African elephants living in forests and the savanna are facing extinction due to poaching and loss of habitat, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) said in a report published on Thursday.

The latest IUCN Red List of Threatened Species lists the African forest elephant as “critically endangered” and the African savanna elephant as “endangered.”
-Before today’s update, African elephants were treated as a single species, listed as Vulnerable; this is the first time the two species have been assessed separately for the IUCN Red List, following the emergence of new genetic evidence- read the report.
The population of African forest elephants, mostly found in Central Africa, has declined by more than 86% over the past three decades, according to the IUCN.
The African savanna elephant population, which is centered around the Zambezi River area, fell by at least 60% over the last 50 years, the report said.
-Both species suffered sharp declines since 2008 due to a significant increase in poaching, which peaked in 2011 but continues to threaten populations- read the report.
-The ongoing conversion of their habitats, primarily to agricultural and other land uses, is another significant threat.-Citing the 2016 IUCN African Elephant Status Report, the group said the most recent reliable estimate of the combined population of the two species was around 415,000.
-We must urgently put an end to poaching and ensure that sufficient suitable habitat for both forest and savanna elephants is conserved- said Dr. Bruno Oberle, director general of the IUCN.
-Africa’s elephants play key roles in ecosystems, economies and in our collective imagination all over the world. Today’s new IUCN Red List assessments of both African elephant species underline the persistent pressures faced by these iconic animals- he added.
The IUCN assessments also highlighted the impact of successful conservation efforts in some countries.
-Anti-poaching measures on the ground, together with more supportive legislation and land use planning which seeks to foster human-wildlife coexistence, have been key to successful elephant conservation- the report said.
According to the IUCN, numbers of forest elephants have stabilized in well-managed conservation areas in Gabon and Congo.
-Savanna elephant numbers have also been stable or growing for decades especially in the Kavango-Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area, which harbors the largest subpopulation of this species on the continent- the report said.

Poaching, loss of habitat significant threats to African savanna, forest elephants, says global conservation group

The African savanna elephant population, which is centered around the Zambezi River area, fell by at least 60% over the last 50 years

'African elephants face extinction if not protected'

The Kremlin said on Friday it would ignore a call by jailed opposition politician Alexei Navalny’s wife to have her husband freed to receive urgent medical treatment and said his prison conditions could be worse.&nbsp;Navalny, one of President Vladimir Putin’s most prominent critics, said on Thursday that being woken up by a guard every hour during the night amounted to torture and that an appeal to be treated for acute back and leg pain had been refused in a deliberate attempt to run him down.
Yulia Navalnaya, his wife, called on Putin to free her husband so he could be treated by doctors he trusted.
But Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday the Kremlin would be leaving her appeal without a response since such matters were handled by the federal prison service.
Asked about Navalny’s allegation of torture by sleep deprivation, Peskov said that Russian citizens held in foreign prisons faced much harsher situations.
-Some of them have been convicted without reason and illegally- he said.
-These various examples of discipline in prisons in other countries are often linked to much more crude and inhumane treatment,-said Peskov.
Navalny was jailed last month for two and a half years on charges he called politically motivated. He was arrested as he returned to Russia from Germany in January, where he had been recovering from what doctors said was a nerve agent poisoning.
Nabila Massrali, a spokeswoman for EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, said the reports of Navalny’s worsening health were worrying.
-Russia authorities must give @navalny access to medical care- she tweeted.
Agnes Callamard, U.N. special rapporteur on summary killings whose investigation blamed Russia for last year trying to kill Navalny, something it has denied, said reports of Navalny’s deteriorating health were “profoundly disturbing”.
-This same Russia is now imprisoning him, arbitrarily in conditions amounting to ill treatment or worse- she wrote on Twitter.

Navalny was jailed last month for two and a half years on charges he called politically motivated

Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny and his wife Yulia Navalnaya are seen on board a plane during a flight from Berlin to Moscow, January 17, 2021.

