UIGHURS: WESTERN COUNTRIES SANCTION CHINA OVER RIGHTS ABUSES

Several Western countries have imposed sanctions on officials in China over rights abuses against the mostly Muslim Uighur minority group.

China has detained Uighurs at camps in the north-west region of Xinjiang, where allegations of torture, forced labour and sexual abuse have emerged.

The sanctions were introduced as a coordinated effort by the European Union, UK, US and Canada.

China responded with its own sanctions on European officials.

It has denied the allegations of abuse, claiming the camps are "re-education" facilities used to combat terrorism.

But UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said the treatment of Uighurs amounted to "appalling violations of the most basic human rights".

SYDNEY FLOODS: THOUSANDS FLEE WORST FLOODING IN 60 YEARS

Australian authorities are planning to evacuate thousands more people on Monday from flood-affected suburbs in Sydney’s west, which is set for its worst flooding in 60 years with another day of drenching rain expected.

Unrelenting rains over the past three days swelled rivers in Australia’s most populous state of New South Wales (NSW), causing widespread damage and triggering calls for mass evacuations.

“Flooding is likely to be higher than any floods since Nov 1961,” NSW emergency services said in a tweet late Sunday. Authorities expect the wild weather to continue until Wednesday.

The fast-moving flood waters detached houses, swept away vehicles and farm animals, and submerged roads, bridges, houses and farms, television and social media footage showed.

Nearly 2,000 people have already been evacuated from low lying areas, NSW emergency services said.

Large parts of the country’s east coast will get hit by more heavy rains from Monday due to the combination of a tropical low over northern Western Australia and a coastal trough off NSW, the weather bureau said.

“These are very, very serious and very severe storms and floods, and it’s a very complex weather system too ... so this is a very testing time,” Prime Minister Scott Morrison told radio station 2GB on Monday.

Sydney on Sunday recorded the wettest day of the year with almost 111 mm (4.4 inches) of rain, while some regions in NSW’s north coast received nearly 900 mm of rain in the last six days, more than three times the March average, government data showed.

COLORADO SUPERMARKET SHOOTING CLAIMS 'MULTIPLE' LIVES, SUSPECT ARRESTED, POLICE SAY

A gunman opened fire inside a Colorado supermarket Monday, killing 10 people, including a police officer, authorities said. One person was taken into custody at the scene in Boulder, where police said there was no ongoing threat to the public.

Boulder Police Chief Maris Herold identified the slain officer as 51-year-old Eric Talley, who had been with the department since 2010.

Boulder County District Attorney Michael Dougherty said Talley's life was "cut much too short," and said a "painstaking investigation is already underway."

No other victims were identified.

Dougherty said the shooter is now in custody. CBS Denver helicopter footage captured authorities escorting a shirtless man in handcuffs who appeared to have a bleeding leg from the scene, but authorities would not confirm if that man is the person in custody.

Witnesses described a chaotic scene as several loud bangs went off in the grocery store. One man said that he first thought someone had dropped something inside the store — but by the third shot, he said, everyone started running.

"I can't believe it's happening in Boulder," he told CBS Denver.

On Monday, Colorado senator Michael Bennet -- a Democrat -- urged Americans "to revisit a national conversation about gun violence that does not regress into partisanship."

BANGLADESH: SEVERAL DEAD, THOUSANDS OF HOMES BURN AS FIRE SWEEPS ROHINGYA CAMP

A huge fire swept through a Rohingya refugee camp in southern Bangladesh on Monday, destroying thousands of homes and killing several people, officials and witnesses said, in the worst blaze to hit the settlement in recent years.

Video and photographs showed a blaze ripping through the Balukhali camp in Cox's Bazar. Black smoke billowed over burning shanties and tents as people scrambled to recover their possessions.

"Fire services, rescue and response teams and volunteers are at the scene to try to control the fire and prevent it spreading further," said Louise Donovan, spokesperson for UN refugee agency UNHCR in Cox's Bazar.

Mohammed Shamsud Douza, the deputy Bangladesh government official in charge of refugees, said authorities were trying to control the blaze.

Rohingya refugees in the camps said many homes were burned down and several people had died, but neither the authorities nor the UNHCR could confirm the number of deaths. The cause of the blaze has not been established.

SAUDI PROPOSES CEASEFIRE IN YEMEN, HOUTHIS SCEPTICAL

Saudi Arabia presented a new peace initiative on Monday to end the war in Yemen, including a nationwide ceasefire and the reopening of air and sea links, but its Houthi enemies said the offer did not appear to go far enough to lift a blockade.

