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Gathered mainly from international media sources December 2020 - March 2021 |
For recent entries click "Invalid Item"  These are news/opinion items which caught my eye. Click on the link below: 31 Mar 2021 "Invalid Entry" 24 Mar 2021 "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" 22 Mar 2021 "Invalid Entry" 21 Mar 2021 "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" 19 Mar 2021 "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" 17 Mar 2021 "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" 26 Feb 2021 "Invalid Entry" 25 Feb 2021 "Invalid Entry" 24 Feb 2021 "Invalid Entry" 22 Feb 2021 "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" 21 Feb 2021 "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" 19 Feb 2021 "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" 18 Feb 2021 "Invalid Entry" 16 Feb 2021 "Invalid Entry" 15 Feb 2021 "Invalid Entry" 14 Feb 2021 "Invalid Entry" 9 Feb 2021 "Invalid Entry" 8 Feb 2021 "Invalid Entry" 4 Feb 2021 "Invalid Entry" 30 Jan 2021 "Invalid Entry" 29 Jan 2021 "Invalid Entry" 28 Jan 2021 "Invalid Entry" 27 Jan 2021 "Invalid Entry" 26 Jan 2021 "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" 24 Jan 2021 "Invalid Entry" 23 Jan 2021 "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" 21 Jan 2021 "Invalid Entry" 20 Jan 2021 "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" 19 Jan 2021 "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" 18 Jan 2021 "Invalid Entry" 14 Jan 2021 "Invalid Entry" 12 Jan 2021 "Invalid Entry" 11 Jan 2021 "Invalid Entry" 10 Jan 2021 "Invalid Entry" 4 Jan 2021 "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" 2 Jan 2021 "Invalid Entry" 29 Dec 2020 "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" 27 Dec 2020 "Invalid Entry" 24 Dec 2020 "Invalid Entry" 23 Dec 2020 "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" 22 Dec 2020 "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" 20 Dec 2020 "Invalid Entry" 19 Dec 2020 "Invalid Entry" 18 Dec 2020 "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" 17 Dec 2020 "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" 16 Dec 2020 "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" 15/12/20 "Invalid Entry" 13 Dec 2020 "Invalid Entry" 12 Dec 2020 "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" 11 Dec 2020 "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" For earlier entries drill down the list 10 Dec 2020 - Covid: Genes hold clues to why some people get severely ill 10 Dec 2020 - Referendum for the state of Texas to secede from the U.S. ? 10 Dec 2020 - Covid-19: More single day dead than in 9/11 terror attack or on D-Day landing 10 Dec 2020 - Covid-19: France moves to night-time curfew from 15 December 10 Dec 2020 - Elon Musk has launched the latest prototype of his Starship vehicle from Texas. 9 Dec 2020 - Covid-19 - $600 direct payment to most Americans? 9 Dec 2020 - Hunter Biden under federal investigation 9 Dec 2020 - Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine data gets positive FDA review 9 Dec 2020 - Is BIG TECH censoring different ideas about COVID-19? 9 Dec 2020 - Clashes in Portland 9 Dec 2020 - UK is investigating two possible allergic reactions to Pfizer coronavirus shot 9 Dec 2020 - Open letter by the Prime Minister of Hungary to the European Union 9 Dec 2020 - VACCINE OPTIMISM AND PESSIMISM 9 Dec 2020 - UK EXIT FROM THE EU (Last supper?) 8 Dec 2020 - ROALD DAHL AND A WOKE APOLOGY |
The search for life on Mars has taken a giant leap with Nasa's most sophisticated rover yet. Perseverance successfully landed on the red planet on Thursday after a six-month journey through space. It's chock-full of pioneering technology, including a super-light helicopter, to help it look for ancient signs of life. It will also investigate the possibility for people to live and work on Mars. Here’s what you need to know about humanity’s latest efforts to expand its extra-terrestrial footprint. Why Mars? Mars is seen as an ideal candidate for exploration because it is close by in our solar system and is the most similar to Earth. One of the biggest questions is whether life has existed beyond Earth and Mars is a good place to start investigating, given that evidence points to it once being full of water, warmer and with a thicker atmosphere, making it a potentially habitable environment. What will this rover do? It is Nasa’s most ambitious Mars mission yet, totalling around £2.16 billion ($3 billion). The US is dispatching a six-wheeled rover the size of a car, named Perseverance, to collect rock samples that will be brought back to Earth for analysis in about a decade. It touched down in an ancient river delta and lake known as Jezero Crater, which has a diameter of around 30 miles. Besides seeking signs of past microscopic Martian life, Perseverance will also release a spindly, 4lb (1.8kg) helicopter that will be the first rotorcraft ever to fly on another planet. Its cameras will shoot colour video of the rover’s descent, providing humanity’s first look at a