Month: April 2022

The blasts happened at the Abdul Rahim Shahid high school in the Shia-dominated west of the city. The number of dead and wounded is likely to rise.

A nearby tuition centre was also targeted in a grenade attack.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility. Islamic State militants have attacked the area in the past.

Sources from Muhammad Ali Jinnah Hospital in Kabul told the BBC they had so far received four dead bodies and 19 injured people from the school attack.

Students were leaving morning classes when the blasts happened, one witness told the AFP news agency.

Photographs from the aftermath of the explosions show bloodstains on the ground alongside discarded notebooks.

The area in which the attacks took place – Dasht-e-Barchi – has frequently been the target of attacks by the local branch of the Islamic State group because of its largely Hazara Shia Muslim population.

Hazaras are an ethnic and religious minority frequently targeted by Sunni militant groups, who view them as heretics.

Local sources also said a hand grenade had been thrown at a nearby tuition centre for students preparing for a university entrance exam.

After a spate of IS attacks last year following the Taliban takeover, the group’s activities had declined.

IS has carried out a devastating campaign against Shias in Afghanistan over the last few years. Scores have been killed in bombings on targets including sports halls, cultural centres and places of education.

Last May, more than 90 students and staff were killed in an attack by IS on a girls’ school in Dasht-e-Barchi.

The focus of its manifesto launch in Dundee will be the cost of living crisis and how to “make life better for all households”.

More than 100 Alba candidates will stand for election on 5 May.

The party was formed ahead of last year’s Scottish Parliament election in which it did not win any seats.

Mr Salmond will set out plans to double the winter fuel payment for pensioners and explain its proposals to help households with fuel bills.

Speaking ahead of the launch, the former SNP leader said: “Scotland stands at a pivotal moment in its history.

“Council budgets are facing challenges, as never before, while one in four children live in poverty.

“Household incomes are under unprecedented financial pressure as families face a cost-of-living crisis which is squeezing household budgets to breaking point.

“One third of families are facing fuel poverty in our land of energy plenty.”

He continued: “The sex-based rights of women and girls are under concerted and increasing attack.

“Our manifesto will set out Alba’s specific pledges on how we can make life better for all households and for every community.

“However, the focus of this manifesto reflects three key themes: taking real action on independence as an urgent necessity; tackling the cost of living crisis; and standing up for women and girls.”

The government’s “Great British Rail Sale” will see off-peak prices slashed by as much as half, with cheaper travel on offer in April and May.

But the Campaign for Better Transport said wider price increases are “driving people off the railway”.

Passenger numbers on trains have not yet returned to pre-pandemic levels.

About 285 million rail passenger journeys were made in Britain in the last three months of 2021 – just 62% of the levels seen before coronavirus struck, according to the Office of Rail and Road.

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said more than one million train tickets would be reduced this spring.

The Department for Transport (DfT) is hoping the move will help struggling households to afford trips across the UK and boost the domestic tourism industry.

It comes after the highest train fare rises for nine years came into force for rail travellers in England and Wales last month.

The sale is expected to bring some Manchester to Newcastle journeys down to a little over £10, while seats on some London to Edinburgh services will be slashed from £44 to £22.

Discounted tickets will go on sale from Tuesday, with passengers eligible to travel for less on off-peak fares between 25 April and 27 May.

Jacqueline Starr, chief executive of the Rail Delivery Group, also said: “We want everyone to be able to benefit from travelling by train because it’s more than just a journey, it’s a way to connect everyone to the people, places and things they love.”

The Campaign for Better Transport, however, said that it had been pushing for action to improve passenger levels for months.

It welcomed the move by the government, but Norman Baker, its chief executive’s adviser and former transport minister said: “It can show the Treasury that the way to increase income is to cut fares, not keep ratcheting them up and driving people off the railway.”

“This initiative, though very welcome, is but a first step,” he added, calling for an end to annual fare rises and a review of tickets and travel patterns following the rise of hybrid working during the pandemic.

DfT said reforms to the rail sector through the so-called “Williams-Shapps” plan for rail will mean that network-wide sales of tickets should be able to take place more easily in the future.

But Shadow Transport Secretary Louise Haigh said that in the meantime, the temporary move would provide little respite “to passengers who had thousands taken out of their pockets from soaring fares since 2010.”

She pointed out: “And the decision to end the sale just before half-term will mean many families face the same punishing costs over the holidays.”

Regulated fares in England and Wales increased by up to 3.8% last month.

They cover around half of fares and include season tickets on most commuter routes and it marked the steepest increase since January 2013, according to figures from industry body the Rail Delivery Group.

The prime minister is expected to say he did not knowingly break the rules at a 2020 birthday party at No 10.

Opposition parties have accused him of lying to Parliament after he previously told them no rules had been broken.

Mr Johnson has vowed to “set the record straight” when he speaks to MPs at about 3.30pm.

But he is also expected to urge MPs to focus instead on issues such as rising prices and the war in Ukraine.

Speaking to ITV, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer accused the PM of using the conflict in Ukraine as a “shield” to keep his job, adding that he finds such a tactic “pretty offensive”.

Sir Keir predicted: “He will try an try an apology, and he will immediately then go into excuses”.

Labour and the other opposition parties are exploring ways to hold the prime minister to account, such as a censure motion, effectively a slap on the wrist, or a vote of no confidence.

