WorldBBCEthiopia's Tigray crisis: Blinken says US concerned about atrocities
The US has condemned reported atrocities in Ethiopia's conflict-hit northern region of Tigray, urging the African Union to help resolve the "deteriorating situation." "We are deeply concerned by the worsening humanitarian crisis," Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said. The conflict erupted on 4 November 2020 when Ethiopia's government launched an offensive to oust the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) after its fighters captured federal military bases in Tigray.
WorldReutersPope's risky trip to Iraq defies sceptics
Rockets have hit Iraqi cities and COVID-19 has flared,yet, barring last-minute changes, Pope Francis will embark on a whirlwind four-day trip starting on Friday to show solidarity with the country's devastated Christian community. Keen to get on the road again after the pandemic put paid to several planned trips, he convinced some perplexed Vatican aides that it is worth the risk and that, in any case, his mind was made up, three Vatican sources said. "He is itching to get back out on the road after such a long period," said one Vatican official.
- WorldAssociated Press
Gunmen kill Islamic cleric, his son, student in Pakistan
A trio of gunmen shot and killed a religious cleric, his teenage son and a student on the outskirts of Pakistan's capital Islamabad, police said, amid a rise in militant attacks. Police officer Shahzad Khan said the killing took place in the Bhara Kahu neighborhood when Mufti Ikramur Rehman was heading toward his car with his 13-year-old son and a seminary student late Saturday night. The cleric, his son and the student received multiple gunshot wounds and died at a hospital.
WorldThe TelegraphCoronavirus latest news: Six cases of Brazilian variant found in UK for first time
What is the Brazilian variant? Exclusive: Single-shot Covid vaccine could be weeks away Prince William warns social media is awash with vaccine rumours Scientists work on rapid mass tests to unlock summer sport Flexible rail season tickets by June Six cases of the Brazilian coronavirus variant have been identified in the UK, Public Health England has said. It is the first time the variant, known as P.1, has been identified in the UK.
WorldBBCMyanmar coup: UN ambassador fired after anti-army speech
Myanmar's military rulers say they have fired the country's ambassador to the United Nations, a day after he called for help to remove the army from power. In an emotional speech, Kyaw Moe Tun said no-one should co-operate with the military until it handed back power to the democratically elected government. UN sources told Reuters that as they do not recognise the junta, Kyaw Moe Tun remains Myanmar's UN ambassador.
WorldReutersIsrael says initial assessment is Iran behind explosion on Israeli-owned ship
Israeli defence minister Benny Gantz said on Saturday his "initial assessment" was that Iran was responsible for an explosion on an Israeli-owned ship in the Gulf of Oman. The ship, a vehicle-carrier named MV Helios Ray, suffered an explosion between Thursday and Friday morning. A U.S. defence official in Washington said the blast left holes above the waterline in both sides of the hull.
U.S.Associated Press10 death row inmates in Oklahoma could get new trials
As many as 10 death row inmates in Oklahoma, more than one-fifth of the state's prisoners condemned to die, could escape execution because of a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling concerning criminal jurisdiction in Indian Country. The inmates have challenged their convictions in state court following the high court's ruling last year, dubbed the McGirt decision, that determined a large swath of eastern Oklahoma remains an American Indian reservation. The decision means that Oklahoma prosecutors lack the authority to pursue criminal charges in cases in which the defendants, or the victims, are tribal citizens.
PoliticsThe IndependentCPAC: Gaetz says media ‘biased’ over Ted Cruz’s Cancun trip and should have focused on ‘caravans’ of migrants instead
Republican congressman Matt Gaetz attacked the way Ted Cruz's short-lived trip to Cancun, Mexico – amid a record-breaking winter storm – was reported by the media last week. The Florida congressman, who was speaking at the four-day Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Orlando on Friday, accused the media of being 'biased' towards Mr Cruz, who was forced to return to Texas amid calls to resign last Thursday. It followed reports Mr Cruz flew to Cancun with his family on Wednesday evening as hundreds of thousands of Texans remained without water or electricity for a fourth day running.
WorldReutersFrance and Germany to require COVID-19 test for some border crossings
France and Germany have agreed that people crossing the border between the French region of Moselle and Germany will have to have proof of a negative COVID-19 antigen test in the previous 48 hours, French Europe Minister Clement Beaune said on Sunday. The French government was eager to keep travel restrictions limited at the border, which 16,000 French workers from Moselle cross each day. "We have negotiated with the Germans so that crossing the border remains allowed, so that these tests are faster and easier antigenic tests," Beaune said on BFM TV.
