The U.S. embassy in Afghanistan ordered nonessential staff to leave (WSJ) the country amid concerns about increased violence next week. The Taliban has threatened to launch more attacks if the United States misses the May 1 troop withdrawal deadline set under last year’s U.S.-Taliban agreement. President Joe Biden extended the withdrawal date to September 11.

U.S. defense officials told CNN that a special force is being assembled to protect departing troops. At a hearing of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, lawmakers expressed concern about backsliding in Afghanistan following the U.S. pullout. U.S. special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad told senators (TOLOnews) that any future aid to Afghanistan will be conditioned on the Taliban’s behavior, including its treatment of women and girls.

Japan’s legislature approved (Jiji/Kyodo) the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), a trade deal that includes the ten members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), along with Australia, China, Japan, New Zealand, and South Korea. It is Japan’s first trade deal with China and South Korea.

CFR’s Joshua Kurlantzick explains the implications of the RCEP.

Australia/India/Japan: The three countries formally launched the Supply Chain Resilience Initiative (Mint) to counter China’s dominance of regional supply chains. Beijing criticized the effort (SCMP) and warned that it could disrupt the global economic recovery.

Pakistan reported more than 200 deaths (Dawn) from COVID-19 yesterday, surpassing its previous record daily death toll of 157. The country’s health system is fragile, and ventilators and oxygen are in short supply. The government said it is considering tighter lockdown measures.

Palestinian authorities appear likely to postpone elections (Reuters) scheduled for May and July, the first elections in fifteen years, due to a dispute over voting in Israel-occupied East Jerusalem and a rift within Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah party. Israel has not said whether it will allow voting in Jerusalem.

Iran: The Pentagon said that the U.S. Navy fired warning shots (Politico) toward Iranian military vessels in the northern Persian Gulf on Monday, the first such incident in nearly four years.

Somali President Mohamed Farmaajo announced that he will not extend his term (Al Jazeera) and called for immediate elections. Farmaajo’s term ended in February, but the lower house of Parliament voted to extend it, triggering a political crisis.

CFR’s Michelle Gavin explains the crisis in Somalia.

Nigeria: During a virtual meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, President Muhammadu Buhari urged the United States to consider relocating U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) (Daily Trust) from Germany to Africa to better support regional security. President Donald Trump had called for AFRICOM to move its headquarters (Hill) from Germany last year as part of a planned drawdown in the country.

The European Parliament overwhelmingly voted (BBC) to approve a post-Brexit trade agreement between the European Union and the United Kingdom that was already provisionally in force. The European Commission pledged (Politico) to give the Parliament an important role in monitoring future relations, mollifying lawmakers who had been largely shut out of the talks late last year. 

Greece: Ioannis Lagos, a Greek neo-Nazi European Parliament member, was arrested in Brussels (Politico) after the Parliament voted to waive his immunity. Last year, a Greek court found Lagos and other leaders of the far-right Golden Dawn party guilty of running a criminal organization.

The Brazilian Senate opened an inquiry (AP) into President Jair Bolsonaro’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. Bolsonaro’s critics say his botched response is why Brazil has the world’s second-highest death toll from the disease after the United States. The probe could hurt Bolsonaro in a face-off against former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who the Supreme Court recently cleared to run in next year’s presidential election.

Mexico: The country will begin domestically producing (Reuters) Russia’s Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine in an effort to speed up its inoculation campaign.

President Biden will deliver his first formal address (NYT) to Congress tonight, during which he is expected to push his massive infrastructure plan as well as a new $1.8 trillion proposal (WaPo) to expand education and social safety net programs. Biden is also expected to call for immigration and police reform during the speech, which will have a small, socially distanced audience.