Russia’s ambassador to the United States returned to Moscow on Sunday after being recalled for emergency consultations amid rising tensions with Washington following President Joe Biden’s comments that he believed his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, was a killer. 
 
Biden’s remark in a TV interview earlier in the week in turn prompted a terse quip from Vladimir Putin who wished the U.S. president “good health” and said that people tend to refer to others as they really see themselves. 
 
The Biden interview came on the heels of the release of a report by the U.S. Office of the Director of National Intelligence that concluded Putin had “authorized, and a range of Russian government organizations conducted, influence operations aimed at denigrating President Biden’s candidacy and the Democratic Party, supporting former President [Donald] Trump, undermining public confidence in the electoral process and exacerbating sociopolitical divisions in the United States.” 
 
The Kremlin immediately denied the findings of the report, saying they were “absolutely unfounded.” 
 
Ambassador Anatoly Antonov landed at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport early on March 21, Russian news agencies reported, after he was recalled last week over the spat. Before takeoff in New York he told news agencies he would stay in Moscow “as long as needed” and that several meetings were scheduled. 
 
“The Russian side has always stressed that we are interested in the development of Russian-American relations to the same extent as our American colleagues are,” he was quoted as saying by TASS. 
 
Moscow, which rarely recalls ambassadors, last summoned its envoy in the United States in 1998 over a Western bombing campaign in Iraq. 
 
In 2014, after the U.S. said Russia would face repercussions for the annexation of Crimea from Ukraine, Putin held back on recalling Moscow’s envoy, describing the measure as a “last resort.” Biden, who has spent more than four decades in politics, said “I do” during an ABC News interview broadcast on March 17 when asked if he believed the Russian president was a killer. 
 
The Kremlin immediately responded that Biden’s statement was “very bad” and “unprecedented.” 
 
Putin has since proposed a phone call with Biden to talk about the COVID-19 pandemic and regional conflicts, among other topics, and said it should be open to the public. 
 
The Kremlin has suggested the offer was intended to avoid permanent damage in Russian-U.S. relations from Biden’s characterization. 
 
