The Trump administration has announced sanctions (WaPo) on Mohammad Javad Zarif, Iran’s foreign minister and a lead negotiator of the 2015 nuclear deal, freezing any of his U.S. assets and prohibiting any U.S. financial dealings with him. He and other Iranian officials were already barred from travel to the United States.
 
The U.S. State Department called Zarif an “enabler” of Iran’s “destabilizing policies,” and said it will continue a maximum pressure campaign against Tehran until the countries find a diplomatic solution that “addresses the Iranian regime’s destructive behavior.” Zarif wrote on Twitter that the sanctions would not affect him or his family, while Iranian President Hassan Rouhani called the move “childish” (VOA). A spokesperson for the European Union said the bloc regrets the U.S. decision and will continue working with Zarif (AFP).

President Joko Widodo is expected to sign a decree to provide tax incentives for the electric car industry and other benefits for owners of electric vehicles. The country plans for electric cars (Bloomberg) to make up one-quarter of its auto production by 2030.
 
China: A ban on individual leisure trips to Taiwan (WSJ) takes effect today. China’s tourism ministry said the change is due to “current relations” between mainland China and the island, which have grown increasingly tense.

This CFR Backgrounder unpacks the China-Taiwan relationship.

The country’s top court will review claims that a prominent politician from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party threatened the family (Al Jazeera) of a woman who accused him of rape. The family wrote to the court weeks ago that they were receiving death threats, and on Sunday the woman and her lawyer were severely injured in a car crash.
 
Bangladesh: The country has identified more than thirteen thousand cases of dengue fever in its most severe outbreak (NPR) of the disease on record. Climate change and a lack of sanitation measures are believed to have contributed to a rise in dengue cases in recent years.

The Netherlands and Switzerland suspended support for the UN agency for Palestinian refugees following a leak from an ethics investigation (Al Jazeera) that found evidence of nepotism and discrimination among top agency officials.

A new law will allow around five million Ethiopians who live in other countries to buy shares and found companies (Reuters) in the country’s tightly controlled banking sector. Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has pushed a series of economic reforms aimed at boosting Ethiopia’s foreign exchange reserves.
 
This CFR Backgrounder looks at East Africa’s emerging giant.
 
Mozambique: President Filipe Nyusi is set to sign a peace deal (AFP) today with the leader of RENAMO, a longtime rebel group turned opposition party. More than five thousand armed RENAMO members are expected to surrender their weapons as part of the accord.

The European Union said that France, Germany, Ireland, Luxembourg, and Portugal have agreed to accept 116 asylum seekers (Reuters) who arrived on Italy’s shores last week. Italian Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini had denied the migrants from coming ashore until such a deal was made. Italy agreed to receive a different group of migrants also rescued at sea last week.
 
Ukraine: The more than 250 lawmakers from President Volodymyr Zelensky’s party, none of whom have ever served in parliament before (Reuters), start an intensive course on governance this week that includes thirteen-hour sessions (Independent) on lawmaking, economics, and security.

Crowds gathered in front of the U.S. embassy in Port-au-Prince to call for an end to U.S. support (VOA) for Haitian President Jovenel Moise. Moise has been accused of misusing revenue from an oil alliance with Venezuela.
 
Brazil: The central bank brought its benchmark interest rate down to a record low of 6 percent (FT) amid a sluggish economic recovery. Last month, the International Monetary Fund cut Brazil’s growth outlook (Bloomberg) for 2019 to 0.8 percent.

The U.S. Federal Reserve lowered interest rates (AP) a quarter of a percent in its first cut in more than a decade, citing weak global growth and trade tensions. Fed Chairman Jerome Powell said the move is not the start of “a long series” of rate cuts.
 
This CFR Backgrounder looks at the role of the Fed.