Russia

• Two more leaks from the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines were reported yesterday, and the EU, U.S., and NATO are all officially alleging sabotage.
• None of the three are explicitly blaming Russia for it yet, but European Commission President Von der Leyen's new call for fresh sanctions on Russia over the leaks is a clear enough implicit accusation.

Ukraine

• The U.S. announced another $1.1 billion in military aid for Ukraine, and it notably includes HIMARS rocket launchers that the U.S. will order from Lockheed - rather than ones pulled from a stockpile. That's significant because the order will take years to fulfill: that extended timeline suggests the U.S. expects a long war.
• Pro-Russian officials in regions that held referendums on joining Russia are now calling on Russia to annex their territories. Though the referendums were shams, the regional officials' "consent" superficially satisfies a requirement in Russia's 1993 constitution for absorbed territories to agree to annexation.

Iran

• Iran continued to launch drone and missile strikes into Iraqi Kurdistan, where it says "separatist terrorists" are inciting "riots" (protests). At least 13 Kurds have died over five days of cross-border strikes.
• The U.S. scrambled an F-15 to shoot down one of the Iranian drones over Erbil that U.S. officials say was heading towards U.S. forces there.
• Pres. Raisi called the incident that triggered these protests - the death of Mahsa Amini, a young Kurdish woman, in police custody - "a tragic accident," but he also reiterated his support for security forces and condemned the protests as "chaos."

South Africa

• South Africa's National Assembly passed the controversial expropriation bill it rejected last year.
• The bill allows land to be expropriated for public purposes and in the public interest for "just and equitable" compensation - except in the cases of abandoned land, state land, or land held for speculative purposes, which can be expropriated for no compensation (that's the main controversial part).
• The ruling ANC unilaterally forced the bill through: all the big opposition parties either objected to it for various reasons or suggested amendments the ANC rejected.
• Now it goes to the National Council of Provinces for approval, and then to the president for signature.

Guinea

• Guinea's former military ruler, Moussa Dadis Camara, went on trial over a 2009 incident in which his soldiers massacred over 150 people protesting against his government. Camara voluntarily returned from exile to Guinea to face trial, and maintains his innocence.

Myanmar

• A military court sentenced ousted civilian leader Aung Sang Suu Kyi and her former advisor, Australian Sean Turnell, to three years in prison for vague violations of the Official State Secrets Act. That extends 77-year-old Suu Kyi's aggregate prison sentence to 23 years.