“I will never forget the generosity of countries like Pakistan and Iran, which — for decades — have hosted millions of Afghans in need,” the UN chief said at a Security Council debate on Afghanistan earlier this week.
“At this moment, we need the global community — and this Council — to put their hands on the wheel of progress, provide resources, and prevent Afghanistan from spiraling any further,” he added.
Pakistan’s permanent representative to the UN, Ambassador Munir Akram, told the participants that his country was “doing all it can to help our Afghan brothers and sisters”.
“We continue to care for nearly 4 million Afghan refugees, until they are able to return to their homes,” said the Pakistani envoy while reminding the world that humanitarian assistance alone could not revive the Afghan economy.
“Above all, it is vital to unfreeze Afghanistan’s reserves. There is no legal justification for depriving the Afghan people of their national assets,” he said.
Soon after the Aug 15 Taliban takeover of Kabul, the United States froze nearly $9.5 billion in assets belonging to the Afghan central bank and stopped shipments of cash to the nation to prevent the regime from accessing the money.
In December, the 57-nation Organisation of Islamic Cooperation met in Islamabad and resolved to work with the United Nations to get the frozen assets unlocked.
“This money is critically needed to sustain and stabilise and revive the Afghan economy and to save millions of lives of poor and hungry Afghan children, women and men,” Ambassador Akram said. “This would be the most effective and generous display of solidarity with the people of Afghanistan.”
The UN chief also addressed this issue in his speech, underlining the need to “jump-start” Afghanistan’s economy through increased liquidity. “We must pull the economy back from the brink. This means finding ways to free-up frozen currency reserves and re-engage Afghanistan’s Central Bank,” he said.
Mr Guterres suggested suspending the rules and conditions that constrict not only Afghanistan’s economy, but the United Nations’ life saving operations as well.
“At this moment of maximum need, these rules must be seriously reviewed. International funding must be allowed to pay the salaries of public-sector workers,” he said, adding that the Afghan economy was enduring a bitter winter of its own.
The UN chief warned that the Afghan currency could go into freefall, and the country could lose 30 per cent of its GDP within the year.
This point was also noted at a Jan 24 meeting of special envoys of the European Union, France, Germany, Italy, Norway, the United Kingdom and the United States in Oslo. Taliban representatives also attended the meeting.
In a joint statement issued after the meeting, the US and its European allies said that their governments were expanding relief operations, helping prevent the collapse of social services and “supporting the revival of Afghanistan’s economy.”
The statement said that the participants of the Jan. 24 meeting noted “the importance of increasing cash liquidity and support to the banking sector in order to help stabilize the Afghan economy.”
But this would require the Taliban to develop a transparent, and sound strategy to restore confidence in Afghanistan’s financial sector.
The report, an advance copy of which was seen by AFP, describes severe curtailing of human rights by Afghanistan's new fundamentalist rulers. In addition to the political killings, women's rights and the right to protest have also been curbed.
“Despite announcements of general amnesties for former members of the Government, security forces and those who worked with international military forces, UNAMA continued to receive credible allegations of killings, enforced disappearances, and other violations towards these individuals,” UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres's report said.
Since the Taliban seized Kabul on August 15, the UN mission in Afghanistan has received more than 100 reports of such killings that it deems credible, the report said.
More than two-thirds of those killings were “extra-judicial killings committed by the de facto authorities or their affiliates.”
Additionally, “human rights defenders and media workers continue to come under attack, intimidation, harassment, arbitrary arrest, ill-treatment and killings,” it said.
The report also detailed a government clampdown on peaceful protests, as well as a lack of access for women and girls to work and education.
“An entire complex social and economic system is shutting down,” Guterres said in the report.
Afghanistan is in the grip of a humanitarian disaster, worsened by the Taliban takeover that prompted Western countries to freeze international aid and access to billions of dollars' worth of assets held abroad.
The country was almost entirely dependent on foreign aid under the previous US-backed government, but jobs have dried up and most civil servants haven't been paid for months.
No country has yet recognized the Taliban government, with most watching to see how the group — notorious for human rights abuses during their first stint in power -- restrict freedoms.
With poverty deepening and a drought devastating farming in many areas, the United Nations has warned that half the 38 million population faces food shortages.
The UN Security Council last month unanimously adopted a US resolution to allow some aid to reach desperate Afghans without violating international sanctions.
But there are growing calls from rights groups and aid organisations for the West to release more funds — particularly in the middle of a harsh winter.
China considers the neighbouring, democratically ruled island of Taiwan its "sacred" territory and has never renounced the use of force to ensure eventual unification.
"Let me emphasise this. The Taiwan issue is the biggest tinder-box between China and the United States," Qin Gang told National Public Radio.
"If the Taiwanese authorities, emboldened by the United States, keep going down the road for independence, it most likely (will) involve China and the United States, the two big countries, in a military conflict," he said.
Asked to comment, the US Defence Department said the United States remained committed to its "one China" policy and its commitments under the US Taiwan Relations Act.
Under the long-standing policy, Washington officially recognises Beijing rather than Taipei, while the act requires the United States to provide Taiwan with the means to defend itself.
"We will continue to assist Taiwan in maintaining a sufficient self-defence capability while also maintaining our own capacity to resist any use of force that would jeopardise the security of the people of Taiwan," a Pentagon spokesperson said.
The US State Department and White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Qin's remark, which came just hours after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi discussed the crisis over Ukraine.
While Chinese officials have warned of military action over Taiwan, it is unusual for them to link it directly to the United States.
Tensions between Beijing and Taipei have escalated in recent months as China's military has conducted repeated air missions over the Taiwan Strait, the waterway separating the island from China.
US President Joe Biden has said that the United States was not encouraging independence for Taiwan, but he caused a stir in October when he said it would come to the island's defence if China attacked.
The latter remark appeared to depart from Washington's long-held policy of "strategic ambiguity" - not making clear how the United States would respond - though the White House quickly said Biden was not signalling a change in policy.
The chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Mark Milley, told Congress last year China wants the ability to invade and hold Taiwan within the next six years but might not intend to do so in the near term.
WHO said in a statement to Reuters on Thursday it "is aware of the allegations and is taking all appropriate steps to follow up on the matter," following a report on the complaints by the Associated Press.
In a statement provided by the WHO, Takeshi Kasai, the Manila-based director of the Western Pacific region, acknowledged being "hard on staff" but rejected charges of racism or that he shared confidential information with Japan. He wrote that he was considering how to improve his management style and the work environment.
Kasai did not respond to an e-mailed request for comment by Reuters.
Japan's health and foreign ministries did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the alleged leaks of vaccine data.
The AP reported on Thursday the abuse charges were outlined in an internal complaint filed in October and in an email last week, sent by "concerned WHO staff" to its senior leadership.
Kasai's authoritarian style has led to the departure of more than 55 key staff in the past year and a half, and most of them have not been replaced, the report quoted unidentified WHO staff as saying in the email.
Kasai, a physician from Japan who has worked for more than 15 years at the WHO, was also accused of sharing confidential data to the Japanese government to help it gain diplomatic favour from COVID-19 vaccine donations to neighbours.
The AP said the complaint and email accused Kasai of making "racist and derogatory remarks to staff of certain nationalities" and creating a "toxic atmosphere" with "a culture of systemic bullying and public ridiculing."
The WHO statement quoted Kasai as saying, "Regarding the accusation of racism towards particular cultures or countries: this I reject.
"It is true that I have been hard on staff, but I reject the suggestion that I have targeted staff of any particular nationality. Racism goes against all of the principles and values I hold dear as a person and an international civil servant, and have throughout my life and career."
He also said he takes "the concerns raised about my management style and working culture in WHO's Western Pacific Region very seriously".
He said he was "committed to listening carefully to staff about their concerns, reflecting on ways of working, and thinking carefully about how I can improve, as well as improve the working environment for all our staff – now and into the future."
Washington’s top defence officials warned on Friday the Kremlin had massed enough troops and hardware at the border to threaten the whole of Ukraine but called for further diplomatic efforts to avert a “horrific” conflict.
Western leaders are scrambling to defuse the crisis by reaching out to Russian President Vladimir Putin, while also trying to keep the pressure up by vowing unprecedented sanctions should he send in his forces.
As Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday urged his Western partners to avoid stirring “panic” over the massive Russian troop buildup, Putin and French President Emmanuel Macron agreed on the need for de-escalation.
According to a Macron aide, Putin told the French leader in a call lasting more than an hour that he had “no offensive plans”.
In Washington, Biden nevertheless said he would soon send a small number of US troops to bolster the Nato presence in eastern Europe as tensions remain heightened.
The United States already has tens of thousands of troops stationed across mostly Western Europe.
France said on Saturday that it was planning to send hundreds of troops to eastern Nato ally Romania as part of a deployment first touted by Macron earlier this month.
Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba on Saturday issued a call for the West to remain “vigilant and firm in contacts with the Russian side” in a conversation with French counterpart Yves Le Drian.
The talks underlined the need to “refrain from steps that could fuel anxiety” in Ukrainian society and “undermine the financial stability” of the post-Soviet country, a Ukrainian statement said.
Le Drian is expected to visit Ukraine together with his German counterpart Annalena Baerbock on February 7-8 as part of a flurry of diplomacy.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is expected to speak with Putin before heading to the region and add to the chorus of Western leaders urging him to back down.
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki is due in Kiev on Tuesday to meet the president and prime minister.
Since October, Russia has amassed more than 100,000 combat troops and equipment, as well as support forces, along its frontier with Ukraine and more recently in Belarus, which borders Ukraine on the north.
Western officials say Russia has also mustered more air and sea assets in the region, creating a complex threat like none seen since the Cold War.
Moscow has demanded wide-ranging security guarantees, including that Ukraine never be allowed to join Nato.
The West has rejected Russia’s key demands such as stopping new members join the alliance, but has laid down a raft of areas where it see room to negotiate with the Kremlin.
To Macron, Putin made clear that the written responses from the West to his demands this week had fallen short of Russia’s expectations, the Kremlin said.
Taking to Twitter, the Canadian premier wrote: "Islamophobia is unacceptable. Full stop. We need to put an end to this hate and make our communities safer for Muslim Canadians. To help with that, we intend to appoint a Special Representative on combatting Islamophobia."
the Canadian Minister of Housing and Diversity and Inclusion Ahmed Hussen highlighted the federal government’s intention to appoint a special representative on combatting Islamophobia, saying that "this appointment will be part of a renewed Government of Canada Anti-Racism Strategy," a statement issued by the Government of Canada said.
Last year, the Canadian government had announced its intention to make January 29 a National Day of Remembrance of the Québec City Mosque Attack and Action against Islamophobia.
"This year, on the eve of the five-year anniversary of this act of terror, the Government of Canada stands with and supports Muslim communities across Canada and reaffirms its commitment to take action to denounce and tackle Islamophobia and hate-fueled violence," the statement said.
Islamophobia is a concrete and daily reality for Muslim communities across Canada and around the world, it read, adding that "As we honour the victims, we must remember that we have a responsibility to combat discrimination and continue to build a more inclusive Canada."
"That is why the federal government held a virtual National Summit on Islamophobia in July 2021. The special representative appointment is one of the recommendations put forward during the Summit and will be an additional step in the government’s ongoing work through Canada’s Anti-Racism Strategy to tackle Islamophobia in all its forms."
It further added that confronting Islamophobia is an important part of the aforementioned strategy as it includes a whole-of-government approach to tackling systemic racism with dedicated knowledge and expertise through the Federal Anti-Racism Secretariat, as well as investments to empower communities to combat different forms of racism, including Islamophobia, and to advance digital and civic literacy initiatives that address online disinformation and hate speech.
