February, 2016

• 29 February

  Clinton allies gather ammo to blunt Trump nomination

  

  Columbia / AP Hillary Clinton, fresh off her South Carolina primary landslide, is shifting her focus to Republican front-runner Donald Trump as her party seeks consensus on the best ways to challenge the billionaire’s unpredictable nature in a general election campaign. As Clinton nears the 11 state contests to be decided on Super Tuesday this week, allies of the former ...

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• 29 February

  Trump in hot water over ‘white supremacist call’

  

  Leesburg / AP Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump is drawing criticism for refusing to denounce an implicit endorsement from a white supremacist leader, with his main rivals, Sens. Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio, using the matter to hammer the billionaire businessman just two days before multiple state primaries could put him on an irreversible path to the party’s nomination. Trump ...

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• 29 February

  Ireland’s divided lawmakers mull awkward pacts, 2nd vote

  

  Dublin / AFP Ireland’s election has produced a parliament full of feuding factions and no obvious road to a majority government, spurring lawmakers to warn that the country could face a protracted political deadlock followed by a second election. For the first time in Irish electoral history, the combined popular vote on Friday for Ireland’s two political heavyweights — the ...

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• 29 February

  Desperate migrants protest at Greece-Macedonia border

  

  Idomeni / AFP Stranded migrants lay with their children on rail tracks at Greece’s northern border, demanding to be allowed to continue their journey, as Germany warned that Europe cannot let the country “plunge into chaos”. German Chancellor Angela Merkel was speaking as Athens said that the number of migrants trapped in Greece could triple after Balkan countries announced a ...

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• 29 February

  UN eyes Syria aid deliveries as ceasefire enters day three

  

  Damascus / AFP The United Nations prepared to deliver aid to thousands of besieged civilians in Syria on Monday as a fragile ceasefire entered its third day largely intact despite accusations of violations. UN humanitarian coordinator Yacoub El Hillo said the world body hoped to take advantage of the first major truce in five years of conflict to distribute supplies ...

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• 29 February

  30 Killed in Somalia restaurant bombings

  Mogadishu / AFP At least 30 people have been killed in twin bomb attacks claimed by Shebab extremists at a busy restaurant in the Somali city of Baidoa, the regional governor said on Monday. “The official number of the dead has reached 30 people—all of them civilians—and 61 others have been wounded, 15 of them seriously,” Abdurashid Abdulahi, governor of ...

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• 29 February

  UN to send human rights investigators to Burundi

  Narobi / AFP The UN said on Monday it will send a team of human rights investigators to Burundi to look into allegations of widespread violations committed during the country’s 10-month long crisis. The three investigators are due to visit Burundi for a week from March 1, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) said in a ...

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• 29 February

  Thousands protest in Pakistan as governor’s killer hanged

  

  Rawalpindi / AFP Thousands protested in Pakistani cities on Monday against the execution of a man hailed by hardlines as a hero for killing a provincial governor who was seeking reform of the blasphemy law. Protests against the hanging of Mumtaz Qadri were held in Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad and several smaller cities, with demonstrators burning tyres and chanting slogans. But ...

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• 29 February

  Iran hardliners lose seats on top clerical body

  

  Tehran / AFP Iranian hardliners suffered another election setback on Monday with two leading conservatives ejected from the top clerical body, handing another victory to moderate President Hassan Rouhani whose reformist allies made gains. The public’s rejection of ayatollahs Mohammad Yazdi and Mohammad Taghi Mesbah-Yazdi when picking the powerful Assembly of Experts came as final results were also awaited for ...

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• 29 February

  A new theory of inequality

  

  Thumbing through the annual report of the White House’s Council of Economic Advisers (CEA) is always an education. This year’s 430-page edition is no exception. Crammed with tables and charts, it brims with useful facts and insights. —On page 62, we learn that the growth of state and local government spending on services (schools, police, parks) has been the slowest ...

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