world
NewsAssociated PressUS-backed Afghan peace meeting postponed, as Taliban balk
Turkey announced early Wednesday that a conference Washington had hoped would move Afghanistan’s warring sides to a final peace agreement was postponed, as fresh violence rattled the Afghan capital. The postponement of the conference, which was to have begun Saturday in Istanbul, underscored the difficulties the Biden administration is facing in orchestrating an orderly exit from conflict-scarred Afghanistan. In a TV interview, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said the conference was delayed until after the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan, which ends in mid-May.
NewsReutersOxygen supplies run low as India grapples with coronavirus 'storm'
Indian authorities scrambled to shore up supplies of medical oxygen to hospitals in the capital, Delhi, on Wednesday as a fast-spreading second wave of coronavirus stretched medical infrastructure to breaking point, officials and doctors said. India, the world's second most populous country, is reporting the world's highest number of new daily cases and approaching a peak of about 297,000 cases in one day that the United States hit in January. The latest date released by the health ministry showed there had been 295,041 new infections nationwide overnight and 2,023 deaths, India's highest in the pandemic.
NewsAssociated PressSeoul court rejects sexual slavery claim against Tokyo
A South Korean court on Wednesday rejected a claim by South Korean sexual slavery victims and their relatives who sought compensation from the Japanese government over their wartime sufferings. The Seoul Central District Court based its decision on diplomatic considerations and principles of international law that grant states immunity from jurisdiction of foreign courts. This appeared to align with the position maintained by Tokyo, which had boycotted the court proceedings and insists all wartime compensation issues were settled under a 1965 treaty normalizing relations with South Korea.
NewsAssociated PressThe Latest: Thailand to buy 35 million more vaccine doses
Thailand plans to purchase 35 million more doses of COVID-19 vaccines on top of the 65 million it has already contracted amid criticism of a slow start of the vaccination campaign. Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha's announcement on his Facebook comes as Thailand is battling a third wave of infections that has resulted in record daily cases. Health authorities on Wednesday announced 1,458 new confirmed cases and two deaths, bringing the totals to 46,643 cases including 110 deaths.
NewsReutersHow a WHO push for global vaccines needled Europe
Last April, at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen added Europe to a global effort to ensure equitable access to a vaccine, which she said would be deployed "to every single corner of the world." But despite pledging billions of dollars for the scheme set up by the World Health Organization (WHO) and publicly endorsing it, European Union officials and member states repeatedly made choices that undermined the campaign, internal documents seen by Reuters and interviews with EU officials and diplomats show. A year after its launch, Europe and the rest of the world have yet to donate a single dose through the vaccine scheme, which is part of an unprecedented effort to distribute vaccines, tests and drugs to fight the pandemic.
NewsThe Guardian‘The work continues’: Black Americans stress that police reform is still needed
‘The work continues’: Black Americans stress that police reform is still neededThe Obamas and Bernice King were among those to encourage justice for other victims of police brutality after the Derek Chauvin guilty verdict
SportAssociated PressOhtani throws 4 shutout innings, Trout, Pujols homer for LA
Any time Shohei Ohtani takes the mound for the Los Angeles Angels, it's a must-see experience. Ohtani became the first starting pitcher since at least 1901 to toss four shutout innings with at least six walks and seven strikeouts. According to Sportradar, Ohtani joined Colorado right-hander Tyler Chatwood (2017) and Bill Bailey of the 1914 Baltimore Terrapins as the only starting pitchers to go five innings or fewer and allow no runs on one hit with at least six walks and seven strikeouts.
