Sharplift News

2021-06-23 15:00:09 China's longest-serving ambassador to the United States, Cui Tiankai, has announced he is standing down after eight years, adding another layer of uncertainty in the relationship between the two great powers. Cui, 68, whose time in Washington spanned the presidencies of Barack Obama, Donald Trump and Joe Biden, has been witness to a profound shift in US-China relations. 

And until his yet-to-be-announced successor arrives, neither Beijing nor Washington will have a top envoy in each other's capital.  The former US ambassador to China, Terry Branstad, left Beijing last year before the November election. Nicholas Burns, a former diplomat, is a top contender to fill the role, but the Biden administration has yet to make a formal announcement.

Story. CNN
23-June-2021

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2021-06-23 13:15:04 British nationals living in the European Union are having difficulty accessing benefits, services and jobs, Home Secretary Priti Patel said Wednesday, speaking on the fifth anniversary of the Brexit vote. For EU citizens living in Britain, immigration officials have announced a 28-day period to apply for the right to remain.

Patel cited "a number of reported instances of UK nationals in the EU being asked for residence documents they do not need to hold, being prevented from accessing benefits and services, and having trouble with their right to work".

Story. France 24
23-June-2021

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2021-06-23 09:00:04 Fifty of Afghanistan's 370 districts have fallen to Taliban militants since May, according to the UN's special envoy on Afghanistan Deborah Lyons, as the United States continues its military withdrawal from the country.

The news came as a local power company told media Tuesday that violent clashes had damaged key electrical infrastructure, causing power outages in 11 provinces including Kabul. The group also claimed in another propaganda video that dozens of Afghan forces surrendered to Taliban in Faryab province in the north of the country.

Story. CNN
23-June-2021

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2021-06-23 07:15:02 French President Emmanuel Macron and far-right leader Marine Le Pen saw their respective parties stumble on Sunday as incumbent conservatives surged ahead in the first round of regional elections marred by record-low turnout. 

Sunday’s regional polls had been billed as a dress rehearsal for next year’s presidential election – but by 8 pm, the putative protagonists of the Elysée contest had witnessed their respective parties falter at the polls.

Story. France 24
23-June-2021

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2021-06-22 13:15:02 South Africa will host the continent's first Covid-19 vaccine production facility, as President Cyril Ramaphosa said Monday Africa now understood that doses would "never come" from elsewhere in time to save lives. Ramaphosa joined the World Health Organization (WHO) and French President Emmanuel Macron in announcing the new hub for Messenger RNA coronavirus vaccine technology.

But as the project will take time to get off the ground, no vaccines are expected from it until next year. At tech transfer hubs, the technology is established at industrial scale, while interested manufacturers can receive training and any necessary licences to the technology.

Story. France 24
22-June-2021

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2021-06-22 11:45:02 Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan refused to condemn the Chinese government's alleged human rights abuses against the Muslim-majority Uyghur people in Xinjiang in an interview with Axios Sunday.

When pressed on reports of widespread detention and abuse of Uyghurs, Khan said China had been "one of the greatest friends to us in our most difficult times," and any conversations with Beijing on Xinjiang would happen "behind closed doors."

Story. CNN
22-June-2021

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2021-06-22 10:00:01 Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has threatened to send people to prison for refusing to get vaccinated against the coronavirus, as the government placed the country’s border controls on “heightened alert” over new cases of the Delta variant.

“You can choose: you get the vaccine or I will send you to jail,” Duterte said in Tagalog during a pre-recorded address on Monday night. The Philippines began its vaccination programme in March but there have been reports of low turnouts at several vaccination centres in the country, although people are also reportedly scrambling to get the limited supply of the Pfizer BioNtech jabs.

Story. Aljazeera
22-June-2021

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2021-06-21 21:45:05 A cattle herder first uncovered the stones in KwaZulu-Natal province. It prompted thousands to rush to KwaHlathi village, more than 300km (186 miles) south-east of Johannesburg. But after conducting tests, officials have said the stones are quartz crystals, which are far less valuable.

After feldspar, quartz is the most abundant mineral in the Earth's crust. "The tests conducted conclusively revealed that the stones discovered in the area are not diamonds," a local government statement reportedly said.  The rush occurred in one of South Africa's poorest regions. 

Story. BCC
21-June-2021

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2021-06-21 19:15:03 Ethiopians are voting in a crucial parliamentary election taking place against the backdrop of war and famine in the northern Tigray region, with Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed expected to cement his hold on power.

It is the first electoral test for Abiy Ahmed, 44, who rose to power in 2018 championing a democratic revival in Africa’s second-most populous country, and a break from its authoritarian past. But the spectre of famine caused by the ongoing fighting in Tigray, and the failure to stage elections on schedule in about one-fifth of constituencies, means that promise is in doubt.

Story. Aljazeera
21-June-2021

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2021-06-21 16:30:03 The only nuclear power plant in Iran has been temporarily shut down, state TV reported on Sunday. It's the first time Iran has reported an emergency closure at the Bushehr nuclear power plant.  An official with Iran's state electric company Tavanir told a state TV talk show that the plant was shut down on Saturday and that the closure will last "for three to four days."

He cautioned that power outages could result as a result of the shutdown. Officials did not immediately elaborate on the nature of the technical repairs, nor what prompted the closure. Construction on the nuclear plant, located in the southern port city of Bushehr, began in the 1970s. It was later completed with the help of Russia and the plant went online in 2011.

Story. DW
21-June-2021

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