WorldAssociated PressRooster kills Indian man during banned cockfight
A man was killed by a rooster with a blade tied to its leg during an illegal cockfight in southern India, police said, bringing focus on a practice that continues in some Indian states despite a decades-old ban. The rooster, with a 3-inch knife tied to its leg, fluttered in panic and slashed its owner, 45-year-old Thangulla Satish, in his groin last week, police inspector B. Jeevan said Sunday. Jeevan said police filed a case and were looking for over a dozen people involved in organizing the cockfight.
- PoliticsReuters Videos
Biden urges Senate to pass COVID relief bill
And with their vote, we're one step closer to vaccinating the nation. We are one step closer to putting 1400 dollars in the pockets of Americans. We're one step closer to extending unemployment benefits for millions of Americans who are shortly going to lose them.
WorldAssociated PressDefying lethal shootings, Myanmar protesters back on streets
Police in Myanmar's biggest city on Monday fired tear gas at defiant crowds who returned to the streets to protest the military's seizure of power a month ago, despite reports that security forces had killed at least 18 people around the country a day earlier. The protesters in Yangon were chased as they tried to gather at their usual meeting spot at the Hledan Center intersection. In the capital, Naypyitaw, the country's ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi made a court appearance Monday via videoconference, the independent Myanmar Now online news agency reported.
BusinessReutersAstraZeneca has sold its stake in Moderna for more than $1 billion: The Times
The report added that it was not clear over what period British-based AstraZeneca sold its holding in Moderna. AstraZeneca and Moderna did not immediately respond to requests for comment. AstraZeneca is retaining partnership with Moderna on other disease treatments and could sell its AstraZeneca/Oxford University COVID-19 vaccine on a commercial basis in future if the virus becomes endemic, the report added.
PoliticsReutersTrump proposes new voting limits, rails against "monster" voting rights bill
Former U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday laid out a variety of election proposals, such as limiting absentee voting and days when Americans can vote, in his first public speech after his stinging Nov. 3 election loss. Democrats' nationwide push to register new voters, including Black voters and young people, and Trump's refusal to urge his Republican supporters to vote by absentee ballot are believed to have been factors in his 7 million vote loss to Joe Biden. At a speech to the Conservative Political Action Conference in Orlando, Florida, Trump said Election Day should be only one day, not a number of days leading up to the actual voting day.
U.S.INSIDERMinneapolis approved funding to hire social media influencers to spread information about ex cop Derek Chauvin's trial
Minneapolis city council approved funding to hire social media influencers for Derek Chauvin's trial, WCCO-TV reported. The influencers will be paid to provide the local community with information about the trial. Chauvin was charged in Floyd's death, and his trial is set to begin on March 8.
- WorldAssociated Press
Russian helicopter crash-lands in northern Syria, casualties
A Russian military helicopter made an emergency landing for technical reasons in northeast Syria on Sunday, Russia's Defense Ministry said. Syria's state media said there were casualties among the crew. Russia joined Syria's war in September 2015 and has since helped tip the balance of power in favor of President Bashar Assad's forces.
WorldReutersIran dismisses idea of talks with EU and U.S. to revive 2015 nuclear deal
Iran on Sunday ruled out holding an informal meeting with the United States and other major powers to discuss ways to salvage the unravelling 2015 nuclear deal, insisting Washington must first lift all its unilateral sanctions. "Considering the recent actions and statements by the United States and three European powers, Iran does not consider this the time to hold an informal meeting with these countries, which was proposed by the EU foreign policy chief," Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said, according to Iranian media.
HealthAssociated PressJ&J’s 1-dose shot cleared, giving US 3rd COVID-19 vaccine
The U.S. is getting a third vaccine to prevent COVID-19, as the Food and Drug Administration on Saturday cleared a Johnson & Johnson shot that works with just one dose instead of two. Health experts are anxiously awaiting a one-and-done option to help speed vaccinations, as they race against a virus that already has killed more than 510,000 people in the U.S. and is mutating in increasingly worrisome ways. The FDA said J&J's vaccine offers strong protection against what matters most: serious illness, hospitalizations and death.