Putin’s two decades as Russia’s leader have included Western accusations of state-sponsored assassination attempts against political opponents at home and abroad, though no U.S. president had previously said in public that they believed the Russian leader was directly responsible for murder. 
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French language lovers could celebrate International Francophonie Day on Saturday with a new online interactive dictionary. Rolled out by the French government, it reflects not only the language’s evolution but also the reality that most of today’s speakers are not French.Did you receive a “pourriel” or “throw a camel” today? If you are wondering what these expressions mean, you will not find the answers here in France. In Canadian French, a pourriel — a version of courriel, French for email — means spam mail. When you “lance un chameau” or throw a camel in the Democratic Republic of Congo, you have made a spelling mistake.Both these expressions are included in a new online dictionary sponsored by the French government.French Culture Minister Roselyne Bachelot says the dictionary is not just for France’s 67 million citizens, but for the 300 million French speakers worldwide. It aims to modernize and enrich the French language, she says, embracing its evolution.President Emmanuel Macron proposed the idea of this Francophones’ Dictionary in 2018. The dictionary already contains about 600,000 terms.It got a new word last week, when Louise Mushikiwabo, who heads the International Organization of la Francophonie, representing French-speaking countries, proposed “techniquer” — which in her native Rwanda means figuring out creative solutions with limited resources.Unlike past dictionaries, which were products of elite French academics, this dictionary is interactive, democratic — and a work in progress. Anybody can propose a word. A group of experts will decide whether it should be added.So, what do non-French francophones think about the new dictionary? A stroll through a multicultural Paris neighborhood provided some insight.Mimi, from Senegal, immediately checked out the dictionary on her smartphone. She couldn’t think of any words to propose right away, but she found the idea interesting.Longtime resident Nicole Sika offered up “go” — which means your female friend in her native Ivory Coast — or “zo” — which means you are smartly dressed.Other French dictionaries have expanded their lexicon. The iconic Le Petit Larousse French dictionary has added words like “taxier” — an Algerian expression meaning, not surprisingly, taxi driver. But this new, interactive dictionary is the first sponsored by France’s government, ending three centuries in which only the elite French Academy determined which words to include.“The French no longer have a monopoly on French,” French magazine L’Express wrote recently, “and that is good news.”
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The founder of BioNTech, which partnered with Pfizer in making one of the first coronavirus vaccines to be approved for use, is optimistic that the virus will be under control in most European countries by the end of the summer despite a faltering vaccine rollout.In Germany, owners of shuttered shops and would-be vacationers are increasingly restive over COVID-19 restrictions. Some 20,000 people protested against lockdowns in the central city of Kassel on Saturday.European Union governments are facing criticism over the slow start to their vaccination campaigns, with supply hiccups leaving the bloc lagging far behind countries such as Israel, Britain and the United States.But BioNTech founder Ugur Sahin said he was optimistic the problems would prove temporary, adding it was possible to ensure 70% of Germans were vaccinated by the end of September, at which point he said the virus would pose few problems.’Background noise'”In many European countries and the U.S., we will probably not need lockdowns by summer’s end,” he told the Welt am Sonntag newspaper. “There’ll be outbreaks, but they’ll be background noise. There’ll be mutations, but they won’t frighten us.”Almost 9% of the German population had received at least one vaccine shot by Saturday. Meanwhile, Britain passed the halfway point with 50% of adults having received at least one dose.Protesters hold up an umbrella with lettering reading “Be free” as they gather for a demonstration to demand provision of basic rights and an end to restrictive coronavirus measures in Kassel, Germany, March 20, 2021.Protesters from across Germany converged on Kassel for a march Saturday that was organized by the “Lateral Thinkers,” an online conspiracy movement.Police used water cannon and pepper spray after the protests against lockdowns and other coronavirus rules turned violent.”Bottles were thrown and there were attempts to break through barriers,” police said on Twitter.In Germany, the sluggish vaccine deployment and continuing restrictions are weighing heavily on the fortunes of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservatives, who are slipping in the polls in an election year even as rising COVID-19 case numbers look set to force authorities to put the brakes on attempts to gradually reopen the economy.Above the limitThe number of newly diagnosed cases is more than 100 cases per 100,000 population over a week, the threshold above which authorities say they must impose stricter distancing rules to stop the health care system from being overburdened.”Many are simply disappointed,” Bavaria’s conservative Premier Markus Soeder, a likely candidate to succeed Merkel in the national election, told the Frankfurter Allgemeine newspaper.”A false move now risks turning this third wave [of the virus] into a permanent wave,” he said ahead of a meeting on Monday of national and regional leaders at which they are expected to discuss the next stage of coronavirus measures.”We have a tool: the emergency brake. It must be applied strictly everywhere in Germany,” Soeder said, referring to the possibility of halting the easing of restrictions.  
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Brazil is in talks with the United States to import excess doses of coronavirus vaccines, its Foreign Ministry tweeted Saturday.The South American nation recorded 79,069 new coronavirus infections in a 24-hour period, its Health Ministry said Saturday, and reported more than 2,400 COVID-19 deaths.The talks between the U.S. and Brazil began March 13. On Friday, the U.S. said it was lending 4 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine to Canada and Mexico but did not mention Brazil.The U.S. has millions of doses of vaccine developed by Britain’s University of Oxford and the pharmaceutical giant that have been approved by the World Health Organization and the European Medicines Agency but not for use in the U.S. yet.Second-highest death tollBrazil is second behind the U.S. in the number of coronavirus cases, nearly 12 million since the pandemic began, and deaths, nearly 293,000.President Jair Bolsonaro, who famously told his country to “stop whining” about the country’s death from “a little flu,” has signed three measures to speed the purchase of vaccines, including those from Pfizer-BioNTech and Johnson & Johnson.Several European countries were under new coronavirus restrictions Saturday to combat new waves of infections.Streets are empty in front of the Moulin Rouge as a 7 p.m curfew starts in Paris, March 20, 2021.About one-third of France’s population was under lockdown after measures were imposed Friday in Paris and several regions in northern and southern parts of the country. More than 4,300 people were in intensive care units in France, the most this year, the Health Ministry said Saturday.About 6.1 million people in France have received their first COVID-19 shots, or just less than 12% of the adult population.Closures in Poland, UkraineIn Poland, which is seeing the highest number of daily cases since November, new measures have forced nonessential shops and other facilities to close for three weeks.Nonessential stores have also been closed in Ukraine’s capital of Kyiv, where only food markets are allowed to stay open.France, Germany and Italy resumed use Friday of a coronavirus vaccine made by AstraZeneca after health officials sought to allay concerns it might cause blood clots.FILE – A nurse prepares a dose of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine at the Edouard Herriot hospital, Feb. 6, 2021, in Lyon, France.The European nations resumed inoculations after the European Medicines Agency, which regulates medicine, said the AstraZeneca-University of Oxford vaccine was “safe and effective” and the World Health Organization (WHO), the U.N. body responsible for public health, said “available data do not suggest any overall increase in clotting conditions” among those who have been vaccinated.However, French Health Minister Olivier Veran said the country’s health advisory body was recommending AstraZeneca vaccinations only for people 55 or older.French officials cited an assessment by the EMA that it could not rule out a possible link between the AstraZeneca vaccine and a small number of blood clots, particularly in younger women. The EMA said that overall, the benefits of the vaccine outweighed the risks of side effects.Vaccine’s ‘tremendous potential’ citedThe WHO repeated its recommendation Friday for countries worldwide to continue to administer shots of AstraZeneca’s vaccine. The agency’s expert committee on coronavirus vaccines said that the AstraZeneca vaccine has “tremendous potential to prevent infections and reduce deaths” and that “it is not certain” the vaccine has caused the blood clotting.Global spectators will be barred from entering Japan for the Summer Olympics because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Tokyo 2020 Olympic organizing committee said Saturday.The committee said overseas ticket buyers would receive refunds.The pandemic forced the postponement of the Olympic Games last year, but organizers have said they are committed to hosting the games this year, despite waning public sentiment.The Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center said that as of Saturday evening EDT, there had been  122.7 million global COVID-19 infections so far. The countries with the most cases were the U.S. with 29.8 million, Brazil with 11.9 million and India with 11.6 million.    
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A volcano erupted Friday night on Iceland’s southwestern Reykjanes peninsula, following small daily earthquakes in recent weeks.The eruption lit the night sky and could easily be seen from the outskirts of the capital, Reykjavík, about 30 kilometers away.Aerial footage, posted on Facebook by the Icelandic Meteorological Office, showed a small eruption spewing red lava down in two directions.The eruption began at Fagradalsfjall in Geldingadalur at about 8:45 p.m. GMT Friday, according to a statement by meteorological office, which monitors seismic activity.“The eruption is considered a small one and the eruption fissure is about 500-700 meters long. The lava is less than 1 square kilometer in size,” the statement said.In this still image captured from a handout video filmed by the Icelandic Coast Guard, lava flows from the erupting Fagradalsfjall volcano some 50 kilometers west of the Icelandic capital, Reykjavik, on March 19, 2021.Iceland’s Emergency Management Department said the area is uninhabited and the eruption was not expected to present any danger. However, authorities urged the public not to go near the active volcano.Reykjavik’s Keflavik International Airport, which is a few kilometers away from the volcano, was not closed and flights were not suspended.Friday’s volcanic activity was the first in that area in about 800 years.