Kremlin dismisses call from Navalny's wife to free jailed critic for medical reasons

Myanmar’s security forces have killed more than 300 people in attempts to crush opposition to a Feb. 1 coup, with nearly 90% of victims shot dead and a quarter of them shot in the head, according to data from an advocacy group and local media.&nbsp;A junta spokesman said 164 protesters and nine members of the security forces had been killed as of Tuesday. Reuters could not independently verify all the accounts.
The killings have drawn outrage and prompted some sanctions from Western countries, including the United States. The use of lethal force against civilians had also been condemned by some Southeast Asian neighbours, which tend to be restrained in their criticism.
“Crimes against humanity are committed daily,” said the non-profit Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) group, which has been recording the deaths as well as nearly 3,000 people arrested, charged or sentenced since the coup.
The group had recorded 320 deaths by March 25.
Its data show at least 25 percent of those who were killed died from shots to the head, raising suspicions they were deliberately targeted for killing. Full data is not available for every death.
“Everything points to troops adopting shoot to kill tactics to suppress the protests,” Amnesty International said earlier this month.
The junta denies using excessive force and says that its actions have met international norms in the face of a situation it says is a threat to national security.
Nearly 90% of the dead were male. Some 36% were aged 24 or under.
The youngest victim, seven-year-old Khin Myo Chit, was shot dead in the second city of Mandalay on Tuesday. She was at her home with her father when she was killed.
Win Kyi, 78, is the oldest person recorded to have been killed and was among around 50 people killed in Yangon’s Hlaing Thayar district on March 14, the bloodiest day so far.

The killings have drawn outrage and prompted some sanctions from Western countries, including the United States

Anti-coup protesters stand at a barricade as they clash with security forces on Bayint Naung Bridge in Mayangone, Yangon, Myanmar March 16, 2021.

More than 300 people killed since Myanmar's coup

At least 32 people were killed and 91 injured when two trains collided in central Egypt on Friday, health ministry officials said.

“Unknown individuals” triggered the emergency brakes on one of the trains causing it to stop, the rail authority said. The second train, which was travelling in the same direction, crashed into the first from behind, it added.
Pictures showed train carriages derailed, several of them badly damaged, above a channel of water, as crowds looked on.
The public prosecutor’s office said it had ordered an investigation into the crash which took place close to the Nile-side town of Tahta, about 365 km (230 miles) south of Cairo.
Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi mourned the victims of the crash in a statement posted on his official social media and said those responsible would be punished.
Sisi also told Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly to head to the site of the crash with the ministers of health and social solidarity, state television reported.
The health ministry said 32 people had died and dozens of ambulances were taking casualties to local hospitals. A health ministry spokesman said 91 people were injured.
Egypt has one of the oldest and largest rail networks in the region and accidents involving casualties are common.
In the country’s worst train disaster, a fire tore through seven carriages of an overcrowded passenger train in 2002, killing at least 360 people.

Egypt has one of the oldest and largest rail networks in the region and accidents involving casualties are common

People inspect the damage after two trains have collided near the city of Sohag, Egypt, March 26, 2021.

Train collision kills 32 people, injures dozens in Egypt

Thailand on Friday announced plans for an experimental quarantine-free model in ultra-popular beach destination Phuket, as the kingdom attempts to resuscitate its pandemic-battered economy. 

Thailand has imposed massive restrictions visitor arrivals in order to stem coronavirus, but discouraging tourism has led to its economy recording the worst performance since the 1997 Asian financial crisis. 
The impact has reverberated across the country's services sectors -- bruising entertainment, retail, hotels and restaurants.
Thailand's tourism tsar announced Friday that Phuket -- renowned for its sandy beaches and sapphire waters -- will be used as a test 
Tourists who have been vaccinated will be allowed to travel there without mandatory hotel quarantine.
Yuthasak Supasorn, governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand, said the "Phuket sandbox model" would begin some time from July onwards.
Foreign visitors will be required to have had two doses of a Covid-19 vaccine, a certificate signifying negative test results, and to download a mobile tracking application.
Yuthasak also confirmed that six tourism-reliant cities will have slashed quarantine times for vaccinated travellers beginning next month -- including beach resorts Krabi, Ko Samui and Pattaya.
Arrivals will undergo a seven-day quarantine period and will be permitted in areas around their hotels -- a marked difference for current visitors who are required to stay confined to their rooms for two weeks.
The plans still require final approval by the government.
Some 40 million tourists were expected to arrive in 2020, but only 6.7 million managed to enter the kingdom, according to data from the Ministry of Tourism and Sports.
Thailand's tough approach has kept the coronavirus largely in check -- the kingdom has registered about 28,500 cases in a population of 70 million.

