
East and Southeast Asia
China’s legislature unanimously approved a proposal to overhaul Hong Kong’s electoral system by reducing the number of seats in the city-state’s legislature that are democratically elected, and also establishing a Beijing-approved vetting committee to ensure that 40 of the legislature’s 90 candidates are favourable to China’s interests. [Hong Kong Free Press]
The United States (US) State Department has ordered all non-essential American diplomats in Myanmar to return to the US amid an intensifying crackdown by Burmese security forces on protests against the February coup that has thus far resulted in upwards of 500 civilian deaths. A spokesperson from the department said, “The Department of State made the decision to authorize ordered departure from Burma because the safety and security of U.S. government personnel and their dependents, as well as private U.S. citizens is the department's highest priority.” [Voice of America]
Europe
Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz announced his decision to purchase one million doses of the Russian COVID-19 vaccine candidate Sputnik V, suggesting that this would help inoculate over 500,000 people by April. This comes amidst the European Union’s heightening tensions with Russia, along with Austria’s repeated criticism of the European vaccination program. [EuroNews]
Moldovan President Maia Sandu has appealed to the country’s constitutional court to weigh in on her bid to dissolve parliament and call early elections. Since the legislature failed to confirm her pick for prime minister for the second time on February 11, Sandu said that she believed that the legal conditions for the dissolution of parliament had been met. [RFE/RL]
Latin America and the Caribbean
Venezuelan Vice President Tareck El Aissami met with Russian Deputy Prime Minister Yury Borisov in Caracas yesterday to discuss bolstering trade, transport, science, pharmaceutical, finance, and security ties. El Aissami further expressed his gratitude for Moscow’s delivery of the Sputnik V and EpiVacCorona COVID-19 vaccines. The two officials also came together to criticise the United States for its “arbitrary and coercive” sanctions regime and its impact on the Venezuelan people and economy. [Telesur]
Brazil’s National Registry of Employed and Unemployed released a report on Tuesday that reveals that the country created 401,639 jobs in February, which is the highest job creation level in February since 1992. This follows the creation of 260,000 new jobs in January. [The Rio Times]
Middle East and North Africa (MENA
Saudi Arabia’s Human Rights Commission chief, Awwad Alwwad, and the chairperson of the Mawaddah Charitable Association, Princess Lulwa Bint Nawwaf Bin Muhammad, signed a memorandum of understanding to combat domestic violence by establishing an independent body to deal with the issue. The move comes as Alawwad was accused of threatening Agnes Callamard, the United Nations investigator on the murder of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi. The proposed body aims to conduct research, protect and rehabilitate victims as well as develop a legal framework to counter domestic violence. [Middle East Monitor]
The European Union is set to sanction several Iranians over their involvement in human rights abuses by imposing travel bans and asset freezes. The move comes follows the bloc’s recent sanctions on individuals accused of human rights violations from China, North Korea, Libya, and Russia, earlier this month. Iran has been accused of arresting political opponents, restricting freedom of expression, executing juveniles, and torture. Tehran, however, has fiercely denied these accusations. [Reuters]
North America
The US and Canada announced additional humanitarian assistance to Syria on Tuesday during the Brussels V Conference on “Supporting the Future of Syria and the Region.” The US pledged more than $596 million in new funding, whereas Canada promised $49.5 million. On the same day, at the Foreign Ministers of the Global Coalition to Defeat Daesh/ISIS Small Group meeting, Ottawa also announced more than $43.6 million in funding for 11 projects in Iraq and Syria as part of its ‘Peace and Stabilisation Operations Program’. [US Department of State, Global Affairs Canada]
The US on Tuesday accused China of committing genocide and crimes against humanity against its Uighur Muslim minority in the western province of Xinjiang. The State Department’s 2020 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices said that the alleged atrocities included arbitrary imprisonment of more than one million civilians, forced sterilisation, rape, torture, and forced labour. [US Department of State]
The White House on Tuesday announced new actions to counter anti-Asian violence, xenophobia, and bias amid rising attacks against Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) communities in the country over the past year. The measures include increased funding for AAPI domestic violence and sexual assault survivors, the establishment of a Department of Justice (DOJ) cross-agency initiative to address anti-Asian violence, and the appointment of a permanent director to lead the coordination of federal policies impacting AAPI communities, among others. [The White House]
Oceania
Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs Marise Payne released a statement welcoming the decision of the United Nations Office for the High Commissioner of Human Rights and the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission to launch a joint investigation into human rights abuses in Ethiopia’s crisis-torn Tigray region. Payne added, “Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s 26 March announcement that Eritrea will withdraw troops from the Ethiopian border is also an important step. However, we continue to urge the Ethiopian Government to bring all perpetrators to account and end the violence.” She further announced that Australia had committed $3 million towards the World Food Programme’s efforts in Ethiopia. [Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs]
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison is set to announce a new $1 billion plan to establish a new weapons facility in the country in collaboration with a global arms manufacturer so that Australia can build its own guided missiles. It has been speculated that companies like Raytheon, Lockheed Martin, Kongsberg, and BAE Systems could bid for the contract to build the new weapons manufacturing facility. Morrison recently said, “As the COVID-19 pandemic has shown, having the ability for self-reliance be it vaccine development or the defence of Australia, is vital to meeting our own requirements in a changing global environment,” adding, “It’s an imperative we now proceed with the creation of a sovereign guided weapons capability as a priority, accelerating this process following the idea first being explored in the Force Structure Plan.” [Sydney Morning Herald]
Sub-Saharan Africa
Portugal deployed a team of 60 soldiers to the northern coast of Mozambique in the Cabo Delgado province to fight back against Islamic State-affiliated militants, announced Portuguese Foreign Affairs Minister Augusto Santos Silva. [RTP]
Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa thanked India for its delivery of 35,000 doses of the Covaxin COVID-19 vaccine, which was produced by Indian pharmaceutical company Bharat Biotech. Mnangagwa said, “On behalf of myself, government and the people of Zimbabwe, I expressed my profound gratitude to His Excellency Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi and government India on the donation of 75 000 doses of Covaxin of which 35 000 doses have arrived today,” adding, “This is a genuine gift and a welcome gesture from India in the midst of an unprecedented time of Covid-19 pandemic.” [New Zimbabwe]