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A volcano erupted near Iceland’s capital, Reykjavik, on Friday, shooting lava high into the night sky after thousands of small earthquakes in recent weeks.The eruption occurred near Fagradalsfjall, a mountain on the Reykjanes Peninsula, around 30 kilometers southwest of the capital.Some four hours after the initial eruption at 2045 GMT — the first on the peninsula since the 12th century — lava covered about 1 square kilometer or nearly 200 football fields.”I can see the glowing red sky from my window,” said Rannveig Gudmundsdottir, resident in the town of Grindavik, only 8 kilometers from the eruption.”Everyone here is getting into their cars to drive up there,” she said.More than 40,000 earthquakes have occurred on the peninsula in the past four weeks, a huge jump from the 1,000-3,000 earthquakes registered each year since 2014.The eruption posed no immediate danger to people in Grindavik or to critical infrastructure, according to the Icelandic Meteorological Office (IMO), which classified the eruption as small.In this still image captured from a handout video filmed by the Icelandic Coast Guard, lava flows from the erupting Fagradalsfjall volcano some 50 kilometers west of the Icelandic capital, Reykjavik, on March 19, 2021.A fissure 500 to 750 meters long opened at the eruption site, spewing lava fountains up to 100 meters high, Bjarki Friis of the meteorological office said.Residents in the town of Thorlakshofn, east of the eruption site, were told to stay indoors to avoid exposure to volcanic gases, Iceland’s Department of Civil Protection and Emergency Management said. The wind was blowing from the west.Unlike the eruption in 2010 of the Eyjafjallajokull volcano, which halted approximately 900,000 flights and forced hundreds of Icelanders from their homes, this eruption is not expected to spew much ash or smoke into the atmosphere.Located between the Eurasian and the North American tectonic plates, among the largest on the planet, Iceland is a seismic and volcanic hot spot as the two plates move in opposite directions.The source of the eruption is a large body of molten rock, known as magma, which has pushed its way to the surface over the past weeks, instigating the earthquakes.The number of quakes had slowed down in recent days, however, leading geologists to say that an eruption would be less likely.Reykjavik’s international Keflavik airport was not closed following the eruption, but each airline had to decide if it wanted to fly or not, IMO said.Arrivals and departures on the airport’s website showed no disruptions.
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President Recep Tayyip Erdogan pulled Turkey out of an international accord designed to protect women, the country’s official gazette said Saturday, despite calls from advocates who see the pact as key to combating rising domestic violence.The Council of Europe accord, forged in Istanbul, pledged to prevent, prosecute and eliminate domestic violence and promote equality. Turkey, which signed the accord in 2011, saw a rise in femicides last year.No reason was provided for the withdrawal, but officials in Erdogan’s ruling AK Party had said last year the government was considering pulling out amid a disagreement over how to curb growing violence against women.”The guarantee of women’s rights are the current regulations in our bylaws, primarily our Constitution. Our judicial system is dynamic and strong enough to implement new regulations as needed,” Family, Labour and Social Policies Minister Zehra Zumrut said on Twitter, without providing a reason for the move.Many conservatives in Turkey say the pact undermines family structures, encouraging violence. They are also hostile to the principle of gender equality in the Istanbul Convention and see it as promoting homosexuality, given its principle of non-discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation.Critics of the withdrawal from the pact have said it would put Turkey further out of step with the values of the European Union, which it remains a candidate to join. They argue the deal, and legislation approved in its wake, need to be implemented more stringently.Other countries have moved toward ditching the accord. Poland’s highest court scrutinized the pact after a cabinet member said Warsaw should quit the treaty, which the nationalist government considers too liberal.Erdogan has condemned violence against women, including saying this month that his government would work to eradicate violence against women. But critics say his government has not done enough to prevent femicides and domestic violence.Turkey does not keep official statistics on femicide. World Health Organization data has shown 38% of women in Turkey are subject to violence from a partner in their lifetime, compared with about 25% in the rest of Europe.Ankara has taken measures such as tagging individuals known to resort to violence and creating a smartphone app for women to alert police, which has been downloaded hundreds of thousands of times.Erdogan’s decision comes after he unveiled judicial reforms this month that he said would improve rights and freedoms and help meet EU standards. Turkey has been a candidate to join the bloc since 2005, but access talks have been halted over policy differences and Ankara’s record on human rights.
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The Taliban warned Washington Friday against defying a May 1 deadline for the withdrawal of American and NATO troops from Afghanistan, promising a reaction, which could mean increased attacks by the insurgent group.The Taliban issued their warning at a press conference in Moscow, the day after meeting with senior Afghan government negotiators and international observers to try to jump-start a stalled peace process to end Afghanistan’s decades of war.President Joe Biden’s administration says it is reviewing an agreement the Taliban signed with the Trump administration. Biden told ABC in an interview Wednesday that the May 1 deadline “could happen, but it is tough,” adding that if the deadline is extended it won’t be by “a lot longer.””They should go,” Suhail Shaheen, a member of the Taliban negotiation team, told reporters, warning that staying beyond May 1 would breach the deal. “After that, it will be a kind of violation of the agreement. That violation would not be from our side. … Their violation will have a reaction.”He did not elaborate on what form the reaction would take, but in keeping with the agreement they signed in February 2020, the Taliban have not attacked U.S. or NATO forces, even as unclaimed bombings and targeted killings have spiked in recent months.”We hope that this will not happen, that they withdraw and we focus on the settlement, peaceful settlement of the Afghan issue, in order to bring about a permanent and comprehensive cease-fire at the end of reaching a political roadmap (for) Afghanistan,” Shaheen said.Demand for Islamic governmentHe also reaffirmed that the Taliban were firm in their demand for an Islamic government. Shaheen didn’t elaborate on what an Islamic government would look like or whether it would mean a return to their repressive rules that denied girls education, barred women from working, and imposed harsh punishments.Shaheen did not say whether the Taliban would accept elections, but he emphasized that the government of President Ashraf Ghani would not fit their definition of an Islamic government.Limited role for womenIn previous statements, the Taliban have said their vision of an Islamic government would allow girls to attend school, and women to work or be in public life. But in every conversation, they emphasized the need to follow Islamic injunctions without specifying what that would mean.They have said they would not accept a woman as president, and while women could be judges they could not take the job of the chief justice.But even without the Taliban in government in Afghanistan, The Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security Afghanistan said Afghanistan was one of the worst places in the world to be a woman in 2020.Only one woman attended Thursday’s talks in Moscow, and in the two decades since the Taliban were ousted, successive governments in Kabul have been unable to ratify a law outlawing violence against women.Meanwhile, the Taliban refused to promise they would not launch a spring offensive despite calls from the United States, Russia and China.Washington has been at war in Afghanistan for nearly two decades, since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks masterminded by al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden who was based in Taliban-ruled Afghanistan. The invasion toppled the Taliban regime, but the 20-year-war has made Afghanistan America’s longest conflict.Blinken offers warningThe Taliban, who during their rule imposed a harsh brand of Islam, now control about half of the country. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has warned that the insurgents could make even more gains without U.S. and NATO troops on the ground.The Moscow conference was attended by U.S. peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad, Abdullah Abdullah, head of Afghanistan’s National Reconciliation Council, and Taliban co-founder Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, who led a 10-member delegation. Representatives of Pakistan, Iran, India and China also participated.In a statement issued after the talks, Russia, the U.S., China and Pakistan called on the warring parties to reduce the level of violence in the country — and specifically urged the Taliban not to pursue a spring offensive.The joint statement emphasized that the four countries do not support the restoration of an Islamic emirate in Afghanistan similar to the Taliban’s past rule. 
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Members of the European Parliament have warned of a “chilling” environment for Slovenia’s media, with verbal assaults from senior officials and attempts to cut funding for the state-owned news agency.The session on media freedom came amid heightened concerns by the European Parliament that declining conditions in Slovenia, Hungary and Poland represent a threat to democracy and could lead to authoritarianism. Slovenia is due to take over the six-month European Union presidency in July.An increase in pressure on Slovenia’s media, including its public broadcasters, has been reported since the center-right government of Prime Minister Janez Jansa took power last year.The prime minister and his supporters FILE – Franc Bogovic of the Slovenian People’s Party takes part in a televised debate ahead of elections in Ljubljana, Slovenia, June 26, 2014.“It is clear that about 80% of internal policy editorial offices of the Slovenian media, including the public RTV [radio and television channel], favors center-left political parties,” said Franc Bogovic, a Slovenian politician and EPP member.Ahead of the debate, the Slovenian state-run news agency STA published what it said were extracts from an internal document prepared by the European Parliament’s Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs.STA reported that the document included a table of attacks on media from Jansa and other government officials, and highlighted apparent political influence in Slovenia through media ownership and financing by Hungarian companies affiliated with Prime Minister Viktor Orban and his Fidesz Party.When asked for comment on the debate, Slovenia’s Ministry of Culture referred VOA to an earlier statement in which it said the country’s media “are predominantly left wing and fiercely anti-government.”In the same statement, the ministry said Hungarian investments accounted for less than 1 percent of the Slovenian media landscape.The ministry added that an earlier European Parliament hearing included “factually inaccurate information,” which it responded to in its statement.Media biasThe state-funded STA and RTV have found themselves at the center of allegations of government interference and left-wing bias since Jansa returned to power.STA, which gets about half of its income from the government, was established when Slovenia declared independence. It is bound by legislation to be “independent and unbiased” and to produce accurate and objective news.The government alleges that the STA supports leftist political views, a claim the agency has denied.The government stopped financing the STA earlier this year, saying the news agency had failed to supply documents required for its government contract. And Jansa called on its director, Bojan Veselinovic, to resign, calling him “a political tool of the far left” and saying the STA often “sells lies for the truth.”Veselinovic refused, saying there was no basis for the accusations. He has said the government wants to financially drain the independent agency.RTV Slovenia and STA can sometimes appear biased, Siol journalist Jancic said, citing coverage of anti-government protests this month that, he said, appeared to tone down threats.The pressure on the STA led 15 academics from Ljubljana University’s Faculty of Social Sciences to issue a public letter in support of the news outlet.The letter said the “the hostile destruction of such an important” organization “borders on insanity.”The government also attempted to replace Igor Kadunc, head of RTV, in October.Jancic said that when a left-wing government coalition was in power in 2018, it also tried unsuccessfully to oust the head of RTV.    