Discouraging tourism has led to its economy recording the worst performance since the 1997 Asian financial crisis

Tourists who have been vaccinated will be allowed to travel there without mandatory hotel quarantine

Thailand to lift tourist quarantine for popular beach island

Russia's prison service said Thursday that jailed opposition figure Alexei Navalny was in "satisfactory" condition after allies reported his health was deteriorating in one of Russia's most notorious prisons.

The prison service told Russian news agencies that medics had carried out a check on Navalny on Wednesday and that "according to the results of the examination, his state of health was assessed as stable and satisfactory".
Lawyers for the jailed Kremlin critic sounded the alarm over his health in prison Wednesday, demanding immediate access, saying he had complained of back pain and leg numbness.
Navalny was jailed in February for two-and-a-half years on old embezzlement charges in a move his allies said was a pretext to silence his criticism of Russian leader Vladimir Putin.
Western countries have slapped sanctions on Russia for jailing Navalny and also for orchestrating a poisoning attack against him last year.
Navalny was arrested in January on his return to Russia from Germany where he had been recovering from exposure to the Soviet-designed nerve toxin Novichok.
He is serving his sentence outside Moscow in a penal colony notorious for harsh discipline.
Navalny's allies this week launched a campaign seeking his release and announced plans to stage what they said would be "modern Russia's biggest protest."

Lawyers for the jailed Kremlin critic sounded the alarm over his health in prison Wednesday, demanding immediate access, saying he had complained of back pain and leg numbness

Navalny was jailed in February for two-and-a-half years on old embezzlement charges in a move his allies said was a pretext to silence his criticism of Russian leader Vladimir Putin

Russia prison service says Navalny's health 'satisfactory'

The bodies of two men were found in Australia on Wednesday in cars trapped in floodwaters, the first deaths linked to wild weather in recent days that has submerged houses, swept away livestock and cut off entire towns.More than 40,000 people have been forced to flee their homes as torrential rain sparked dangerous flash floods, and authorities issued new evacuation orders for residents of Sydney’s western regions to move to safety.
In some other areas, a massive clean-up operation began as sunny skies returned for the first time in days, and food and other emergency supplies were flown in over swamped roads.
Authorities were trying to contact the family of a Pakistani national whose body was found by emergency services in a car under six metres of water in Sydney’s northwest.
Police had determined the man was driving a brand new car, on the first day of a new job and unfamiliar with the rural area, New South Wales Police Detective Inspector Chris Laird told media. The reason he could not get out of the vehicle was being investigated.
-It could very well be that the electrics totally failed and he was simply unable to escape from the car which is an absolute tragedy- Laird said.
Media reported police found a second body in an upturned utility vehicle in floodwaters in Queensland state.

Gladys Berejiklian, premier of New South Wales, the worst-hit state, warned that water levels would keep rising in some areas as major dams overflowed and rivers bulged, with thousands of people were on evacuation watch.

-Catchments will continue to experience flows of water not seen in 50 years and in some places 100 years- Berejiklian told reporters in Sydney.
The Insurance Council of Australia, the main industry body, said about 17,000 damages claims worth about A$254.2 million ($193.32 million) had been lodged by Wednesday morning across New South Wales and Queensland.
Homes have been submerged, livestock swept away and crops inundated.
There have also been many animal rescues, with craft used to move dogs, cattle, and even an emu, away from the flood waters. In the country’s arid centre, water cascaded down the Uluru rock formation, a rare phenomenon described by the national park as “unique and extraordinary”.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said heavy-load helicopters would transport food to supermarkets where supplies were running short.