NewsThe GuardianOscar Grant’s family on the Chauvin conviction: ‘This is huge. We’ve been let down so many times’
Oscar Grant’s family on the Chauvin conviction: ‘This is huge. We’ve been let down so many times’Oscar Grant’s death in 2009 in Oakland, California, was the first high-profile killing by police caught on cellphone video that went viral Cephus “Bobby” Johnson stands in protest of the release of Johannes Mehserle, the transit officer who fatally shot his nephew Oscar Grant in 2009. Photograph: Nick Ut/AP
NewsThe GuardianJoe Biden faces major test building US credibility at climate summit
Joe Biden faces major test building US credibility at climate summit. President will unveil new emissions reduction target while much will hinge upon cooperation between China and US
NewsThe GuardianPolice fatally shoot 15-year-old girl in Columbus, Ohio
Police fatally shoot 15-year-old girl in Columbus, Ohio. Officers responding to an attempted stabbing call shot Makiyah Bryant just before judge delivers a guilty verdict in Derek Chauvin trial
NewsThe Guardian‘Let this send a clear message’: world leaders react to Derek Chauvin verdict
‘Let this send a clear message’: world leaders react to Derek Chauvin verdict Justin Trudeau welcomes jurors’ decision but warns that systemic racism still exists in the US‘I cried so hard’: the teen who filmed Floyd’s killing, and changed AmericaTearful testimony and defense’s own goal: key moments in the Chauvin trial People march through the streets of Atlanta after Derek Chauvin was convicted of murdering George Floyd. Photograph: Megan Varner/Getty Images
NewsThe GuardianMinneapolis hopes for new beginning after verdict: ‘George Floyd is a movement’
Minneapolis hopes for new beginning after verdict: ‘George Floyd is a movement’After weeks of anxiety, the city celebrated with a victory march. ‘Tomorrow we get back to work’, one organizer said Courteney Ross, the girlfriend of George Floyd, said of the verdict: ‘We needed it. This city needed it.’ Photograph: Stephen Maturen/Getty Images
NewsThe Guardian‘I cried so hard’: the teen who filmed Floyd’s killing, and changed America
‘I cried so hard’: the teen who filmed Floyd’s killing, and changed America. Darnella Frazier’s video of Floyd gasping for air became a key piece of evidence in the trial of Derek Chauvin
NewsANI9 Chinese military planes violate Taiwan's air defence zone
Taipei [Taiwan], April 21 (ANI): Nine Chinese military planes entered Taiwan's air defence identification zone (ADIZ) on Thursday afternoon, marking the 17th intrusion this month.
PoliticsAssociated PressHitting latest vaccine milestone, Biden pushes shots for all
The U.S. is set to meet President Joe Biden's latest vaccine goal of administering 200 million COVID-19 shots in his first 100 days in office, as the White House steps up its efforts to inoculate the rest of the public. With more than 50% of adults at least partially vaccinated, Biden on Wednesday will reflect on his efforts to expand vaccine distribution and access in his first three months in the White House. With roughly 28 million vaccine doses being delivered each week, demand has eclipsed supply as the constraining factor to vaccinations in much of the country.
NewsReutersJapan's foreign residents ponder travelling for vaccines amid slow inoculation push
Japan's glacial COVID-19 inoculation push is prompting some foreign residents to consider flying to other countries to get vaccinated, as the pandemic surges again with no shots in sight for everyday people. Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga negotiated with the CEO of Pfizer Inc on Saturday to secure more vaccine doses, now expected to be enough for all residents by September. Japan only started vaccinating its sizable elderly population this month and health experts say it may take till the winter or longer for most of the general populace to get access to the shots.
NewsANIArgentina reports over 29,000 new COVID-19 cases
Buenos Aires [Argentina], April 21 (ANI/Xinhua): Argentina reported more than 29,000 new daily cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday, along with a record occupation of intensive care units in the capital Buenos Aires and the greater metropolitan area.