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Chancellor Angela Merkel said Friday  she was ready to be vaccinated with AstraZeneca’s coronavirus jab if she is offered it, in a bid to shore up confidence in the jab.”Yes I would take the AstraZeneca vaccine,” Merkel told a news conference, adding  she “would like to wait until it’s my turn but I would in any case”.Merkel’s firm endorsement of the vaccine came after its use was suspended for several days this week by major European countries, including Germany, over fears it may cause blood clots.Europe’s medicines regulator EMA on Thursday cleared it for use after a review of the clotting cases, saying the vaccine was “safe and effective”.But questions surrounding the jab jointly developed by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford were revived when France on Friday recommended it should be given only to people aged 55 and over because of the clotting risks.Germany on Friday resumed use of the Anglo-Swedish company’s jabs and politicians were at pains to assure the population of the vaccine’s safety.Winfried Kretschmann, state premier of Baden-Wuerttemberg, had an AstraZeneca jab live on television.”Have trust, get vaccinated,” he said in an appeal to the population.AstraZeneca has faced a series of setbacks since it was approved for use in the European Union.Besides delivery delays that angered the bloc, Germany had in the initial weeks of its use limited it to people under 65-years-old because of insufficient efficacy data for older people.Critics had complained that the decision to halt use of AstraZeneca’s vaccine over the recent days only served to fuel more mistrust over vaccination and further delay Germany’s already sluggish inoculation programme.’Clearly exponential’Germany is battling to ramp up its vaccination campaign as health authorities of the EU’s biggest country warn that coronavirus virus numbers are rising at a “very clearly exponential rate”.”It is very possible that we will have a similar situation over Easter to the one we had before Christmas, with very high case numbers, many severe cases and deaths, and hospitals that are overwhelmed,” Lars Schaade, vice president of the Robert Koch Institute for infectious diseases, told reporters.The institute on Friday reported 17,482 new infections in the previous 24 hours and 226 deaths in Germany, with the seven-day incidence rate soaring to 96 per 100,000 people despite a months-long shutdown of large swaths of public life.Ahead of talks on Monday with the country’s 16 state leaders to set new shutdown rules based on the latest pandemic developments, Merkel said there would be no further easing of ongoing restrictions.”We will have to also use this emergency brake,” she said, referring to an agreement to roll back easing in regions where infections were fastest growing.Second city Hamburg said it would pull the “emergency brake” from Saturday after exceeding the 100-mark three days in a row. Brandenburg, the state surrounding Berlin, also crossed the benchmark on Friday.Schools began reopening in Germany at the end of February, followed by some shops in March. But indoor dining remains banned for now, and cultural and leisure facilities remain shut.
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Turkish authorities have asked three Istanbul-based Egyptian opposition TV channels to soften their critical political coverage of Egypt’s government, as Turkey seeks to repair frayed ties with Cairo, officials at one of the channels said Friday.Ayman Nour, an exiled Egyptian opposition figure and head of the Muslim Brotherhood-linked al-Sharq television station, confirmed in televised comments that Turkish officials demanded that the channels tone down their rhetoric. He said they were not ordered to shut down or to stop airing programs.”A dialogue has started between us and Turks in the framework of changing the rhetoric (of these channels),” Nour said.An editor at al-Sharq told The Associated Press that Turkish officials made the request during a meeting in Istanbul on Thursday with managers from al-Sharq and two other channels, Mekamleen and Watan. The officials told the broadcast managers they could continue to make programs about Egypt but not against the Egyptian government, citing Turkey’s negotiations with Egypt, according to the editor.The TV channels immediately stopped broadcasting some political programs, the editor said. He asked not to be named due to the sensitivity of the issue.There was no immediate comment from the Muslim Brotherhood group.Egypt’s state minister for information, Ossama Heikal, welcomed the move, calling it in a statement a “good initiative from the Turkish side that establishes a favorable atmosphere to discuss issues of dispute between the two nations.”Egypt and Turkey have been at loggerheads since the Egyptian military’s 2013 ouster of an Islamist president who hailed from the Muslim Brotherhood group and enjoyed the support of Turkey.Recently, top Turkish officials signaled a warming of ties with Egypt, a shift from their previous, sharply critical approach to the government of President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi.Egyptian officials, however, said Turkey needed to take substantial steps toward “genuine” talks to mend ties. The steps include the departure of hundreds of Turkish forces and thousands of Syrian mercenaries brought to Libya by Turkey, as well as the handover of Islamists wanted by Egypt on terror-related charges, they have said.The two nations backed opposing side in the conflict in Libya. Cairo, as well as Greece and some other European countries, were angered by Turkey’s maritime deal with an administration Libya in 2019, an agreement aimed at boosting Turkish maritime rights and influence in the eastern Mediterranean.Egypt and Greece responded by signing a separate deal to delineate their maritime boundaries, a deal rejected by Ankara.
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German health officials Friday said coronavirus cases in the country are rising at “an exponential rate,” forcing the government to reconsider lifting COVID-19 restrictions. At a news conference in Berlin, Robert Koch Institute ((RKI)) for infectious Diseases Vice President Lars Schaade told reporters highly contagious virus variants were getting the upper hand in the nation, wiping out progress seen last month in containing the pandemic.Shaade, appearing with German Health Minister Jens Spahn, reported 17,482 new infections in the previous 24 hours and 226 deaths in Germany, with the seven-day incidence rate soaring to about 96 per 100,000 people, despite a months-long lockdown in much of the country.Shaade said increased infections were notably among younger people. “The incidence increases are clearly in the groups under 60 years old, especially in the group 15 to 49 years old.”Spahn told reporters the numbers mean plans to re-open the country will need to be put on hold. “On the contrary, we may even have to take steps backwards.”Earlier this month, when German Chancellor Angela Merkel announced plans to gradually lift COVID-19 restrictions, she said she and regional leaders agreed to impose new restrictions in areas where the seven-day incidence rate surpassed 100. At least two regions have already reached that threshold.Meanwhile, Spahn said he has been negotiating with Russia regarding its Sputnik V vaccine, and indicated he is very close to completing a deal. He said the government had been in close contact with the Russians, “and I can also well imagine that we [will] conclude contracts — and conclude them quickly.”He said, however, Germany needs more details on how many doses could be delivered and when. The vaccine has yet to be approved by German or European Union regulators.Germany resumed administering AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine Thursday after the EU regulator Europe Medincines Agency ((EMA)) concluded once again that it was safe and effective. The agency had conducted a study of the vaccine and cases of blood clots reported in several patients after receiving the vaccine.
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The European Medicines Agency has approved the continued use of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine in the battle to contain the pandemic. The European regulator’s seal of approval comes after several European countries, including France, Germany, Italy and Spain, stopped using the vaccine following reports that the shots caused blood clots in some vaccine recipients.The agency said in a statement Thursday “the benefits of the vaccine in combating the still widespread threat of COVID-19 (which itself results in clotting problems and may be fatal) continue to outweigh the risk of side effects.”The agency added, “A causal link with the vaccine is not proven but is possible and deserves further analysis.”Meanwhile, the White House announced Thursday that it is sending millions of stockpiled doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine to Mexico and Canada.The vaccine has not yet been approved for use by U.S. regulators, but it has been approved for use by Mexico and Canada.The announcement comes as the Biden administration wants Mexico’s help in stemming the tide of migrants who are attempting to come into the U.S.Mexico is slated to receive 2.5 million vaccines from the U.S., with Canada receiving 1.5 million.White House press secretary Jen Psaki said the vaccines would be loans to the two U.S. neighbors, with the U.S. eventually being reimbursed with vaccines from the bordering countries.Beginning Friday, several French regions, including Paris, will be under new lockdown orders to contain increasing coronavirus cases.France had 40,000 new cases Wednesday.Prime Minister Jean Castex said Thursday the outbreak in France is “worsening,” adding, “Our responsibility now is that it not get out of control.”On Friday, India’s Union Health Ministry reported an increase in coronavirus infections for a ninth day in a row, with 40,000 new cases in the previous 24-hour period. India has 11.5 million COVID-19 cases.Only two countries have more infections than India — the U.S., with 29.6 million cases, and Brazil, with 11.7 million, according to Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center.Johns Hopkins reports there are 121.7 million global coronavirus infections.
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The United States, Russia, China, and Pakistan have called on all parties in Afghanistan to reduce violence and the Taliban to forego their Spring offensive, the yearly renewal in attacks after a winter lull, in order to facilitate peace negotiations.
 
