March 3, 2022

*) Ukraine refugee exodus at 1M in one week The UN refugee agency has said one million people have fled Ukraine since Russia's military campaign less than a week ago, an exodus without precedent in this century for its speed. The tally from UNHCR amounts to more than 2 percent of Ukraine's population on the move in under a week. The World Bank counted the population at 44 million at the end of 2020. The UN agency has predicted that up to 4 million people could eventually leave Ukraine but cautioned that even that projection could be revised upward. *) Lavrov says Russia's goal is to 'demilitarise, denazify' Ukraine The goal of Moscow's special "military operation" is to demilitarise Ukraine, Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said, accusing Ukraine's leader of promoting "anti-Russian, Russophobe" rhetoric. Once Ukraine has been demilitarised, the Ukrainians "must decide themselves how they will live", Lavrov said in an interview with Qatar's Al Jazeera TV channel. All people living in Ukraine must have a say in this matter, he said. *) Scholz: Iran nuclear deal can't be 'postponed any longer' German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said that a new Iran nuclear agreement "cannot be postponed any longer", during a visit to Israel that staunchly opposes efforts to forge a deal. "What we would like to see is that an agreement is reached in Vienna," Scholz told reporters alongside Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, a vocal critic of the international talks in Austria's capital. "Now is the time to make a decision," Scholz said. *) Türkiye relaxes mask mandate amid drop in cases Türkiye has relaxed its mask mandate, allowing people to ditch them in open-air spaces and in places with sufficient ventilation and where social distancing can be maintained. Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said people would be required to continue wearing masks in planes, buses, theatres, cinemas, hospitals and classrooms. In another change, the use of HES codes – Türkiye’s coronavirus contact tracing system –