NEPAL SUPREME COURT REINSTATES PARLIAMENT

Nepal’s Supreme Court has ordered the reinstatement of Parliament, which was dissolved in December last year – a ruling that is likely to thrust the Himalayan nation into a political crisis.

Monday’s court order came in response to several cases filed with the court charging that Prime Minister Khadga Prasad Sharma Oli’s decision to dissolve the legislature was unconstitutional.

The court said a meeting of the reinstated Parliament must be called within 13 days.

Nepal has been in political turmoil since PM Oli made the sudden decision and called for elections 18 months ahead of schedule amid the coronavirus pandemic that has hit the tourism-dependent economy hard.

Oli has defended the decision, saying his rivals in the ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP) had not cooperated with the government in the appointment of officials to panels such as the national human rights and anti-corruption commissions, and in other policy decisions.

The verdict means 69-year-old Oli, who was elected in 2018 following his party’s landslide win in the 2017 election, faces a no-confidence vote.

The court’s decision was welcomed by the opposition as well as members of the dissident faction of Oli’s own party.

Narayan Kaji Shrestha, spokesman for the faction, said the court has “protected the spirit of democracy”.

FACEBOOK RESTORES NEWS PAGES AFTER AUSTRALIA AGREES TO TWEAK MEDIA LAW

Facebook will restore Australian news pages after Canberra offered amendments to a proposed law designed to force tech giants to pay for media content displayed on their platforms, treasurer Josh Frydenberg said on Tuesday.

Australia and the social media group have been locked in a standoff for more than a week after the government introduced legislation that challenged Facebook and Alphabet Inc’s Google’s dominance in the news content market.

Facebook last week blocked all news content and several state government and emergency department accounts.

But after a series of talks between Frydenberg and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg over the weekend, a concession deal has been struck.

Australia will offer four amendments, which includes a change to the mandatory arbitration mechanism used when the tech giants cannot reach a deal with publishers over fair payment for displaying news content.

“We are satisfied that the Australian government has agreed to a number of changes and guarantees that address our core concerns about allowing commercial deals that recognise the value our platform provides to publishers relative to the value we receive from them,” Facebook said in a statement posted online.

The amendments include a two-month mediation period before the government-appointed arbitrator intervenes, giving the parties more time to reach a private deal.

It also inserts a rule that an internet company’s contribution to the “sustainability of the Australian news industry” via existing deals be taken into account.

A spokesman for Australian publisher and broadcaster Nine Entertainment Co. welcomed the government’s compromise, which it said moved “Facebook back into the negotiations with Australian media organisations.”

JAPAN APPOINTS "LONELINESS" MINISTER TO CHECK RISING SUICIDE RATE

Japan has appointed its first Minister for Loneliness this month after the country's suicide rate increased for the first time in 11 years during the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to The Japan Times, Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga added a minister of loneliness to his Cabinet earlier this month, following the example of the UK, which in 2018 became the first country to create a similar role.

Yoshihide Suga tapped minister Tetsushi Sakamoto, who is also in charge of combating the nation's falling birth rate and revitalising regional economies, for the new portfolio.

In his inaugural press conference, Mr Sakamoto said Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga appointed him to address national matters "including the issue of the increasing women's suicide rate under the pandemic," according to CNN.

CNN reported that the Japanese government also created an "isolation/loneliness countermeasures office" within the cabinet on February 19 for issues such as suicide and child poverty -- which have risen during the pandemic.

BIDEN, TRUDEAU PLEDGE TO COUNTER CHINA, CLIMATE CHANGE, IN WARM FIRST'MEETING'

US President Joe Biden and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau sought on Tuesday to turn the page on the Trump era, stressing the countries' deep ties and pledging to work together to counteract Chinese influence and address climate change.

"The United States has no closer friend, no closer friend than Canada," Biden told Trudeau via an electronic video link with the Canadian leader and top aides. "That's why you were my first call as president (and) my first bilateral meeting," he said.

After talking for about two hours, the two leaders emerged and said they planned to work closely together to beat the Covid-19 pandemic and combat climate change, with a goal of achieving net-zero emissions by 2050.

Trudeau also thanked Biden for reiterating US support for the release of two Canadians held by China, Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig. "Human beings are not bartering chips," Biden said. "We're going to work together until we get their safe return."

Trudeau welcomed the Biden administration, citing in particular Washington's renewed attention to climate change in contrast to former US President Donald Trump.

JOE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION ROLLS BACK DONALD TRUMP-ERA CITIZENSHIP TEST

The Biden administration has announced the reversal of the stringent Trump-era policy by reverting to the 2008 version of the naturalisation test module to make the path to US citizenship more accessible to all eligible individuals.

