US FOR INDIAN ROLE IN AFGHAN PEACE PROCESS

US Secretary of State Tony Blinken has suggested that the involvement of India in a UN-convened conference to discuss a unified approach to supporting peace in Afghanistan, the Afghan media has reported.

Blinken, in a letter to Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and chairman of the High Council for National Reconciliation Abdullah Abdullah, has made several suggestions to accelerate the peace process.

On top of the list is a UN-convened meeting of foreign ministers from Russia, China, Pakistan, Iran, India and the US to discuss a unified approach to supporting peace in Afghanistan. This may not be a closed list because Blinken suggests Turkey could host a senior-level meeting of the Ghani government and the Taliban to finalise a peace agreement.

US envoy for Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad would share with Kabul and the Taliban written proposals “aimed at accelerating discussions on a negotiated settlement and ceasefire”.

These proposals basically seek to address the three areas that need to be sorted out between the warring parties—the foundational principles that will guide Afghanistan’s future constitutional and governing arrangements; a roadmap to a new, inclusive government and the terms of a permanent and comprehensive ceasefire.

For the immediate, the US has prepared a revised proposal for a 90-day reduction in violence that would prevent a spring offensive by the Taliban.

On maintaining its armed forces in Afghanistan, Blinken said the US has not ruled out any option. “We are considering the full withdrawal of our forces by May 1st, as we consider other options,” he said.

Calling on Ghani to work with the US, Blinken said even with the continuation of the US financial assistance to Afghan forces after an American withdrawal, the security situation may worsen and that the Taliban could make rapid territorial gains.

BRITISH MONARCHY GETS TWITTER HEAT FROM US

Meghan and Harry's bombshell interview has set Twitter alight with expressions of shock, anger and support, along with the inevitable memes.

Meghan Markle told Oprah Winfrey in the interview which aired on CBS on Sunday that she had contemplated suicide after joining the British royal family. She also raised allegations of racism, including official concern about the skin colour of her and Prince Harry’s child.

The explosive statements prompted messages of support, as well as barbs against the monarchy.

“Conversations. About how dark. The baby. Would be. My God in Heaven,” tweeted activist and writer Brittany Packnett Cunningham.

On Markle contemplating suicide, she added: “Meghan’s admission here is courageous and brave – and asking for help always is.”

And while a number of users, including some British media figures, accused the couple of boosting their public image at the expense of the monarchy and of baseless claims, others pointed out that the explosive allegations would be a serious blow to the institution.

“This is a stain on the royals that will endure... (one) no amount of palace spin will erase,” tweeted commentator Peter Hunt.

Hashtags about the interview were quickly propelled to the top of the Twitter trends list, with many posting memes and quips – including jokes about how high-profile the broadcast had become.

“I’m making nachos for the Oprah interview like it’s the super bowl,” said writer Laura Bassett.

Others created memes from screenshots during the interview, including one of Harry claiming goblins are hidden in a mine under Buckingham Palace.

Many also brought up The Crown, saying the interview was set to inspire even more seasons of the hit Netflix series.

One user tweeted a GIF of Muppets character Kermit the Frog furiously working on a typewriter, describing him as a screenwriter on the show.

With the interview airing during prime time in America, Twitter users in the United States got to take the first shot in the battle of snarky comments with those in Britain.

“ONCE AGAIN AMERICA WILL DEFEAT THE BRITISH MONARCHY BY SPILLING TEA,” tweeted academic Gabrielle Cornish, referring to the 1773 protest in Boston when anti-colonial demonstrators destroyed tea shipments from Britain as calls grew for American independence.

Writer George M. Johnson wrote: “Oprah just woke up one day and was like ‘you know what, I’m bored. Lemme take down the British monarchy’.”

On the allegations of racism, @Andrewmd5 remarked: “The British Monarchy is racist?! They only colonized most of the planet and kept brown and black people under their thumb for centuries, there’s no way.”