parachute billowing open above Mars, while microphones capture the sounds. The rover will also attempt to produce oxygen from the carbon dioxide in the thin Martian atmosphere. This is important because extracted oxygen could someday be used by astronauts on Mars to breathe as well as for making rocket propellant. While prowling the surface, Perseverance will peek below, using radar to locate any underground pools of water that might exist. Nasa wants to return astronauts to the moon by 2024 and send them from there to Mars in the 2030s. To that end, the space agency is sending samples of spacesuit material with Perseverance to see how they stand up against the harsh Martian environment. How did it land safely? It was difficult – only the US has ever managed to land a rover onto Mars. Spacecraft have blown up, burned up or crash-landed, with the casualty rate over the decades exceeding 50%. China’s last attempt, in collaboration with Russia in 2011, ended in failure. Perseverance made it thanks to brand-new guidance and parachute-triggering technology, which helped to steer the craft away from hazards. Ground controllers were helpless, given the 10 minutes it takes radio transmissions to travel one-way between Earth and Mars. Jezero Crater is worth the risks, according to scientists who chose it over 60 other potential sites. Where there was water, and Jezero was apparently flush with it 3.5 billion years ago, there may have been life, though it was probably only simple microbial life, existing perhaps in a slimy film at the bottom of the crater. But those microbes may have left tell-tale marks in the sediment layers and Perseverance will hunt for rocks containing such biological signatures, if they exist. Why now? Along with Perseverance, China and the UAE have also launched missions. The three nearly simultaneous launches are no coincidence: the timing is dictated by the opening of a one-month window in which Mars and Earth are in ideal alignment on the same side of the Sun, which minimises travel time and fuel use. Such a window opens only once every 26 months. |
The revelation on Panorama this week that Dubai's Princess Latifa accused her father of holding her hostage in the city since she tried to flee in 2018 has the potential to create diplomatic tensions between the UK and the United Arab Emirates, a key strategic ally. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum has said he was acting in his daughter's best interests, and the royal family insist she was brought back to Dubai in a "rescue mission". The UAE have previously said Princess Latifa was safe in the care of family. But this controversy has left British horse-racing facing some deeply uncomfortable questions. Over the past 40 years, Sheikh Mohammed has become synonymous with the sport, its most prominent and influential owner. Indeed, it has become very hard for many in British racing to imagine the sport here without him. The royal blue silks of Godolphin - the illustrious and hugely successful racing and bloodstock operation he founded and owns - are a constant presence on racecourses during the flat season. Many jobs are thought to depend on Sheikh Mohammed's investment, especially in Newmarket - where Godolphin and his Dalham Hall breeding operation are based. More than 130 of his horses are trained here in Britain, with many of his millions spent on yearlings at the Tattersalls auction. This week's allegations have renewed scrutiny on the sport's links with him. But at a time when racing's finances are already under huge strain due to the pandemic, and fears that possible new affordability checks on gamblers could cost the industry more than £60m, many are loathe to do or say anything that could push the 71 year-old away. It is perhaps unsurprising therefore, that neither Godolphin, nor the sport's governing body - the British Horseracing Authority (BHA), nor the Jockey Club - of which the sheikh is an honorary member, have made any comment since Panorama was aired. But this is not the first time that British racing has faced tough questions over its association with the sheikh. Last March, after hearing extensive witness statements over a period of time, the family division of the High Court found Sheikh Mohammed to have been responsible for a campaign of intimidation against his former wife Princess Haya and for the abduction and forced return of two of his daughters from a different marriage - including Princess Latifa. The sheikh insisted at the time that, as a head of government, he was not able to participate in the court's fact-finding process, resulting in a judgement that "inevitably only tells one side of the story". He denied the allegations. But the damage had been done. Previously, the Queen had invited the sheikh to join her in the royal box, and even share her carriage at Royal Ascot. Following the scandal, she reportedly decided she would not be photographed with him again, despite their shared love of racing. With the sport only continuing behind closed doors since March, any attempt at distancing has yet not