"We are committed to renewing the Anti-Racism Strategy in 2022 with a National Action Plan to expand our efforts to combat hate and racism."
Details on the role and mandate of the special representative will be confirmed at a later date, the statement said.
Islamophobia is unacceptable. Full stop. We need to put an end to this hate and make our communities safer for Muslim Canadians. To help with that, we intend to appoint a Special Representative on combatting Islamophobia. More details here: https://t.co/sEiOYlLRaw
— Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) January 29, 2022
The exposure took place on January 22 during a flight to Auckland from the town of Kerikeri, the government said in a statement on Saturday, adding that the result of whole genome sequencing was expected the following day.
That would show if the infection was caused by the Omicron variant of coronavirus, it said.
Ardern, who is asymptomatic, is feeling well, the statement added. She will be tested on Sunday and is in isolation in line with the health ministry's directives.
Castro, 62, took the oath at a massive ceremony attended by international dignitaries after an embarrassing week of fighting within her party that challenged her authority.
In her first official address at the Tegucigalpa National Stadium, Castro denounced "the social and economic tragedy confronting Honduras" and promised to make work of improving education, healthcare, security and employment.
She said she was inheriting a "bankrupt" country which she intended to reshape into a "socialist and democratic state."
Honduras's public debt is about $17 billion.
The oath was sworn before Judge Karla Romero, flanked by Castro's choice of Congress president, Luis Redondo, who draped the presidential sash over his new boss before a crowd of about 29,000.
The guests included US Vice President Kamala Harris, King Felipe VI of Spain and Taiwan Vice President William Lai.
China, pursuing a zero Covid policy, has imposed mandatory quarantines of at least 14 days for inbound passengers and has repeatedly locked down major areas.
State Department spokesman Ned Price said that the United States has entered discussions with China over quarantine and testing rules that "run counter to diplomatic privileges and immunities."
"We've recommended what we think are a series of reasonable options that we would be consistent with Covid-19 mitigation measures and at the same time align with international diplomatic norms," Price told reporters.
He said there was no change to the operating status of the embassy in Beijing despite the concerns.
China's state-run Global Times earlier warned against any authorization by the State Department to let employees or families leave, calling China "the safest place in the world."
Such a departure "only serves to create panic, slander China's anti-epidemic work and disrupt China's successful hosting of the Winter Olympics," it said.
China also told the United States to stop "interfering" in the Olympics in a phone call on Wednesday Washington time between Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
The United States has already announced that its diplomats will boycott the Games opening February 4 due to human rights concerns, a step followed by several US allies.
The United States accuses China of carrying out genocide against the Uyghurs, with more than one million of the mostly Muslim people held in camps.
The high-level meeting, attended by senior diplomats from France and Germany, brings together the four countries in a format that has been used repeatedly since Russia’s 2014 annexation of the Ukrainian province of Crimea.
Russia is represented by vice-prime minister Dmitri Kozak and Ukraine by presidential advisor Andriy Yermak, with diplomatic advisors to President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz also taking part in the talks that began at 1100 GMT.
France, which floated ideas for a “de-escalation” on Monday and is keen for Europe to try to solve the crisis, is hoping that Russia is prepared to engage in talks at a time when it has massed 100,000 troops on Ukraine’s border.
“It’s very encouraging that the Russians agreed to enter into this diplomatic format again, the only one in which the Russians are stakeholders,” an aide to Macron said on Wednesday on condition of anonymity.
“This meeting will give us a clear indication of the Russians’ mindset before the call between Emmanuel Macron and Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday,” the aide added. Each side is expected to brief the media later in the day.
Separate talks between Russia and the United States have been held in recent weeks to discuss Russian security demands in Europe, including that Ukraine should never become a member of the US-led Nato military alliance.
After discussions last Friday in Geneva, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken promised his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov that Washington would give a written response to Russian demands and also floated the idea of a presidential meeting.
The talks in Paris on Wednesday come as Western powers keep up their warnings of massive economic sanctions in the event of a Russian attack on pro-Western Ukraine.
US President Joe Biden warned on Tuesday of personal sanctions on Putin, while the White House says the risk of a Russian invasion of Ukraine “remains imminent.” Concerned about the rhetoric in Washington and London, and their decision to withdraw some embassy staff and families in Kiev, an aide to Macron warned on Monday about “creating any ambiguity or creating any additional volatility.” “We want a de-escalation, which means both dialogue and dissuasion,” the aide said on Wednesday.
“Discussions about sanctions with our European and American partners, with institutions, is taking place to ensure that this dissuasion is sufficiently credible, so that the dialogue is credible. They are linked,” the aide added.
“But the sanctions must not lead to retaliation that will boomerang on us and have a cost,” the aide said. “Sanctions are not be-all and end-all of the response.” The US has also been drawing up plans to shore up European gas supply should Russia cut off shipments through its pipelines in response to Western sanctions.
The White House announced Tuesday that Biden would meet with the emir of gas-rich Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, on January 31 to discuss, among other issues, “ensuring the stability of global energy supplies.”
Calling for the adoption of "unique solutions" to manage global travel, IATA Director General Willie Walsh, in a statement on Tuesday, urged governments to accelerate the relaxation of travel restrictions for fully vaccinated passengers with a WHO-approved vaccine as Covid-19 continued to evolve from the "pandemic to endemic stage".
Walsh said it was the need of the hour to remove all travel barriers, including quarantine and testing, for fully vaccinated individuals as "with the experience of the Omicron variant, there is no mounting scientific evidence and opinion opposing the targeting of travellers with restrictions and country bans to control the spread of Covid-19."
"These measures have not worked. Today Omicron is present in all parts of the world. That’s why travel, with very few exceptions, does not increase the risk to general populations," he said.
The IATA chief said an amount running into billions spent on testing travellers would be far more effective if it was allocated to vaccine distribution or strengthening health care systems.
"All indications point to Covid-19 becoming an endemic condition — one that humankind now has the tools (including vaccination and therapeutics) to live and travel with, bolstered by growing population immunity," the statement said.