The demand was part of a joint statement after a conference on Afghanistan hosted by Russia in Moscow Thursday.
 
The one-day gathering was part of an intense diplomatic push to jumpstart a stalled peace process amid a looming deadline for withdrawal of foreign forces from the country. Some fear Afghanistan will descend into chaos if international forces depart without a negotiated political settlement in place.
 
Negotiations between a sanctioned Afghan government team and the Taliban started in Doha in September 2020 but have so far not yielded results.
 
An Afghan delegation led by the chair of Afghanistan’s High Council for National Reconciliation (HCNR) Abdullah Abdullah, and a Taliban delegation led by the group’s political deputy Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, were also present.   
 
The statement called on both sides to conclude their peace negotiations and supported the formation of “an independent, sovereign, unified, peaceful, democratic, and self-sufficient Afghanistan,” free of terrorism and drugs. It also called for the protection of the rights of women, children, minorities, and others.
    
“[W]e do not support the restoration of the Islamic Emirate,” the statement said, using the Taliban’s name for their own government.
 
“It is only through diplomatic peace negotiations and compromise that peace can be achieved,” said Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in his opening remarks. “And the agreements that are to be reached have to include the interests of all parties.”
 
Russia’s top diplomat also said his country was ready to facilitate but Afghans had to take the lead.
 
“Outside parties like Russia should create the conditions for forces inside Afghanistan to negotiate and move forward,” Lavrov said.
 
The newly elected administration of President Joe Biden had been pushing to involve regional powers and other countries to try and bring the warring Afghan sides to negotiate. As part of its efforts, the U.S. has also floated the idea, supported by Russia, of a transitional government that includes the Taliban.Former Afghan President Hamid Karzai, left, and chair of Afghanistan’s High Council for National Reconciliation Abdullah Abdullah leave the site of an Afghan peace conference in Moscow, Russia, March 18, 2021.That idea is strongly opposed by Afghan President Ashraf Ghani who said elections are the only way to choose a government.
 
The push comes as the U.S. is reviewing an agreement the administration of former President Donald Trump made with the Taliban—a deal Biden called “not a very solidly negotiated deal,” in a recent interview with U.S. broadcast network ABC.
 
Under the deal, the U.S. is supposed to withdraw all forces from Afghanistan by May 1. However, an increase in violence, lack of progress in peace negotiations between Taliban and Afghan government, and a wave of targeted assassinations of human rights activists, journalists, and government officials have forced the U.S. to reevaluate its decision.
 
The Taliban, who have not directly attacked the U.S. or NATO forces since the February 2020 agreement, have warned that failure to stick to the withdrawal deadline would lead to a bloody response.
 
Some regional experts have suggested the U.S. negotiate a one-time extension in the deadline with the Taliban to salvage the deal.
 
Under this diplomatic push, two more international conferences are expected as early as next month, one hosted by the United Nations and the other by Turkey.
 