-The expanse of water that went right across that region was quite devastating to see- Morrison said in parliament after he toured flood-affected areas by helicopter.
Several hundred defence force personnel would be sent to flood-affected areas over the next few days to help in the recovery, said Emergency Management Minister David Littleproud.-Their job will be out there cleaning up, making sure that we get rid of the debris, having boots on the ground- Littleproud said.
Australian Rail Track Corp (ARTC) partially reopened Hunter Valley coal rail lines to Newcastle, the world’s biggest coal export port, but not before supply concerns lifted thermal coal prices to two year highs near $100 a tonne.
The Hunter Valley rail network serves mines run by BHP Group, Glencore Plc, New Hope Corp, Whitehaven Coal and Yancoal Australia, among others.
The Port of Newcastle, which last year shipped 158 million tonnes of coal, slowed ship movements this week but said on Wednesday it was continuing to operate.
Forecasters said the weather system that brought the rain would shift to the island state of Tasmania on Wednesday, bringing downpours and flooding.

More than 40,000 people have been forced to flee their homes as torrential rain sparked dangerous flash floods

People using kayaks and paddle boards navigate a residential neighbourhood inundated with floodwaters as severe flooding affects the suburb of McGraths Hill in Sydney, Australia, March 24, 2021.

Australian floods kill two, more evacuations as clean-up begins

Alphabet Inc’s Google said on Wednesday it had sealed agreements with various Italian publishers to offer access to some of their content on the U.S. tech giant’s Showcase news platform.

Google News Showcase is a global vehicle to pay news publishers for their content online and a new service that would allow partnering publishers to curate content and provide limited access to paywalled stories for users.
The accord was signed with a number of Italian publishers, including RCS Mediagroup, which publishes daily Corriere della Sera as well as popular sports daily Gazzetta dello Sport, the publisher of financial daily Il Sole 24 ore, Caltagirone editore, which owns Rome-based paper Il Messaggero, and Monrif, which publishes local papers such as Il Giorno and La Nazione.
To date, 13 Italian editorial companies have finalised agreements with Google, giving users access to content from 76 national and local papers.
-We are pleased to have reached this agreement which, by also regulating the issue of related rights, recognises the importance of quality information and the authority of our publications- RCS Chief Exectuive Urbano Cairo said in a statement.
No financial details of the accord were disclosed.
News publishers have long fought the world’s most popular internet search engine for compensation for using their content, with European media groups leading the charge.
Google said in October it planned to pay $1 billion to publishers globally for their news over the next three years via Showcase, which will launch first in Germany, then in Belgium, India, the Netherlands and other countries.

Google News Showcase is a global vehicle to pay news publishers for their content online and a new service that would allow partnering publishers to curate content and provide limited access to paywalled stories for users

The Google name is displayed outside the company's office in London, Britain November 1, 2018.

Google signs deals with Italian publishers for content on News Showcase

Pope Francis has ordered cardinals to take a 10 percent pay cut and reduced the salaries of other clerics working in the Vatican in order to save jobs of employees as the coronavirus pandemic has hit the Holy See’s income.

The Vatican said on Wednesday that Francis issued a decree introducing proportional cuts starting on April 1. A spokesman said lower-level lay employees would not be affected by the cuts. Francis has often insisted that he does not want to fire people.
Cardinals who work at the Vatican and live there or in Rome are believed to get salaries of about 4,000-5,000 euros a month, many in large apartments at well below market rents.
Other department heads, mostly clerics, will see their salaries reduced by between 3% and 8%. Programmed pay rises will be suspended until March 2023. The provisions will also apply to senior staff of other papal basilicas besides St. Peter’s in the Vatican.
The Holy See, the central administrative body of the worldwide Catholic Church, may have to use 40 million euros in reserves for the second straight year as the COVID-19 pandemic burns through its finances, the Vatican’s top economic official said earlier this month.
It expects a deficit of about 50 million euros ($59.77 million) this year. The pandemic has forced the Vatican Museums, a traditional cash cow, to close for much of the last 15 months.

Programmed pay rises will be suspended until March 2023.

Pope Francis leads Angelus prayer at the library of the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican March 21, 2021.

Pope orders salary cuts for cardinals, clerics, to save jobs of employees

Top US diplomat Antony Blinken on Wednesday pressed Turkey's foreign minister over a Russian air defence system and Ankara's withdrawal from a treaty on violence against women. 