The initiative, announced by Saudi foreign minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, would include the reopening of Sanaa airport, and would allow fuel and food imports through Hodeidah port, both of which are controlled by the Iran-aligned Houthis. Political negotiations between the Saudi-backed government and the Houthis would be restarted, said the prince. The offer was welcomed by the Saudi-backed Yemeni government in a statement from the foreign ministry based in the southern port of Aden. But the Houthis said the initiative provided “nothing new”, as it still fell short of their demand. “We expected that Saudi Arabia would announce an end to the blockade of ports and airports and an initiative to allow in 14 ships that are held by the coalition,” the group’s chief negotiator Mohammed Abdulsalam said.

ASTRAZENECA US TRIAL CLAIMS 79% EFFICACY AGAINST COVID

AstraZeneca says advanced trial data from a US study on its Covid vaccine shows it is 79 per cent effective.

Although AstraZeneca’s vaccine has been authorised in more than 50 countries, it has not yet been given the green light in the US. The US study comprised 30,000 volunteers, 20,000 of whom were given the vaccine while the rest got dummy shots. The results were announced on Monday.

AstraZeneca said its Covid-19 vaccine had a 79 per cent efficacy rate at preventing symptomatic Covid and was 100 per cent effective in stopping severe disease and hospitalisation. Investigators said the vaccine was effective across all ages, including older people — which previous studies in other countries had failed to establish. The early findings from the US study are just one set of information AstraZeneca must submit to the Food and Drug Administration. An FDA advisory committee will publicly debate the evidence behind the shots before the agency decides whether to allow emergency use of the vaccine.

GERMANY TO ENTER STRICT FIVE-DAY SHUTDOWN OVER EASTER: CHANCELLOR ANGELA MERKEL

Germany will prolong its coronavirus restrictions until April 18 and enter a strict shutdown for five days over Easter in a bid to halt soaring infection rates, Chancellor Angela Merkel said Tuesday morning after marathon talks with regional leaders.

As well as extending existing measures including keeping cultural, leisure and sporting facilities shut, Merkel and Germany's 16 state premiers agreed a tougher shutdown between April 1 and 5.

Almost all shops will be shut during the five days, and religious services will be moved online over Easter. Only grocers will be allowed to open on Saturday April 3.

TWITTER CEO JACK DORSEY SELLS NFT OF FIRST TWEET FOR $2.9 MILLION

Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey has sold a digital version of his first tweet for more than $2.9 million more than two weeks after he announced a digital auction for the post.

The tweet from March 2006, which says "just setting up my twttr," was bought by Bridge Oracle CEO Sina Estavi, according to Valuables by Cent, the digital platform where the digital auction for the tweet was held.

The 15-year-old post was sold as a non-fungible token, or NFT — a digital certificate of authenticity that confirms an item is real and one of a kind by recording the details on a blockchain digital ledger.

Dorsey tweeted earlier this month that the proceeds would be converted to Bitcoin, a digital currency not tied to a bank or government, and given to non-profit Give Directly's Africa Response. The charity has been raising money to support African families who were financially impacted by the coronavirus pandemic.

CHINA, RUSSIA LOOK TO DEEPEN ‘BEST IN HISTORY’ TIES

Russia’s relations with China were currently at “the best in their entire history”, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said as he began a key visit to China on Monday.

Mr. Lavrov said in an interview with Chinese State media, ahead of his talks with his counterpart Wang Yi, that “the international situation is undergoing profound changes, with new centres of economic, financial and political influence growing stronger”.

“However, these objective developments, which are leading to the formation of a truly multipolar and democratic world, are unfortunately being hindered by Western countries, particularly the United States,” he said, adding that “they seek to continue to dominate at any cost on global economy and politics and impose their will and requirements on others”.

“In response, Russia and China are promoting a constructive and unifying agenda and hope that the international governance system would be fair and democratic, run smoothly and be based on extensive interaction between countries and their integration initiatives,” the official Xinhua news agency quoted him as saying, adding that the “mutually trusting and respectful dialogue should serve as an example to other countries”.

“Current Russia-China relations are assessed both by our national leaders and citizens as the best in their entire history,” he said. “This is a well-deserved and fair assessment.”

GANDHI PEACE PRIZE FOR MUJIBUR RAHMAN, LATE SULTAN OF OMAN

The government on Monday announced to confer the Gandhi Peace Prize 2020 on Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the father of Bangladesh, and 2019 edition of the award on the late Sultan of Oman, Qaboos bin Said Al Said.

The Gandhi Peace Prize jury chaired by PM Narendra Modi met on March 19 and unanimously decided to select Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and Sultan Qaboos bin Said Al Said as the recipients “in recognition of their outstanding contributions for social, economic and political transformation through non-violent and other Gandhian methods.” This is the first time since inception in 1995 that the prizes are being awarded posthumously.

The announcements came ahead of the PM’s visit to Bangladesh on March 26 for Bangladesh National Day celebrations and mark Mujib Borsho, the birth centenary of Sheikh Mujibir Rahman, 50 years of the war of the Bangladesh liberation and 50 years of diplomatic engagement between India and Bangladesh. The award comprises Rs 1 crore, a citation and a plaque.