Several hundred opposition supporters were camped out in tents outside Armenia's parliament on Friday demanding Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's resignation over his handling of last year's war with Azerbaijan.

The small South Caucasus nation plunged Thursday into a fresh political crisis as Pashinyan defied calls to resign, accused the military of an attempted coup and rallied some 20,000 supporters in the capital Yerevan.
The opposition gathered some 10,000 of its own supporters, who put up tents outside the parliament building, erected barricades and vowed to hold round-the-clock demonstrations.
On Friday morning, opposition supporters blocked streets near the parliament building as they prepared to stage a new rally set for 0900 GMT.
A leader of the opposition Dashnaktsutyun party, Gegham Manukyan, told reporters that opposition parties would only speak with Pashinyan about "his resignation."
Pashinyan has said he is ready to start talks with the opposition to defuse tensions, but also threatened to arrest any opponents if they violate the law.
Pashinyan has faced fierce criticism since he signed a peace deal brokered by Russia that ended the conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh, an ethnic Armenian region that broke from Azerbaijan's control during a war in the early 1990s.
Fresh fighting erupted over the region in late September with Azerbaijani forces backed by ally Turkey making steady gains.
After six weeks of clashes and bombardments that claimed some 6,000 lives, a ceasefire agreement was signed that handed over significant territory to Azerbaijan and allowed for the deployment of Russian peacekeepers.
The agreement was seen as a national humiliation for many in Armenia, though Pashinyan has said he had no choice but to agree or see his country's forces suffer even bigger losses.
Armenia's military had backed Pashinyan for months but on Thursday the military's general staff joined calls for him to step down, saying in a statement that he and his cabinet were "not capable of taking adequate decisions".

The opposition gathered some 10,000 of its own supporters, who put up tents outside the parliament building, erected barricades and vowed to hold round-the-clock demonstrations

Opposition supporters gather by tents set near the National Assembly building in Yerevan

Armenia opposition supporters camp outside parliament

New York prosecutors investigating former president Donald Trump's finances have finally received his tax returns following a marathon legal battle, a spokesman said Thursday.

-Our office obtained the records on Monday- Danny Frost, a spokesman for Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance, told AFP.
Vance's office obtained the returns after the Supreme Court rejected Monday a last-ditch bid by Trump's lawyers to block the release of the records.
The prosecutor is investigating hush payments made to two women who allege they had affairs with Trump and possible fraud.
Vance, a Democrat, fought for over a year to obtain the eight years of returns from Trump's accountants Mazars USA.
He issued a subpoena to the firm in August 2019 ordering them to furnish documents stretching back to 2011.
But Trump's lawyers fought bitterly to block the subpoena.
In July, the Supreme Court rejected their argument that as a sitting president Trump was immune from prosecution.
His attorneys then challenged the scope of the requested documents, saying it was too broad.
Vance's probe was initially focused on payments made before the 2016 presidential election to two women who claim they had affairs with Trump, including porn star Stormy Daniels.
But the state-level investigation is also now examining possible allegations of tax evasion, and insurance and bank fraud.
Trump, who left the White House last month, has called the investigation "a continuation of the greatest political witch hunt in the history of our country."
-The Supreme Court never should have let this 'fishing expedition' happen, but they did- the 74-year-said following Monday's ruling.

US presidents are not required by law to release details of their personal finances but every US leader since Richard Nixon has done so.

