Wednesday, April 28, 2021

TRT World’s Daily News Brief for Wednesday, April 28th: *) US orders its embassy staff to leave Afghanistan The US has ordered a significant number of its embassy staff in Kabul to leave Afghanistan as the military escalates troop pullout from the country. The US State Department said it instructed all personnel to depart unless their jobs require them to be physically in the country. It also said US citizens should not travel to Afghanistan and those who are there and are willing to depart should leave as soon as possible. *) Somali president calls for elections to ease tensions Somalia's President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed has called for elections after the extension of his mandate by two years sparked a crisis in the country. His decision came after the opposition and government exchanged gunfire on Sunday in an eruption of long-simmering tensions sparked by the delay of February elections. The international community has repeatedly called for elections to go ahead, threatening sanctions. *) India’s Covid-19 deaths cross 200,000 mark India’s cumulative death toll since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic has crossed the 200,000 mark. On Wednesday, the South Asian country reported another daily record of over 3,000 deaths and more than 360,000 cases. Many experts and media outlets have said the true number of people dying from Covid-19 in India is being suppressed or undercounted by the government. *) MBS seeks ‘good relations’ with Iran Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has said he seeks "good relations" with the kingdom's arch-nemesis Iran. The two countries cut ties in 2016 after Iranian protesters attacked Saudi diplomatic missions following the kingdom's execution of a revered Shia cleric. The crown prince said Riyadh was also working with regional and global partners to find solutions to what he called Tehran's "negative behaviour". And finally ... *) Samsung heirs to pay billions, donate Picasso works to settle tax bill The heirs to South Korea's Samsung group have anno