Moscow was also the venue for a February 2019 dialogue between senior Afghan opposition politicians and former top government officials, including former president Hamid Karzai, and the Taliban. That conference, which Ghani’s government criticized as “little more than a political drama,” paved the way for formal negotiations to start between Taliban and an Afghan government sanctioned delegation.
The idea for Thursday’s conference was first floated by Russian envoy to Afghanistan Zamir Kabulov in an interview with the country’s state-run Sputnik news agency last month.Russia’s special representative on Afghanistan Zamir Kabulov, right, and U.S. special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad attend a news briefing following an Afghan peace conference in Moscow, Russia, March 18, 2021.Kabulov said the U.S. supported the idea of gathering a small group of countries with the most influence on the Afghan peace process. The format, called an “expanded troika,” included Russia, the U.S., China, Pakistan, and Iran—although Iran was hesitant to sit at the table with the U.S.
 
Kabulov said he hopes Iran will change its mind once tensions with the U.S. decrease.
 
In a Sunday meeting with Mohammad Sadiq, Pakistan’s special envoy on Afghanistan, Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif “stressed the need to promote regional cooperation to help establish peace in Afghanistan and preserve achievements gained by Afghan people,” according to the official Iranian news agency IRNA.   
 
Meanwhile, the United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres appointed a new personal envoy on Afghanistan and the region Wednesday.
 
Announcing the appointment, the U.N. said Jean Arnault of France was tasked with helping find a political solution to the Afghan conflict.
 
“The responsibilities of the Personal Envoy include to liaise, on behalf of the Secretary-General, with regional countries with the aim of supporting the negotiations between the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and the Taliban and implementation of any agreements which are reached,” U.N. spokesman Stéphane Dujarric said.
 
The appointment comes at a time when the U.S. is expected to ask the U.N to invite the foreign ministers of the U.S., Russia, China, Pakistan, Iran, and India for a conference on Afghanistan.
 
“It is my belief that these countries share an abiding common interest in a stable Afghanistan and must work together if we are to succeed,” U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said to President Ghani in a letter leaked to the media earlier this month.
 
Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh told a weekly press briefing on March 8 that his country had “not yet received any invitation for any session on Afghan Peace Talks at the United Nations,” adding that “Iran will review the invitation whenever it receives any.” His remarks were printed in Iran’s official Islamic Republic News Agency. 
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Following last year’s war in Nagorno-Karabakh between Armenia and Azerbaijan, Russia is deploying 2,000 military personnel as part of a peace mission for an initial period of five years.  In this report narrated by Jonathan Spier, Pablo Gonzalez in Stepanakert and Ricardo Marquina say the Russian deployment is seen as an important step in Moscow’s strategy to assert its political and military power in the Caucasus region and some are wondering how long the troops will stay.Ricardo Marquina contributed.Camera: Pablo GonzalezVideo editors: Ricardo Marquina, Jason Godman
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Leading United Nations agencies are calling for urgent action to combat ageism, which they say harms the well-being of older people and national economies. The World Health Organization, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, U.N. Department of Economic and Social Affairs and U.N. Population Fund have released the first global report on ageism.A survey of more than 83,000 people in 57 countries finds 1 in every 2 people holds moderately or highly ageist attitudes. Those beliefs are based on stereotypical  ideas about older people drummed into them at an early age.Alana Officer is the World Health Organization’s unit head for demographic change and healthy aging. She says biases start early in life and are reinforced over time. She says ageism is pervasive — in health care systems, in workplaces and in the media.Why Aging of America Poses Huge Risk to US Economy

        Americans are getting older and family size is shrinking, which means the nation will have fewer working-age adults going forward."I think it is a cause for concern if we are calibrating our expectations of having a strongly growing population," says David Kelly, chief global strategist for JP Morgan Asset Management. "If you're investing in things like the housing industry or the auto industry and you need an ever-growing population, then you have to adjust to a world in which the U.S. population is…

She says ageism leads to poorer physical and mental health and to a reduced quality of life for older people. Ageism, she says, determines who receives medical procedures and treatment and who does not. She says age discrimination denies older people jobs and job training.“Half of the world’s population are ageist against older people, which rates much higher in low- and lower middle-income countries …The report indicates that you are likely to be ageist against older people if you are younger, you are male, you are fearful of dying or you are less educated,” Officer said.The report finds women are more likely to be targets of ageism than men. It says younger people also suffer from ageism across many areas, such as employment, health, housing and politics.Vania de la Fuente-Nunez is technical officer in the WHO’s Demographic Change and Healthy Ageing Department. She says the COVID-19 pandemic has revealed how prevalent ageism is against both the young and the old.“Older people have been systematically and homogenously framed as vulnerable and dependent and younger people have been stereotyped as invincible and selfish, which of course fails to recognize the great diversity that we see in both younger people and in older people,” Fuente-Nunez said.She says the stereotypical portrayal in the media is both inaccurate and harmful.The report finds the economic cost of ageism is huge. A 2020 study in the United States shows ageism led to excess annual costs of $63 billion for a broad range of health conditions.Another study in Australia suggests the national economy would be boosted by $37 billion annually if 5% more people aged 55 or older were employed.
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Netherlands Prime Minister Mark Rutte and his ruling People’s Party for Freedom (VVD) will begin negotiations on a new ruling coalition government Thursday as voters sent them to victory for a fourth consecutive term.  Rutte’s VVD party was projected to take at least 35 of 150 seats in the lower house, a clear mandate, to form a new coalition government. Coming in second with 27 seats was the pro-European Union, center-left D-66, led by former U.N. diplomat Sigrid Kaag, with 27 seats, the best result in the party’s 55-year history.  A box with discarded red voting pencils is seen in the foreground as Dutch caretaker Prime Minister Mark Rutte enters to cast his vote in a general election in The Hague, Netherlands, March 17, 2021.The results and exit polling indicate that the far-right Freedom Party of anti-immigration, led by far-right anti-immigration lawmaker Geert Wilders, slipped to third place, dropping three seats to 17.  Rutte’s victory comes two months after he resigned following a scandal in which tax officials in his government falsely accused thousands of families of trying to scam childcare services. He is currently serving in a caretaker capacity.EU Critics on Course to Dominate Dutch ElectionsFirebrand populist Gert Wilders seems to be on the brink of pulling off a strong electoral showing with his party likely to place second in Wednesday’s parliamentary elections, according to opinion pollsLike last year’s U.S. election, the Netherlands vote made special allowances for the COVID-19 pandemic, with early and mail-in voting for seniors and others with special circumstances. Despite the pandemic, early indications show turnout at about 83%, about as high as four years ago.Official returns are expected to be released throughout Thursday with final results to be announced on March 26.The initial numbers from the poll indicated that Rutte would need to form a coalition with at least two other parties to get a majority of 76 seats in parliament.  Rutte has said he would not form a coalition with the Freedom party, leaving second place D-66, and current coalition member the Christian Democrats, which appears to have finished fourth, winning 14 seats, five fewer than it won in 2017.Rutte has said he would like to finish the coalition process as quickly as possible. But in recent years, government formations have taken months, as parties negotiated over detailed policy plans.With a record 37 parties taking part in the election, and 17 expected to garner enough votes to win at least one seat in parliament’s 150-seat lower house, forming coalitions in the government will be a tough and lengthy process. After the 2017 elections, coalition talks took seven months.
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The European Union’s medications watchdog is due to release initial results Thursday of its investigation into whether there is a connection between the COVID-19 vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and cases of recipients developing blood clots.The European Medicines Agency has been examining 30 reported blood coagulation disorders among the 5 million people in the EU who have received the AstraZeneca vaccine. Among the considerations is whether that rate is more common than the incidence found in the general population.The World Health Organization said Wednesday it is conducting its own assessment of the latest available safety data for the vaccine, but that at this time the agency considers the benefits of the vaccine outweigh its risks.“In extensive vaccination campaigns, it is routine for countries to signal potential adverse events following immunization,” the WHO said in a statement.  “This does not necessarily mean that the events are linked to vaccination itself, but it is good practice to investigate them.”India said Wednesday it would continue using the AstraZeneca vaccine.Concerns about the vaccine prompted a number of EU countries to suspend its use, including Germany, France, Italy and Spain.European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen expressed confidence in AstraZeneca on Wednesday, but continued criticism of the company’s pace of vaccine deliveries.“AstraZeneca has unfortunately under-produced and under-delivered, and this painfully, of course, reduced the speed of the vaccination campaign,” she told reporters.Von der Leyen said the EU is targeting vaccinating 70% of all adults by September.
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Tensions are rising between the United States and Russia following sharp statements from President Joe Biden on Vladimir Putin over the Russian president’s attempt to undermine the 2020 U.S. election. White House Correspondent Patsy Widakuswara has the story.
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Officials in Washington are reacting calmly to Moscow summoning home its ambassador to the United States for consultations about the deteriorated bilateral relationship.  
 
