Australia
(Human Rights Watch) The Australian government should strengthen gender-focused approaches across all crisis responses, Human Rights Watch said today following International Women’s Day. The authorities should acknowledge that gender equality is essential to global peace, security, and justice by supporting women-led organizations and ensuring that women are meaningfully included in decision making. – Australia: Gender Equality Essential for National Security | Human Rights Watch
China
(Global Times) On Sunday, a press conference was held on the margins of the Fourth Session of the 14th National People’s Congress, during which Member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Foreign Minister Wang Yi answered questions from Chinese and foreign media about China’s foreign policy and external relations. This offered a panoramic presentation of China’s concept and policies of major-country diplomacy with Chinese characteristics. In the inaugural year of the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-30), China has clearly signaled its determination to be a stabilizer and driving force for world peace and development, promoting the building of a community with a shared future for humanity. – China’s diplomacy brings stability and direction to the world: Global Times editorial – Global Times
European Union
(Nicholas Vinocur – Politico) European governments are irritated over what they see as Ursula von der Leyen’s move to position herself as the EU’s chief representative abroad, saying that during the opening days of the U.S.-Israeli campaign against Iran she went beyond her mandate. In conversations with POLITICO, nine diplomats, EU officials and lawmakers, hailing from small and large European countries, criticized what they described as the European Commission president’s diplomatic overreach. Disapproval of her handling of the Iran crisis comes on top of carping about other foreign policy issues, including the Commission’s efforts to speed up Ukraine’s entry into the EU and von der Leyen’s approach to Donald Trump’s “Board of Peace.”. With the Middle East conflict entering its second week, the EU has struggled to speak with a common voice. Several governments are irked that von der Leyen seems to be playing the role the EU’s foreign affairs chief, Kaja Kallas ― meant to represent the 27 capitals ― should normally do. In the first days of the crisis, von der Leyen signaled support for regime change in Tehran and held no fewer than a dozen calls with EU and Gulf state leaders. She’s repeatedly staked out public positions that go well beyond the consensus between the bloc’s members, her critics said. – Ursula von der Leyen faces blowback over diplomatic ‘overreach’ – POLITICO
France
(Victor Goury-Laffont – Politico) It’s time for Marine Le Pen and Jordan Bardella to prove they can win big. The far-right National Rally is under pressure to score a decisive victory in municipal elections across France that begin on Sunday, as the contest is widely seen as test of the anti-immigration party’s electability ahead of the high-stakes presidential race next year. “The political shift begins in town halls,” Bardella said on the campaign trail last month in the small southern town of Carcassonne, famed for its medieval citadel. “The National Rally can win a number of municipalities, and this is obviously another step toward coming to power.”. But the far-right party’s strong polling numbers don’t guarantee victory. Municipal contests are usually driven by hyper-local personalities and issues. That means the national and Europe-wide political trends that fueled the rise of the right won’t necessarily translate at the ballot box. – Le Pen’s far right eyes local elections as launchpad for French presidential bid – POLITICO
Germany
(Ferdinand Knapp – Politico) Germany’s center-left Greens scraped out a narrow victory in a key vote in Baden-Württemberg on Sunday, according to preliminary results, marking a stinging defeat for the parties in Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s conservative -led coalition government. The outcome in Germany’s third-most populous state — an industrial powerhouse home to Mercedes-Benz and Porsche — deals a major blow to Merz’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU), which had maintained a significant lead in the polls until the final days of the campaign, as well as to his center-left coalition partner, the Social Democratic Party (SPD) — which appears set to suffer its worst result in a federal or state election in its long history. But the Greens, under former federal Agriculture Minister Cem Özdemir, surged in polling ahead of the vote, ultimately coming first with 30.3 percent according to a preliminary count. The CDU came second with 29.7 percent — an increase from the last election, but not enough to overtake the Greens. – Germany’s Greens set to win key state vote in blow to Merz’s coalition – POLITICO
Iran and beyond
(AFP/Al Arabiya) Israel’s military said it struck targets in central Iran on Monday, including internal security command centers and missile launch sites, in the first raid since the Islamic republic appointed a new supreme leader. – Israel says hit Iran internal security sites, missile launchers