-Secretary Blinken urged Turkey not to retain the Russian S-400 air defence system- the State Department said, after talks on the sidelines of a NATO meeting in Brussels.
Blinken "expressed concern over Turkey's withdrawal from the Istanbul Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence, and emphasised the importance of democratic institutions and respect for human rights". 
Washington has long criticised NATO ally Turkey's purchase of the advanced S-400 air defence system from rival Russia, arguing it threatens the alliance's defences. 
Former US leader Donald Trump in December imposed sanctions on Ankara's military procurement agency over the acquisition.
Turkey has also drawn widespread criticism for its decision, announced Saturday, to pull out of the Istanbul Convention, the latest victory for conservatives in President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's nationalist party. 
The administration of President Joe Biden is still formulating its overall policy on Turkey -- but insists that it sees the country as a key ally. 
-It's no secret that we have differences with Turkey- Blinken said at the two-day NATO meeting on Tuesday.
-It's also no secret that Turkey is a long-standing and valued ally, and one that I believe we have a strong interest in keeping anchored to NATO.-

Washington has long criticised NATO ally Turkey's purchase of the advanced S-400 air defence system from rival Russia, arguing it threatens the alliance's defences

Blinken pushes Turkey over Russian missiles

Kremlin-linked businessman Yevgeny Prigozhin has written to the FBI demanding that it remove him from its wanted list, calling it a violation of human rights principles, his company said on Wednesday.

The FBI last month offered a $250,000 (210,000-euro) reward for Prigozhin, who was indicted by the United States three years ago for meddling in its 2016 presidential vote.
It said Prigozhin, who is nicknamed "Putin's chef" because his company Concord has catered for the Kremlin, was wanted "for his alleged involvement in a conspiracy to defraud the United States".
In a statement on the social media network Vkontakte Wednesday, Concord said Prigozhin had written to the FBI director and posted a copy of the letter signed by Prigozhin and addressed to Christopher Wray on March 23.
-The FBI must immediately cease offering a monetary award to the public for my capture and delivery to the United States as this violates several principles of human rights under international law- Prigozhin wrote.
The Concord statement also cited Prigozhin as saying: -Fraudsters are fraudulently trying to accuse me, a squeaky clean person, of fraud.-In addition to Concord, Prigozhin is alleged to fund the Internet Research Agency, a so-called troll farm in Saint Petersburg reported to have waged an online campaign in support of then-candidate Donald Trump in the 2016 US election.
Prigozhin has also been linked to the Wagner private military group, which has been accused of sending mercenaries to conflicts throughout Africa and the Middle East.
In October, the European Union sanctioned Prigozhin on charges of undermining the peace in Libya by supporting the Wagner group.

In October, the European Union sanctioned Prigozhin on charges of undermining the peace in Libya by supporting the Wagner group

The FBI last month offered a $250,000 (210,000-euro) reward for Prigozhin, who was indicted by the United States three years ago for meddling in its 2016 presidential vote

'Putin's chef' demands FBI remove him from wanted list

At Ken Anderson’s orchard near the banks of the Hawkesbury River in the outer Sydney suburb of Sackville, another few inches of flood water could spell the end for much of this season’s orange and mandarin harvest - and possibly the trees as well.As torrential rains pummel Australia’s east, causing the worst floods in half a century, those living near major river systems are suffering the most, with homes, roads and livestock being washed away.
The lower-lying areas are most at risk, Anderson told Reuters at his orchard, which he said had been in the family for 170 years.
-I’ll lose a fair bit, because if the water stays on there too much, the fruit will just drop- said Anderson, who at 66 is the fourth generation of his family to run the property.
In parts of the orchard, only the top branches of the fruit trees were visible above the water.
-Down in the other section over there, it takes a while for the water to come off so I’ll end up losing the fruit there and probably might lose the trees too- added Anderson stoically, holding a blue-and-yellow striped umbrella against the pouring rain.
In the state of New South Wales, where the flooding is most severe, a deluge is forecast overnight on Tuesday in some areas despite clearer weather in Sydney.
While damage to properties and livelihoods is widespread, there have been no recorded fatalities from the floods.
Anderson said it had been a difficult few days, working non-stop for the past couple of nights.
-I’m all over it now- said the farmer with a slight chuckle. -I’m coming down with a cold, I think actually, I’ve been wet a few days.-

As torrential rains pummel Australia’s east, causing the worst floods in half a century, those living near major river systems are suffering the most, with homes, roads and livestock being washed away

A view of orange orchards and houses that are submerged, as the state of New South Wales experiences widespread flooding and severe weather, near Hawkesbury River in northwestern Sydney, Australia, March 23, 2021.