The Russian Foreign Ministry on Wednesday, in explaining Anatoly Antonov’s temporary return home, stated: “The most important thing for us is to identify ways of rectifying Russia-U.S. relations, which have been going through hard times as Washington has, as a matter of fact, brought them to a blind alley. We are interested in preventing an irreversible deterioration in relations, if the Americans become aware of the risks associated with this.”  
 
The announcement from Moscow came shortly after a taped ABC television interview aired Wednesday morning in which U.S. President Joe Biden said Russian President Vladimir Putin “will pay a price” for his malevolent actions.  
 
Biden also recounted in the interview that he had told Putin, “I don’t think you have a soul.” He said Russian leader replied, “We understand each other.”  
 
Asked by the ABC interviewer if he believes Putin is a killer, Biden replied, “I do.”FILE – U.S. President Joe Biden speaks in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, March 11, 2021.According to a RAND Corporation adjunct senior fellow, William Courtney, “It is rare for a U.S. president to refer to the leader of a major adversarial power as a killer.”  
 
Courtney, who was a negotiator in U.S. defense talks with the Soviet Union, told VOA that “sometimes ambassadors are withdrawn after insults.”
 
“And, of course, the Biden administration is talking about more sanctions with regard to the SolarWinds cyberattack. So, both of those could be factors” in the move by Moscow, he said.
 
At Wednesday’s press briefing, White House press secretary Jen Psaki declined to specify whether the president believes the Russian president, literally or metaphorically, is a killer.  
 
“He’s not going to hold back in his direction communications [with Russia]. He’s not going to hold back publicly,” Psaki said.   
 
When asked about Moscow recalling its ambassador, the press secretary said Biden’s administration “is going to take a different approach in our relationship to Russia than the prior administration. …We are going to be straightforward and we are going to be direct in areas where we have concerns.”FILE – Russian President Vladimir Putin chairs a meeting with government members via a video conference call at Novo-Ogaryovo state residence outside Moscow, Russia, Feb. 10, 2021.State Department Deputy Spokesperson Jalina Porter told reporters “even as we work to work with Russia to advance U.S. interests, we’ll be able to hold Russia accountable for any of their malign actions.”  
 
The Biden administration has expressed interest in working with Moscow on areas of mutual concern, such as a new nuclear arms pact and mitigating the effects of climate change.  
 
Biden earlier ordered the release of a declassified version of an intelligence assessment that “Russian state media, trolls, and online proxies, including those directed by Russian intelligence, published disparaging content about President Biden, his family, and the Democratic Party, and heavily amplified related content circulating in U.S. media, including stories centered on his son.”
 
Russia, as well as Iran, according to the report from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, engaged in broader efforts to undermine U.S. public confidence in the election.  
 
Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Wednesday the U.S. intelligence report was “wrong and has absolutely no foundation and evidence.”
 
The U.S. government on Wednesday also announced additional sanctions on Russia for using chemical weapons against dissidents.
 