(Ghinwa Obeid – Al Arabiya) Saudi Arabia on Monday reiterated its right to respond with measures it sees fit against the Iranian aggression on the Kingdom while condemning the ongoing attacks targeting the Gulf and friendly countries, according to a foreign ministry statement. The ministry said it renewed the Kingdom’s “absolute condemnation” to the reprehensible “aggression “against the Kingdom, Gulf Cooperation Council countries and other Arab, Muslim and friendly countries that cannot be accepted or justified in any way.” – Saudi Arabia condemns ongoing Iranian aggression, warns Tehran of impact on ties
(Al Arabiya) Saudi Arabia on Monday thwarted several drone attacks attempting to target an oil field in the Kingdom’s east, the Kingdom’s defense ministry said. – Saudi Arabia intercepts several drones targeting oil field
(Reuters/Al Arabiya) Turkey plans to deploy six F-16 fighter jets to northern Cyprus on Monday to bolster the defenses of the Turkish community there, broadcaster NTV said, citing a civil aviation official from the breakaway Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. – Turkey to deploy F-16 fighter jets to northern Cyprus
(Reuters/Al Arabiya) Iran had sought India’s permission for three of its ships to dock at its ports, which was granted on March 1, India’s foreign minister said on Monday, adding that the government believed that it was the “right thing to do”. – India says allowing Iran ships to dock its ports ‘right thing to do’
(AFP/Al Arabiya) Bahrain’s state-owned energy company Bapco declared force majeure after waves of Iranian strikes targeted the country’s energy installations, the company said in a statement on Monday. – Bahrain’s Bapco declares force majeure after Iran strikes: Statement
(AFP/Al Arabiya) A strike targeting Bahrain’s sprawling Al Ma’ameer oil facility caused a fire at the complex along with material damage, state media said on Monday, in the latest attack against Gulf energy installations. – Bahrain says Iranian strike on oil complex causes fire, damage
(AFP/Al Arabiya) Hezbollah said on Monday it was fighting Israeli forces who landed in eastern Lebanon by helicopter across the Syrian border, the second such operation since the outbreak of the latest conflict with Israel. Lebanon was drawn into the Middle East war last week when Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah attacked Israel in response to the killing of Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei during US-Israeli strikes. – Hezbollah says fighting Israeli forces who landed in eastern Lebanon
(Elisabeth Braw – Politico) Since the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran on Feb. 28, the Strait of Hormuz — the narrow and crucial passage at the mouth of the Persian Gulf — has become extremely dangerous to pass. “Sanctioned tanker laden with flammable gas runs Hormuz gauntlet,” read one shipping headline just last week. And as the number of ships weighing whether to attempt this voyage grows, the escalating situation will have painful implications for global shipping as well as the world’s economies — and Europe won’t be immune. The ship in question was the Danuta I, a recently sanctioned LPG carrier likely “laden with Iranian LPG,” Lloyd’s List, a maritime news service, reported. Perhaps the ship’s owners felt they could take the risk precisely because the ship was transporting Iranian petroleum gas, and Iran — situated on one side of the strait, with Oman on the other — is the actor most likely to attack any ships sailing through. – Middle East war is already affecting shipping — and Europe won’t be spared – POLITICO
(Tim Zadorozhnyy – The Kyiv Independent) Ukraine has deployed interceptor drones and a team of specialists to help protect U.S. military bases in Jordan, President Volodymyr Zelensky told the New York Times in an interview published on March 9. Zelensky said the U.S. requested assistance on March 5 as tensions in the Middle East escalated following strikes on Iran. Ukraine agreed immediately and dispatched the team the next day. “We reacted immediately,” the president said. “I said, yes, of course, we will send our experts.” – Ukraine helping protect US bases in Jordan, Zelensky says | World News
(Human Rights Watch) The Israeli military unlawfully used artillery-fired white phosphorus munitions over homes on March 3, 2026, in the southern Lebanese town of Yohmor, Human Rights Watch said today. Human Rights Watch verified and geolocated seven images showing airburst white phosphorus munitions being deployed over a residential part of the town and civil defense workers responding to fires in at least two homes and one car in that area. “The Israeli military’s unlawful use of white phosphorus over residential areas is extremely alarming and will have dire consequences for civilians,” said Ramzi Kaiss, Lebanon researcher at Human Rights Watch. “The incendiary effects of white phosphorous can cause death or cruel injuries that result in lifelong suffering.” – Lebanon: Israel Unlawfully Using White Phosphorus | Human Rights Watch
(Global Times) China urges all parties to immediately stop military operations, prevent further escalation of tensions and avoid causing greater harm to people in regional countries, said Zhai Jun, the special envoy of the Chinese government on the Middle East issue, when meeting with Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud in Saudi Arabia on Sunday. Zhai also met with Jassim Mohammed Al-Budaiwi, secretary-general of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (GCC) in Riyadh on the same day. – Chinese Middle East envoy talks with GCC chief, Saudi FM in push for de-escalation – Global Times