Walsh said it was important that governments and the travel industry were well prepared for the transition and ready to remove the burden of measures that disrupted travel.
He said there seemed to be more unique solutions to managing travel and Covid-19 than there were countries to travel to.
"Indeed research from the Migration Policy Institute has counted more than 100,000 travel measures around the world that create complexity for passengers, airlines and governments to manage," he pointed out.
He said all countries now had at least two years of experience to be guided on a simplified and coordinated path to normalise travel "when Covid-19 is endemic".
"That normality must recognise that travellers, with very few exceptions, will present no greater risk than exists in the general population. And that’s why travellers should not be subject to any greater restrictions than are applied to the general community,” said Walsh.
The IATA emphasised that mutually recognised policies on vaccination would be critical as the world approached the "endemic phase".
"Barrier-free travel is a potent incentive for vaccination. The sustainability of this incentive must not be compromised by vaccine policies that complicate travel or divert vaccine resources from where they can do the most good."
The U.S. Department of Defense in Washington said about 8,500 American troops were put on heightened alert and were awaiting orders to deploy to the region, should Russia invade Ukraine.
Tensions are high after Russia massed an estimated 100,000 troops in reach of its neighbour's border, surrounding Ukraine with forces from the north, east and south.
Russia denies planning an invasion and Moscow is citing the Western response as evidence that Russia is the target, not the instigator, of aggression.
President Joe Biden, pushing for transatlantic unity, held an 80-minute secure video call with a number of European leaders on Monday from the White House Situation Room to discuss the Ukraine crisis.
Biden told reporters "I had a very, very, very good meeting" with the Europeans, which included the leaders of Germany, France, Italy, Britain and Poland. He said there was "total unanimity."
A White House statement said the leaders "discussed their joint efforts to deter further Russian aggression against Ukraine, including preparations to impose massive consequences and severe economic costs on Russia for such actions as well as to reinforce security on NATO's eastern flank."
Welcoming a series of deployments announced by alliance members in recent days, Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg earlier said NATO would take "all necessary measures."
"We will always respond to any deterioration of our security environment, including through strengthening our collective defence," Stoltenberg said in a statement.
He told a news conference that the enhanced presence on NATO's eastern flank could also include the deployment of battlegroups in the southeast of the alliance.
So far, NATO has about 4,000 troops in multinational battalions in Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia and Poland, backed by tanks, air defences and intelligence and surveillance units.
U.S. officials said the Pentagon was finalising efforts to identify specific units that it could deploy to NATO's eastern flank.
One of the officials said up to 5,000 could be deployed, while a NATO diplomat said Washington was considering gradually transferring some troops stationed in western Europe to eastern Europe in the coming weeks.
Denmark, Spain, France and the Netherlands were all planning or considering sending troops, planes or ships to eastern Europe, NATO said. Ukraine shares borders with four NATO countries: Poland, Slovakia, Hungary and Romania.
A Polish official said Warsaw would draw the line at sending troops to Ukraine.
As tensions grow, Britain said it was withdrawing some staff and dependents from its embassy in Ukraine, a day after the United States said it was ordering diplomats' family members to leave. U.S. diplomats are being allowed to leave voluntarily.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov accused the West of "hysteria" and putting out information "laced with lies".
"As for specific actions, we see statements by the North Atlantic Alliance about reinforcement, pulling forces and resources to the eastern flank. All this leads to the fact that tensions are growing," he said.
"This is not happening because of what we, Russia, are doing. This is all happening because of what NATO and the U.S. are doing and due to the information they are spreading."
Global stock markets skidded as the prospect of a Russian attack quashed demand for riskier assets such as bitcoin, and bolstered the dollar and oil. The rouble hit a 14-month low against the dollar, and Russian stocks and bonds tumbled.
Russia has used its troop build-up to draw the West into discussions after presenting demands to redraw Europe's security map. It wants NATO never to admit Ukraine and to pull back troops and weapons from former Communist countries in eastern Europe that joined it after the Cold War.
Washington says those demands are non-starters but it is ready to discuss other ideas on arms control, missile deployments and confidence-building measures.
Russia is awaiting a written U.S. response this week after talks last Friday - the fourth round this month - produced no breakthrough.
Asked whether he thought an invasion was imminent, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson told broadcasters that intelligence was "pretty gloomy on this point" but that "sense can still prevail."
He repeated Western warnings that invading Ukraine would be "a painful, violent and bloody business" for Russia.
The United States and the European Union, wary of Russia's intentions since it seized Crimea and backed separatists fighting government forces in eastern Ukraine in 2014, have told Russia it will face crippling penalties if it attacks again.
EU foreign ministers meeting in Brussels warned Russia it would face "massive" consequences, but are divided over how tough to be on Moscow and did not say what the consequences might be.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy told EU President Charles Michel, who was also on the call with Biden, that it was important for Kyiv that the EU showed unity.
"Ukraine will not fall for provocations, and together with its partners, will remain calm and restrained," his office said.
The European Commission, the EU executive body, proposed a 1.2-billion euro ($1.36-billion) financial aid package to help Ukraine mitigate the effects of the conflict.
A Russian delegation source said political advisers from Russia, Ukraine, France and Germany would meet in Paris on Wednesday for talks on resolving the conflict in eastern Ukraine, in which some 15,000 people have been killed since 2014. Previous efforts have failed to yield any breakthrough.
The international community has however insisted the Taliban must respect human rights before aid can be resumed to Afghanistan, where hunger threatens more than half population.
Having accepted a controversial invitation from Norway, the Taliban were holding talks on Monday with representatives of the United States, France, Britain, Germany, Italy, the European Union and Norway.
The closed-door discussions were taking place at the Soria Moria Hotel, on a snowy hilltop outside Oslo, with the Taliban delegation led by Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi, who hailed the fact that the meeting took place as a success in its own right.