US Citizenship and Immigration Services announced that it was reverting to the 2008 version of the naturalisation civics test beginning March 1, 2021.

The previous Trump administration had introduced some changes to the naturalisation civics test, called the 2020 civics test, which increased the number of questions from 100 to 128 and the correct answers in the multiple-choice questions had political and ideological overtones.

ACTIVISTS, UYGHURS PROTEST IN PARIS TO ENSURE PAKISTAN IS PLACED ON FATF BLACKLIST

Exiled journalists, human rights activists, and Uyghurs on Tuesday gathered at the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) headquarters in Paris to persuade the anti-terror financing organisation to place Pakistan on the blacklist.

"We have gathered here outside the FATF building as it will be meeting next week to discuss and review the case of Pakistan to make it remain under grey list or put it in the black-list. The idea of protest was to gather dissidents from Balochistan, Pashtun areas, Tibet, Hong Kong and Uyghur community to build a united front and to remind people of Pakistan-China nexus," said Taha Siddiqui, Pakistjournalist in exile and editor of South Asia press.

"Pakistan should be held accountable for its continued support to terror groups and terror financing. We're here to remind FATF News and its members to not come under China's pressure when they meet this week," tweeted South Asia Press responding to Taha Siddiqui's statement.

"We request the international community, particularly the EU to look into the matter of GSP Plus , because Pakistan is a state that is financing terrorism, violating the human rights of its own people. Pakistani Army is involved in human rights violations, war crimes and crimes against humanity. It should be made accountable,"said Pashtun Rights Activist, Fazal Rehman Afridi.

PARIS RAPS PAKISTAN OVER PRESIDENT ALVI'S REMARKS ON FRENCH MUSLIMS

The French foreign ministry has summoned Pakistan's envoy to protest claims by President Arif Alvi that a French bill cracking down on radical Islam stigmatises Muslims.

Addressing a conference on religion on Saturday, Alvi said: "When you see that laws are being changed in favour of a majority to isolate a minority, that is a dangerous precedent."

Specifically referring to the legislation drafted after the beheading of a French teacher by an Islamist radical over cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed, Alvi said: "When you insult the Prophet, you insult all Muslims.

"I urge the political leadership of France not to entrench these attitudes into laws... You have to bring people together — not to stamp a religion in a certain manner and create disharmony among the people or create bias."

The French foreign ministry said late Monday it had called in Pakistan's charge d'affaires to mark "our surprise and our disapproval (over Alvi's remarks), given that the bill contains no discriminatory element."

"It is guided by the basic principles of freedom of religion and conscience, makes no distinction between the different religions and applies therefore equally to all faiths," the ministry said.

"Pakistan must understand this and adopt a constructive attitude for our bilateral relations," it added.

IMRAN KHAN PITCHES ECONOMIC CORRIDOR TO SRI LANKA

Pitching the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) as a connectivity booster, Prime Minister Imran Khan, in Colombo on a two-day visit beginning on Tuesday, said Pakistan would find “ways and means to enhance trade and connectivity” with Sri Lanka.

“Pakistan is part of the One Belt and Road initiative of China, and CPEC is one of its flagship programmes. And it means connectivity,” he said hours after his arrival. The CPEC, Mr. Khan said, would help enhance Sri Lanka’s connectivity “right up to Central Asia”, while trade ties would bring Pakistan and Sri Lanka “closer together”.

Mr. Khan is the first head of government to visit Sri Lanka since the pandemic struck the world. He held a one-on-one bilateral meeting with counterpart Mahinda Rajapaksa on Tuesday evening, and is scheduled to meet President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on Wednesday.

Mr. Khan will also lead the delegation-level talks, covering “all areas of cooperation” between the two countries, including trade and investment, health and education, agriculture, science and technology, defence and security, and culture and tourism, the Pakistani mission here said.

“Several MoUs” in these areas were signed on Tuesday, according to a tweet from Prime Minister Rajapaksa.

HUNGER IN CENTRAL AMERICA SKYROCKETS, UN AGENCY SAYS

The number of people going hungry in El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua has nearly quadrupled in the last two years, the United Nations said on Tuesday, as Central America has been battered by an economic crisis.

New data released by the UN's World Food Program showed nearly 8 million people across the four countries are experiencing hunger this year, up from 2.2 million in 2018.

"The COVID-19-induced economic crisis had already put food on the market shelves out of reach for the most vulnerable people when the twin hurricanes Eta and Iota battered them further," said Miguel Barreto, WFP Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean, in a statement referring to the two hurricanes to hit Central America in November.

The World Food Program also said that 15% of those surveyed by the organization in January 2021 said that they were making concrete plans to migrate - nearly double the percentage in 2018.