Trump repeatedly said he would release them pending an audit but ultimately broke with the tradition.
Vance's investigators have interviewed Trump's former personal lawyer Michael Cohen, who received a three-year prison term after admitting making the payments to the two women.
The ex-lawyer also testified to Congress that Trump and his company artificially inflated and devalued the worth of their assets to both obtain bank loans and reduce their taxes.
If Trump were charged and convicted he could face a possible jail term. Unlike federal offenses, state crimes are not subject to presidential pardons. 
Investigators also recently interviewed employees of Deutsche Bank, which has long backed the former president and the Trump Organization, US media reported.
They spoke to staff at Trump's insurance broker Aon, too.
Vance's investigation is taking place behind closed doors in front of a Grand Jury, meaning the public may never see the tax records
It is unclear if and when the probe will lead to a prosecution, which would be the first of a former US president.
Ahead of the November 3rd election, The New York Times alleged that Trump had avoided paying federal taxes in 11 out of the 18 years for which it had obtained returns.
The newspaper also reported that Trump paid just $750 in federal income taxes in 2016 and 2017, a claim the former president denies.
New York state's Attorney General Letitia James is also investigating allegations of bank fraud and insurance fraud through civil proceedings.

US presidents are not required by law to release details of their personal finances but every US leader since Richard Nixon has done so

Trump repeatedly said he would release them pending an audit but ultimately broke with the tradition

New York prosecutors finally obtain Trump's tax records

Hundreds of historical artifacts of Anatolian origin recovered in Hungary were returned to Turkey on Thursday.

The 412 items were found by Hungarian authorities in a Turkish national's possession back in 2015.
They include the head of a Roman-era marble statue, a marble figurine, metal, wood, and stone artifacts, as well as multiple coins.
The artifacts were handed over to Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu by his counterpart Peter Szijjarto in Hungary’s capital Budapest.
Thanking Hungary for the gesture, the Turkish minister said on Twitter: -Received the cultural artifacts of Anatolia origin confiscated in 2015 in Hungary. Appreciate friendly Hungary’s support in this process.-Turkey’s Culture and Tourism Ministry has started the process of bringing the artifacts back to Turkey, where they will be exhibited in the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations in the capital Ankara.

Artifacts of Anatolian origin recovered in 2015 handed over during Foreign Minister Cavusoglu's visit to Hungary

Artifacts include the head of a Roman-era marble statue, a marble figurine, metal, wood, and stone artifacts, as well as multiple coins

Turkey gets back historical artifacts from Hungary

Boeing Co was planning to replace engine covers on its 777 jets months before a pair of recent serious failures, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday, citing an internal Federal Aviation Administration document.

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on Tuesday ordered immediate inspections of 777s with Pratt &amp; Whitney RTX.N PW4000 engines before further flights, after an engine failed on a United Airlines 777 on Saturday.
The planemaker and the FAA had been discussing potential fixes for about two years, following an earlier incident in 2018, according to the Journal.
Boeing did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Although immediate attention has focused on the engine’s manufacturer, Pratt &amp; Whitney, Reuters has reported that its cowling, or casing, is manufactured by Boeing.
Boeing has declined to comment on its manufacturing role and referred questions on the part to U.S. air accident investigators.
The inspections affect older 777s fitted with Pratt &amp; Whitney engines. Newer models, mainly powered by rival General Electric, are not affected.

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on Tuesday ordered immediate inspections of 777s with Pratt & Whitney RTX.N PW4000 engines before further flights

The damaged starboard engine of United Airlines flight 328, a Boeing 777-200, is seen following a Feb. 20 engine failure incident, in a hangar at Denver International Airport in Denver, Colorado, U.S. February 22, 2021.