“Norway providing us this opportunity is an achievement in itself because we shared the stage with the world,” Muttaqi told reporters.
“From these meetings we are sure of getting support for Afghanistan’s humanitarian, health and education sectors,” he added.
Afghanistan’s humanitarian situation has deteriorated drastically since last August when the fundamentalists stormed back to power 20 years after being toppled.
International aid came to a sudden halt, worsening the plight of millions of people already suffering from hunger after several severe droughts.
Thomas West, the US special representative for Afghanistan, tweeted on Sunday: “As we seek to address humanitarian crisis together with allies, partners, and relief orgs, we will continue clear-eyed diplomacy with the Taliban regarding our concerns and our abiding interest in a stable, rights-respecting and inclusive Afghanistan.”
No country has yet recognised the Taliban regime which hopes that meetings of this kind will help legitimise their government.
Norway’s Foreign Minister Anniken Huitfeldt has stressed the talks would “not represent a legitimisation or recognition of the Taliban”, but because of the humanitarian emergency “we must talk to the de facto authorities in the country”.
Experts and members of the Afghan diaspora have criticised the Norwegian invitation to the Taliban, and protests have been held outside the foreign ministry in the capital.
In Kabul, Wahida Amiri, an activist who has protested regularly in Kabul since the Taliban’s return, said she was “sorry for such a country as Norway for organising this summit, sitting with terrorists, and making deals”.
Since August, international aid, which financed around 80 percent of the Afghan budget, has been suspended and the United States has frozen $9.5 billion in assets in the Afghan central bank.
Unemployment has skyrocketed and civil servants’ salaries have not been paid for months in the country.
Hunger now threatens 23 million Afghans, or 55 percent of the population, according to the United Nations, which says it needs $4.4 billion from donor countries this year to address the crisis.
But the international community is waiting to see how the Taliban intend to govern after being accused of trampling on human rights during their first stint in power between 1996 and 2001.
While the Islamists claim to have modernised, women are still largely excluded from public-sector employment and most secondary schools for girls remain closed.
Two women activists disappeared last week in Kabul. The Taliban have denied responsibility.
Before meeting with the Taliban, the Western diplomats held talks early Monday with members of Afghanistan’s civil society, including women activists and journalists, who had themselves held talks the day before with the hardline Islamists on human rights.
One of those in attendance, women’s rights activist Jamila Afghani, said “it was a positive icebreaking meeting” where the Taliban “displayed goodwill”, but it remained to be seen “what their actions will be”.
On Monday, another woman activist who took part in Oslo, Mahbouba Seraj, said the Taliban “acknowledged us and they heard us”. “I’m hopeful. I’m hoping for some kind of an understanding of each other”, she told reporters.
As journalists were leaving the room after the event, a reporter from Fox News, the favourite channel of conservatives, asked whether inflation is a political liability.
The Democratic leader, possibly unaware that his microphone was still on, began by deadpanning: “It's a great asset. More inflation.” And then muttered, “What a stupid son of a bi*ch,” before glancing briefly down.
A pool reporter who was in the room at the time admitted to not being able to hear what Biden actually said over the noise.
But he added that he would “direct your attention to the video of the event if you are curious how the president really feels about being asked about inflation from Fox's Peter Doocy.” Doocy shrugged the insult off in a later interview on Fox.
“Yeah nobody has fact-checked him yet and said it's not true,” he said, nonchalantly.
When Biden has gaffed before the White House has rushed to explain or roll back his comments.
But this time, the White House appeared to have no qualms about owning it, putting out a transcript of the event that included the comment — thereby ensuring it passes into the official historical record.
“Just adds a certain something,” tweeted Katie Rogers, White House correspondent for the New York Times, with a screengrab of the transcript.
New Zealand will impose mask rules and limit gathering from midnight on Sunday after a cluster of nine COVID-19 Omicron cases showed community spread from the North to South islands after a wedding.
A family returned to Nelson in the South Island by plane after attending a wedding and other events in Auckland in the North Island. The family and a flight attendant tested positive.
New Zealand will move to a red setting under its COVID-19 protection framework, with more mask wearing. Indoor hospitality settings such as bars and restaurants and events like weddings will be capped at 100 people. The limit is lowered to 25 people if venues are not using vaccine passes, Arden said.
"My wedding will not be going ahead," she told reporters, adding she was sorry for anyone caught up in a similar scenario. Ardern had not disclosed her wedding date, but it was rumoured to be imminent.
Asked by reporters how she felt about the cancellation of her wedding to longtime partner and fishing-show host Clarke Gayford, Ardern replied: "Such is life."
She added, "I am no different to, dare I say it, thousands of other New Zealanders who have had much more devastating impacts felt by the pandemic, the most gutting of which is the inability to be with a loved one sometimes when they are gravely ill. That will far, far outstrip any sadness I experience."
New Zealand's borders have been shut to foreigners since March 2020. The government pushed back plans for a phased reopening from mid-January to the end of February out of concern about a potential Omicron outbreak as in neighbouring Australia.
People able to travel to New Zealand under narrow exceptions must apply to stay at state-managed quarantine facilities. The government last week stopped issuing any new slots amid a surge in the number of people arriving with Omicron.
About 94% of New Zealand's population over the age of 12 is fully vaccinated and about 56% of those eligible have had booster shots.
The delivery followed US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s visit to Kyiv this week amid concerns from Kyiv and its Western allies over tens of thousands of Russian troops amassed at the border with Ukraine. Russia denies planning a new military offensive.
Washington approved the $200 million package in December.
“The United States will continue providing such assistance to support Ukraine’s Armed Forces in their ongoing effort to defend Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity against Russian aggression,” it said on Facebook.
Ukraine’s defence minister thanked the United States for the aid.
However, the country’s foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, criticised Germany for its refusal to supply weapons to Kyiv, urging Berlin to stop “undermining unity” and “encouraging Vladimir Putin” amid fears of a Russian invasion.
