Month: February 2021

Turnbull Reveals Contact With Rape Victim

Former Australian prime minister Malcolm Turnbull has called for a coronial inquiry into the death of a woman who claimed to have been raped in 1988 by a man who is now a federal cabinet minister. Turnbull has also revealed the woman wrote to him in 2019 with details of the allegations and he had…


All English Households With School Children Offered Twice Weekly COVID Tests

LONDON—All households in England with school or college aged children will be offered two rapid COVID-19 tests per person per week to support the government’s priority to get young people back in the classroom, the health ministry said on Sunday. Last week British Prime Minister Boris Johnson set out a phased plan to end England’s…


UK’s Sunak to Provide 5 Billion Pounds of Grants to Pandemic Hit Businesses in Budget

LONDON—British finance minister Rishi Sunak will announce 5 billion pounds ($7 billion) of additional grants to help businesses hit hard by pandemic lockdowns in his budget statement next week, the government said on Saturday. Shops, bars, clubs, hotels, restaurants, gyms and hair salons would be among nearly 700,000 companies eligible for new direct cash grants…


10 Arrested in Barcelona as Protests Over Jailed Rapper Turn Violent

BARCELONA—Ten people were arrested in Barcelona on Saturday for assaulting police officers in fresh unrest over the jailing of a rapper for glorifying terrorism and insulting royalty in his songs. Pablo Hasel, known for his anti-establishment lyrics, was arrested on Feb. 16 after failing to report to serve his sentence, prompting debate over freedom of…


Warren Buffett’s $10 Billion Mistake: Precision Castparts

Warren Buffett makes mistakes too. The 90-year-old billionaire on Saturday admitted he “paid too much” when his Berkshire Hathaway Inc. spent $32.1 billion in 2016 to buy aircraft and industrial parts maker Precision Castparts Corp., its largest acquisition. Berkshire wrote off $9.8 billion of Precision’s value last August, as the coronavirus pandemic sapped demand for…


Nigerian Schoolboys Freed As Forces Search for 300 Abducted Girls

JANGEBE, Nigeria—Gunmen in Nigeria on Saturday released 27 teenage boys who were kidnapped from their school last week in the north-central state of Niger, while security forces continued to search for more than 300 schoolgirls abducted in a nearby state. Schools have become targets for mass kidnappings for ransom in northern Nigeria by armed groups….


Romania Ships First Batch of AstraZeneca Vaccine to Moldova

BUCHAREST—Romania shipped its first donation of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine to neighbouring Moldova on Saturday to allow Moldova to start vaccinating frontline medical workers next week. Moldova and neighbouring Ukraine, two of Europe’s poorest countries, have lagged behind the rest of the continent in the scramble for vaccines and welcomed donations from friendly governments. In December,…


Boston Halts Advanced Learning Program Because Too Many Asian, White Students

Boston Public Schools (BPS) are halting a selective program for high-performing kids in grades four through six because of a lack of racial equality in the makeup of the student population, local media have reported. The program, known as Advanced Work Classes (AWC), will be paused for a year, reported PBS-affiliate WGBH. “There’s been a…


DOJ to Appeal Judge’s Order on Federal Eviction Ban

The Justice Department (DOJ) gave notice on Feb. 27 to a federal judge that it intends to appeal his ruling that found the federal government doesn’t have the authority to issue a nationwide eviction moratorium. “The Department of Justice respectfully disagrees with the February 25 decision of the district court in Terkel v. CDC that the CDC’s…


Justice Department to Appeal Judge’s Order on Federal Eviction Ban

The Justice Department (DOJ) on Saturday gave notice to a federal judge that it intends to appeal his ruling that found the federal government does not have the authority to issue a nationwide eviction moratorium. “The Department of Justice respectfully disagrees with the February 25 decision of the district court in Terkel v. CDC that the CDC’s…