World News Roundup: Pandemic fund vastly oversubscribed, more money needed - World Bank; Explosion kills four in crowded Dhaka market and more

The U.S. had been engaging in suppression and containment of China rather than engaging in fair, rule-based competition, Foreign Minister Qin Gang told a news conference on the sidelines of an annual parliament meeting in Beijing. EU sanctions 9 people over sexual violence and violating women's rights The European Union on Tuesday imposed sanctions on nine people, including two Russian commanders involved in the war in Ukraine, and three organisations the bloc holds responsible for sexual violence and other violations of women's rights.

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

Pandemic fund vastly oversubscribed, more money needed - World Bank

More than 100 low- and middle-income countries have put in early bids for at least $5.5 billion from a fund that initially has only $300 million to spend to help them better prepare for pandemics. The demand is a sign that pandemic prevention, preparedness and response needs more money and attention, the head of the fund's secretariat at the World Bank, Priya Basu, told Reuters.

Explosion kills four in crowded Dhaka market

Four people were killed in an explosion in a crowded market area in Bangladesh's capital Dhaka on Tuesday, a local fire service official said. The cause of the blast was unclear, the official said, adding that the death toll could rise as rescue operations were ongoing.

China warns U.S. to stop suppression or risk 'conflict'

The United States should change its "distorted" attitude towards China or "conflict and confrontation" will follow, China's foreign minister said on Tuesday, while defending its stance on the war in Ukraine and defending its close ties with Russia. The U.S. had been engaging in suppression and containment of China rather than engaging in fair, rule-based competition, Foreign Minister Qin Gang told a news conference on the sidelines of an annual parliament meeting in Beijing.

EU sanctions 9 people over sexual violence and violating women's rights

The European Union on Tuesday imposed sanctions on nine people, including two Russian commanders involved in the war in Ukraine, and three organisations the bloc holds responsible for sexual violence and other violations of women's rights. The move is the first time the EU has issued a sanctions package targeting perpetrators of sexual violence, using powers it established in 2020 to penalise human rights abusers.

Kyiv vows to send more troops into Bakhmut, seeing chance to break Russian force

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy publicly committed his troops to holding out in Bakhmut after days in which they had seemed likely to withdraw, apparently prolonging the war's bloodiest battle in a bid to break Moscow's assault force. Moscow has sent thousands of troops in human wave attacks over recent weeks to try to capture the eastern Ukrainian city and secure its first battlefield victory in more than half a year. Ukrainian forces have dug trenches further west and in recent days had seemed to be preparing to pull out.

Turkey's opposition unsure on embracing pro-Kurdish party

A call by Turkey's pro-Kurdish party for talks with an opposition alliance on supporting its joint candidate to challenge President Tayyip Erdogan in May elections has caused unease among some nationalist elements of the diverse union. Mithat Sancar, co-leader of the left-wing Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), parliament's third biggest, made the appeal late on Monday after the six-party opposition bloc announced that Kemal Kilicdaroglu would be its candidate.

Nepal's PM faces court hearing into deaths during Maoist insurgency

Nepal's top court will hear a petition on Thursday demanding the arrest of Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal and an investigation into his leadership during a decade-long civil war that killed thousands of people, court officials and petitioners said. Dahal, a former Maoist guerrilla commander, led rebels against Nepal's security forces during the conflict, which raged for 10 years until 2006 and killed about 17,000 people before a peace deal overseen by the United Nations put an end to hostilities.

Young Afghan women train as midwives for out-of-reach villages

In a small village circled by velvety white snow-topped mountains in Afghanistan's Bamiyan province, Aziza Rahimi mourns the baby son she lost last year after a harrowing birth with no medical care. "It was too hard for me when I lost my baby. As a mother, I nurtured the baby in my womb for nine months but then I lost him, it is too painful," said Rahimi, 35.

Son retracts tweet announcing Bolsonaro's return to Brazil

Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, son of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, on Tuesday wrote on Twitter his father would return to Brazil next week but deleted the post a few minutes later, saying the date was not confirmed. "I'm sorry for the previous post, I might be missing him a lot," Flavio said, adding the March 15 date he had previously announced for the former president's return was "likely but still unconfirmed".

Venezuelans struggling to afford food - even if they have access to dollars

Like many Venezuelans, Carmen Mendoza has learned to get by with a patchwork of different income streams in different currencies - her pension, renting out a property, and roughly $150 per month her two daughters send from Spain. But it is no longer enough.