Boeing planned to replace 777 engine covers before failures: WSJ

Facebook on Thursday said it had banned the Myanmar military from using its Facebook and Instagram platforms with immediate effect, as weeks of mass demonstrations continue in the Southeast Asian country after the military seized power.-Events since the February 1 coup, including deadly violence, have precipitated a need for this ban- Facebook said in a blog post. -We believe the risks of allowing the Tatmadaw (Myanmar army) on Facebook and Instagram are too great.-The army seized power this month after alleging fraud in a Nov. 8 election swept by Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD), detaining her and much of the party leadership.
At least three protesters and one policeman have been killed in violence at rallies.
The U.S tech giant said it would also ban all “Tatmadaw-linked commercial entities” from advertising on its platforms.
It said the decision to ban the Myanmar army came due to “exceptionally severe human rights abuses and the clear risk of future military-initiated violence in Myanmar”, as well as the army’s repeated history of violating Facebook’s rules, including since the coup.
Facebook said the ban covered the military and its sub-units, army controlled-media and the ministries of home affairs, defence and border affairs, which are under direct military control.The military government could not immediately be reached for comment.
Facebook is widely used in Myanmar and has been one of the ways the junta has communicated with people, despite an official move to ban on the platform in the early days of the coup.
The platform in recent years has engaged with civil rights activists and democratic political parties in Myanmar and pushed back against the military after facing international criticism for failing to contain online hate campaigns.
In 2018, it banned army chief Min Aung Hlaing - now the military ruler - and 19 other senior officers and organisations, and took down hundreds of pages and accounts run by military members for coordinated inauthentic behaviour.
Ahead of November elections, Facebook announced it had taken down a network of 70 fake accounts and pages operated by members of the military that had posted either positive content about the army or criticism of Suu Kyi and her party.
The platform said on Thursday there had been attempts to rebuild army-run networks it had previously removed.

The U.S tech giant said it would also ban all “Tatmadaw-linked commercial entities” from advertising on its platforms

"We believe the risks of allowing the Tatmadaw (Myanmar army) on Facebook and Instagram are too great"

Facebook bans Myanmar military from its platforms with immediate effect

German prosecutors said Thursday they have filed spying charges against a German man suspected of passing on data from parliament to Russian secret services.

The suspect, named only as Jens F., worked for a company that was contracted by the Bundestag to carry out regular checks on electric equipment in parliament.
-Against this background, the defendant had access to PDF files with the floor plans of- parliamentary properties, said federal prosecutors.
The suspect is believed to have decided sometime in the summer of 2017 to pass on the information to Russian secret services.
-For that, he prepared a data carrier with the correspondending PDF files and sent it to an employee in the Russian embassy in Berlin, who mainly works for the Russian military secret service GRU- said prosecutors.
German intelligence services have repeatedly warned about spying attempts or cyberattacks launched by Russian hackers.
Chancellor Angela Merkel herself told parliament last May that she had concrete proof that Russia was targeting her in the attacks.
The German parliament fell victim in 2015 to a cyber assault, and local media have named the suspect in that attack as Dmitry Badin, who is also wanted by the FBI for other similar attempts.
The latest spy charges raised by prosecutors are likely to further inflame tensions between Berlin and Moscow.
Ties are already badly frayed over the poisoning and subsequent jailing of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny.
Moscow has firmly denied any accusations of cyberattacks, or involvement in the poisoning of Navalny using the deadly Soviet-era nerve agent Novichok. 
But Germany has pointed to 'unequivocal' proof of the Novichok murder attempt.
Navalny had received treatment in Berlin but last month returned to Moscow where he was immediately imprisoned.
The European Union earlier this week agreed new sanctions on four senior Russian officials over the Navalny affair.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has lashed out at the decision, saying the West was seeking to "shackle" his country.

The suspect, named only as Jens F., worked for a company that was contracted by the Bundestag to carry out regular checks on electric equipment in parliament

The suspect is believed to have decided sometime in the summer of 2017 to pass on the information to Russian secret services

German man charged for spying at parliament for Russians

At least 41 people drowned when a boat capsized in the Central Mediterranean on Feb. 20, the UN’s refugee and migration agencies said on Wednesday.