Ukraine’s calls to Western allies to bolster its defence capabilities have seen the United States, Britain and Baltic states agree to send to Kyiv weapons, including anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles.
Kuleba said on Twitter that Germany’s statements “about the impossibility of supplying defence weapons to Ukraine” did not match “the current security situation”.
The minister stressed that “today the unity of the West in relation to Russia is more important than ever”.
“The German partners must stop undermining unity with such words and actions and encouraging (Russian President) Vladimir Putin to launch a new attack on Ukraine,” Kuleba said.
Demonstrators, meanwhile, formed a human chain in Ukraine’s capital Kyiv on Saturday for the annual Unity Day, which marks the anniversary of the country’s unification.
About 200 people held a 30-metre-long Ukrainian flag, gathering on both sides of the Dnieper River to mark the union of Ukraine’s east and west in 1919.
The rally was also meant to show solidarity amid the recent escalation of tensions with Russia.
The United States froze nearly $7 billion of Afghan assets in the New York Federal Reserve soon after the Taliban captured Kabul in August 2021. Since then, organizations and individuals in both the United States and Europe have been urging Washington to unfreeze the funds.
On Thursday, the US House of Representatives recommended a focused release of humanitarian funds to address the imminent economic and humanitarian disasters facing the people of Afghanistan.
Last month, 40 US lawmakers urged Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen to release humanitarian aid to prevent an economic collapse in Afghanistan.
But the strongest appeal came from the UN chief who warned that a “nightmare (is) unfolding in Afghanistan” and the world was “in a race against time to help the Afghan people.”
“Babies being sold to feed their siblings. Freezing health facilities overflowing with malnourished children. People burning their possessions to keep warm. Livelihoods across the country have been lost,” Mr Guterres said.
At a Friday afternoon news briefing in New York, a journalist reminded the UN chief that the situation in Afghanistan had further deteriorated and asked him if he were willing to “pick up the phone and talk to the Taliban” to make them do the reforms needed to end the country’s economic blockade. “First of all, it is clear that we have in Afghanistan a serious situation of violations of human rights, and (the conditions for ending the blockade were) not yet met.”
That’s why, he said, the United Nations has “been in constant advocacy with the Taliban to say that it is absolutely essential for them in the context of their objective of recognition but also in the context of their objective of getting international support for their own people.”
Mr Guterres, however, repeated his appeal for not linking the Taliban’s failure with the humanitarian crisis. “Humanitarian aid and the need to avoid … the economic collapse in Afghanistan is something that we have been fighting for, because the people of Afghanistan [are] in an absolute desperate situation,” he said.
“It would be a mistake to submit the people of Afghanistan to a collective punishment just because the de facto authorities are not behaving properly.”
Underlining the need to “separate the two things,” he said: “We will go on with our humanitarian action. We will go on insisting on the need to have liquidity, allowing for the economy not to collapse, for the people not to be in an absolute desperate situation.”
But the United Nations will also “go on insisting with the Taliban on human rights but also on the question of terrorism and on the question of inclusive governance,” he added.
Responding to the suggestion to pick up the phone and call the Taliban, he said: “I intend to go on doing discreet diplomacy, doing active public diplomacy, and speaking out when I believe this is the best way to solve the problems we face.”
From Monday, those aged 16 and above will have to show they have been jabbed to access restaurants or bars, leisure activities or use inter-regional public transport.
A negative Covid test will no longer be sufficient, except to access health services.
Opponents of the policy say the reinforced measures will impinge upon daily "freedoms" and have railed against what they dub a form of social "apartheid".
An estimated 5,200 demonstrated in Paris, the ministry said, at rallies largely attended by supporters of the nationalist, anti-EU presidential candidate Florian Philippot.
Some demonstrators brought their children along and many of those marching did not wear masks as they waved French flags and bore banners demanding "freedom".
"Vaccine pass -- total resistance!" some shouted in marches.
Sophie, a 44-year-old legal worker, and Franck, a 56-year-old IT worker, told they had had their jabs but were against their daughter being pressured into also being vaccinated.
Sophie insisted the time had come to put faith in collective immunity two years into the pandemic.
In Bordeaux in the southwest, Anaelle, a nurse, denounced compulsory vaccination as "shameful".
"People who've been vaccinated get sick, so what's the point?" she asked.
Although the size of protests has dropped off in recent weeks, a hard core remain angry at French President Emmanuel Macron, who has made it clear he wants to put pressure on the unvaccinated until they accept a coronavirus shot.
The group stormed back to power in August as US and foreign troops began their final withdrawal from the country following a stalemate on the battlefield.
No country has yet recognised the Taliban's government — notorious for human rights abuses during a first stint in power between 1996 and 2001 when they were ousted by a US-led invasion.
"The Islamic Emirate has taken steps for meeting the demands of the Western world and we hope to strengthen our relations through diplomacy with all the countries, including European countries and the West in general," Zabihullah Mujahid told.
The Taliban want to "transform the atmosphere of war... into a peaceful situation".
Talks between the Taliban and Western officials will open in Oslo on Sunday on human rights and humanitarian aid as a poverty crisis deepens.
The humanitarian situation in Afghanistan has deteriorated drastically since the Taliban's takeover. International aid came to a sudden halt and the United States has frozen $9.5 billion (8.4 billion euros) in Afghan central bank assets held overseas.
Hunger now threatens 23 million Afghans, or 55% of the population, according to the United Nations, which says it needs $5 billion from donor countries this year to address the humanitarian crisis in the country.
The visit from Sunday to Tuesday will see meetings between the hardline Islamists, Norwegian authorities and officials from a number of allied countries including Britain, the European Union, France, Germany, Italy and the United States, the Norwegian foreign ministry statement said.
The Taliban delegation is also expected to meet Afghans from civil society, including women leaders and journalists, at a time when the freedoms of those living in Afghanistan are being increasingly curtailed.
"These meetings do not represent a legitimisation or recognition of the Taliban" Norwegian Foreign Minister Anniken Huitfeldt said Friday.