And referring to Harry’s comment that there were concerns about how the royal family would pay for Markle after their marriage, academic Melissa Murray tweeted a photo of Queen Elizabeth II in an ornate room saying: “WHUT? The Queen literally has a gold-plated piano.”

FULLY VACCINATED PEOPLE CAN GATHER WITHOUT MASKS, CDC SAYS

Fully vaccinated Americans can gather with other vaccinated people indoors without wearing a mask or social distancing, according to long-awaited guidance from federal health officials.

The recommendations also say that vaccinated people can come together in the same way — in a single household — with people considered at low-risk for severe disease, such as in the case of vaccinated grandparents visiting healthy children and grandchildren.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced the guidance Monday.

The guidance is designed to address a growing demand, as more adults have been getting vaccinated and wondering if it gives them greater freedom to visit family members, travel, or do other things like they did before the Covid-19 pandemic swept the world last year.

“With more and more people vaccinated each day, we are starting to turn a corner,” said CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky.

During a press briefing Monday, she called the guidance a “first step” toward restoring normalcy in how people come together. She said more activities would be ok'd for vaccinated individuals once caseloads and deaths decline, more Americans are vaccinated, and as more science emerges on the ability of those who have been vaccinated to get and spread the virus.

The CDC also advised vaccinated people to get tested if they develop symptoms that could be related to Covid-19.

KEY SAUDI ARABIAN OIL SITE ATTACKED, SENDING OIL PRICES ABOVE $70

Saudi Arabia said some of the world’s most protected oil infrastructure came under missile and drone attack in an escalation of regional hostilities that sent crude prices surging.

The attacks on Sunday were intercepted, Saudi Arabia said, and oil output appeared to be unaffected. But the latest in a spate of assaults claimed by Iran-backed Houthi rebels pushed oil prices to above $70 a barrel for the first time since January 2020.

The attacks are the most serious against Saudi oil installations since a key processing facility and two fields came under fire in September 2019, cutting production for about a month and exposing the vulnerability of the kingdom’s petroleum industry. Yemen’s Houthi fighters claimed responsibility for that attack, although Riyadh pointed the finger at arch-rival Iran.

Meanwhile, The United States said its commitment to defend Saudi Arabia is “unwavering” after oil infrastructure in the kingdom came under missile and drone attack.

“The US embassy condemns the recent Houthi attacks on the kingdom of Saudi Arabia,” the American mission in Riyadh said via Twitter. “The heinous attacks on civilians and vital infrastructure demonstrate their lack of respect for human life and their lack of interest in the pursuit of peace.”

MYANMAR PROTESTERS DEFY CURFEW; MEDIA OUTLETS ORDERED SHUT

Demonstrators in Myanmar’s biggest city came out Monday night for their first mass protests in defiance of an 8 p.m. curfew, seeking to show support for an estimated 200 students trapped by security forces in a small area of one neighborhood.

The students and other civilians earlier took part in one of the many daily protests across the country against the military’s seizure of power last month that ousted the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi.

The military government also placed a major curb on media coverage of the crisis. It announced that the licenses of five local media outlets — Mizzima, DVB, Khit Thit Media, Myanmar Now and 7Day News — have been canceled.

“These media companies are no longer allowed to broadcast or write or give information by using any kind of media platform or using any media technology,” it said on State broadcaster MRTV.

The diplomatic missions of the United States, Britain, Canada and the European Union all issued statements urging the security forces to allow the trapped people to return safely to their homes.

Security forces shot and killed two people in northern Myanmar during the day, local media reported. Another shooting death took place in Pyapon, a city about 120 kilometers (75 miles) south of Yangon.

The UN has appealed to the military in Myanmar for the safe release of hundreds of protesters believed to be trapped inside an apartment block.

The UN Human Rights Office said the group had been protesting peacefully and should be allowed to leave.

US SUPREME COURT DUMPS LAST OF TRUMP'S ELECTION APPEALS

The US Supreme Court on Monday disposed of the last of three cases brought to the justices by former President Donald Trump challenging his election loss, bringing a muted end to his futile quest in the courts to hold onto power.

