World roundup: March 2 2022

Stories from Afghanistan, Mozambique, Brazil, and more

INTERNATIONAL

In today’s global news:

• Worldometer is tracking COVID-19 cases and fatalities.

• The New York Times is tracking global vaccine distribution.

• The OPEC+ cartel held its monthly check-in meeting on Wednesday and, to I suspect nobody’s surprise, decided to stay the course with its gradual return to pre-pandemic levels of oil production. The Gang will add another 400,000 barrels per day to its pumping schedule in April, as it’s been doing every month since August 2021. I’m sure member states, particularly Russia and Saudi Arabia, are happy to keep the global oil market where it is right now, with prices rising to $110 per barrel and counting.

MIDDLE EAST

YEMEN

A rebel missile strike on a pro-government military encampment in northern Yemen’s Hajjah province on Wednesday reportedly killed at least nine Sudanese mercenaries and wounded 30 others. Saudi Arabia and the UAE have heavily recruited Sudanese fighters to handle the ground-based parts of their Yemen intervention. They seem especially fond of people with ties to the Janjaweed militia, whose name should definitely ring some bells for anyone familiar with the Darfur conflict and its associated war crimes.