"But we must talk to the de facto authorities in the country. We cannot allow the political situation to lead to an even worse humanitarian disaster."
The 15-member all male Taliban team, led by foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaqi, left Kabul on Saturday on a plane organised by the Norwegian government, a Taliban spokesman said.
Ali Maisam Nazary, the foreign relations chief for the National Resistance Front (NRF) — an opposition group that bills itself as the last bastion against total Taliban control — condemned Norway over the talks.
"We all must raise our voices and prevent any country from normalizing a terrorist group as the representative of Afghanistan," Nazary, who is based in Paris, tweeted on Friday.
As fears grew that Russia could invade its pro-Western neighbour, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken renewed warnings of severe Western reprisals as he met for 90 minutes with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Geneva.
The Russian foreign ministry said later that in his talks with Blinken, Lavrov had vowed "the most serious consequences" if Washington kept ignoring Moscow's security demands.
Blinken described the high-stakes talks as "frank", with Lavrov also voicing hope for a lowering of the temperature between the former Cold War foes.
Russia has massed tens of thousands of troops on the Ukrainian border, denying it plans to invade but demanding security guarantees, including a permanent ban on the country joining NATO.
Blinken said that Washington will share written ideas with Russia next week in which it will also make clear its own positions.
"We didn't expect any major breakthroughs to happen today, but I believe we are now on a clear path in terms of understanding each other's concerns and each other's positions," Blinken told reporters.
"We anticipate that we will be able to share with Russia our concerns and ideas in more detail in writing next week and we agreed to further discussions after that," he added.
Speaking separately, Lavrov told reporters: "Antony Blinken agreed that we need to have a reasonable dialogue, and I hope emotions will decrease."
He added that another meeting could be held between the two, but that it was "premature" to start talking about another summit between Presidents Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin, who met in Geneva last June.
Blinken, however, did not rule out fresh talks between the presidents after Biden twice warned Putin by telephone of consequences for any Ukraine invasion.
"If we conclude (and) the Russians conclude that the best way to resolve things is through a further conversation between them, we're certainly prepared to do that," Blinken said.
Biden bluntly assessed on Wednesday that Putin is likely to "move in" on Ukraine and warned of a "disaster for Russia".
A senior US official, speaking to reporters later Friday, said Washington was preparing to send proposals to the Russians and was in close coordination with "our allies".
"The United States does not plan a public release," she said.
The proposal, made by the WHO's working group on sustainable financing, would increase each member state's standing annual contribution, according to a WHO document published online and dated January 4.
The plan is part of a wider reform process galvanised by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has highlighted the limitations of the WHO's power to intervene early in a crisis.
But the US government is opposing the reform because it has concerns about the WHO's ability to confront future threats, including from China, US officials told Reuters.
It is pushing instead for the creation of a separate fund, directly controlled by donors, that would finance prevention and control of health emergencies.
Four European officials involved in the talks, who declined to be named because they were not authorised to speak to the media, confirmed the US opposition. The US government had no immediate comment.
The published proposal calls for member states' mandatory contributions to rise gradually from 2024 so they would account for half the agency's $2 billion core budget by 2028, compared to less than 20% now, the document said.
The WHO's core budget is aimed at fighting pandemics and strengthening healthcare systems across the world. It also raises an additional $1 billion or so a year to tackle specific global challenges such as tropical diseases and influenza.
Supporters say that the current reliance on voluntary funding from member states and from charities such as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation forces the WHO to focus on priorities set by the funders, and makes it less able to criticise members when things go wrong.
An independent panel on pandemics that was appointed to advise on the WHO reform had called for a much bigger increase in mandatory fees, to 75% of the core budget, deeming the current system "a major risk to the integrity and independence" of the WHO.
Blinken said after the talks in Geneva that Washington had agreed to provide written comments to Russia after Moscow demanded security guarantees, including a pledge that Ukraine will never be able to join NATO.
He described Friday's talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, intended to reduce tensions that have risen since Russia massed troops near Ukraine's border, as frank and useful.
"We've been clear - if any Russian military forces move across Ukraine's border, that's a renewed invasion. It will be met with swift, severe and a united response from the United States and our partners and allies," Blinken told a news conference in Geneva.
Western states fear Moscow is planning a new assault on Ukraine after sending in forces into the former Soviet republic 2014 to annex the Crimea peninsula. Russia denies planning an attack but says it could take unspecified military action if its security demands are not met.
Blinken said Washington had sought during Friday's talks to determine whether Moscow was prepared to take a diplomatic path to defuse tensions over Ukraine.
Both sides agreed it was important for the diplomatic process to continue, he said.
Lavrov said after meeting Blinken that he hoped that emotions would cool down over Ukraine and repeated Russian assertions that it poses no threat to its neighbour.
No country has yet recognised the Taliban, with most watching to see how the group — accused of human rights abuses during their first stint in power — restrict freedoms.
Although the group has promised a softer rule in line with their interpretation of Islamic Sharia, women are largely excluded from government employment and secondary schools for girls are mostly shuttered.
“I call on Muslim countries to take the lead and recognise us officially. Then I hope we will be able to develop quickly,” Mohammad Hassan Akhund told a conference in Kabul called to address the country’s massive economic woes.
“We don’t want it for the officials. We want it for our public,” he said, adding that the Taliban had fulfilled all necessary conditions by restoring peace and security.
Afghanistan is in the grip of a humanitarian disaster, worsened by the Taliban takeover in August that prompted Western countries to freeze international aid and access to billions of dollars worth of assets held abroad.
The country was almost entirely dependent on foreign aid under the previous US-backed government, but jobs have dried up and most civil servants haven’t been paid for months.
On Wednesday, the International Labour Organisation said half a million Afghans lost their jobs in the third quarter of 2021, and this was expected to rise to 900,000 by the middle of this year — with women disproportionately affected.
With poverty deepening and a drought devastating farming in many areas, the United Nations has warned that half the 38 million population faces food shortages.
