Asia

THE NATION. Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Thailand Parnpree Bahiddha-Nukara and Foreign Minister S Jaishankar co-chaired the 10th Joint Committee Meeting (JCM) in New Delhi.

This is Mr. Parnpree's first official visit to India after taking office in September 2023.

BANGKOK POST. The Thai cabinet has approved an initiative to make Thailand a halal product hub in Southeast Asia by 2028, contributing 1.2%, or 55 billion baht, to GDP.

ANTARA. Indonesia is pushing for more imports of Halal-certified beef and lamb from New Zealand. to meet the needs of the country and increase trade turnover between the two countries.

TEMPO. Indonesian President Joko Widodo has awarded the honorary rank of General to Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto, who was declared the winner of the general election held in mid-February.

STRAITS TIMES. Singapore's total fertility rate in 2023 fell below 1 for the first time in history (0.97 children per woman), raising economic and social concerns.

CNA. Cambodia has once again been voted Asia's leading cultural destination by the World Travel Awards 2023, Tourism Minister Sok Soken said.

DHAKA TRIBUNE. Receiving Indian Air Force Chief of Staff, Air Chief Marshal Vivek Ram Chaudhari in Dhaka, Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina stressed the importance of relations between the two close neighbours.

REUTERS. During a meeting with a US delegation led by American Chamber of Commerce Director Suzanne Clark in Beijing, Chinese Premier Li Qiang said Washington should avoid separating from Beijing.

CHINA DAILY. China's second-largest domestically built cruise ship is expected to be delivered by the end of 2026, Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding announced.

KOREA TIMES. Korea officially launched the “Education for Multicultural Youth ” program to encourage and support children of multicultural families to integrate into society.

NIKKEI. Japan is the first country to issue a Climate Transition Bond and plans to sell 20 trillion yen ($133 billion) of the bonds over the next decade.

KYODO. Japanese automaker Nissan is planning to launch a self-driving taxi service in the fiscal year starting April 2027.

IMES OF ISRAEL. The Israeli parliament's Finance Committee approved a proposal to sharply increase the budget deficit target for 2024, to 6.6% of GDP from the expected 2.25%.

Europe

DW. Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan and his Azerbaijani counterpart Jeyhun Bayramov met in Berlin (Germany) to negotiate a peace treaty to end the conflict between these Caucasus countries.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (center) with her counterparts Ararat Mirzoyan (left) and Jeyhun Bayramov at a press conference during a meeting on February 28. (Source: EPA)

Xinhua News Agency. China's special envoy for Eurasian affairs Li Hui will visit Russia, Ukraine and the EU headquarters this week to hold talks on the two-year conflict between Moscow and Kiev.

IZVESTIA. The EU has begun discussing the 14th package of sanctions against Russia over the conflict in Ukraine, which could be introduced before the parliamentary elections (June 6-9, 2024).

AFP. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky arrives in Albania, meeting a number of leaders from across the region at the Ukraine-Southeast Europe Summit.

RIA NOVOSTI. Representatives of the Islamic Movement Hamas and the Palestinian National Liberation Movement (Fatah) will take part in a meeting between Palestinian factions in Moscow (Russia) today, February 29.

AFP. The government of the capital Brussels (Belgium) announced a plan to tackle drug crime after many gang-related killings and the problem of cocaine use openly on the streets.

SWISS INFO. Switzerland and Panama will strengthen cooperation in the fight against international crime, after the Swiss House of Representatives unanimously ratified a new treaty.

America

GUARDIAN. The US and UK have announced sanctions against an official in Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and a senior Houthi figure in Yemen.

AP. President Joe Biden “has made clear that the United States will not deploy troops to Ukraine,” said National Security Council (NSC) spokeswoman Adrienne Watson.

BLOOMBERG. February 28 marked the fifth consecutive day that Bitcoin increased sharply and almost reached the threshold of 60,000 USD , thanks to the trend of net capital attraction of spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

AP. Chilean President Gabriel Boric has extended a state of emergency for one month to facilitate aid to areas devastated by wildfires in the central Valparaiso region.

Africa

JEUNE AFRIQUE. The leader of the military government in Guinea - General Mamady Doumbouya signed a decree appointing economist Amadou Oury Bah as Prime Minister.

Mr. Amadou Oury Bah was a colleague of Mr. Cellou Dalein Diallo - former Prime Minister of Guinea and leader of the Alliance of Democratic Forces of Guinea. (Source: Facebook Amadou Oury Bah)

EGYPT NEWS. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi met with key military commanders to discuss the activities of the Egyptian Armed Forces and efforts to support Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

AFP. Moroccan navy rescues 56 migrants off Atlantic coast, who were on their way to Spain's Canary Islands.

UN NEWS. The UN has allocated $17 million to help alleviate the worsening hunger situation caused by drought in northern Ethiopia.

AFRICA NEWS. A shopping mall under construction in Onitsha, Anambra State, Nigeria has collapsed, killing at least six people and some are feared trapped in the rubble.

FAO. Some 58.1 million people are facing severe food insecurity in the Greater Horn of Africa, according to a report by FAO and IGAD.

XINHUA. The Republic of Congo has started producing liquefied natural gas (LNG), with the first shipment expected to go to Italy, which is looking to diversify its energy supplies.

NBC NEWS. 499 rhinos will be poached in South Africa in 2023, up from 448 in 2022, according to Forestry, Fisheries and Environment Minister Barbara Creecy.

Oceania

SBS. Philippine President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. said three agreements to strengthen ties between the Philippines and Australia will be signed during his visit to Canberra.

ABC. Australian authorities have ordered about 30,000 people in Victoria to evacuate after warnings that scorching weather could further spread bushfires in the state.