Huge protests against Iran across world as pressure mounts on Tehran
Hundreds of thousands of demonstrators joined rallies around the world against the Iranian government at the weekend, following calls from Reza Pahlavi, the exiled son of the late shah, for a “global day of action” following state violence against protesters in Iran. Munich, Los Angeles and Toronto saw the largest crowds, with smaller protests in other cities including Tel Aviv, Lisbon, Sydney and London. Meanwhile, Iran’s deputy foreign minister, Majid Takht-Ravanchi, has said in an interview with the BBC that Iran is ready to consider compromises to reach a nuclear deal with the US if the Americans are willing to discuss lifting sanctions. Trump has threatened strikes against Iran if a deal to curb its nuclear programme cannot be reached, with the US building up its military presence in the region.
WC seeks permission to get its own Foot and Mouth Disease vaccines
Western Cape Premier Alan Winde says the province has asked for permission to procure Foot and Mouth Disease vaccines directly. “This will help us better manage and protect the province.” Winde also confirmed that the province had formally requested stricter national interventions from Agriculture Minister John Steenhuisen. These include halting the physical transportation and auctioning of game animals for 21 days (auctions can take place online to prevent movement of animals and the spreading of the virus), and gazetting a permitting system for animal movement within the province. He said the Western Cape had already had roadblocks in place for 10 days, but a formal permit system “will strengthen control”.
Obama warns of loss of “shame”, “decorum” in US politics
Former President Barack Obama, in his first comment on the post on US President Donald Trump’s social media account depicting him and his wife Michelle as monkeys, deplored the degradation of the country’s political discourse to a “clown show”, adding: “[What] is true is that there doesn’t seem to be any shame about this among people who used to feel like you had to have some sort of decorum and a sense of propriety and respect for the office, right? That’s been lost.” Trump said he had ordered that the post be removed after being alerted to its contents.
Russia killed Navalny with frog toxin, intelligence report finds
According to a statement released by five countries – the UK, France, Germany, Sweden and the Netherlands – a multi-intelligence agency inquiry has found that Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was killed by dart frog poison administered by the Russian state two years ago. The US’s intelligence agency was not part of the inquiry. Navalny died in a remote Arctic penal colony where he was serving a 19-year sentence. Samples from his body were secured before his burial and sent to the laboratories of two countries.
EU rejects US’s “civilizational erasure” warning
EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas has told the Munich Security Conference that, contrary to a US national security strategy released in December asserting that economic stagnation in Europe “is eclipsed by the real and more stark prospect of civilizational erasure”, Europe was doing well. “Contrary to what some may say, woke, decadent Europe is not facing civilizational erasure. In fact, people still want to join our club and not just fellow Europeans.” Kallas said Europe was engaged in “pushing humanity forward, trying to defend human rights [and] actually also bringing prosperity for people.” On Saturday, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer urged Europe to defend “the vibrant, free and diverse societies that we represent, showing that people who look different to each other can live peacefully together, that this isn’t against the tenor of our times”.
Sources: Al Jazeera, BBC, The Guardian, Associated Press, News24