The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, has proposed a series of steps to help restart stalled peace talks between the government of Afghanistan and the Taliban, according to a letter from Blinken to President Ashraf Ghani published on Sunday by Afghanistan‘s TOLONews.
Related: Afghans dread the ‘danger hours’ as fragile gains of 20 years slip away
Continue reading...Programme may help to ensure the survival of the critically endangered variable harlequin toad
One of the world’s rarest toads has been bred in captivity for the first time, thanks to the scientists at Manchester Museum.
The critically endangered variable harlequin toad, Atelopus varius, lives deep in the central American rainforests of Panama and Costa Rica, breeding only in turbulent streams filled with stones and boulders on which they lay their eggs.
Continue reading...Exclusive: former DfID secretary Mark Lowcock shocked by decision of Johnson’s government to cut aid
Ministers have decided to “balance the books on the backs of the starving people of Yemen” in an act that will see tens of thousands die and damage the UK’s global influence, the head of the UN’s Office for Humanitarian Affairs has said.
Speaking with rare bluntness after the UK more than halved its funds to help Yemen, the former permanent secretary at the Department for International Development Mark Lowcock said he was shocked by the decision. It is understood he was given no chance to appeal to the UK to rethink.
Continue reading...Thousands of people filled a sports stadium in the northern Kurdish-Iraqi city of Irbil for an open-air mass held by Pope Francis. An estimated 10,000 people erupted in cheers when he arrived and did a lap around the track in his open-sided popemobile, the first and only time he has used it on this trip due to security concerns. During the mass, which was the final event of the Pope’s visit to Iraq, the pontiff declared that the church in the country was ‘alive’.
Three British women say royal controversy points to UK’s failure to confront its racist attitudes
Chanel Ambrose was swept up by the sea of excitement around Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s wedding. The 33-year-old loved how much Meghan tapped into her culture and heritage for the event: from the choir, the preacher, to her mum, with her natural hair, standing by her side.
She hoped the wedding and what it would symbolise might lead to a greater acceptance of black women across all sectors of society.
Continue reading...Muslim groups criticise move, which they say will further stigmatise and marginalise their community
Switzerland will follow France, Belgium and Austria after narrowly voting in a referendum to ban women from wearing the burqa or niqab in public spaces.
Just over 51% of Swiss voters cast their ballots in favour of the initiative to ban people from covering their face completely on the street, in shops and restaurants.
Continue reading...Device explodes near border with Bosnia, killing one man and injuring at least four others
A landmine from the 1990s Balkan wars has exploded, killing a migrant and injured several others in an area of central Croatia littered with unexploded ordnance.
The blast occurred on Thursday in woodland near Saborsko, close to the Bosnian border where a group of asylum seekers were attempting to traverse the country, Croatian authorities said in a statement.
Continue reading...ShareAmi scheme aims to combat the isolation felt by many older people during the pandemic
After spending a third of his placement in France stuck in lockdown, modern languages student Elliot Bellman was worried that his conversation skills might suffer. But his weekly chats with Mme Tolu, a Parisian care home resident in her 80s, have helped keep his fluency up to scratch.
“During the pandemic it’s difficult to travel and have those normal experiences, going out and talking to new people,” said Bellman, 20, a third year student at the University of Warwick. “So this allows me to keep talking to someone in French. And Mme Tolu doesn’t have any family around her any more, so I feel like I am helping somewhat with the loneliness. It’s mutually beneficial.”
Continue reading...Five-year sentence in Iran is complete but lawyer says she will have to go to court to face new charges
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe has been released from house arrest in Iran on the completion of her five-year sentence, but the British-Iranian dual national will have to go to court to face a second set of charges on 14 March, according to her lawyer.
The new charges, long threatened by the Iranians, include involvement in propaganda activity against the Islamic Republic including by attending a demonstration outside the Iranian embassy in London in 2009 and speaking to BBC Persian.
Continue reading...Foreign minister Wang Yi calls for cooperation and signals that Beijing will stand firm against criticism
China’s top diplomat has called on the US to drop the sanctions and restrictions introduced by Donald Trump and warned against international “hegemony and bullying” and interference in what Beijing considers internal affairs, including Taiwan, Hong Kong, Xinjiang and the South China Sea.
On day three of China’s annual National People’s Congress (NPC), the country’s foreign minister, Wang Yi, signalled that Beijing intended to hold firm against growing international criticism of its perceived expansionist and hostile activity and domestic human rights abuses.
Continue reading...Former Israeli spy says generals have been ‘misunderstood’ as police continue to fire on protesters
Accused of crimes against humanity, an illegal government takeover and gunning down protesters, Myanmar’s military is seeking to rebrand itself in foreign capitals, recruiting a former Israeli military intelligence official turned lobbyist with a record defending controversial clients.
Ari Ben-Menashe, a Tehran-born, Israeli-Canadian lobbyist, was hired by the Tatmadaw this week to “assist in explaining the real situation in the country”, according to a consultancy agreement reported by Foreign Lobby, an outlet that tracks foreign government influence operations in Washington.