PoliticsBusiness InsiderWhite House staffer describes 'a complete lack of empathy' during Trump administration for keeping residence workers safe from COVID-19
The COVID-19 pandemic has been difficult for the White House residence staff. The White House's approach to COVID-19 shifted dramatically after Biden succeeded Trump. While former President Donald Trump and many of his aides were battling their own bouts with COVID-19 last year, the White House residence staff never stopped toiling in the background, according to The New Yorker.
WorldReutersTwo Jordanian ministers fired for partying in breach of their own rules
Jordan's interior and justice ministers were fired on Sunday for attending a dinner party at a restaurant that violated the coronavirus restrictions that their own ministries are supposed to enforce. Prime Minister Bisher al Khasawneh accepted the resignation of Interior Minister Samir Mobeideen and Justice Minister Bassam Talhouni, days after the announcement of new rules intended to stem a month-old surge of infections driven by a more contagious variant of the virus. Their appearance in a public banqueting room, disregarding social distancing rules, added to widespread outrage at the hefty fines slapped on ordinary people while officials go unpunished for attending functions with far more than the 20 guests allowed.
HealthThe Independent‘No hospitalisations and no deaths’: All three US vaccines ‘highly efficacious’, Fauci says
Dr Anthony Fauci has sought to dispel lingering concerns about any of the Covid vaccines that are being rolled out across the country, urging Americans that all three types of approved jab are “highly efficacious”. While many Americans have harped on the relatively lower nominal efficacy rate of the newly approved Johnson & Johnson vaccine – 66 per cent globally, compared to 94 per cent for the Moderna vaccine and 93 per cent for the Pfizer vaccine – doctors and scientists, including Dr Fauci, have said all three vaccines are extraordinarily effective at preventing serious illness and death. The numbers Americans should be emphasising are that all three vaccines have proven 100 per cent effective at preventing deaths.
PoliticsAssociated PressWhat's in an adjective? 'Democrat Party' label on the rise
Two days before the assault on the U.S. Capitol, Pennsylvania state Sen. Doug Mastriano, a Republican, said supporters of then-President Donald Trump's claims of election fraud were basically in a “death match with the Democrat Party.” A day later, right-wing activist Alan Hostetter, a staunch Trump supporter known for railing against California's virus-inspired stay-at-home orders, urged rallygoers in Washington to "put the fear of God in the cowards, the traitors, the RINOs, the communists of the Democrat Party.” The shared grammatical construction — incorrect use of the noun “Democrat” as an adjective — was far from the most shocking thing about the two men's statements.
BusinessBusiness InsiderCustomers are boycotting Trader Joe's after the chain fired an employee who asked the CEO to enhance COVID-19 protections
People are calling for a boycott on Trader Joe's after one of its employees was fired. A New York man said he was fired from his job after asking the company to do more to protect its workers from COVID-19. Ben Bonnema shared his termination letter on Twitter.
U.S.USA TODAYAmerican Airlines flight diverted after 'disturbing and unacceptable' passenger fight over racial slur
An American Airlines flight from Dallas-Fort Worth to Los Angeles was diverted to Phoenix after an in-flight passenger altercation, the company confirmed. Two passengers got into a fight with another passenger who asked them to stop using a racial slur, Phoenix police told Yahoo. "Upon arrival, the flight was met by local law enforcement who removed and arrested two individuals for verbally and physically assaulting other customers and flight crew members," an American Airlines statement read.
WorldThe IndependentFar-right Proud Boys leader condemns Capitol rioters but says he 'won't cry' about politicians
Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio has condemned the rioters who besieged the US Capitol, but will not “cry” about lawmakers who came under attack on the day. Mr Tarrio, who was arrested two days before some members of the Proud Boys – and other Trump supporters – rioted at the US Capitol, told CNN that lawmakers did not need sympathy after the attack. The remarks come despite concerns among members of Congress that they were targets of those who broke into the complex on 6 January, citing baseless claims the 2020 election was “stolen”.
“How about we skip ‘he won’t win’ cycle and not do 2016 all over again. Trump can absolutely win another presidential election.”
“With independents deserting him, there is simply no path for Trump to get back into the White House — except as a tourist.”
“They might as well cancel the 2024 primaries...because there is no way he can lose.”
“The next Republican presidential primary will be heavily shaped by Trump — whether or not he decides to run again.”
“Donald Trump will not be running for president again. He will, however, continue to tease the possibility of a 2024 run.”