The court without comment rejected Trump's appeal challenging thousands of absentee ballots filed in Wisconsin, an election battleground that the Republican businessman-turned-politician lost to Democrat Joe Biden by more than 20,000 votes. Biden became president on Jan. 20.

It was the last of three petitions filed at the Supreme Court near the end of Trump's presidency that the justices declined to take up. The court on February 22 turned away Trump's other two appeals - a second Wisconsin challenge and one relating to voting in Pennsylvania, another pivotal state Trump lost. Lower courts previously had ruled against Trump in those three cases.

SRI LANKAN CATHOLICS MARK ‘BLACK SUNDAY’

Sri Lankan Roman Catholics attended Mass dressed in black on Sunday, with prayers and protests calling for justice for those killed in coordinated suicide bomb attacks on Easter Sunday two years ago.

Church bells tolled and prayers were chanted at 8:45 a.m., the time when bombs were detonated almost simultaneously at two Roman Catholic churches and a Protestant church during Easter services on April 21, 2019.

More than 260 people, including 171 from the two Catholic churches, were killed in the attacks, which were blamed on two local Islamic extremist groups that had pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group.

The archbishop of Colombo, Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith, said the inquiry commission’s report had concentrated more on the failures of the then-government in preventing the attacks despite early warnings, rather than finding out the handlers of the groups accused of carrying out the bombings.

HONG KONG FULLY WELCOMES POLL REFORMS, SAYS CARRIE LAM

Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam on Monday said the city’s government “fully welcomes” changes to the city’s electoral system that will substantially increase central government control over Hong Kong politics and exclude critics of Beijing.

Chinese authorities have said the draft decision before China’s National People’s Congress would mean the largely pro-Beijing committee that elects Hong Kong’s leader would also choose a large part of the legislature to ensure the city is run by “patriots.” The Election Committee would also have the right to vet candidates for the Legislative Council, weeding out any people suspected of being insufficiently loyal to China and the ruling Communist Party.

Currently, half of Hong Kong’s legislature is directly elected by voters, although the mass resignation of opposition legislators to protest the expulsion of four of their colleagues for being “unpatriotic” means the body is now entirely controlled by Beijing loyalists.

“There are loopholes in the electoral systems, there are also flaws in the systems in Hong Kong,” Ms. Lam said at a news conference after she returned from the National People’s Congress in Beijing. “I fully understand that this is not a matter that can be addressed entirely by the government.” “I’m glad that the central authorities have, again, exercised their constitutional powers to help address this problem for Hong Kong,” she said.

The planned electoral changes have drawn criticism in Hong Kong and abroad, including from the United States.

ACTIVISTS IN RACE TO SAVE DIGITAL TRACE OF SYRIA WAR

From videos of deadly air strikes to jihadist takeovers, Al-Mutez Billah's YouTube page served as a digital archive of the Syrian war until automated takedown software in 2017 erased it permanently.

The page exhibiting footage that violated YouTube's community standards could not be restored because Al-Mutez Billah, a citizen-journalist, had been executed by the Islamic State group three years earlier over his documentation efforts.

"It's not just videos that have been deleted, it's an entire archive of our life," said Sarmad Jilane, a Syrian activist and close friend of Al-Mutez Billah, who was killed at the age of 21.

"Effectively, it feels like a part of our visual memory has been erased."

The Google-owned YouTube platform has deleted hundreds of thousands of videos uploaded by Syrian activists since it introduced automated software in 2017 to detect and delete objectionable content, including violent or graphic videos.

It is not the only social media giant relying on artificial intelligence takedowns, but the platform is home to the majority of Syria war footage, making it an even bigger blow.

The videos showing regime bombardments, executions by jihadists and chemical attacks had served as a vital window into a conflict which has remained largely off limits to journalists and investigators and was captured mostly by the people living it.

With the war entering its 11th year, there is growing concern that digital evidence of history's most documented conflict is being syphoned away by the internet's indiscriminate trash can.

"The videos are part of an entire population's memory," Jilane said.