The UNHCR team in Sicily said it has gathered testimonies from survivors about the shipwreck that took place two days after a dinghy with 120 people left Libya on Feb. 18.
The people on board included six women, one of whom was pregnant, and four children, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the UNHCR said in a joint statement.
The agencies are currently waiting for 77 survivors to be disembarked from a commercial vessel, Vos Triton, in the Sicilian port of Porto Empedocle.
According to the survivors, the dinghy started to take in water about 15 hours after setting off from Libya.
At least six people died after falling into the water, while two others tried to swim to a boat visible in the distance and drowned.
After about three hours, the Vos Triton approached the dinghy to carry out a rescue, but many more people lost their lives in the difficult and delicate operation, the IOM and UNHCR reported.
Only one body has been recovered and the missing include three children and four women, one of whom left behind a newborn baby currently on the tiny Italian island of Lampedusa.
-Saving the lives of refugees and migrants in distress in the Mediterranean must once again become a priority for the European Union and the international community- read the statement.
Some 160 people have died in the Central Mediterranean since the start of 2021, according to data collected by international organizations.
Tens of thousands of migrants travelling along the route through Libya to the Central Mediterranean have fallen victim to unrelenting brutality at the hands of traffickers and militias.
Of the more than 3,800 persons who reached Italy by sea between Jan. 1 and Feb. 21 this year, over 2,500 had departed from Libya.
According to data collected by the IOM, more than 3,580 people were intercepted at sea and returned to Libya in the same period.
The IOM and UNHCR reiterated that Libya cannot be considered a safe port and that every effort must be made to ensure that people rescued at sea are not sent back to the country.

Boat carrying 120 people capsized 2 days after leaving Libya, UN agencies stress need to strengthen Europe's rescue system

The agencies are currently waiting for 77 survivors to be disembarked from a commercial vessel, Vos Triton, in the Sicilian port of Porto Empedocle

41 people dead in latest Mediterranean shipwreck: UN

Militants from Nigeria’s oil-rich region have threatened to attack the country's capital and economic hub for alleged neglect of the Niger-Delta, the nation’s petroleum producing area.

In a video statement Wednesday, Supreme Egbesu Liberation Fighters said they will target Abuja, the federal capital, and Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial city, if the government failed to improve the infrastructure of the Niger-Delta region, southern part of the West African country.
-The Nigerian government over the years has decided to handle the issue of the Niger-Delta with kid gloves- the group claimed.
It decried the heavy presence of military personnel and gunboats in the region and asked the government to invest more in the infrastructure of the area.
The presidency is yet to react to the threat.
Daniel Alabrah, a spokesman for Bayelsa State governor, one of the states in the region, also declined to comment on the threat.
Revenue from crude oil account for more than half of Nigeria's earnings. Crude oil export currently stands at 2.2 million barrel per day, according to a recent report by the nation's petroleum corporation.

Group claims oil-rich Niger-Delta neglected by government

Militants from Nigeria’s oil-rich region have threatened to attack the country's capital and economic hub for alleged neglect of the Niger-Delta

Nigeria: militants threaten to attack major cities

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken discussed a range of issues with Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, including partnership and human rights, the State Department said Tuesday.

The two diplomats discussed a "strong strategic partnership" between the two nations on security and counterterrorism cooperation over the telephone, said agency spokesperson Ned Price in a statement.
"The Secretary raised concerns over human rights, which he emphasized would be central to the U.S.-Egypt bilateral relationship, and Egypt’s potential procurement of Su-35 fighter aircraft from Russia," said the statement.
Blinken and Shoukry also talked about supporting UN-facilitated peace negotiations in Libya, the Middle East peace process and counterterrorism cooperation in the Sinai.
Blinken later said on Twitter that he looks forward to "strengthening our historic partnership" with Cairo.
-Our shared security interests must align with respect for democracy and human rights, including the importance of a strong civil society- Blinken tweeted.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">Spoke today with Egypt Foreign Minister Shoukry. Our shared security interests must align with respect for democracy and human rights, including the importance of a strong civil society. I look forward to strengthening our historic partnership.— Secretary Antony Blinken (@SecBlinken) <a href="https://twitter.com/SecBlinken/status/1364269820041117703?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 23, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

'Our shared security interests must align with respect for democracy and human rights,' Secretary of State tweets