Australian orchard owner fears for family farm as flood waters rise

Climate change-caused drought in Somalia has left 70% of families in the country without access to safe drinking water and in urgent need of humanitarian support, according to the non-profit organization Save the Children.

-Thousands of children are now reliant on emergency water trucking and unprotected wells or are forced to leave their homes in search of water- it said in its latest report.
Reduced rainfall and severe water shortages are also killing livestock, causing crop failures and diminishing household incomes, leaving children in these families with fewer daily meals and less nutritious food, the report warned.
The loss of livestock also further exposes children in Somalia to the risk of malnutrition as they have less access to milk, Save the Children said.
-As the negative impacts of climate change intensify, the frequency and severity of extreme weather events in Somalia are increasing. In the past year alone, Somalia experienced severe floods, the most powerful cyclone to ever hit the country and now a looming drought. Communities are struggling to survive as they have no time to recover before the next crisis hits- it said.
The report stressed that without immediate humanitarian aid, the crisis in Somalia is likely to peak in June, with the number of children and adults in urgent need of humanitarian support soaring to 5.9 million.
-The international community has been very generous in supporting people in Somalia. However, to reduce support now would be disastrous, as the deadly combination of continuous climate shocks, COVID-19 and conflict are pushing children and their families to the limit and they need urgent support to help them survive- it warned.

Without immediate humanitarian aid, crisis is likely to peak in June, says Save the Children

The loss of livestock also further exposes children in Somalia to the risk of malnutrition as they have less access to milk, Save the Children said

‘Climate change deprives 70% of Somalians of safe water’

Australia and New Zealand on Tuesday welcomed sanctions by several western countries against China over its alleged abuse of the Uyghur Muslim minority.

China has been accused of discrimination against Uyghurs in its northwestern Xinjiang autonomous region.
Right groups say it has held up to a million Uyghurs in detention centers, which the state calls "re-education camps."
On Jan. 19, on his last full day in office, then-US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo accused China of committing genocide against the minority group.
The sanctions have been imposed as a coordinated effort by the EU, UK, US and Canada.
In a joint statement, New Zealand and Australian foreign ministers reiterated their grave concerns over the growing number of credible reports of severe human rights abuses against ethnic Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in Xinjiang.
-In particular, there is clear evidence of severe human rights abuses that include restrictions on freedom of religion, mass surveillance, large-scale extra-judicial detentions, as well as forced labor and forced birth control, including sterilization- the statement read.
-New Zealand and Australia welcome the measures announced overnight by Canada, the European Union, the United Kingdom, and the United States. We share these countries’ deep concerns, which are held across New Zealand and Australian communities.-The diplomats said they have consistently called on Beijing to respect the human rights of Uyghurs, and other religious and ethnic minorities.
-Today we underscore the importance of transparency and accountability, and reiterate our call on China to grant meaningful and unfettered access to Xinjiang for United Nations experts, and other independent observers- the statement added.
Meanwhile, Beijing has hit back with counter-sanctions on European parliamentarians, research scholars, and institutions for “maliciously spreading lies and disinformation.”

US, UK, EU and Canada impose sanctions on Chinese officials over alleged abuse of Muslim Uyghur minority

China has been accused of discrimination against Uyghurs in its northwestern Xinjiang autonomous region

Australia, New Zealand welcome sanctions against China

Turkey is a “strong and valued ally,” the US top diplomat said on Tuesday, asserting that it is in the interest of NATO to have Turkey in the bloc.