Continue reading...More than 20 major cities have reduced police budgets in some form, and activists are fighting to ensure that is only the start
After “defund the police” became the rallying cry of protests last summer, Democratic leaders spent months criticizing the slogan and worrying about its impact on elections. While party infighting was dominating headlines, local activists were campaigning to make the catchphrase a reality in cities across the US.
Since the killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor prompted unprecedented uprisings, some racial justice groups have successfully pressured municipal lawmakers to cut police funds and reinvest the money in services. And with reformed 2021 budgets coming into effect, cities are slowly beginning to redistribute law enforcement money to housing, mental health programs, food access and other programs.
Continue reading...Raccoon attacks on residents are up 62% as some people act ‘foolish’ but others are enjoying seeing their furry neighbours
Disrupted sleeping schedules, noisy neighbours and a world that looks unrecognizable: the coronavirus pandemic has been tough for Toronto’s raccoons.
And with a lockdown keeping human residents at home in Canada’s largest city, dangerous interactions with Toronto’s infamous urban critters are also increasing.
Continue reading...As Paris prepares to commemorate the 150th anniversary, the communards’ vision of a new form of radical democracy is once again dividing France
A couple of years ago, as railway workers demonstrated in Paris against proposed government reforms, a banner in the crowd offered a blast from France’s revolutionary past: “We don’t care about May ’68,” read its slogan. “We want 1871.”
It was a message that the protesters meant business. These days, the students’ revolt of 1968, and its injunctions to “Be realistic … demand the impossible”, are remembered with fond nostalgia. But in the annals of French revolutionary upheavals, the memory of the Paris Commune of 1871 and its bloody barricades has a darker, edgier status. “Unlike 1789, the Commune was never truly integrated into the national story,” says Mathilde Larrère, a historian specialising in the radical movements of 19th-century France. Wild, anarchic and dominated by the Parisian poor, the Commune was loathed by the liberal bourgeoisie as well as by the conservatives and monarchists of the right. Its savage suppression by the French army, and its own acts of brutal violence, created wounds that never healed. “The Commune of 1871 didn’t become part of a consensual collective memory,” says Larrère. In respectable society, it was viewed as beyond the pale.
Continue reading...France reports 23,306 new cases as Pas-de-Calais locked down, US Senate passes $1.9tn pandemic economic relief plan, arrests during Vienna protests
In Australia, the vaccine rollout which began a couple of weeks ago is about to enter a new phase with GPs to take a major role in the delivery.
While the Australian Medical Association says the majority of GPs have put up their hand to participate, there is criticism about insufficient information about how it will work and low payment rates.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has vowed to remain “cautious” in loosening coronavirus restrictions as pupils prepare to return to school for the first time in two months on Monday, PA media has reported.
Boris Johnson hailed the “truly national effort” to reduce coronavirus levels with the country on the cusp of marking the first phase of lockdown easing as classrooms reopen this week.
But, despite an improving picture in terms of declining Covid cases in England, Johnson said he wanted to be careful not to “undo the progress we have made”.
It comes as the vaccine programme continues to accelerate, with people aged between 56 and 59 being invited to book Covid-19 jabs this week. Hundreds of thousands of letters for the age group began landing on doorsteps on Saturday, and the latest round of invites comes after eight in 10 people aged 65-69 took up the offer of a jab, NHS England said.
Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng provided further optimism when he told The Times it was “possible” the Government will have offered a first dose to all adults by June - a month ahead of the current end of July target.
Across the whole of the UK, more than a million people have received both doses of a Covid-19 vaccine, while almost 21.8 million people have had one dose.
According to the Prime Minister’s road map, the second part of stage one, which will allow outdoor gatherings of either six people or two households, is due on March 29.
Shops could open by April 12 and all restrictions could possibly be lifted by June 21.
Officials say no new local cases on Sunday, though masks still required on public transport
Auckland has come out of a weeklong lockdown imposed after a community cluster of the more contagious UK coronavirus variant.
There were no new local Covid-19 cases recorded on Sunday, health officials said, allowing for the restrictions to ease. If no community cases are confirmed during the rest of Sunday it would make a full seven days since the last community case.
Continue reading...A least 100 people gathered in front of the Idaho state capitol on Saturday to burn masks, in a protest against measures to limit infections and deaths caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
Continue reading...Three professors at the University of South Alabama have been placed on leave over racially insensitive Halloween photos, the university said.
Related: Rochester police officer off streets after pepper-spraying woman with toddler
Continue reading...Party bodies have used former president’s name while fundraising for Republicans who voted for his impeachment
Donald Trump has told the Republican National Committee and other party bodies to stop using his name and likeness in fundraising efforts, it was reported on Saturday.
Continue reading...Joe Biden hailed “one more giant step forward on delivering on that promise that help is on the way”, after Democrats took a critical step towards a first major legislative victory since assuming control of Congress and the White House, with a party-line vote in the Senate to approve a $1.9tn coronavirus relief bill.
Related: Biden urged to 'go big' on New Deal-like economic plan – but can he bridge left-right gap?
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