Human rights central to US-Egypt relationship: Blinken

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said on Tuesday it was ordering immediate inspections of Boeing 777 planes with Pratt &amp; Whitney PW4000 engines before further flights after an engine failed on a United flight on Saturday.The engines are used on 128 older versions of the plane accounting for less than 10% of the more than 1,600 777s delivered and only a handful of airlines in the United States, South Korea and Japan were operating them recently.
Operators must conduct a thermal acoustic image inspection of the large titanium fan blades on each engine, the FAA said.
The National Transportation Safety Board said on Monday that a cracked fan blade from the United Flight 328 engine that caught fire was consistent with metal fatigue.
-Based on the initial results as we receive them, as well as other data gained from the ongoing investigation, the FAA may revise this directive to set a new interval for this inspection or subsequent ones- the FAA said.
In March 2019, after a 2018 United engine failure attributed to fan blade fatigue, the FAA ordered inspections every 6,500 cycles. A cycle is one take-off and landing.
South Korea’s transport ministry on Wednesday ordered the grounding of all local airlines’ Boeing 777s with PW4000 engines and would ban foreign carriers with those planes from entering its airspace from Thursday.
A day earlier it instructed airlines to inspect the fan blades every 1,000 cycles following guidance from Pratt. An airline would typically accumulate 1,000 cycles about every 10 months on a 777, according to an industry source familiar with the matter.
The U.S. FAA said in 2019 that each inspection was expected to take 22 man-hours and cost $1,870. It did not provide updated estimates on Tuesday.A spokeswoman for Pratt, owned by Raytheon Technologies, said fan blades would need to be shipped to its repair station in East Hartford, Connecticut, for the latest inspections, including those from airlines in Japan and South Korea.
Boeing said it supported the FAA’s latest inspection guidance and would work through the process with its customers.
It had earlier recommended that airlines suspend the use of PW4000-powered planes while the FAA identified an appropriate inspection protocol, and Japan imposed a temporary suspension on flights.
Japan’s transport ministry said on Wednesday it was examining the FAA directive and had not yet decided what action to take. ANA Holdings and Japan Airlines (JAL) said they would comply with any directives from the Japanese regulator.
The FAA spent the last two days discussing the extent of the inspection requirements, according to sources with knowledge of the matter.
On Monday, the FAA acknowledged that after a JAL engine incident in December it had been considering stepping up blade inspections.
United, the only U.S. operator of the older PW4000-powered 777s, had temporarily grounded its fleet before the FAA announcement. The airline said on Tuesday it would comply with the airworthiness directive.
United has warned of possible disruptions to its cargo flight schedule in March as it juggles its fleet after its decision to ground 24 Boeing 777-200 planes, according to a notice sent to cargo customers.
Another 28 of United’s 777-200 planes were already grounded before the incident on Saturday, amid a plunge in demand.

Operators must conduct a thermal acoustic image inspection of the large titanium fan blades on each engine

United Airlines flight UA328, carrying 231 passengers and 10 crew on board, returns to Denver International Airport with its starboard engine on fire after it called a Mayday alert, over Denver, Colorado, U.S. February 20, 2021.

FAA orders inspections of some Boeing 777 engines after United fire

A Chinese man has been ordered to pay his ex-wife almost $8,000 for years of unpaid housework, in a landmark divorce case that has sparked furious debate in China.

