| Appeal for calm | The police shooting of a 20-year-old Black man during a traffic stop on Sunday in Minnesota sparked a new round of protests over excessive force and prompted U.S. President Joe Biden to call for calm. The death of Daunte Wright occurred in a suburb of Minneapolis near where White police officer Derek Chauvin is on trial for last year's killing of George Floyd. - Republican lawmakers in 47 states have proposed measures to tighten voting laws in the name of electoral integrity, but experts say the plans suffer from big omissions.
- A Republican senator said his party won't back Biden's planned tax increase during a meeting the president held yesterday with a bipartisan group of lawmakers to discuss his infrastructure program.
German succession | The two candidates vying to run as chancellor in September's federal election for Angela Merkel's conservative bloc will make their respective cases to lawmakers in Berlin today. Armin Laschet and Markus Soeder both want to succeed Merkel when she stands down. But as Arne Delfs and Tim Loh report, officials close to her fear the increasingly bitter contest could cost the CDU/CSU the chancellery. - The cabinet approved legislation today setting out nationwide rules on Covid-19 restrictions that would impose mandatory measures in virus hotspots, circumventing sometimes reluctant states.
High stakes | Russia brushed aside U.S. warnings over aggression toward Ukraine as Secretary of State Antony Blinken visits Brussels to discuss the tensions with his European partners. The area is on edge over a fresh Russian military buildup in a war over two breakaway regions in Ukraine's east that harks back to Moscow's annexation of Crimea, with concerns that even a low-level skirmish could reignite more serious fighting.  A Ukrainian serviceman near the line of contact near Vodiane, about 468 miles southeast of Kyiv, on March 6. Photographer: Evgeniy Maloletka/AP Ramping up | China's air force sent 25 fighters and bombers over the Taiwan Strait yesterday — the largest such sortie this year — escalating pressure on Taipei as it boosts ties with the Biden administration. Chinese military activity has picked up around the democratically ruled set of islands: Beijing said last week the Liaoning aircraft carrier had carried out exercises near Taiwan and the navy plans more drills.
Political liability | A close ally of President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has threatened members of Mexico's electoral body after he was disqualified from running for a state governorship. Felix Salgado Macedonio secured his candidacy in Guerrero state despite rape and sexual harassment allegations, but was disqualified for missing a campaign finance deadline.  Salgado at his campaign for governor in Acapulco on March 13. Photographer: Francisco Robles/AFP What to Watch -
Biden plans to nominate Christine Wormuth as secretary of the Army, which would make her the first woman to oversee the largest U.S. military service. - U.S. intelligence chiefs will testify together publicly for the first time in more than two years as the Biden administration faces threats ranging from the SolarWinds attack to Chinese espionage.
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The U.K. said it hit its target to offer a first Covid-19 vaccine to all over-50s ahead of schedule, as the prospect of a loosening of coronavirus restrictions lifted consumer confidence and the economy. -
Prime Minister Mario Draghi's government is in discussions to set up vaccine production hubs in Italy using state funding. -
Hong Kong will hold its Legislative Council election on Dec. 19 after delaying the vote by more than a year because of the pandemic, a move that allows the government to push through changes that give China a veto over any pro-democracy politician. And finally ... Japan will begin dumping treated radioactive water from the wrecked Fukushima nuclear power plant into the Pacific Ocean in about two years. The move ends a debate over how to dispose of water that would fill more than 500 Olympic-sized swimming pools, which has been leaking into the reactors that suffered meltdowns after an earthquake and tsunami in 2011. The plan was condemned by China, South Korea and Taiwan amid concerns about a risk to marine life.  Bags of radioactive waste in Futaba in Fukushima Prefecture on March 7. Photographer: Toru Hanai/Bloomberg
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