been tested, with any awkward potential meetings so far avoided. The problems for racing do not stop there. The BHA's rules for assessing the suitability of owners includes the following: "The criteria to which the authority will have regard in assessing honesty and integrity, include… whether the applicant has been the subject of any adverse finding by a judge in any civil proceedings." The authority, which is meant to regulate the sport, refuses to say whether an investigation has been launched into the sheikh in the wake of last year's judgement, but insiders say the governing body's "honesty and integrity" criteria are only part of what it considers when assessing the suitability of owners. The distinct sense from within racing is that with these latest allegations relating to overseas matters involving a head of state of one of the UK's strategic partners and purchaser of arms exports in the Middle East, and with the government referring the matter to the UN, it is unfair to expect the sport to make a stand and speak out against one of its most important benefactors. Others however, disagree. "No matter how much money he pays to race his horses, no respectable race should touch Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed al-Maktoum until he releases his daughter" tweeted Kenneth Roth, the executive director of Human Rights Watch, this week. Beyond racing Despite such views, racing is unlikely to cut ties with the sheikh any time soon. Indeed, on Saturday alone, in a sign of just how extensive his investment in the sport has become, as many as 27 Godolphin horses are scheduled to race at seven meetings across four countries. The ruler of Duabi's sporting connections in Britain extend beyond racing. The airline Emirates, which he launched, has a shirt sponsorship deal with Arsenal, worth £200m over four years. It has naming rights to the club's stadium, along with Glasgow's Commonwealth Arena, and Lancashire cricket club's Old Trafford. Emirates also became the first ever title sponsor of the FA Cup in 2015. But pressure is now mounting on racing in particular to reconsider a relationship that has been hugely lucrative, but which is becoming increasingly controversial. |
| Facebook Australia Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has said his government will not be intimidated by Facebook blocking news feeds to users. He described the move to "unfriend Australia" as arrogant and disappointing. Facebook is responding to a proposed law which would make tech giants pay for news content on their platforms. Australians on Thursday woke up to find that Facebook pages of all local and global news sites were unavailable. People outside the country are also unable to read or access any Australian news publications on the platform. Several government health and emergency pages were also blocked. Facebook later asserted this was a mistake and many of these pages are now back online. Google and Facebook have fought the law because they say it doesn't reflect how the internet works, and unfairly "penalises" their platforms. However, in contrast to Facebook, Google has in recent days signed payment deals with three major Australian media outlets. Facebook's action came just hours after Google agreed to pay Rupert Murdoch's News Corp for content from news sites across its media empire. Consumption of digital news through social media and search engines is growing in Australia, according to the Reuters Digital News Report for 2020. Some 37% of consumers who took part said they had gained access to news via social media over the course of a week, compared with 31% who had directly accessed websites or apps, the report said. What is the response to the ban? In a statement posted on Facebook, Mr Morrison said that big tech companies might be changing the world but this did not mean they should run it. "Facebook's actions to unfriend Australia today, cutting off essential information services on health and emergency services, were as arrogant as they were disappointing," he said. "I am in regular contact with the leaders of other nations on these issues. We simply won't be intimidated," he added. Mr Morrison urged Facebook to work constructively with the government, "as Google recently demonstrated in good faith". Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said the ban on news information had a "huge community impact". About 17 million Australians visit the social media site every month. Other officials were less diplomatic. Western Australia Premier Mark McGowan accused the company of "behaving like a North Korean dictator". |