Under the country's new civil code, which came into effect this year, divorcing spouses have the right for the first time to request compensation if they bore more responsibilities at home.
Ex-wife Wang told the Beijing court that during five years of marriage she "looked after the child and managed household chores, while (her husband) Chen did not care about or participate in any other household affairs besides going to work".
She filed a claim for extra compensation for housework and childcare duties, according to a February 4 court statement.
The court ruled that Wang had indeed taken on more household responsibilities and should receive 50,000 yuan ($7,700) plus sole child custody and an additional 2,000 yuan in alimony per month.
But after local media reported this week that Wang had appealed -- having originally requested 160,000 yuan compensation -- the ruling sparked widespread online debate over the value of women's unpaid domestic labour.
The trending hashtag "stay-at-home wife receives 50,000 yuan housework compensation" gained over 570 million views on the Twitter-like platform Weibo by Wednesday.
-Women should never be stay-at-home wives... when you divorce, you are left with nothing whatsoever. 50,000 yuan in housework compensation is bullshit- read one comment.
-A full-time nanny could cost more than this for half a year, are women's youth and feelings this cheap?- read another.
The amount reflected the length of time the couple were married plus "the effort Wang put into housework, Chen's income and the local cost of living," according to one of the judges, quoted Monday in local media.
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has estimated that Chinese women spend nearly four hours doing unpaid labour daily -- 2.5 times that of men and higher than the average.
Marriage breakups have surged over the last two decades in China as divorce laws were liberalised and women became more financially independent -- to the concern of Beijing, which is trying to boost birth rates in an ageing population.

Under the country's new civil code  divorcing spouses have the right for the first time to request compensation if they bore more responsibilities at home

She filed a claim for extra compensation for housework and childcare duties, according to a February 4 court statement

Chinese court orders man to pay ex-wife for housework in landmark ruling

A leader of the far-right “Oath Keepers” group charged in the deadly U.S. Capitol riots said she was in Washington on Jan. 6 to provide security for legislators and meet with Secret Service agents, according to a court filing.

Jessica Watkins, 38, is one of nine associates of the anti-government group charged with conspiring to storm the Capitol to prevent Congress from certifying President Joe Biden’s election victory.
Prosecutors said Watkins entered the Capitol building illegally. According to a defense petition filed on Saturday: “Ms. Watkins did not engage in any violence or force at the Capitol grounds or in the Capitol.”
Watkins, an Afghanistan war veteran, has pleaded not guilty to the conspiracy charges. According to the indictment, Watkins arrived at the Capitol with communication devices, reinforced vests, camouflage helmets and goggles. She forcibly entered the Capitol “with a line of individuals wearing Oath Keeper clothing, patches, and insignia,” prosecutors said.

But her attorney said: “Ms. Watkins was present not as an insurrectionist, but to provide security to the speakers at the rally, to provide escort for the legislators and others to march to the Capitol as directed by the then president, and to safely escort protesters away from the Capitol to their vehicles and cars at the conclusion of the protest. She was given a VIP pass to the rally. She met with Secret Service agents.”

A Secret Service representative said it worked with government partners for security on Jan. 6, but added “any assertion that the Secret Service employed private citizens to perform those functions is false.”
Prosecutors allege members of the Oath Keepers conspired as early as November to storm the Capitol and had extensively planned for a military-style attack. More than 200 people have been charged so far for their roles in the assault by followers of then-President Donald Trump that left five dead, including a police officer.
Watkins, who has been detained since mid-January, is asking for the court to release her to home confinement pending trial, noting she is at risk for “harsh treatment” as a transgender woman.

Jessica Watkins, 38, is one of nine associates of the anti-government group charged with conspiring to storm the Capitol to prevent Congress from certifying President Joe Biden’s election victory

Jessica Marie Watkins poses for a booking photograph at the Montgomery County Jail in Dayton, Ohio, U.S. January 18, 2021. Picture taken January 18, 2021.

Oath Keeper claims she met with Secret Service before Capitol riot

A suicide bomber blew himself up near a busy shopping mall and a police station in the Somali capital Mogadishu on Tuesday, officials said, with no casualties as yet confirmed.

-A man blew himself up between the Mogadishu Mall and the Hamar Weyne District Police Station in Mogadishu- said Ismail Mukhtar Oronjo, spokesman for the Information Ministry.
-He exploded while security forces were chasing him after the police identified him as a suspect before the bomb went off.-Eyewitness who spoke to Anadolu Agency over the phone said that they saw at least two people wounded.
Hamar Weyne is a major commercial district in Mogadishu and the second-busiest market in the capital.
No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack, but terrorist group al-Shabaab, affiliated with al-Qaeda, has claimed responsibility for recent attacks in the Horn of African country.

