7.7 strong quake hit Myanmar and Bangkok.

Today's news: Australia will go to early elections on 3 May; Duterte supporters take to the streets in the Philippines on the day the former president turns 80 in prison in The Hague: China expands the internal market for carbon credits to reduce emissions; Astronomers: it is impossible to see the crescent moon from Saudi Arabia that will announce the end of Ramadan on Sunday.

MYANMAR-THAILAND

An earthquake measuring 7.7 on the Richter scale struck central Myanmar and Thailand today at around 1 pm local time. The epicentre was located about 17 km from the Burmese city of Mandalay, which has a population of 1.2 million. The tremor was also strongly felt in Bangkok, where a skyscraper under construction collapsed, and in some regions of China. The extent of the damage and the number of victims are not yet clear.

AUSTRALIA

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has called a general election for 3 May, kicking off a five-week campaign that is expected to be dominated by the rising cost of living. Albanese's Labour Party won a majority in the last federal election in 2022, but the most recent polls show it neck and neck with the opposition Liberal-National coalition.

PHILIPPINES

Supporters of Rodrigo Duterte are organising demonstrations today in various cities in the Philippines, to coincide with the 80th birthday of the former president, who is currently detained in The Hague. The demonstrators are calling for Duterte's freedom; he was arrested on 11th March on charges of crimes against humanity at the International Criminal Court after being deposed by the current president, Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

CHINA

China is expanding its domestic carbon credit market to include 1500 companies in the steel, cement and aluminium smelting sectors. The move will increase the coverage of China's total carbon dioxide emissions from 40% to over 60%. According to the Ministry of Ecology and the Environment, these industries release around 3 billion tonnes of CO2 per year, making their inclusion a fundamental step towards reaching the carbon peak by 2030 and the carbon neutrality objectives by 2060.

MIDDLE EAST

According to astronomers, the crescent moon whose sighting each year heralds the Islamic holiday of Eid al-Fitr – the day that concludes the holy month of Ramadan – will not be visible this year from most of the world, including the Middle East, on Saturday 29 March, when many are expected to look for it. Some Muslim countries rely on local observers to spot the new crescent, while many leave it to Saudi Arabia to call it, which Riyadh is expected to do in the next few hours by declaring Eid for Sunday. For years, the kingdom - home to Islam's holiest sites - has been accused by critics of ‘faking’ moon sightings, reporting them on days when scientists and astronomers insist it is impossible to see. Saudi authorities have never responded to these criticisms.

RUSSIA

The Chechen veteran of the war in Ukraine, Nursultan Mussagaleev, accused of being one of the main people responsible for the massacre of Ukrainian civilians in Buča and recognised as a ‘Hero of Russia’, has been nominated president of the province of Novosergiev in the Orenburg region, praising his ‘ability to make effective decisions in difficult situations’.

ARMENIA

The parliament in Erevan has approved the law on Armenia's entry into the European Union, with 64 votes in favour and only 7 against, in the final version which states that the country ‘longs for the development of democratic institutions, the growth of the well-being of society, the strengthening of state security and the sovereignty of the law’.