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U.S. President Joe Biden said in an interview broadcast on Wednesday that it will be “tough” for him to meet a May 1 deadline to withdraw the last troops from Afghanistan, ending America’s longest war.

Source: reuters.com

A four-year-old boy with autism was removed from a flight in the US after the airline refused to recognise his disability and insisted he should wear a face mask, his mother said. Spirit Airlines told US media that all their passengers except those aged under two must wear a mask. US guidelines say travellers with a medical exemption should not be required to wear a face covering. The boy's mother said he loved planes and was distraught after being removed.

Source: bbc.com

Ursula Von der Leyen vows to block exports to countries with higher vaccination rates and calls on UK to hand over jabs - despite half of Europe banning AstraZeneca vaccine.

Source: dailymail

A top World Health Organization expert on vaccines says people should feel reassured that even if health authorities turn up a link between blood clots and the AstraZeneca vaccine, such cases are “very rare.” Dr. Kate O’Brien, who heads WHO’s department of immunizations and vaccines, said the U.N. health agency and the European Medicines Agency are trying to investigate the possibility of a link between blood clots and the AstraZeneca shots. The potential side effect has prompted some countries -- mostly in Europe -- to temporarily suspend use of the AstraZeneca vaccine.

Source: apnews.com

She was the only woman to win Germany’s Nurburgring 24 Hours – winning in both 1996 and 1997.

Source: bbc.com

It can fix pipelines on the ocean floor. The self-propelling robot can travel up to 20 kilometers before needing to return to its station to recharge. It can also swap out parts for different tasks, including tools to operate subsea valves, and cleaning brushes to remove marine growth and sediments.

Source: cnn.com

Iceland has recorded more than 50,000 earthquakes in the past three weeks. This unusual activity indicates a volcanic eruption is on its way. Scientists are baffled over when it will happen and Icelanders are learning to live with the shakes.

Source: bbc.com

No vaccination, no voyage – that will be the rule for the UK’s leading cruise line when it resumes domestic sailings in June. P&O Cruises says only people who have received both Covid-19 jabs, and waited a further week, will be allowed onboard the first voyages the company plans to operate since April last year.

Source: independent

French former President Nicolas Sarkozy is scheduled to go on trial Wednesday on charges that his unsuccessful reelection bid in 2012 was illegally financed. The new case is scheduled to open two weeks after he was convicted of corruption and influence peddling in another case, a decision he has appealed. However, the new trial is likely to be quickly suspended and postponed to a later date because one of the defense lawyers has been hospitalized with COVID-19.

Source: apnews.com

A dog that got loose in Sioux City, Iowa, last month just as record cold weather was blowing into the area was found more than 100 miles away and three weeks later. Just how the dog, a black Lab and pit bull mix named Ivy, managed that is still a bit of a mystery. Ivy and another dog escaped from a backyard on Feb. 12, the Omaha World-Herald reported.

Source: foxnews.com

The disruption in healthcare services caused by Covid-19 may have led to an estimated 239,000 maternal and child deaths in South Asia, according to a new UN report. It's focused on Afghanistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, home to some 1.8 billion people. The report found that women, children and adolescents were the worst-hit. South Asia has reported nearly 13 million Covid cases and more than 186,000 deaths so far.

Source: bbc.com

Humans might be tiring of video calls, Zoom birthdays and streamed performances, but the chimps at two Czech zoos are just starting to enjoy their new live online link-up. To make up for the lack of interaction with visitors since the attractions closed in December under Covid-19 restrictions, the chimpanzees at Safari Park Dvur Kralove and the troop at a zoo 150km away in in Brno, can now watch one another’s daily lives on giant screens.

Source: theguardian.com

Colorado was hit by the fourth largest snowstorm in its history over the weekend and lions at the Denver Zoo took advantage by playing in the thick snow.

 

Rumours circulated last week following Juventus' surprise Champions League exit to Porto that Cristiano Ronaldo could be making a dramatic return to Real Madrid this summer. The Liga club are struggling domestically and Ronaldo is supposedly not happy in Turin. However, Eurosport Spain's Football Insider can reveal Real are not interested in bringing him back.

Source: eurosport.com

It's a longstanding mystery: how Mars lost the water that flowed across its surface billions of years ago. Scientists now think they have an answer: much of it became trapped in the outer layer of Mars - its crust. They argue that a vast amount of Mars' ancient water is locked up in minerals below the surface of the Red Planet.

Source: bbc.com

A 19-year-old Russian hockey player has died after being hit in the head by the puck during a game, his club and the league said on Tuesday. Defenseman Timur Faizutdinov was playing for Dynamo St Petersburg’s junior team in a playoff game against Loko Yaroslavl on Friday when he was struck by a puck hit from the neutral zone.

Source: theguardian.com

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has announced he is appointing a new health minister - the fourth since the coronavirus pandemic began. Marcelo Queiroga, a cardiologist, is to replace General Eduardo Pazuello, an army officer with no medical training. It comes as the number of Covid-19-related deaths in Brazil approaches 280,000.

Source: bbc.com

The World Health Organization's vaccine safety experts were due to meet Tuesday to discuss the Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine, as the list of countries temporarily halting its rollout over blood clot concerns continued to grow. WHO on Monday appealed to countries to keep vaccination campaigns going, saying there was no evidence the vaccine caused clotting issues.

Source: cnn.com