No group has yet claimed responsibility for attack, with no casualties as yet confirmed

Eyewitness who spoke to Anadolu Agency over the phone said that they saw at least two people wounded

Suicide bomber strikes near Somali mall, police station

The US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) released the first audio and video footage Monday from its Perseverance rover which landed on Mars last week. 

The three and a half minutes of video footage showed parachute deployment and the Perseverance's touchdown last Thursday on the planet. The video ends with the Perseverance’s wheels making contact with the surface of Mars.A microphone on the rover also provided the first audio recording of sounds from the Red Planet. Although the microphone did not collect usable data during the descent, a breeze on the planet could be heard for a few seconds, in addition to mechanical sounds of the rover operating on the surface, NASA said in a statement.
The footage from high-definition cameras aboard the spacecraft started 7 miles (11 kilometers) above the surface of Mars, showing the supersonic deployment of the most massive parachute ever sent to another world.
-This video of the Perseverance’s descent is the closest you can get to landing on Mars without putting on a pressure suit- Thomas Zurbuchen, NASA associate administrator for the Science Mission Directorate at NASA headquarters, said in the statement.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">Your front-row seat to my Mars landing is here. Watch how we did it.<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/CountdownToMars?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#CountdownToMars</a> <a href="https://t.co/Avv13dSVmQ">pic.twitter.com/Avv13dSVmQ</a>— NASA's Perseverance Mars Rover (@NASAPersevere) <a href="https://twitter.com/NASAPersevere/status/1363929492138254340?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 22, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Acting NASA Administrator Steve Jurczyk said the "Perseverance is just getting started and already has provided some of the most iconic visuals in space exploration history."

The rover touched down at the massive Jezero Crater, which scientists believe could contain signs of ancient microbial life for which the Perseverance is looking. The crater was once the site of a sprawling lake and river delta that theoretically would have hosted optimal conditions for microorganisms to live and be preserved.
The Perseverance's journey to Mars took nearly seven months, and it will now begin the process of collecting rock core samples that will be stored in metal tubes for return to Earth on future missions.
The samples are key to understanding whether life once existed on the planet the US now hopes to send humans to as early as the 2030s.

Video of Perseverance’s descent closest to landing on planet without putting on pressure suit, says NASA official

The Perseverance's journey to Mars took nearly seven months, and it will now begin the process of collecting rock core samples that will be stored in metal tubes for return to Earth on future missions

NASA releases first audio, video from Mars rover

Canada voted Monday to label the Chinese human rights abuse of Uighur Muslims as genocide – a deliberate attempt to obliterate a group of people. 

-A genocide is currently being carried out against the Uighurs and other Turkish Muslims- said the motion that was passed by the Canadian Parliament in 266-0 vote. 
The parliament also voted 229-29 to lobby the Olympic committee to move the Olympics if China does not stop the genocide. 
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had been reluctant to attach the word to the Chinese treatment of the Uighurs but the four opposition political parties outnumbered the minority Liberal government and combined to pass the motion. 
The entire Trudeau Cabinet of 35 ministers abstained from the vote on the motion that was put forward by the Conservative Party. However, no Liberals voted against the motion. 
The Trudeau government said last week, when media reported the upcoming vote, that it preferred more investigation before using the label and to have ally countries join together for a multilateral front in applying the situation as genocide. 
But Canada is certainly not ignoring the Uighur plight, said Finance Minister Marc Garneau. 
-We are seriously concerned- he said Tuesday. -We clearly (have) stated this to the Chinese government.-The first reports of mistreatment surfaced in 2017 and since then about one million Uighurs have been put in upwards of 400 concentration camps. 
The UN and various media outlets have reported on the atrocities, saying the minority Uighurs in the internment camps are subjected to sexual assault, forced sterilization, beatings, and other abuses. About 10 million Uighurs inhabit the Xinjiang province. 
At a press conference called by the Conservatives Monday morning before the vote, an Uighur woman who had been hired to teach Chinese at one of the camps in 2017 said she witnessed the abuse first hand – intimidation, rape and other abuses. 
-No one should be subjected to such cruelty- Kalbinur Tursun said through an interpreter. 
The Beijing government denies the Uighurs are mistreated. State television shows Uighurs in spotless classrooms, smiling and enjoying their lessons in “re-education centres” where they are taught to forego extremist activities and taught vocations. 
The Chinese point to one example of the extremism when in 2014 Uighurs armed with knives killed 31 people at a train station.
But evidence shows that they undergo extensive psychological indoctrination programs aimed at making the Uighurs worship President Xi Jinping and learning communist propaganda. As well, Uighurs are used as cheap labor to produce goods sold in China and internationally. 
Before the vote, the human rights organization Justice For All Canada urged its members to contact their local Members of Parliament and encourage them to vote yes. 
-It is imperative that our Federal Government acts upon its international legal obligations to prevent persecution and genocide of unrecognized, vulnerable ethnic minorities- the organization said in a press release, Sunday.