NewsAssociated PressJury's swift verdict for Chauvin in Floyd death: Guilty
After three weeks of testimony, the trial of the former police officer charged with killing George Floyd ended swiftly: barely more than a day of jury deliberations, then just minutes for the verdicts to be read — guilty, guilty and guilty — and Derek Chauvin was handcuffed and taken away to prison. Chauvin, 45, could be sent to prison for decades when he is sentenced in about two months a case that triggered worldwide protests, violence and a furious reexamination of racism and policing in the U.S. “Today, we are able to breathe again,” Floyd's younger brother Philonise said at a joyous family news conference where tears streamed down his face as he likened Floyd to the 1955 Mississippi lynching victim Emmett Till, except that this time there were cameras around to show the world what happened.
NewsAssociated PressFloyd's hometown exalts in verdict but tempers expectations
The streets of Houston’s Third Ward, a historically black neighborhood where George Floyd grew up, echoed with screams filled with the word “justice” in the moments after former Minneapolis police Officer Derek Chauvin was convicted of murder. “I think people’s belief in the system that we got in place is so bad that they don’t expect nothing good,” Cal Wayne, a Houston rapper who was a childhood friend of Floyd’s, said as he stood in front of a mural of Floyd on the wall of a popular corner store in the Third Ward. Nicholas Watson, a Third Ward resident and business owner, said he had pondered how to do damage control if Chauvin were acquitted and the community's frustration boiled over into property destruction.
NewsThe Guardian‘My brother got justice’: George Floyd’s family praises guilty verdict
‘My brother got justice’: George Floyd’s family praises guilty verdictMembers of Floyd’s family have become leaders in the movement sparked by his deathDerek Chauvin guilty verdict – follow live updatesLife of George Floyd: ‘He knew how to make people feel better’
PoliticsThe GuardianDemocrats block Republican bid to censure Maxine Waters over Chauvin remarks
Democrats block Republican bid to censure Maxine Waters over Chauvin remarksCongresswoman defiant as Republicans condemn her comments in support of protesters Maxine Waters during a protest in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, over the weekend. Photograph: Dominick Sokotoff/Zuma/Rex/Shutterstock
NewsAssociated PressArchaeologists: Site of Harriet Tubman's father's home found
Archaeologists in Maryland say they believe they have found the homesite of famed abolitionist Harriet Tubman’s father. The homesite of Ben Ross was found on property acquired last year by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as an addition to Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge, officials said Tuesday. An archaeology team led by the State Highway Administration conducted research that led to the find.
NewsAssociated PressPM Suga makes offerings at Yasukuni shrine but doesn't visit
Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga on Wednesday donated religions offerings to a Tokyo shrine viewed by China and both Koreas as a symbol of wartime aggression, though he avoided a visit. Suga’s offering of “masakaki” leaves at Yasukuni Shrine was his second since taking office in September and marks the shrine’s biannual festival honoring Japan's war dead. Victims of Japanese military aggression in most of the first half of the 20th century, especially the Koreas and China, see the shrine as a symbol of Japan’s militarism because it honors convicted World War II criminals among about 2.5 million war dead.
NewsAssociated PressBrazil COVID cases still soaring among unprotected majority
Brazil's slowly unfolding vaccination program appears to have slowed the pace of deaths among the nation's elderly, according to death certificate data, but COVID-19 is still taking a rising toll as unprotected younger people get sick. People 80 and over accounted for a quarter of the nation's COVID-19 deaths in February, but less than a fifth in March, according to data provided to The Associated Press on Tuesday by Arpen-Brasil, an association which represents thousands of the notaries who record death certificates in Brazil.
NewsAssociated PressAustralia plans to spend $417 M on hydrogen, carbon capture
Australia’s prime minister has proposed spending an extra 539 million Australian dollars ($417 million) on hydrogen and carbon sequestration projects, seeking to burnish his government’s green credentials ahead of a climate summit to be hosted by President Joe Biden. Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the money to be spent on building new hydrogen-producing hubs and carbon capture technologies would create more than 2,500 jobs while reducing Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions. “It is essential we position Australia to succeed by investing now in the technologies that will support our industries into the future, with lower emissions energy that can support Australian jobs,” Morrison said in a statement.
