While You Were Sleeping: 5 stories you might have missed, March 26
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Russian-made T-90 tanks march along Rajpath during the Republic Day parade in New Delhi, on Jan 26, 2021.
PHOTO: AFP
US calls India's position over Ukraine 'unsatisfactory' but unsurprising
A senior White House official said on Friday (March 25) India's position at the United Nations over the crisis in Ukraine has been "unsatisfactory" but was also unsurprising given its historical relationship with Russia.
Mira Rapp-Hooper, director for the Indo-Pacific on the White House National Security Council, told an online forum hosted by Washington's School of Advanced International Studies India needed alternatives to continued close ties with Russia.
"I think we would certainly all acknowledge and agree that when it comes to votes at the UN, India's position on the current crisis has been unsatisfactory, to say the least. But it's also been totally unsurprising," she said.
US cancels talks with Taliban over U-turn on girls' education
The United States abruptly cancelled meetings with the Taliban in Doha that were set to address key economic issues, officials said on Friday (March 25), after Afghanistan's Islamist rulers reversed a decision to allow all girls to return to high school classes.
The cancellation of talks was the first concrete sign that the Taliban's recent moves on human rights and inclusivity could directly impact the international community's willingness to help the group, some of whose leaders are under US sanctions.
"Their decision was a deeply disappointing and inexplicable reversal of commitments to the Afghan people, first and foremost, and also to the international community," a US State Department spokesperson told Reuters.
France's Macron aiming to talk to Putin in next 48-72 hours over Mariupol siege
French President Emmanuel Macron said he was targeting more talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin within the next 48-72 hours regarding the situation in Ukraine and an initiative to help people leave the besieged city of Mariupol.
Macron said he was coordinating efforts with Greece and Turkey and hoped to convince Russia to allow the evacuation.
The southeastern port of Mariupol, a city of 400,000 before the war, has been among the worst hit by the Russian bombardment. Tens of thousands of people are still believed to be trapped with little access to food, power or heat, while the city around them has been reduced to ruins.
Biden compares Russian invasion to Tiananmen Square
US President Joe Biden on Friday (March 25) compared Russia's invasion of Ukraine to China's crushing of protests in Tiananmen Square in 1989, speaking during a visit to Poland near the border with Ukraine.
Biden also referred to Russian President Vladimir Putin as "a man who, quite frankly, I think is a war criminal", adding: "And I think we'll meet the legal definition of that as well."
Biden spoke at meetings with US soldiers stationed in Poland close to the border and with aid workers helping to deal with the massive refugee crisis caused by the conflict in Ukraine.
Tennis: Kyrgios fined US$25,000 by ATP for Indian Wells outbursts
Australian Nick Kyrgios has been fined US$25,000 (S$33,952) for nearly hitting a ball boy after smashing his racket and yelling an audible obscenity during his Indian Wells loss to Rafa Nadal earlier this month, the governing body ATP said on Friday (March 25).
Following his 7-6(0) 5-7 6-4 defeat, Kyrgios smashed his racket into the ground and it bounced and nearly struck a ball boy. The 28-year-old also swore at a fan during the match as he repeatedly clashed with the crowd and the chair umpire.
Kyrgios was fined US$20,000 for unsportsmanlike conduct and US$5,000 for an audible obscenity, an ATP spokesperson said in a statement.
