AFGHANISTAN
Taliban detain UN workers
Some women employed by the UN have been detained, harassed and had restrictions placed on their movements since being banned by the Taliban from working for the world body, the UN said yesterday. The Taliban early last month informed the global body that Afghan women employed with its mission could no longer report for work. “This is the most recent in a series of discriminatory — and unlawful — measures implemented by the de facto authorities with the goal of severely restricting women and girls’ participation in most areas of public and daily life in Afghanistan,” the UN said in a report on the human rights situation in the country. Authorities continued to crack down on dissenting voices this year, in particular those who speak out on issues related to the rights of women and girls, the report said. It cited the March arrest of four women who were released the following day during a protest demanding access to education and work in the capital, Kabul, and the arrest of Matiullah Wesa, head of PenPath, a civil society organization campaigning for the reopening of girls’ schools.
NEW ZEALAND
State of emergency declared
Authorities in Auckland yesterday declared a state of emergency as flooding again hit the country’s largest city. Further north in Whangarei, a high-school student was missing after a school group that was exploring caves got into trouble when floodwaters hit. Fire and emergency crews said they had responded to more than 200 calls, most of them in Auckland. Many were for floodwaters entering buildings, but they also responded to landslides, falling trees and trapped vehicles. Prime Minister Chris Hipkins said it was a difficult time for the region. “We will get through this. We will support Auckland through it,” he told reporters. “We know that it’s tough coming on top of everything else that they’ve been dealing with, but right now my request to people is just to keep yourself safe.” Authorities said heavy rain was expected to continue off and on until midnight, although they hoped the most severe downpours might have already passed.
UNITED KINGDOM
Police ‘regret’ arrests
Police on Monday expressed “regret” that anti-monarchy demonstrators arrested ahead of the coronation of King Charles III were unable to join the protest as planned and said they would not face further action. Six members of the group Republic, including leader Graham Smith, were detained in central London early on Saturday as they prepared to protest the coronation. The capital’s Metropolitan Police also seized hundreds of their placards, Republic said. They were released late on Saturday, more than 16 hours after being arrested, prompting criticism of the police. In a statement late on Monday, the Met said that the six were arrested “on suspicion of going equipped for locking on,” referring to newly outlawed contraptions used by demonstrators to attach themselves to each other, an object or the ground. Police were days earlier granted new anti-protest powers by the government that expanded, among other things, protest-related offenses to include locking-on and carrying lock-on devices. The Met said that an investigation of the seized items seized “has been unable to prove intent to use them to lock on and disrupt the event.” “We regret that those six people arrested were unable to join the wider group of protesters in Trafalgar Square and elsewhere on the procession route,” it said.
OPTIMISTIC: A Philippine Air Force spokeswoman said the military believed the crew were safe and were hopeful that they and the jet would be recovered A Philippine Air Force FA-50 jet and its two-person crew are missing after flying in support of ground forces fighting communist rebels in the southern Mindanao region, a military official said yesterday. Philippine Air Force spokeswoman Colonel Consuelo Castillo said the jet was flying “over land” on the way to its target area when it went missing during a “tactical night operation in support of our ground troops.” While she declined to provide mission specifics, Philippine Army spokesman Colonel Louie Dema-ala confirmed that the missing FA-50 was part of a squadron sent “to provide air support” to troops fighting communist rebels in
PROBE: Last week, Romanian prosecutors launched a criminal investigation against presidential candidate Calin Georgescu accusing him of supporting fascist groups Tens of thousands of protesters gathered in Romania’s capital on Saturday in the latest anti-government demonstration by far-right groups after a top court canceled a presidential election in the EU country last year. Protesters converged in front of the government building in Bucharest, waving Romania’s tricolor flags and chanting slogans such as “down with the government” and “thieves.” Many expressed support for Calin Georgescu, who emerged as the frontrunner in December’s canceled election, and demanded they be resumed from the second round. George Simion, the leader of the far-right Alliance for the Unity of Romanians (AUR), which organized the protest,
ECONOMIC DISTORTION? The US commerce secretary’s remarks echoed Elon Musk’s arguments that spending by the government does not create value for the economy US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick on Sunday said that government spending could be separated from GDP reports, in response to questions about whether the spending cuts pushed by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency could possibly cause an economic downturn. “You know that governments historically have messed with GDP,” Lutnick said on Fox News Channel’s Sunday Morning Futures. “They count government spending as part of GDP. So I’m going to separate those two and make it transparent.” Doing so could potentially complicate or distort a fundamental measure of the US economy’s health. Government spending is traditionally included in the GDP because
Hundreds of people in rainbow colors gathered on Saturday in South Africa’s tourist magnet Cape Town to honor the world’s first openly gay imam, who was killed last month. Muhsin Hendricks, who ran a mosque for marginalized Muslims, was shot dead last month near the southern city of Gqeberha. “I was heartbroken. I think it’s sad especially how far we’ve come, considering how progressive South Africa has been,” attendee Keisha Jensen said. Led by motorcycle riders, the mostly young crowd walked through the streets of the coastal city, some waving placards emblazoned with Hendricks’s image and reading: “#JUSTICEFORMUHSIN.” No arrest
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