WORLD NEWS

Prime Minister Boris Johnson (Photo by Stefan Rousseau / POOL / AFP) British Prime Minister Boris Johnson called a virtual meeting of the United Nations Security Council on Tuesday where he urged fellow leaders to take immediate action on the climate crisis or face worsening global instability. The planet’s warming temperatures were deemed inextricably linked to security by most countries, including the United States, France and Germany, though Russia and China questioned the premise and said other forums should be used to address the issue. Britain currently holds the Security Council’s rotating presidency and Johnson has made climate a signature…

Gavel PHOTO: Shutterstock A German man went on trial Tuesday for allegedly spying for Egypt while he was working in Chancellor Angela Merkel’s press office. Egypt-born Amin K. is accused of exploiting his privileged position in the office to pass on information to Egypt’s General Intelligence Service (GIS) between 2010 and 2019. Originally scheduled to start in January, the trial was postponed due to the pandemic, and a verdict is now expected in March. The 66-year-old had worked since 1999 for the visitor service of the federal press office, which among other things is responsible for communicating Merkel’s activities. According…

FILE PHOTO: A 3D-printed Facebook logo is seen placed on a keyboard in this illustration taken March 25, 2020. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo Facebook moved to lift a contentious ban on Australian news Tuesday, after a last-gasp deal on landmark rules requiring tech giants to pay media companies. Australia’s Treasurer Josh Frydenberg announced a face-saving compromise, that will see Google and Facebook plunge tens of millions of dollars into the struggling local news sector. The US digital firms will, for now, avoid being subjected to mandatory payments that could cost them vastly more and create what they see as an alarming…

A Rwandan opposition figure exiled in South Africa was on Sunday shot dead in Cape Town, his party said, calling the attack an “assassination”. Seif Bamporiki, 49, who was the Rwanda National Congress (RNC) coordinator in South Africa, was killed as he delivered furniture in the crime-ridden township of Nyanga. While the motive for his murder is still unclear, RNC spokesperson Etienne Mutabazi told AFP the method mirrored past politically-motivated attacks. The killing “was executed in a similar modus operandi of luring the victim in a compromising and insecure environment for assassination,” he said. Mutabazi was referring to past attacks…

Joe Biden will attend his first, albeit virtual, bilateral meeting as US president on Tuesday, with the honor of going to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. It's not Biden's first time to prioritize his Canadian counterpart, who also received the new president's first call to a foreign leader just two days after taking office. The virtual meeting will allow the two "to review joint efforts" on matters such as Covid-19 and climate change, according to a White House statement issued Saturday. The White House did not mention the Keystone XL pipeline connecting the Alberta oil sands to coastal refineries in…

World Health Organization PHOTO: shutterstock The World Health Organization on Monday blasted wealthy countries for not only hogging Covid vaccines but in doing so, hindering the pathway for poorer nations to get them too. WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said some rich countries’ direct deals with manufacturers had meant that previously-agreed vaccine allocations for poorer countries, via the Covax programme, were being reduced. The UN health agency chief said the money was there to procure doses for some of the poorest countries, following fresh contributions from the United States, the European Union and Germany — but it was worthless if…

Cyril Ramaphosa PHOTO: Reuters President Cyril Ramaphosa on Monday slammed attacks on South Africa’s judiciary after his beleaguered predecessor Jacob Zuma, under scrutiny for alleged graft, accused judges of political bias. Zuma, 78, has repeatedly snubbed a judicial panel probing the plunder of state coffers during his 2009-18 rule. He risks jail time if found guilty of contempt of court for ignoring last week a Constitutional Court order to appear before the panel. In a 12-page statement last week, Zuma accused the panel’s chair, Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo, of “political propaganda.” “Some judges… have assisted the incumbent president to…