Beijing (AFP) – Beijing says it will take “all necessary measures” to protect its interests in response to new US tariffs of 25 percent on steel and aluminium imports. “The United States’ actions seriously violate WTO rules,” says Mao Ning, spokeswoman for the Chinese foreign ministry.
Mach (Pakistan) (AFP) – Pakistan has launched a “full-scale” operation to rescue train passengers taken hostage by militants in the mountainous southwest of the country. Security forces say they have managed to free more than 150 hostages from the besieged train in the Balochistan region, with an unknown number still on board. A senior railway official told AFP that more than 450 people had been on board the Jafar Express train.
Dublin (AFP) – Once the eponym of 18th century philosopher George Berkeley, a slave owner whose name was removed in the wake of global Black Lives Matter protests, Trinity College Dublin’s main library is now called the Eavan Boland Library, after a renowned Irish poet.
Pristina (AFP) – NATO chief Mark Rutte says that “thanks” to US President Donald Trump, there has been a “breakthrough” in regard to ending the war in Ukraine. Rutte’s comments come as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is in Saudi Arabia for talks between US and Ukrainian delegations.
Nuuk (AFP) – Voters head to the polls in Greenland’s capital for parliamentary elections which could yield a timeline for independence for the Danish self-governing territory, which is coveted by US President Donald Trump. Completes 36ZQ6EN
Bogotá (AFP) – Colombia’s new Defense Minister, Pedro Arnulfo Sanchez, is sworn in by President Gustavo Petro at a military ceremony in Bogota. IMAGES
Washington (AFP) – Construction crews in Washington DC begin removing the Black Lives Matter plaza mural, which was painted in front of the White House during the George Floyd protests. The pedestrian zone covering two blocks was named “Black Lives Matter” Plaza to honour the resistence movement.
Beijing (AFP) – China warns Britain against “provoking tensions” in the South China Sea after its foreign minister David Lammy called Beijing’s actions in the disputed waters “dangerous and destabilising”.
Ramenskoye (Russia) (AFP) – “We understood there was a war but we didn’t properly realise it. But now it has come,” says Svetlana, a 59-year-old resident of Ramenskoye in Moscow Oblast. For many Russians, the three-year conflict with Ukraine felt distant. Overnight, Kyiv launched the largest attack on the Russian capital of the war, whick killed three people according to Russian officials.
Londres (AFP) – Feathers, sparkles and dazzling lights bring cabaret spectacle to London’s 1920s Bloomsbury Ballroom, as “Roxie Rocks Chicago”, a show inspired by the 2002 movie Chicago, launches in the UK capital. Where the film leant on a black and white aesthetic to depict the Chicago Jazz Age, “Roxie Rocks Chicago” ramps up the colour. “What we tried to do in this show is completely the opposite of the musical,” says Doni Fierro, artistic director of the London Cabaret Club which is putting on the show.
Buenos Aires (AFP) – A trial of seven medical professionals accused of criminal negligence in the death of Argentine football legend Diego Maradona begins on 11 March. More than 100 witnesses, including members of Maradona’s family and doctors who tended to him over the years, are expected to take the stand in a long-delayed trial in Buenos Aires. Maradona was found dead of a heart attack, two weeks after undergoing brain surgery for a blood clot, in a rented house where he was brought after being discharged from hospital.
Qamishli (Syria) (AFP) – The Syrian presidency has announced an agreement with the head of the Kurdish-dominated Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) to integrate the institutions of the autonomous Kurdish administration in the northeast into the national government.
