Friday, March 29, 2024

BIG Wrap

U.S. report slams planning for Afghanistan withdrawal

(Al Jazeera Media Network) The U.S. State Department did not adequately prepare for the swift collapse of the Afghan government in 2021, an internal review has found, in the latest report to criticize the United States’ chaotic withdrawal from the country. While the so-called After Action Review (AAR) released on Friday lauded the actions of State Department staff, noting that they worked “heroically” under extreme “stress, demands and risks”, it said the department should have...

U.S. Supreme Court strikes down student loan forgiveness plan

(BBC News) The U.S Supreme Court has struck down President Joe Biden's proposal to wipe out billions in student debt.  The 6-3 ruling effectively cancels the plan, which would have forgiven about $10,000 per borrower — and up to $20,000 in some cases. The decision affects the loans of more than 40 million U.S. residents. It has left the U.S. public "angry," Biden said. He pledged to put in place new measures to reduce university debt using...

U.S. top court bans colleges from considering race in admissions

(Al Jazeera Media Network) The United States Supreme Court has ruled that colleges must stop considering race as a factor in their admission policies, dealing a setback to so-called “affirmative action” efforts aimed at boosting the enrolment of Black and Latino students at top universities. The top court’s decision on Thursday came in response to lawsuits that challenged the policies of Harvard University and the University of North Carolina (UNC) by claiming race-conscious student admissions programs discriminate...

Google to scrap local news links in Canada over Online News Act

(BBC News) Google says it will block Canadian news in the country in response to a new law that aims to make tech giants pay Canadian media for news. Canada's parliament passed the Online News Act last week, requiring platforms such as Google and Meta's Facebook to negotiate deals with news providers. Google's move comes after Meta announced it would restrict news content for Canadian users. The bill is set to take effect in six months. A similar...

Iran takes Canada to UN court over civil damages claims

(Al Jazeera Media Network) Iran has filed a complaint against Canada at the United Nations’ top court, accusing the country of violating its “international obligations” by allowing people to seek civil damages against Tehran. The International Court of Justice — known as the World Court — announced the case on Wednesday, saying that Iran is asserting a violation of its sovereign immunity, which generally shields states from civil lawsuits in foreign jurisdictions. Iran “requests the court...

South Koreans all officially just got at least a year younger

(BBC News) South Koreans have become a year or two younger as a new law aligns the nation's age-counting system with international standards. The law scraps a centuries-old system that deems South Koreans one year old at birth, counting time in the womb. The entire population also aged by a year every first day of January instead of their birthdays under the old system. The switch to age-counting based on birth date took effect on Wednesday. President Yoon...

Wagner prepares to hand over heavy weapons, says Russian military

(The Wall Street Journal) Russia moved to shore up its internal security forces as the Ministry of Defense said that the Wagner paramilitary group that launched a mutiny last week was preparing to hand over its heavy weapons, an indication that it could be disbanded as an autonomous force in coming days. In the first significant change in Russia’s security system in the aftermath of the aborted rebellion, the Russian National Guard – a force primarily responsible...

Conservatives on track for majority in Greece

(BBC News) Greek conservative leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis is on course to win a second term as prime minister and a majority in parliament, initial results suggest. He beat centre-left rival Syriza in May, but called new elections in a bid to win enough seats to govern alone. His New Democracy party has won 40.4% of the vote, 20 points ahead of Syriza, with more than half the vote counted. The vote came 11 days after a migrant...

Wagner boss calls off march on Moscow, agrees to exile in Belarus

(Al Jazeera Media Network) Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin ordered his mercenaries to halt their march on Moscow to avoid “shedding Russian blood,” and agreed to live in exile in Belarus – ending one of the biggest challenges to President Vladimir Putin’s decades-long rule. Prigozhin said while his men were just 200 km from the Russian capital, he decided on Saturday to turn them back to prevent killings. “They wanted to disband the Wagner military company. We...

Titan sub CEO dismissed safety warnings as ‘baseless cries’

(BBC News) Warnings over the safety of OceanGate's Titan submersible were repeatedly dismissed by the CEO of the company, email exchanges with a deep sea exploration specialist show. In messages seen by the BBC, Rob McCallum, who runs his own ocean expedition company, told OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush that he was putting his clients at risk, and urged him to stop using the sub until it had been classified by an independent body. Rush responded that he was...