US IMPOSES SANCTIONS ON RUSSIA OVER POISONING OF CRITIC NAVALNY

The Biden administration announced sanctions against Russia over the poisoning and jailing of opposition leader Alexey Navalny.

The penalties -- like those adopted by the European Union -- target senior Russian law enforcement officials, as well as matching sanctions the EU and the UK imposed earlier on other Russians allied with President Vladimir Putin as punishment for the attempted murder of Navalny.

The sanctions are the first ordered by President Joe Biden against Russia and will help set the tone for his relations with Putin. The ruble recovered sharply after the news, reversing earlier losses as investors were encouraged by the sanctions’ relatively narrow scope.

The US demands the release of Navalny, his allies and others wrongfully detained in Russia and an end to the persecution of his supporters, one senior administration official told reporters in a briefing.

NICOLAS SARKOZY READY TO SUE FRANCE BEFORE EUROPEAN COURT TO PROVE INNOCENCE

Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy said on Tuesday he was ready to go all the way to the European Court of Human Rights to prove his innocence, his first public reaction after being found guilty of corruption and sentenced to prison on Monday.

The court found that Sarkozy, 66, had tried to bribe a judge and peddle his influence after leaving office in exchange for inside information about an investigation into his 2007 campaign finances. Sarkozy is appealing the ruling.

Sarkozy on Tuesday protested his innocence. He said he was the victim of a deep injustice, that the ruling was riddled with inconsistencies and that the political impartiality of some investigating judges was open to question.

“I appealed the decision, maybe I will have to pursue this fight all the way to the European Court of Human Rights,” Sarkozy told Le Figaro newspaper.

“That would be painful for me to have to get my own country condemned, but I’m ready to do so because that would be the price of democracy.”

“Acquitted or not, it would change nothing politically,” Sarkozy said. “I had said I wouldn’t be a candidate and I stand by that.”

Sarkozy stands trial in another case related to illegal campaign financing later this month.

MACRON ASKS IRAN FOR ‘CLEAR GESTURES’ ON NUCLEAR INSPECTIONS

French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday asked Iranian President Hassan Rouhani for “clear gestures” and an immediate return to the terms of a landmark nuclear deal with Western powers.

Macron’s office said that, in a telephone call, the French leader also asked Rouhani to cooperate fully with the UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, on inspections and expressed his “deepest concern” over Tehran’s violations of the accord.

The 2015 deal — called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) — has been hanging by a thread since former US president Donald Trump pulled Washington out of it and reimposed punishing sanctions on Iran in 2018.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian confirmed Tuesday that France, Britain and Germany will put forward a resolution at this week’s meeting of the IAEA’s board of governors condemning Iran’s suspension of some nuclear inspections.

But Iran warned against such a move.

“I have to give this warning, that actions against our expectations will have adverse effects on diplomatic processes, and can quickly close the windows of opportunity,” Iran’s government spokesman Ali Rabiei told reporters in Tehran.

Iran expects “all parties to act rationally and prudently, and to know the value of fleeting moments,” he added. “We are still committed to diplomacy.”

The Iranian parliament in December passed a law that called for suspending certain commitments if the US does not lift unilateral sanctions or the three European countries do not help Tehran to bypass those sanctions.

Restrictions on inspections went into force on February 23.

PAKISTAN NEEDS LEGISLATION TO MEET THREE OUTSTANDING FATF BENCHMARKS: REPORT

Pakistan will have to make further legislation on at least two counts to meet three outstanding benchmarks of the 27-point action plan of the global money laundering and terrorist financing watchdog FATF before the new June deadline, a media report said on Tuesday.

The Paris-based Financial Action Task Force (FATF) placed Pakistan on the grey list in June 2018 and asked Islamabad to implement a plan of action to curb money laundering and terror financing by the end of 2019 but the deadline was extended later on due to COVID-19 pandemic. The new deadline was set by the FATF last month.

Pakistan has been scrambling in recent months to avoid being added to a list of countries deemed non-compliant with anti-money laundering and terrorist financing regulations by the FATF, a measure that officials here fear could further hurt its ailing economy.

The Dawn newspaper reported that the government will have to submit an updated report within a month to the FATF on the progress on legislation and other steps to be taken to address the outstanding concerns.

Since the government had changed almost three dozen laws over the past year to meet the FATF requirements, there should not be any hurdle in the way of making two more amendments, the report said.

DEMOCRATS IN U.S. HOUSE INTRODUCE WIDE-RANGING CLIMATE BILL

Three Democratic lawmakers in the U.S. House of Representatives unveiled a wide-ranging climate bill on Tuesday that embraces President Joe Biden’s goals to curb climate change including decarbonizing the electric grid by 2035.