| Dubai's Princess Latifa imprisoned against her will in "villa jail" The daughter of Dubai's ruler who tried to flee the country in 2018 later sent secret video messages to friends accusing her father of holding her "hostage" as she feared for her life. In footage shared with BBC Panorama, Princess Latifa Al Maktoum says commandos drugged her as she fled by boat and flew her back to detention. The secret messages have stopped - and friends are urging the UN to step in. Dubai and the UAE have previously said she is safe in the care of family. Ex-UN rights envoy Mary Robinson, who had described Latifa as a "troubled young woman" after meeting her in 2018, now says she was "horribly tricked" by the princess's family. The former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and president of Ireland has joined calls for international action to establish Latifa's current condition and whereabouts. "I continue to be very worried about Latifa. Things have moved on. And so I think it should be investigated," she said. Latifa's father, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, is one of the richest heads of state in the world, the ruler of Dubai and vice-president of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The videos were recorded over several months on a phone Latifa was secretly given about a year after her capture and return to Dubai. She recorded them in a bathroom as it had the only door she could lock. In the messages, she detailed how: she fought back against the soldiers taking her off the boat, "kicking and fighting" and biting one Emirati commando's arm until he screamed after being tranquillised she lost consciousness as she was being carried on to a private jet, and didn't wake up until it landed in Dubai she was being held alone without access to medical or legal help in a villa with windows and doors barred shut, and guarded by police Tiina Jauhiainen They say they have taken the difficult decision to release the messages now out of concern for Latifa's safety. It was they who managed to establish contact with Latifa as she was held in a Dubai "villa", which she said had barred windows and police guards. Panorama has independently verified the details of where Latifa was held. Sheikh Mohammed has built a hugely successful city but rights activists say there is no tolerance of dissent and the judicial system can discriminate against women. He has a vast horse-racing enterprise and frequently attends major events such as Royal Ascot, where he has been pictured with Queen Elizabeth II. But he has faced severe criticism over Princess Latifa and also her stepmother, Princess Haya Bint Al Hussain, who fled to London in 2019 with her two children. The boat escape Latifa, now 35, first tried to flee at 16 but it was only after contacting French businessman Herve Jaubert in 2011 that a long-planned escape was put into motion. This was done with the help of Ms Jauhiainen, initially her instructor for capoeira, a Brazilian martial art. On 24 February 2018, Latifa and Ms Jauhiainen took an inflatable boat and jet ski to international waters, where Mr Jaubert was waiting in a US flagged yacht. But eight days later, off India, the boat was boarded by commandos. Ms Jauhiainen says smoke grenades forced her and Latifa out of hiding in the bathroom below deck and they were held at gunpoint. Latifa was returned to Dubai, and hadn't been heard from since until now. Ms Jauhiainen and the crew on the boat were freed after two weeks of detention in Dubai. The Indian government has never commented on its role. Before her 2018 escape attempt, Latifa recorded another video which was posted on YouTube after her capture. "If you are watching this video, it's not such a good thing, either I'm dead or I'm in a very, very, very bad situation," she said. It was this that sparked huge international concern and calls for her release. The UAE came under intense pressure to account for her and a meeting was arranged with Ms Robinson. The Robinson meeting She flew to Dubai in December 2018 at the request of her friend, Princess Haya, for a lunch at which Latifa was also present. Ms Robinson told Panorama she and Princess Haya had earlier been presented with details of Latifa's bipolar disorder, a condition she does not have. She said she did not ask Latifa about her situation because she did not want to "increase the trauma" of Latifa's "condition". Nine days after the lunch, the UAE's foreign ministry published photographs of Ms Robinson with Latifa, which it said was proof that the princess was safe and well. Ms Robinson said: "I was particularly tricked when the photographs went public. That was a total surprise... I was absolutely stunned." In 2019, the tensions within Dubai's ruling family were laid bare before England's High Court after one of the sheikh's wives, Princess Haya, fled to the UK with two of her children and applied for a protection order and non-molestation order against the sheikh. Last year, the High Court issued a series of fact-finding judgments that said Sheikh Mohammed had ordered and orchestrated the forcible return of Latifa in 2002 and 2018, as well as the unlawful abduction from the UK in 2000 of her older sister Princess Shamsa, who had also tried to escape. The court found Sheikh Mohammed "continues to maintain a regime whereby both these two young women are deprived of their liberty". Latifa's friends had hoped that the court case in March last year that ruled against Sheikh Mohammed, calling him "not honest" and in favour of Princess Haya, might help. On the decision to release the messages now, Ms Jauhiainen just says that "a lot of time has passed" since contact was lost. She says she thought hard about releasing the video messages now, but adds: "I feel that she would want us to fight for her, and not give up." The governments of Dubai and the UAE have failed to respond to requests for comment from the BBC about Latifa's current condition. |