Woman who taught in camps says Uighurs ‘subjected to such cruelty’

The parliament also voted 229-29 to lobby the Olympic committee to move the Olympics if China does not stop the genocide

Canada labels Chinese abuse of Uighurs as 'genocide'

Australian government on Tuesday said that Facebook will reverse its decision to block access to news content in the country in the coming days.

In a joint statement, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg and Communications Minister Paul Fletcher said that the Australian government will introduce further amendments to the News Media and Digital Platforms Mandatory Bargaining Code on Tuesday.
-These amendments will provide further clarity to digital platforms and news media businesses about the way the Code is intended to operate and strengthen the framework for ensuring news media businesses are fairly remunerated- the statement said.
-The Government has been advised by Facebook that it intends to restore Australian news pages in the coming days- it added.
On Monday, the Australian government had announced to stop its advertising campaign on Facebook.
The move came after the social media giant blocked users in the country from viewing or sharing news content on the platform, in response to a proposed law which would make tech giants pay for news content on their platforms.

Officials says government to introduce amendments in proposed media bargaining law on Tuesday

On Monday, the Australian government had announced to stop its advertising campaign on Facebook

Armenia opposition supporters camp outside parliament

New York prosecutors finally obtain Trump's tax records

Turkey gets back historical artifacts from Hungary

Boeing planned to replace 777 engine covers before failures: WSJ

Facebook bans Myanmar military from its platforms with immediate effect

German man charged for spying at parliament for Russians

41 people dead in latest Mediterranean shipwreck: UN

Nigeria: militants threaten to attack major cities

Human rights central to US-Egypt relationship: Blinken

FAA orders inspections of some Boeing 777 engines after United fire

Chinese court orders man to pay ex-wife for housework in landmark ruling

Oath Keeper claims she met with Secret Service before Capitol riot

Suicide bomber strikes near Somali mall, police station

NASA releases first audio, video from Mars rover

Canada labels Chinese abuse of Uighurs as 'genocide'

Facebook agrees to restore news content in Australia

World

Armenia opposition supporters camp outside parliament

New York prosecutors finally obtain Trump's tax records

Turkey gets back historical artifacts from Hungary

Boeing planned to replace 777 engine covers before failures: WSJ

Facebook bans Myanmar military from its platforms with immediate effect

German man charged for spying at parliament for Russians

41 people dead in latest Mediterranean shipwreck: UN

Nigeria: militants threaten to attack major cities

Human rights central to US-Egypt relationship: Blinken

FAA orders inspections of some Boeing 777 engines after United fire

Chinese court orders man to pay ex-wife for housework in landmark ruling

Oath Keeper claims she met with Secret Service before Capitol riot

Suicide bomber strikes near Somali mall, police station

NASA releases first audio, video from Mars rover

Canada labels Chinese abuse of Uighurs as 'genocide'

Facebook agrees to restore news content in Australia