Norway is chairing a UN Security Council meeting (Al Jazeera) on Afghanistan today after wrapping up three days of talks between representatives of the Taliban, Western governments, and Afghan civil society. At the summit in Oslo, Western diplomats pressed the Taliban on human rights (VOA), while the Taliban called for the United States to unfreeze some $9.5 billion in Afghanistan’s foreign assets.
 
More than half of all Afghans currently face severe hunger (AP), and almost nine million are near starvation, aid groups estimate. In Oslo, Norwegian Refugee Council Secretary-General Jan Egeland said that Western sanctions are effectively producing a freeze on aid to Afghanistan that hurts “the same civilians that the [North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)] countries spent hundreds of billions on defending until [last] August.”

During a Los Angeles stopover while en route to Honduras, Vice President Lai Ching-te held video conferences (SCMP) with at least seventeen U.S. Congress members, both Democrats and Republicans, Taiwanese media reported.
 
Hong Kong: In a draft report, the European Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong warned that the city’s strict COVID-19 rules could trigger an exodus of foreign companies (Reuters) and threaten Hong Kong’s standing as a financial hub.

The military government does not plan to dissolve (Nikkei) the party of ousted Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi before the country’s August 2023 general elections, a junta spokesperson said. Suu Kyi and many of the party’s other senior officials are currently detained.

Some 550 detainees inside a prison that the self-declared Islamic State seized last week have surrendered (Al-Monitor) to the Syrian Democratic Forces, a researcher with the Rojava Information Center said. At least 190 people have been killed in the fighting.
 
Egypt: The U.S. Department of State approved the potential sale (DefenseNews) of more than $2 billion worth of planes and air defense radar systems to Egypt.

The top diplomat of the European Union (EU), Josep Borrell, meets with ministers (Politico) from the Group of Five Sahel (G5 Sahel) countries today in Brussels. The G5 Sahel comprises Chad, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, and Burkina Faso, the latter of which just experienced a coup.
 
For the Africa in Transition blog, CFR’s Ebenezer Obadare writes that Burkina Faso’s coup bodes ill for stability in West Africa.
 
Ethiopia: After a private meeting with Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, the chair of an Ethiopian diaspora group in the United States said that Abiy revealed plans to negotiate a cease-fire (AP) with rival Tigrayan forces.

Envoys from France, Germany, Russia, and Ukraine hold talks today (Al Jazeera) regarding concerns about Russia’s military buildup on its border with Ukraine. The discussions will reportedly focus on humanitarian measures and the possibility of holding formal talks on the status of Ukraine’s Donbas region.
 
Italy: Political parties hold a third round of voting today (Reuters) to elect the country’s next president, but disagreements on who is an acceptable candidate suggest it could be inconclusive.

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) announced it will evaluate (MercoPress) the three countries for potential admission. Its board said the review process could require the countries to make policy changes that bring them in line with the OECD’s values.
 
El Salvador: The International Monetary Fund urged El Salvador to discontinue its use of Bitcoin (CNBC) as legal tender, saying the use of the cryptocurrency puts the country’s financial stability and integrity at risk.
 
This Backgrounder looks at cryptocurrencies and the future of money.

San Jose’s city council approved the measure, which is thought to be the first of its kind (AP) in the country. Many gun owners opposed it and some threatened to sue.

An average of $9.2 trillion in global spending on physical assets for energy and land-use systems is needed per year (CNBC) to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, McKinsey & Company calculated. That’s $3.5 trillion more than today’s spending.
 
In Foreign Affairs, Kelly Sims Gallagher looks at the financing gap for green transitions in the developing world.