Pataudi (India) (AFP) – A government-backed programme to help modernise Indian farming is providing employment for hundreds of rural women, who have traditionally found few opportunities to join the labour force.
Sochi (Russia) (AFP) – The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant has lost internal power eight times since the start of the conflict in Ukraine and has had to rely on backup generators, described by Rafael Grossi, the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), as “the last line of defence” against a reactor meltdown. Grossi’s comments come as he visits Russia to hold talks with President Vladimir Putin on the situation at the site, which is in southern Ukraine but under the control of Moscow’s forces.
London (AFP) – “Patience needs to run very thin and a whole series of warnings need to given,” says UK Foreign Minister David Cameron, ahead of a meeting with Israeli war cabinet member Benny Gantz. “Israel is the occupying power, it is responsible,” Cameron adds as he addresses the UK’s House of Lords.
Kivchovata (Ukraine) (AFP) – Ukrainian farmer Lyudmyla Martyniuk’s grain should be on its way to export. Instead, it’s sitting in silos, prevented from travelling by a farmers’ blockade at the Polish border. “This is unacceptable” she says, echoing the word’s of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky who in February decried the actions being taken against his war-torn country. Many EU farmers say the influx of Ukrainian grain has led to a collapse in prices and are calling on the EU to toughen import rules.
Port-au-Prince (AFP) – A powerful Haitian gang leader warns that the chaos engulfing the capital Port-au-Prince will lead to possible “genocide” unless Prime Minister Ariel Henry steps down.
Beijing (AFP) – China accuses the United States of using the Philippines as a “pawn” in the South China Sea, as hostilities between the two Asian nations escalate over their territorial dispute in the region.
Port-au-Prince (AFP) – A powerful Haitian gang leader warns that the chaos engulfing the capital Port-au-Prince will lead to possible “genocide” unless Prime Minister Ariel Henry steps down.
Huntington Beach (United States) (AFP) – Polls begin closing on “Super Tuesday,” the biggest day of the year in the US presidential primaries, with Donald Trump expected to cement his hold on the Republican nomination and set up a rematch with President Joe Biden in November. Super Tuesday typically decides Republican and Democratic primaries in the giant states of California and Texas, as well as more than a dozen other battlegrounds, and can make or break would-be presidents’ White House ambitions.
Vatican City (AFP) – It’s still dark outside when Gianni Crea pushes open the imposing entrance door to the Vatican Museums, a heavy ring of keys in his hand. Soon he is moving through the deserted corridors to open the doors of some of the most visited galleries in the world, containing masterpieces by Raphael, Leonardo da Vinci or Caravaggio.
Prague (AFP) – French President Emmanuel Macron calls on Ukraine’s allies not to be “cowards” in the face of Russia’s invasion, after having received criticism for his proposal to send Western soldiers to fight on the ground in Ukraine. Macron’s comments come on a visit to Prague where he intends to clarify his country’s standpoint on a Czech plan to buy weapons outside Europe to help Kyiv’s war effort.
