Reuters, Lashkar Gah
Dozens of peace activists, including women, have set up tents in the Afghan province of Helmand, after a car bomb killed more than a dozen people outside a sports stadium last week.
In a rare development, women from the ethnic Pashtun-dominated region began protesting alongside men in the provincial capital Lashkar Gah on Tuesday, saying that they would later march to a Taliban-controlled district to demand an end to the war.
Oklahoma approves tax hike to avert teachers’ strike
Reuters, Oklahoma
Oklahoma’s Senate on Wednesday approved legislation for the first major tax increase in a quarter century to help fund pay raises for teachers and avert a strike.
Low teacher pay in the United States came into focus earlier this month when educators in West Virginia, whose pay is slightly higher than in Oklahoma, held a nine-day strike that ended after they received a 5 percent pay rise.
Jordan accepts Israel’s pick of ambassador
AP, Amman
Jordan has accepted Israel’s choice of a new ambassador for the kingdom, another sign of improving ties after a months-long crisis. Government spokesman Mohammed Momani said Thursday that the envoy, Amir Weissbrod, “can start his mission any time now.”
The posting of a new Israeli ambassador would end one of the tensest episodes since the two countries signed a peace treaty in 1994.
Britain’s greenhouse gas emissions fell
3 pc in 2017
Reuters, London
Britain’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions fell by 3 percent in 2017, due largely to lower coal-fired power generation, marking a fifth consecutive yearly decline, preliminary government data showed on Thursday.
Output of heat-trapping gases in Britain, Europe’s second-largest emitter behind Germany, fell to 456 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e), data from the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy said.