The UN Security Council last month unanimously adopted a US resolution to allow some aid to reach desperate Afghans without violating international sanctions.
The decision means the documents, held by a federal agency that stores government and historical records, can be disclosed even as litigation over the matter continues in lower courts.
Trump's request to the justices came after the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on Dec 9 ruled that the businessman-turned-politician had no basis to challenge President Joe Biden's decision to allow the records to be handed over to the House of Representatives select committee.
Democratic Representative Bennie Thompson, the panel's chairman, and Republican Representative Liz Cheney, its vice chair, in a statement called the Supreme Court action “a victory for the rule of law and American democracy.”
The committee has already begun receiving some of the documents Trump had hoped to withhold, they added.
A Trump spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Trump and his allies have waged an ongoing legal battle with the committee seeking to block access to documents and witnesses.
Trump has sought to invoke a legal principle known as executive privilege, which protects the confidentially of some internal White House communications, a stance rejected by lower courts.
The brief Supreme Court order noted that the weighty question of whether a former president can assert an executive privilege claim did not need to be answered to resolve the case.
“Because the court of appeals concluded that President Trump's claims would have failed even if he were the incumbent, his status as a former president necessarily made no difference to the court's decision,” the unsigned order said.
Only one of the court's nine members, conservative Justice Clarence Thomas, publicly noted disagreement with the decision.
Committee seeks record to determine Trump's role in riots
The House committee has said it needs the records to understand any role Trump may have played in fomenting the violence that unfolded on Jan. 6, 2021.
His supporters stormed the Capitol in a failed bid to prevent Congress from formally certifying Biden's 2020 presidential election victory over Trump.
The committee has asked the National Archives, which holds Trump's White House records, to produce visitor logs, phone records and written communications between his advisers.
Biden, who took office two weeks after the riot, has determined that the records, which belong to the executive branch, should not be subject to executive privilege and that turning them over to Congress was in the best interests of the nation.
Trump has argued that he can invoke executive privilege based on the fact he was president at the time even though he is no longer in office.
US District Judge Tanya Chutkan on Nov 9 rejected Trump's arguments, saying he had not acknowledged the “deference owed” to Biden's determination that the committee could access the records and adding: “Presidents are not kings, and Plaintiff is not President.”
The select committee comprises seven Democrats and two Republicans. The Supreme Court's 6-3 conservative majority includes three justices appointed by Trump, but it has not always been receptive to his requests.
The court last year rejected his request to block disclosure of his tax records as part of a criminal investigation in New York and also turned away attempts by Trump and his allies to overturn the 2020 election.
Shortly before the riot, Trump repeated to a crowd of his supporters his false claim that the 2020 election was stolen from him through widespread voting fraud, telling them to go to the Capitol and “fight like hell” to “stop the steal.”
The report was released on Monday by the Special Procedures group, which is the largest body of human rights experts in the UN system.
In a tweet posted on the group’s official site, the experts claimed that Taliban leaders were “attempting to erase women and girls from public life through systematic gender-based discrimination & violence.”
??#Afghanistan: Taliban leaders are attempting to erase women & girls from public life through systematic gender-based discrimination & violence. The international community must step up humanitarian assistance responsive to women's needs – UN experts: https://t.co/UfxtZl4JOA pic.twitter.com/65ABQu9UuV
— UN Special Procedures (@UN_SPExperts) January 17, 2022
The international community “must step up humanitarian assistance responsive to women’s needs,” they added.
The experts reiterated the alarm — sounded on several occasions since the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan, warning that the situation needed immediate attention.
“Taken together, these policies constitute a collective punishment of women and girls, grounded on gender-based bias and harmful practices,” the experts said.
“We are concerned about the continuous and systematic efforts to exclude women from the social, economic, and political spheres across the country.”
The experts warned that these concerns were “exacerbated in the cases of women from ethnic, religious or linguistic minorities such as the Hazara, Tajik, Hindu and other communities whose differences or visibility make them even more vulnerable in Afghanistan.”
They also noted the increased risk of exploitation of women and girls including of trafficking for the purposes of child and forced marriage as well as sexual exploitation and forced labor.
The report claimed that these exclusionary and discriminatory policies were enforced through a wave of measures such as barring women from returning to their jobs, requiring a male relative to accompany them in public spaces, prohibiting women from using public transport on their own, as well as imposing a strict dress code on women and girls.
“In addition to severely limiting their freedom of movement, expression and association, and their participation in public and political affairs, these policies have also affected the ability of women to work and to make a living, pushing them further into poverty,” the experts said.
“Women heads of households are especially hard hit, with their suffering compounded by the devastating consequences of the humanitarian crisis in the country.”
The experts warned that the continued denial of the fundamental right of women and girls to secondary and tertiary education was “of particular and grave concern.”
The report shows that such restrictions stigmatise women and force a vast majority of girls — who should be attending grades 7-12 — to stay out of schools, solely because of their gender.
“Today, we are witnessing the attempt to steadily erase women and girls from public life in Afghanistan including in institutions and mechanisms that had been previously set up to assist and protect them,” the experts wrote.
Commenting on the decision to close the Ministry of Women’s Affairs and the physical occupation of the premises of the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission, the experts warned that such measures have the worst impact on those “women and girls who are most at risk.”
“Various vital, and sometimes lifesaving, service providers supporting survivors of gender-based violence have shut down for fear of retribution,” the experts added.
The blast occurred on Tuesday in an internal compartment on the Soviet-built INS Ranvir, commissioned in 1986, according to the Indian Navy.
“No material damage has been reported ... [A] board of inquiry has been ordered to investigate into the cause,” the navy said in a statement on Tuesday.
Broadcaster NDTV quoted sources saying the explosion did not involve weapons or ammunition.
Media reports said 11 people were also injured and were being treated at a navy hospital.
The Indian government is in the middle of a huge modernisation of its armed forces to replace old equipment, much of it Soviet vintage.
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