-It’s no secret that we have differences with Turkey, including over the S-400s, and including certain actions that it has taken, including in the Eastern Mediterranean.--It’s also no secret that Turkey is a long standing and valued ally, and one that I believe we have a strong interest in keeping anchored to NATO. And I believe that’s also in Turkey’s interest as well- US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in Brussels.&nbsp;His remarks came in an address with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg ahead of the NATO foreign ministers meeting.
Blinken also said NATO has showed its effectiveness in dealing with some disagreement, especially in the Eastern Mediterranean, “serving as a vehicle for deconfliction, for de-escalation, for finding a way forward.”
Calling it a “positive step,” the US official said the work on it must go on.
Stoltenberg, for his part, said, there are disagreements and concerns regarding Turkey’s decision to buy Russian S-400 air defense system and the situation in the Eastern Mediterranean, which he expressed to Ankara.
-At the same time, I strongly believe that NATO has to be a platform where allies also sit down together around the same table when there are differences. And then we address them, then we discuss them, and that’s exactly what we try to do- he stated.
Stoltenberg said NATO could establish a de-confliction mechanism between Turkey and Greece to reduce the risk for incidents and accidents in the Eastern Mediterranean, and NATO’s naval presence in the Aegean brought Turkey, Greece and the EU together.

Turkey is country ‘we have strong interest in keeping anchored to NATO,’ says US secretary of state

US says Turkey is ‘long standing, valued ally’

Russia’s communications watchdog accused Twitter on Tuesday of deleting banned content too slowly in the latest dispute between a major government and Big Tech.

Moscow said earlier this month it had slowed the speed of U.S.-based Twitter inside Russia and on March 16 threatened to ban the social media service outright in a month over content from child pornography to drug abuse.
With Twitter widely used in Russia by government opponents, including Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny and his allies, Twitter said at the time it was worried about free speech and denied that it let its platform be used to promote illegal behaviour.
The watchdog, Roskomnadzor, said in a statement that Twitter was too slow in tackling illegal posts.
-The rate at which the social network is removing banned information is unsatisfactory- it said. -Two thirds of material that is harmful for children remains available on Twitter.-The watchdog said it was unacceptable to see new posts containing child pornography, suicide propaganda and information about drug use and distribution appearing on Twitter.
Twitter did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Major social media companies have been embroiled in an increasing number of disputes around the globe, from China to India and Australia, as governments seek to curb their power.

Twitter did not immediately respond to a request for comment

The watchdog, Roskomnadzor, said in a statement that Twitter was too slow in tackling illegal posts

'African elephants face extinction if not protected'

Kremlin dismisses call from Navalny's wife to free jailed critic for medical reasons

More than 300 people killed since Myanmar's coup

Train collision kills 32 people, injures dozens in Egypt

Thailand to lift tourist quarantine for popular beach island

Russia prison service says Navalny's health 'satisfactory'

Australian floods kill two, more evacuations as clean-up begins

Google signs deals with Italian publishers for content on News Showcase

Pope orders salary cuts for cardinals, clerics, to save jobs of employees

Blinken pushes Turkey over Russian missiles

'Putin's chef' demands FBI remove him from wanted list

Australian orchard owner fears for family farm as flood waters rise

‘Climate change deprives 70% of Somalians of safe water’

Australia, New Zealand welcome sanctions against China

US says Turkey is ‘long standing, valued ally’

Russia chides Twitter for slow deletion of banned content

World

'African elephants face extinction if not protected'

Kremlin dismisses call from Navalny's wife to free jailed critic for medical reasons

More than 300 people killed since Myanmar's coup

Train collision kills 32 people, injures dozens in Egypt

Thailand to lift tourist quarantine for popular beach island

Russia prison service says Navalny's health 'satisfactory'

Australian floods kill two, more evacuations as clean-up begins

Google signs deals with Italian publishers for content on News Showcase

Pope orders salary cuts for cardinals, clerics, to save jobs of employees

Blinken pushes Turkey over Russian missiles

'Putin's chef' demands FBI remove him from wanted list

Australian orchard owner fears for family farm as flood waters rise

‘Climate change deprives 70% of Somalians of safe water’

Australia, New Zealand welcome sanctions against China

US says Turkey is ‘long standing, valued ally’

Russia chides Twitter for slow deletion of banned content