| Harry and Meghan are expecting second child. Today's main news is that Harry and Meghan are expecting second child. I find any mention of either Harry or Meghan extremely irritating, beyond any rational explenation I can find for it. For all I care they can f*** each other blind, I still wouldn't want to know. |
| Trump impeachment: Senate falls short of majority needed to convict The US Senate has fallen short of the two-thirds majority needed to convict former President Donald Trump on a charge of incitement to insurrection over the Capitol riot on 6 January. A majority of senators - 57 to 43, including seven Republicans - voted to convict Mr Trump, 10 votes short of the 67 required for conviction. After his acquittal, Mr Trump released a statement denouncing the trial as "the greatest witch hunt in history". This was Mr Trump's second impeachment. If he had been convicted, the Senate could have voted to bar him from running for office ever again. After the vote, the senior Republican in Congress, Senator Mitch McConnell said Mr Trump had been "responsible" for the assault on the Capitol and called it a "disgraceful, disgraceful dereliction of duty". Earlier, he voted against conviction, saying it was unconstitutional now that Mr Trump was no longer president. Mr McConnell was instrumental in delaying Mr Trump's trial until after he left office, on 20 January. However, Mr McConnell warned Mr Trump could still be held liable in court. "He didn't get away with anything yet. Yet. We have a criminal justice system in this country, we have civil litigation and former presidents are not immune from being [held] accountable by either one," he said. What happened on Saturday? In their closing statements, the Democratic House of Representatives lawmakers appointed to shepherd the process through the Senate warned that it would be dangerous to acquit Mr Trump. "The stakes could not be higher because the cold, hard truth is that what happened on 6 January can happen again," Representative Joe Neguse said. "History has found us. I ask that you not look the other way," Representative Madeleine Dean said. However, Mr Trump's lawyer, Michael van der Veen, called the proceedings a "show trial" and said the Democrats were "obsessed" with impeaching Mr Trump. |
Iran is at an unprecedented “low point” due to actions carried out by Israel and the US, but has not stopped investing in its nuclear project, IDF Intelligence Chief Maj.-Gen. Tamir Heiman said this week. In a briefing with the press, Heiman said that “in its current situation, Iran sees in a nuclear deal the only way out of the crisis, and hence it is trying to go back to the deal it signed in 2015.” Israel has reportedly launched a multitude of operations against Iran with a focus at undermining its nuclear program. Recent reports attribute an explosion at the Natanz uranium enrichment facility to Israel as well as the assassination in November of Iran’s top nuclear scientist, Mohsen Fakhrizadeh. Israel has also worked closely with the US to impose crippling sanctions on Iran’s economy. According to Heiman, Iran starts 2021 “battered, but on its feet,” and hopes that the new US administration will change its attitude towards it. However, the first signs of this attitude are not promising for Tehran. On Sunday, US President Joe Biden said that his country would not lift sanctions on Iran unless it first stops enrichment of uranium. Traditionally, there are two main alliances in the region - the Shi’ite alliance, led by Iran that includes Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, and Yemen, and the radical Sunni alliance, which includes Turkey, Qatar, Libya, and other countries which left this pact over the years. In 2020, a new regional alliance was formed including Israel, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Sudan, Morocco, Jordan, and Egypt. This alliance of moderate Sunni countries and Israel is closer to the US and Europe and raises concerns and fears in Iran regarding the potential of more sanctions and pressure in the future. In Iran, there are two main camps with a different attitude toward such an agreement – the so-called moderate camp, which includes the current president, Hassan Rohani, that is willing to make concessions and prefers to reach a new agreement with the US as soon as possible in order to ease the economic crisis. On the other side, there is the conservative camp, which believes that patience will reward the Islamic Republic in the long term. This camp is against concessions and holds a position in which only if a first concession is made will Iran then change its attitude. Israel, as well as the US and Europe, are waiting to see the outcome of Iran’s presidential election in June. Some experts believe that Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei – who is closer in his ideas to the conservative camp – prefers a victory of the moderate camp. Khamenei is an autocrat who makes the most important decisions on his own. This is why, according to the experts, he would like to show the world a more moderate and open face – that might lure the West to ease sanctions – and at the same time help Iran advance toward a bomb. |
