World roundup: March 3 2023

Stories from Turkey, Myanmar, Ukraine, and elsewhere

Tonight’s roundup will be somewhat abbreviated. If we miss anything I’ll cover it on Sunday.

INTERNATIONAL

In today’s global news:

• Worldometer is tracking COVID-19 cases and fatalities.

• The New York Times is tracking global vaccine distribution.

MIDDLE EAST

TURKEY

Turkey’s unified opposition parties are finally set to announce their joint candidate to face off against President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in May’s election on Monday aaaaaaand they’re not unified anymore. The leader of the right-wing “Good Party,” Meral Akşener, announced on Friday that her party cannot support the likely opposition pick, Republican People’s Party leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, so she’s getting out of the pool. She expressed her preference for either of the mayors of Istanbul and Ankara, Ekrem İmamoğlu and Mansur Yavaş respectively, citing opinion polls that she says give them a better chance of beating Erdoğan.