USA

UNITED NATIONS, Mar 23 (APP): UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres Wednesday “deeply” regretted Taliban’s decision to suspend high school education for girls in Afghanistan, saying it was “deeply damaging” for the war-torn country.
In a statement, he urged the de facto authorities in Kabul to open schools for all students without any further delay.

The Taliban decision came as Afghanistan’s educational institutions re-opened Wednesday with girls who were to begin education beyond the sixth grade told by the Taliban to remain home.

WASHINGTON (AP) — White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Tuesday that she is positive again for COVID-19 and will not accompany President Joe Biden to Europe this week for urgent meetings with world counterparts on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Biden tested negative on Tuesday, she said.

Psaki’s reinfection follows recent positive tests for Vice President Kamala Harris’ husband and Ireland’s prime minister, who was in the nation’s capital last week for a series of in-person celebrations of St. Patrick’s Day with Biden and other officials.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Accusations that Eric Greitens, a leading Republican contender for the U.S. Senate in Missouri, physically assaulted members of his family added fresh urgency to ensure the GOP doesn’t nominate candidates who are so damaged that they risk otherwise safe seats.

NEW YORK (AP) — When Alexei Navalny was arrested in January 2021, tens of thousands of Russians filled the streets in protest, demanding that the top Kremlin critic be released and chanting slogans against President Vladimir Putin. Thousands were arrested.

In the months since then, Navalny was given 2½ years in prison. His organization, close associates and other opposition activists were either prosecuted, fled the country or had their hands tied by draconian new laws or decrees. Independent news outlets were blocked and social media platforms banned.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson is returning to the Senate for a third day of hearings as Republicans try to paint her as soft on crime and Democrats herald the historic nature of her nomination to become the first Black woman on the high court.

ARABI, La. (AP) — A tornado tore through parts of New Orleans and its suburbs Tuesday night, flipping cars, ripping roofs off homes and killing at least one person in a region that was pummeled by Hurricane Katrina 17 years ago.

Parts of St. Bernard Parish, which borders New Orleans to the southeast, appeared to take the brunt of the weather’s fury, and that is where the fatality occurred. St. Bernard Parish officials gave no details on how the person died; they said multiple other people were injured.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The future of Europe hanging in the balance, President Joe Biden will huddle with key allies in Brussels and Warsaw this week as the leaders try to prevent Russia’s war on Ukraine from spiraling into an even greater catastrophe.

Biden embarks Wednesday on a four-day trip that will test his ability to navigate the continent’s worst crisis since World War II. There are fears that Russia could use chemical or nuclear weapons as its invasion becomes bogged down in the face of logistical problems and fierce Ukrainian resistance.

UNITED NATIONS, Mar 22 (APP): While groundwater accounts for 99 per cent of all running freshwater on Earth, it is often undervalued, mismanaged, and overexploited, according to a report published on Monday by the UN scientific organization, UNESCO.

“Groundwater is a critical natural resource, invisible but indispensable for life on our planet,” UNESCO chief Audrey Azoulay said in the Foreword of Making the invisible visible, the latest edition of the UN World Water Development Report (WWDR).

UNITED NATIONS, March 22. /TASS/: Elements of diplomatic progress can be seen on several key issues in the situation around Ukraine, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Tuesday.

"From my outreach with various actors, elements of diplomatic progress are coming into view on several key issues," Antonio Guterres said. According to him, "there is enough on the table to cease hostilities - now… and seriously negotiate - now".

WASHINGTON, March 22 (Reuters) - Western nations are assessing whether Russia can remain within the Group of Twenty (G20) grouping of major economies following its invasion of Ukraine, sources involved in the discussions told Reuters on Tuesday.

The likelihood that any bid to exclude Russia outright would be vetoed by others in the club - which includes China, India, Saudi Arabia and others - raised the prospect of some countries instead skipping G20 meetings this year, the sources said.