| 1. All arrivals must have a negative Covid test within past 72 hours taken abroad. They must also test for Covid here on days two and eight of their self-isolation. 2. Those coming from red zone countries must do the above but quarantine in hotels which they cannot leave. Officially the government is still not confirming the exact timing of the quarantine announcement. Airline and hotel industries are expecting details on Tuesday, but it's possible it may slip beyond then. The DHSC simply said the announcement will come "shortly". |
| Biden to end support for Saudi-led offensive operations in Yemen President Biden will end U.S. support for Saudi-led offensive operations in Yemen, his national security adviser announced Thursday -- marking a withdrawal from support for a Saudi-led coalition fighting Houthi rebels in the war-torn country. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters that Biden will "announce an end to American support for offensive operations in Yemen." Biden will make the announcement as part of a wide-ranging speech at the State Department on Thursday afternoon. UN EXPERTS FIND 'GROWING' EVIDENCE IRAN SENDING WEAPONS TO HOUTHI REBELS IN WAR-TORN YEMEN "That is a promise he made in the campaign that he will be following through on," Sullivan said during a White House press briefing. As an example, he pointed to the stopping of two arms sales of precision-guided munitions that were moving forward under the last administration. The civil war, which has been ongoing since 2015, has led to the deaths of 112,000 people and has obliterated the country’s infrastructure. U.N. estimates say 13.5 million Yemenis face food insecurity. Sullivan also said that Biden will announce the naming of a special envoy. The Associated Press reported that Biden will appoint Timothy Lenderking, a career foreign service member who has served in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. "[Biden] will talk about the United States playing a more active and engaged role in diplomacy to bring an end to the conflict in Yemen and that will include the naming of a special envoy which will happen today," Sullivan said. The civil war began in 2015 when Saudi began the offensive against the Houthis, who had seized territory and launched missiles across the border into Saudi Arabia. The U.S. has, until recently, backed the Saudis in the conflict and Trump-era Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had imposed sanctions on the Houthis in the final days of the administration, designating them a "foreign terrorist organization" (FTO). That move was part of the administration’s efforts to isolate Iran and also support the Saudis in the region. However, since taking office, the Biden administration has suspended some of the sanctions attached to that designation until Feb. 26 -- although it hasn’t yet reversed the designation. A U.N. report warned that the designation of the Houthis as an FTO could harm aid and food deliveries into the country, hurting the peace process and exacerbating malnutrition. That report by a panel of experts painted a grim situation of the crisis. "The situation in Yemen has continued to deteriorate, with devastating consequences for the civilian population," it said. It accuses all parties involved of "continuous and widespread human rights and international law violations with impunity; and escalations in fighting and its impact on civilians, including displacements." "All parties continue to commit egregious violations of international humanitarian law and international human rights law, including indiscriminate attacks against civilians, enforced disappearances and torture," the report says. The report also said "there is a growing body of evidence that shows that individuals or entities within the Islamic Republic of Iran are engaged in sending weapons and weapons components to the Houthis" in violation of U.N. resolutions. |
| U vaccines war explodes" is the headline dominating the front of the Daily Mail, as the paper joins several others to lead with Brussels' decision earlier on Friday to add controls on the export of jabs to the UK. The EU, which has since backtracked, wanted to stop Northern Ireland being used as a backdoor to the rest of the UK, amid concerns over the supply of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine on the continent. The EU Commission originally invoked Article 16 of the Northern Ireland Protocol, which allows parts of the Brexit deal to be overridden |
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