Sri Lanka lets a second Iranian vessel dock after the US attack

Today's headlines : the heaviest night of bombing in Tehran since the start of the war. Two Japanese citizens are in Iranian prisons. Balandra's RSP “Balen” Shah clearly in the lead in Nepal's election count. Jimmy Lai will not appeal his 20-year sentence. In February, for the first time, electric giant BYD sold more cars abroad than in China.

SRI LANKA-IRAN

Sri Lanka has taken control of the Irins Busher, the second Iranian military vessel that was off its coast. The government has allowed the ship to dock at a port in the north-east of the country. Colombo has emphasised its neutrality, stating that it will not take sides in the US-Israeli military campaign against Iran.

‘Our position has been to safeguard our neutrality while demonstrating our humanitarian values,’ President Anura Kumara Dissanayake said in a statement.

MIDDLE EAST

Some Tehran residents told BBC Persian that ‘last night was the worst’ since the start of the conflict, after Israel launched new attacks on Iran on the seventh day of the war. The Israeli army also carried out a new ‘wave of large-scale attacks’ against Beirut, the Lebanese capital. According to state media, Iran launched an operation with drones and missiles against targets ‘in the heart’ of Tel Aviv, while Saudi Arabia reports that it also intercepted some attacks. Meanwhile, the New York Times published an investigation confirming that on 28 February, American raids struck Minab, killing dozens of Iranian girls.

JAPAN-IRAN

Two Japanese citizens are currently in Iranian prisons. This was stated today by Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi during a briefing to the Diet on the ongoing conflict. One of the two is reportedly the head of the Tehran office of broadcaster NHK, who was arrested by local authorities on 20 January. Motegi said that the Japanese government had managed to communicate with the two individuals and confirmed that they are currently safe.

UKRAINE-RUSSIA-UNITED STATES

The next round of negotiations between Russia, Ukraine and the United States was supposed to take place in Abu Dhabi in the coming days, but due to air restrictions related to the ongoing conflict, it may be moved again to Switzerland, or even to Turkey, Austria or the Vatican, as suggested by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj in interviews with the international press. “However, in Europe,” he said, “given that the war is taking place on our continent”.

NEPAL

The Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) - the centrist party led by popular rapper and, until a few days ago, mayor of Kathmandu Balendra “Balen” Shah - is clearly in the lead in the counting of votes in Nepal's parliamentary elections, the first since the Generation Z “revolution”. RSP candidates are set to win in almost all seven provinces.

HONG KONG

Jimmy Lai will not appeal his 20-year prison sentence under the national security law handed down on 9 February. The pro-democracy tycoon's lawyer told Hong Kong Free Press that he had received “clear and definitive instructions” to this effect from the 78-year-old Lai. The lawyer did not provide further details on the reason for the decision, but it is clear that there is mistrust in a one-sided judicial system that gave rise to a long trial whose outcome was a foregone conclusion from the outset.

CHINA

For the first time in February, BYD, the world's largest electric vehicle manufacturer, sold more cars abroad than in the Chinese domestic market. The figure reflects a broader trend among Chinese electric vehicle manufacturers, who are increasingly pushing into global markets as domestic sales slow due to fierce competition in the Chinese domestic market.

RUSSIA

Russian Education Minister Sergei Kravtsov has announced that from the next school year, 2027-2028, a history exam will become compulsory for primary and secondary school students, necessary to continue their studies until they obtain their state diploma. It will be a written exam for the school-leaving certificate, preceded by an oral exam, as was the case in the days of the USSR, in order to strengthen “historical education” in all fields against the backdrop of the war in Ukraine.