ISRAEL - GAZA - LEBANON
Hamas announces the start of a ‘new round of negotiations’ with Israel while US envoy Steve Witkoff arrives in Qatar for talks. In the last few hours Israel has intensified its attacks on Gaza, killing at least eight people, including a child. Meanwhile, Israel and Lebanon have begun negotiations on the land border between the two countries, according to statements released by the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the US Deputy Special Envoy for the Middle East, Morgan Ortagus.
UKRAINE - USA - RUSSIA
Ukraine has said it is ready to accept an immediate 30-day ceasefire with Russia, proposed by the United States, after a day of talks between the US and Ukraine in Saudi Arabia. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said he would present the offer to Russia and that ‘the ball is in their court’. Moscow has not yet publicly commented on the matter. Tuesday's talks in Jeddah were the first official meeting between the two countries after the clash between Zelensky and US President Donald Trump in the Oval Office on 28 February. The United States says it wants to lift the aid freeze on Kiev.
CHINA
Several Chinese trade unions, including in the central province of Hunan and in the southern hub of Shenzhen, have sent official notices to companies to stop requiring potential employees to disclose their marital status and pregnancy. The notices, posted on the official Wechat pages of the state-backed labour unions of Shenzhen, Hunan and Qinghai, have been among the most shared articles on social media in recent days with many netizens saying it was a step in the right direction to address widespread gender inequality.
INDONESIA
Indonesia will impose an anti-dumping duty on nylon film imports from China, Thailand and Taiwan, according to a regulation from the Ministry of Finance, which will last for the next four years. The measure was adopted after an investigation found that the products of these companies caused losses to local industry. China is Indonesia's main trading partner. Nylon is used in food and industrial packaging, in the pharmaceutical, electronics and textile sectors.
HONG KONG
A Hong Kong social worker has been found guilty of rioting during the 2019 democracy protests. The court rejected her claim to be a mediator, instead ruling that she had encouraged people to resist the police. To quell the vast protest movement that engulfed much of the city between 2019 and 2020, Hong Kong introduced a strict national security law and launched a harsh crackdown. Over the course of five years, almost 3,000 people have been convicted.
JAPAN - USA
Japan's Trade Minister said he had asked the United States not to impose trade tariffs on his country, but did not obtain any guarantee that Japan would be exempted, including from the 25% tariff on steel and aluminium that comes into effect today. ‘We have agreed to continue close consultations with the US government and to start discussions at an operational level as soon as possible,’ Yoji Muto said in Washington DC after meetings with Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick.
ARMENIA
From April the Armenian government will reduce subsidies to refugees from Artsakh from 50 to 40 thousand drams, and from July to 30 thousand drams (70 euros), and will also reduce the categories of allocation to minors, high school students, people over 63 years of age, those who have lost all income and the disabled, in all just over 10 thousand people, a tenth of those who currently receive this support.
