War in Iran/Middle East/Gulf and beyond
(Reuters/Al Arabiya) NATO is deploying another US Patriot missile defense system to the southern Turkish province of Adana, where personnel from the United States and other countries are located in the Incirlik Air Base, Turkey’s Defense Ministry said on Wednesday. Turkey, which has NATO’s second-largest army and neighbors Iran, said last week the alliance had deployed a Patriot system to its southeastern Malatya province, near a NATO radar base, as part of steps to boost air defenses against missile threats from the Iran war. – Turkey says NATO deploying more defenses to guard southern base
(Al Arabiya) Israeli strikes on central Beirut on Wednesday morning killed at least 12 people, the Lebanese health ministry said in updated tolls. The ministry said that the strikes on the Basta and Zuqaq al-Blat neighborhoods in central Beirut killed at least 12 people and wounded 41. Lebanon said Israel struck central Beirut early Wednesday without warning as the Israeli military announced it was targeting the country’s south. Lebanon was drawn into the Middle East war on March 2 when Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah launched rockets towards Israel in response to US-Israeli strikes that killed Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei. – Israeli strikes on central Beirut kill 12: Ministry
(AFP/Al Arabiya) The US military said on Wednesday it had hit Iranian missile sites near the strategic Strait of Hormuz with some of the most powerful bombs in the US arsenal. – US military says hit Iran missile sites near Strait of Hormuz with ‘bunker buster’ bombs
(Al Arabiya) Saudi Arabia is hosting on Wednesday evening a ministerial meeting in Riyadh gathering several top diplomats to discuss security and stability in the region, the Kingdom’s foreign ministry said. – Saudi Arabia to host Arab, Islamic foreign ministers in Riyadh on regional security
(AFP/Al Arabiya) Iranian authorities have executed a man convicted of spying for Israel, the judiciary said on Wednesday, in the first such execution announced since the war with Israel and the United States broke out. “The death sentence of a spy for the Zionist regime, who had been providing images and information, about the country’s sensitive locations to Mossad officers was carried out this morning,” the judiciary’s Mizan Online website said. – Iran executes man convicted of spying for Israel: Judiciary
(Al Arabiya) Iran targeted Tel Aviv with missiles carrying cluster warheads in what it said was retaliation for Israel’s assassination of Iran’s security chief Ali Larijani, Iranian state television reported on Wednesday. The attack overnight on Tuesday killed two people in a neighborhood close to densely populated Tel Aviv, where there are also key military facilities, bringing the death toll in Israel from the war to at least 14. A statement by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) read on state TV said weapons used included Khorramshahr 4 and Qadr missiles, both with multi-warheads. – Iran strikes Tel Aviv with cluster warheads in retaliation for killing of security chief
Sweden
(Reuters/Al Arabiya) Russia, China and Iran are the biggest threats to Sweden, the Swedish Security Service (SAPO) said on Wednesday in its annual report on threats facing the country. The security police has warned in recent years of rising threats, above all from a Russian state increasingly prone to risky ventures in support of its war in Ukraine, including through destabilizing hybrid attacks around Europe. – Russia, China and Iran are main threats to Sweden, security service says
Ukraine/India/Myanmar
(Reuters/Al Arabiya) Ukraine has asked New Delhi to release six of its citizens arrested in India last week for allegedly entering a restricted border state without permits, and crossing into neighboring Myanmar to train anti-junta ethnic groups in drone warfare. Indian authorities arrested the six Ukrainians as well as one US citizen on the night of March 13 at three different airports. According to a court order from Monday remanding the seven in police custody until a hearing on March 27, they are accused of travelling illegally to India’s northeastern state of Mizoram, crossing into Myanmar, and training anti-junta ethnic armed groups in drone warfare, as well as illegally importing large consignments of drones from Europe to Myanmar via India. Mizoram borders Myanmar’s Chin State and the country has been engulfed in civil war and a humanitarian crisis since its military overthrew the elected government of Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi in a 2021 coup. – Ukraine seeks release of citizens arrested in India over alleged Myanmar drone activity
UN Tax Convention/International Human Rights Law
(Human Rights Watch) UN member countries should work to align the emerging United Nations tax convention with international human rights law to achieve its objective of advancing sustainable development, seven human rights groups said today in a submission to the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee. The submission proposes edits to the draft text to incorporate these standards and guidance into the draft convention. The groups are Amnesty International; the Center for Economic and Social Rights; Dejusticia; the Global Initiative for Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights; Human Rights Watch; the Initiative for Human Rights in Fiscal Policy; and the Tax Justice Network. – UN: Global Tax System Undermines Rights, Development | Human Rights Watch
US/China
(AFP/Al Arabiya) China said Wednesday that it was in contact with the United States about a postponed visit by Donald Trump but was tight-lipped about a timetable after the US leader said he would make the trip in five or six weeks. The visit, which was originally set to start March 31, has been highly anticipated given the powers’ strategic and commercial rivalry that has been exacerbated by Trump’s aggressive tariff campaign. – China says in contact with US over Trump visit, no timeframe set
US/Mali/Wagner Group/Russia
(Ilaria Allegrozzi, Nicole Widdersheim – Human Rights Watch) The United States government recently lifted sanctions on three senior Malian officials linked to Russia’s abusive Wagner Group who could be implicated in serious human rights violations. The decision signals disturbing disregard for atrocities in Mali’s armed conflict with Islamist armed groups. The three officials, Defense Minister Sadio Camara, and Chief of Staff Alou Boï Diarra and Deputy Chief of Staff Adama Bagayoko of the Malian Air Force, were sanctioned in 2023 for facilitating the Wagner Group’s activities in Mali. According to the US Treasury Department at the time, the officials exposed Malians to “the Wagner Group’s human rights abuses” and helped facilitate “the exploitation of their country’s sovereign resources.” – US Lifts Sanctions on Wagner-Linked Officials in Mali | Human Rights Watch
Yemen
(Human Rights Watch) Yemeni government-aligned forces appear to have used excessive force in February against protesters supporting the Southern Transitional Council in Aden. Government forces in three locations fired at protesters supporting the group and made arrests and held people for days without due process in Aden and Hadramout. The Yemeni government should provide accountability and justice for the Southern Transitional Council’s violations in areas previously under its control, and not repeat the same violations that it previously condemned. – Yemen: Apparent Excessive Force Against Protesters | Human Rights Watch
Cyber (In)Security and Warfare
(Human Rights Watch) The Chinese government’s proposed law to combat cybercrime extends far beyond addressing legitimate legal concerns and contains sweeping provisions that pose a significant threat to human rights, Human Rights Watch said today. China’s Ministry of Public Security on January 31, 2026, published a 68-article Draft Law on Cybercrime Prevention and Control. If enacted, the bill would bring together rules that govern China’s telecommunication, internet, and banking systems under a single framework, strengthening authorities’ ability to trace user activity across platforms. The bill also expands police and other authorities’ ability to suspend access to financial accounts and communication services and bar people from leaving the country in cybercrime-related cases without meaningful oversight or redress provisions. Notably, the draft law has problematic extraterritorial reach. – China: Cybercrime Bill Entrenches Censorship, Surveillance | Human Rights Watch