But shadow attorney general Emily Thornberry said a coup by Tory MPs was needed to remove the prime minister.

She told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “Whatever means we take, the difficulty we will always have is that, since the 2019 election, the Conservatives have an 80-seat majority when there is a vote.

“Unless Conservative MPs can look at their consciences and vote the right way, we are not going to get the sort of result that we should get.”

Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle is expected to decide around lunchtime what vote – if any – should take place on measures against the prime minister.

Mr Johnson became the first serving UK prime minister to be sanctioned for breaking the law when, along with his wife Carrie and Chancellor Rishi Sunak, he was fined last week for attending the birthday event held for him in the Cabinet Room in June 2020.

The PM is facing accusations of lying to MPs because he initially told them Covid rules had been followed in No 10 after the first reports of parties emerged last year.

Under government rules, ministers are expected to resign for knowingly misleading MPs – and correct the record as soon as possible if they inadvertently tell Parliament something false.

Mr Johnson has since said it “did not occur” to him at the time of the gathering that it could be in contravention of Covid lockdown rules.

On Monday, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said what happened was “wrong”, but argued Mr Johnson had not “knowingly” misled MPs.

Opposition parties strongly believe the prime minister deliberately misled parliament and are looking at various mechanisms to hold him to account.

Labour sources say options under consideration include forcing a vote on whether he misled Parliament, or referring him to a parliamentary committee to investigate.

There’s no suggestion the prime minister would lose any vote against him, but opposition parties are likely to strongly criticise any Tory MPs who may be forced to publicly defend his actions.

After fresh allegations in the Sunday Times that at a leaving drinks for his director of communications, Lee Cain, in November 2020 the prime minister poured drinks at the gathering Labour’s deputy leader Angela Rayner said – if the reports were true – then the prime minister had a “hand in instigating” at least one of the parties.

No 10 have not denied that this event took place, but have strongly denied that the prime minister instigated it.

However, there is concern among some Tory MPs that further fines or bad headlines could be yet to come.

Alongside staff leaving parties on 18 June 2020 and 16 April 2021, the June 2020 birthday event is among three so far known to have attracted fines.

Mr Johnson is known to have attended at least two further events of the 12 being investigated by police, meaning he could be fined again.

More than 70 Conservative MPs have expressed their support for the PM since he was fined, including some who have previously called for him to go.

Since Mr Johnson was fined last week, only a handful of Tory MPs have publicly said he should quit.

When asked whether there was a party in Downing Street on 18 December 2020, the PM told the Commons on 1 December 2021 that “all guidance was followed completely in No 10”.

After the publication of a video showing No 10 staff joking about the 18 December event, he told MPs on 8 December 2021 he had been “repeatedly assured” that “there was no party and that no Covid rules were broken”.

Later that day, he told the Commons he was “sure that whatever happened, the guidance was followed and the rules were followed at all times.”

On 12 January 2022, he apologised for attending a Downing Street garden party on 20 May 2020 but said he had “believed implicitly” it was a work event.

The 17 new ministers named did not include several relatives who had previously held portfolios, although a number of stalwarts kept their seats.

He had called on the opposition to join a unity government but they refused.

The island nation is grappling with its worst economic crisis since independence from Britain in 1948.

It is caused in part by a lack of foreign currency, which has meant that Sri Lanka cannot afford to pay for imports of staple foods and fuel, leading to acute shortages and very high prices.

With power cuts lasting half a day or more, and shortages of food, medicines and fuel, public anger has soared.

Last week, Sri Lanka also said it would temporarily default on its foreign debts. A payment on some of those bond debts was due to be made on Monday, the day on which the government is to begin bailout talks with the International Monetary Fund.

The stock exchange has also been suspended for a week with effect from Monday.

Mass protests began in early April with people calling for President Rajapaksa to quit. His cabinet resigned en masse but he refused to go, despite the opposition arguing that he had lost the people’s mandate.

His appointment of a new cabinet appears to be another sign that he will not bend to protesters’ demands.

It also comes hours after some media outlets sympathetic to his government labelled peaceful protests in the capital “a beach party”, and implied that they were funded by terror organisations. The protests in Colombo’s Galle Face Green have attracted thousands of people.

When the protests broke out, Mr Rajapaksa activated a draconian emergency law and imposed a curfew to try to stop them. He also banned social media.

He later withdrew these measures when they failed to deter protesters.

Both he and his elder brother, Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, who was not among those who resigned and who keeps his post in the new cabinet, have addressed the nation in an apparent attempt to placate protesters. But calls for the president to resign have only grown louder.

The demonstrations mark a massive turnaround in popularity for Mr Rajapaksa who swept into power with a thumping majority win in 2019, promising stability and a “strong hand” to rule the country.

Critics say rank corruption and nepotism – his brothers and nephews occupied several key ministerial portfolios – are the main reasons for the situation the country has found itself in.

Opulent displays of wealth by family members have only increased anger. Significantly, there are no Rajapaksa family members in the new cabinet, apart from the prime minister.

Four ministers, including Finance Minister Ali Sabry and Foreign Minister GL Peiris, keep their posts.

All 21 positions in the cabinet are filled by men. In the previous cabinet one woman held a ministerial portfolio.