Introduced by Representatives Frank Pallone, Paul Tonko and Bobby Rush, and incorporating input from the Biden administration, the bill includes a federal clean electricity standard requiring a percentage of retail power sales to come from sources that produce little or no carbon emissions.

The Climate Leadership and Environmental Action for our Nation’s Future Act, or CLEAN, requires 80% clean electricity by 2030 and 100% by 2035.

The power could come from sources including wind, solar and existing nuclear energy. That could provide a boost to nuclear power, an industry experiencing shutdowns amid low prices for natural gas, a competing fuel.

The bill also sets a goal of a fully decarbonized economy by 2050.

Meanwhile, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday called on wealthy nations to end coal use by 2030 so the world can meet its goals to curb global warming, urging G7 nations to make that commitment before or at a leaders’ summit in June.

BIDEN ADMINISTRATION ‘UNDECIDED’ ON ENDING VISA BAN

The Biden administration has indicated that it is still undecided on ending the Trump-era ban on issuing new H-1B visas, with the Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas asserting that the US government's top priority is the acute needs of individuals fleeing persecution. The H-1B visa, the most sought-after among Indian IT professionals, is a non-immigrant visa that allows US companies to employ foreign workers in speciality occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise.

In January, then President Donald Trump had extended the ban on issuing new H-1B visas till March 31, arguing that the country is having a very high unemployment rate and the US cannot afford to have more foreign workers. "His successor President Joe Biden has revoked dozens of the executive orders of Trump including several of those related to immigration like the lifting the Muslim visa ban or those related to Green Card, the one that imposed ban on issuing H-1B has still not been lifted. It will expire on March 31, if Biden does not issue a fresh proclamation.

EU’S UNIFIED VAX PLAN SPLINTERS, AUSTRIA AND DENMARK BREAK RANKS

Austria and Denmark broke ranks with the European Union on Tuesday and said they would work together with Israel to produce second-generation vaccines against Covid mutations.

Chancellor Sebastian Kurz plans to visit Israel with Danish PM Mette Frederiksen later this week. The announcement is a rebuke to the EU’s joint vaccine procurement programme, which has been criticised for being slow to agree deals with manufacturers. Production problems and supply chain bottlenecks have also slowed deliveries.

TEXAS AND OTHER STATE GOVERNORS EASE COVID-19 RULES DESPITE WARNINGS

Texas on Tuesday became the biggest state to lift its mask rule, joining a rapidly growing movement by governors and other leaders across the US to loosen Covid-19 restrictions despite pleas from health officials not to let down their guard yet.

The state will also do away with limits on the number of diners who can be served indoors, said Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, who made the announcement at a restaurant in Lubbock.

The governors of Michigan and Louisiana likewise eased up on bars, restaurants and other businesses Tuesday, as did the mayor of San Francisco.

“Removing state-wide mandates does not end personal responsibility,” said Abbott, speaking from a crowded dining room where many of those surrounding him were not wearing masks. “It’s just that now state mandates are no longer needed."

Top health officials, including the head of the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, have responded by begging people repeatedly not to risk another deadly wave of contagion just when the nation is making progress in vaccinating people and victory over the pandemic is in sight.

UK’S FIRST LGBT+ RETIREMENT COMMUNITY TO OPEN IN LONDON

Britain’s first LGBT+ retirement community is to open in London later this year, after securing a multi-million-pound loan from the city’s mayor, a housing association announced on Tuesday.

Tonic Housing said the £5.7-million ($7.9-million) loan from the Greater London Authority will help buy 19 properties in the Vauxhall area in the south of British capital.

Sales of the one- and two-bedroom homes on the top flour floors of the Norman Foster-designed Bankhouse development on the banks of the River Thames will begin in the coming months.

They will be sold under the shared ownership scheme that allows those with modest budgets to buy a share of a property from a non-profit housing association, which supplies housing, and pay rent on the rest.

Prices are likely to start from £135,000 for a 25-percent share of a one-bed apartment and £180,000 for a 25-percent share of a two-bed apartment.

Tonic called the scheme a “major milestone”.

JAPANESE BILLIONAIRE SEEKS EIGHT PEOPLE TO FLY TO MOON

Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa has invited eight members of the public to join him for a trip around the moon on Elon Musk's SpaceX flight.

"I want people from all kinds of backgrounds to join," he said in a video via Twitter, where he also shared a link to application details.

He said he will pay for the entire journey, so those who come onboard will fly for free.

The mission, called dearMoon, is scheduled to fly in 2023.

Applicants need to meet two criteria: they should advance "whatever activity" they are in to "help other people and greater society in some way", and are "willing to support other crew members who share similar aspirations", he said.

"I have bought all the seats, so it will be a private ride," he added.