The Commerce Department said it is blocking export of items controlled for national security reasons that are destined for Russia. It is also suspending licenses that granted specific exceptions for exports to Russia, targeting replacement parts and equipment, technology and software and “additional permissive re-exports.”Putin enjoyed a more amicable relationship during the past four years with Biden’s predecessor, Donald Trump. During his presidency, Trump frequently praised Putin and rejected intelligence community conclusions that Moscow meddled in the 2016 presidential election in which the property investor with no political experience defeated former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.  
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British Prime Minister Boris Johnson pledged to counter what he called the “systemic challenge” posed by China as he set out the government’s 10-year defense strategy Tuesday.Some ruling Conservative Party lawmakers, however, have accused Johnson of “going soft” on Beijing.Britain is seeking to carve out a new role on the world stage outside the European Union. The government’s “Integrated Review of Security, Defence, Development and Foreign Policy” says Russia remains the most acute threat facing the country but warns that China poses a “systemic challenge to our security, prosperity and values.”Uyghurs, Hong Kongers“The U.K. … has led the international community in expressing our deep concern over China’s mass detention of the Uyghur people in Xinjiang province, and in giving nearly 3 million of Hong Kong’s people a route to British citizenship,” Johnson told lawmakers.“There is no question that China will pose a great challenge for an open society such as ours, but we will also work with China where that is consistent with our values and interests, including in building a stronger and positive economic relationship and in addressing climate change,” he said.He added that changing defense priorities would enable the country to fulfil his post-Brexit pledge of a “global Britain.”FILE – British Prime Minister Boris Johnson holds a news conference on Downing Street in London, Dec. 24, 2020.“Britain will remain unswervingly committed to NATO and preserving peace and security in Europe. From this secure basis, we will seek out friends and partners wherever they can be found, building a coalition for openness and innovation, and engaging more deeply in the Indo-Pacific,” he said.“I have invited the leaders of Australia, South Korea and India to attend the G-7 summit in Carbis Bay in June, and I am delighted to announce that I will visit India next month to strengthen our friendship with the world’s biggest democracy. Our approach will place diplomacy first. The U.K. has applied to become a dialogue partner of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, and we will seek to join the trans-Pacific free trade agreement,” Johnson said.Carrier’s voyageTo demonstrate that engagement, Britain’s new aircraft carrier, the HMS Queen Elizabeth, will make its maiden voyage to the Indo-Pacific later this year.However, several ruling Conservative Party lawmakers accused Johnson of “going soft” on China for seeking deeper trade links.Tobias Ellwood, the Conservative chairman of Parliament’s Defense Select Committee, wrote on Twitter that China was “still not seen as a geo-strategic threat but a competitive trading partner.”FILE – Britain’s opposition Labor Party leader Keir Starmer speaks in the House of Commons in London, Dec. 2, 2020.Opposition Labor Party leader Keir Starmer also criticized the government’s approach.“We welcome the deepening of engagement in the Indo-Pacific region, but that comes on the back of an inconsistent policy towards China for a decade. Conservative governments have spent 10 years turning a blind eye to human rights abuses while inviting China to help build our infrastructure,” Starmer told MPs.Johnson said those seeking a “new Cold War” with Beijing were mistaken.Britain’s Ministry of Defense is set to detail later this month how the new strategy outlined in the “Integrated Review” would be implemented. Countering China’s assertiveness will require a broad response, said analyst Veerle Nouwens of Britain’s Royal United Services Institute.“This won’t just be about sending ships to the region or planes to the region. It will really be about equally investing in new technologies, be that quantum, A.I., cyber, space, you name it. So, it really is a broader challenge than just the immediate visible military things that we know of when we speak about China’s rise and assertiveness in the Indo-Pacific itself,” Nouwens told VOA.Focusing on strengths“It would be very difficult to compete with China match for match, point for point, but I think that’s the situation that most countries are heading to,” Nouwens said. “We do have limited resources, and so, it is really about finding those angles that the U.K. already has real strength in and working with partners and allies or others to try and shore up capability, shore up knowledge, and come out with products and technologies that allies can share alike.”Johnson added that the United States would remain Britain’s closest ally.“In all our endeavours, the United States will be our greatest ally and a uniquely close partner in defense, intelligence and security,” he told lawmakers. “Britain’s commitment to the security of our European home will remain unconditional and immovable.”U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is pictured upon his arrival at Osan Air Base in Pyeongtaek, South Korea, March 17, 2021.U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin are visiting Japan and South Korea this week, with China at the top of the agenda. Speaking Wednesday in Seoul, Blinken underlined the threat posed by Beijing.“China is using coercion and aggression to systematically erode autonomy in Hong Kong, undercut democracy in Taiwan, abuse the human rights situation in Tibet and assert maritime claims in the South China Sea that violate international law,” Blinken said at a news conference.China accused the U.S. of disrupting regional peace and stability. Beijing has yet to respond to Britain’s plans for greater engagement in the Indo-Pacific.Meanwhile, Britain also announced it would raise the cap on its nuclear arsenal to 260 warheads from 180. Critics said that would breach Britain’s commitment under the Non-Proliferation Treaty. The government said the figure was a cap, not a target.Johnson confirmed a $33 billion multiyear boost to military spending. He said Britain’s total defense budget stood at 2.2% of GDP, above the NATO spending commitment of 2%. Part of the new investment will fund a new counterterrorism operations center and a new National Cyber Force. 
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Britain pledged to counter what it called the strategic threat posed by China as it set out its new t10-year defense strategy this week. Britain is seeking to carve out a new role on the world stage outside the European Union, according to the policy review, as Henry Ridgwell reports from London.Producer: Jason Godman. Camera: Henry Ridgwell. 
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Pope Francis Wednesday appealed for peace in Myanmar, where clashes between police and coup protesters have left around 200 people dead.
At the end of his weekly audience at the Vatican, the pope said with great sorrow, he felt the urgent need to mention the situation in Myanmar, where, he added, “Many people, especially the young, are losing their lives to offer hope to their country.”  
Daily nationwide protests have continued in Myanmar since the February 1 military coup pushed out the government of de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
In his comments, Francis said, “Even I kneel on the streets of Myanmar and say, ‘stop the violence.’ Even I open my arms and say, ‘Let dialogue prevail.'”
The pope referenced a dramatic scene captured in pictures and video last week when a Catholic nun, Sister Ann Roza Nu Tawng, during a rally in the streets of the city of Myitkyina, dropped to her knees in front of armed police in riot gear and pleaded with them not to shoot the protesters. At least two of the officers dropped to their knees with her.
The nun later described to reporters how she told the police the demonstrators were merely shouting slogans and urged them not to beat or arrest them. The nun said when they told her they must stop the protesters, she told them they must go through her.
Despite her efforts, the police fired tear gas into the crowd and gunshots could be heard a short time later.  
In his concluding comments Wednesday, the pope urged “that a path of sincere dialogue may be found” to end the clashes. “Let us remember that violence is always self-destructive. Nothing is gained through it, but much is lost, sometimes everything,” he said. The pope visited Myanmar in 2017.
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Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Wednesday a U.S. intelligence report indicating Russia meddled in 2020 U.S. elections was “wrong and has absolutely no foundation and evidence.”Peskov was reacting to a report released Tuesday by the Office of the U.S. Director of National Intelligence (DNI) saying Russian President Vladimir Putin authorized influence operations aimed at denigrating U.S. President Joe Biden, boosting former President Donald Trump, undermining confidence in the election and exacerbating social divisions in the United States.The report said they did not see – as in 2016 – a persistent effort on the part of Russia to gain access to U.S. election infrastructure.In a telephone briefing with reporters, Peskov said Russia did not interfere with U.S. elections in 2016 or 2020 as mentioned in the report.  “Russia has nothing to do with any campaigns against any candidates,” the Russian presidential spokesman said.  He added he expects the U.S. government to use the report to impose additional sanctions against Russia, which he said, “harms painful Russian-American relations.”  The DNI report also found that Iran carried out a “multi-pronged covert influence campaign” designed undercut former president Trump’s chances in last year’s election, though without boosting his rival. The report says Iran also attempted to undercut public confidence in the U.S. election process. The assessment also concludes that, despite repeated warnings by several top U.S. officials, China ultimately decided to sit the election out and “did not deploy interference efforts.”The report goes on to say that Lebanon’s Hezbollah, Venezuela and Cuba all made efforts to influence the 2020 U.S. election, but were on a smaller scale.
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