George Shultz, a former US secretary of state who significantly shaped foreign policy in the late 20th Century, has died at the age of 100. He died on Saturday at his home in Stanford, California, the Hoover Institution think tank said. He served three Republican presidents – Dwight Eisenhower, Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan – in various roles. Under Mr Reagan, Mr Schultz spent much of the 1980s trying to improve relations with the Soviet Union. The Hoover Institution, where Mr Schultz worked as a distinguished fellow, said the statesman had been instrumental “in changing the direction of history by using the tools of diplomacy to bring the Cold War to an end”. Hoover Institution Director Condoleezza Rice – a former secretary of state herself – said: “Our colleague was a great American statesman and a true patriot in every sense of the word.” “He will be remembered in history as a man who made the world a better place.” (BBC)…[+]

The death of a six-week-old baby hours after a baptism ceremony in Romania has prompted an Orthodox archbishop to say such rituals will be analysed to avoid further tragedy. The baby had a cardiac arrest after he was immersed three times in holy water. He had a violent death and liquid was found in his lungs, an autopsy found. Some 60,000 people have signed a petition calling for change. Archbishop Calinic is the most senior member of the clergy to back reform. He told Romanian website Adevarul that he believed in the future the practice of immersing a baby would be reviewed and “the most appropriate decision taken to respect [Church] ordinances and carefully avoid unwanted accidents”. A manslaughter inquiry has been opened by prosecutors into the priest who carried out the baptism in the north-eastern city of Suceava.(BBC)…[+]

Lawmakers in the US state of Virginia have voted to abolish use of the death penalty as a criminal punishment. On Friday the state’s House of Delegates followed its Senate in voting to end the practice, paving the way for Governor Ralph Northam to sign the repeal into law. The decision means Virginia will become the first southern US state to abolish capital punishment. The move comes at a time of renewed debate across the US about executions. Former President Donald Trump resumed them on a federal level last year after a 17-year hiatus. Some 13 people were put to death in a matter of months – including six executions carried out after the election despite a flurry of legal challenges.(BBC)…[+]

Scientists believe they may have discovered the smallest reptile on earth – a chameleon subspecies that is the size of a seed. Two of the tiny lizards were discovered by a German-Madagascan expedition team in Madagascar. The male Brookesia nana, or nano-chameleon, has a body of just 13.5mm. This makes it the smallest of about 11,500 known species of reptiles, according to the Bavarian State collection of Zoology in Munich. Its length from top to tail is 22mm (0.86in). The female is far bigger at around 29mm, the institute said, adding that other specimens were yet to be located, despite “great effort”. “The new chameleon is only known from a degraded montane rainforest in northern Madagascar and might be threatened by extinction,” said the Scientific Reports journal. Oliver Hawlitschek, a scientist at the Center of Natural History in Hamburg, said: “The nano-chameleon’s habitat has unfortunately been subject to deforestation, but the area was placed under protection recently, so the species will survive.”(BBC)…[+]

Canada has defended its decision to draw on a supply of coronavirus vaccines from a global inoculation-sharing initiative known as Covax. Covax pools funds from wealthier countries to help buy vaccines for themselves and low-income nations. The scheme has announced a plan to deliver more than 330 million vaccine doses in the first half of 2021. Canada is the only member of the G7 group of rich countries listed as a Covax beneficiary at this stage. Other wealthier countries, including New Zealand and Singapore, have requested an early allocation as well. Most of the first doses available, though, will be delivered to low- and middle-income countries. Many of those countries haven’t even started vaccinations. Meanwhile, Canada has vaccinated 2.29% of its population with one dose, including 48% of health workers, government data shows.(BBC)…[+]

An Iranian diplomat has been convicted of a plot to bomb a big French rally held by an exiled opposition group. Assadollah Assadi, 49, who worked at the Iranian embassy in Vienna, was given a 20-year jail term by the court in Antwerp in Belgium. It was the first time an Iranian official had faced such charges in the EU since the 1979 revolution. Three others were also convicted. They were arrested during a joint operation by German, French and Belgian police.

Tehran insists the plot was a fabrication. Tens of thousands of people attended the June 2018 rally outside Paris, including Donald Trump’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani. The verdict comes weeks after US President Joe Biden took office, with Iran hoping he will reverse some of the sanctions introduced by his predecessor. France blamed Iran’s intelligence ministry for the planned attack and responded by freezing the assets of two senior Iranian officials.

Myanmar’s military rulers have blocked access to Facebook, days after they overthrew the democratic government. Officials said the social media platform – for many in Myanmar the main source of online information – would be blocked for the sake of “stability”. Facebook has become a key rallying point for opposition to Monday’s coup. In further civil disobedience, lawmakers are refusing to leave their compound in the capital, and more pot-banging was seen in Yangon.

The coup, led by armed forces chief Min Aung Hlaing, installed an 11-member junta, ending a short period of majority civilian rule. The military said an election in November had been fraudulent – though the country’s election commission said there was no evidence of such fraud. The elected civilian leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, along with President Win Myint, were detained and on Wednesday police filed charges against them. The charges against her include possession of unlawful communication devices – walkie-talkies used by her security staff.(BBC)…[+]

US President Joe Biden has signed three executive actions seeking to reunite migrant families split up by a Trump-era policy and ordering a review of his predecessor’s wider immigration agenda.

In an attempt to deter illegal immigration, President Donald Trump’s administration separated undocumented adults from children as they crossed the US-Mexico border. Mr Biden’s orders will set up a task force to try to reunite the estimated 600-700 children who are still apart from their families. The Trump administration split up at least 5,500 children from adults along the border between 2017-18. The administration of US President Barack Obama – whom Mr Biden served as vice-president – also separated undocumented children from adults at the border, though much more rarely, say activists.(BBC)…[+]

Results that show the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine might reduce the spread of coronavirus have been hailed as “absolutely superb” by the health secretary. Matt Hancock said the study shows “vaccines are the way out of this pandemic”. It is the first time a vaccine has been shown to reduce transmission of the virus.

The UK has given a first Covid jab to more than 10 million people so far. The results of the study, which has not yet been formally published, suggest that the vaccine may have a “substantial” effect on transmission of the virus.

It means the jab could have a greater impact on the pandemic, as each person who is vaccinated will indirectly protect other people too. Mr Hancock called the study “really encouraging” on Twitter, adding that the results were “absolutely superb”. Speaking on BBC Breakfast, he said this latest analysis showing the vaccine reduces transmission would “help us all get out of this pandemic”. Mr Hancock said passing the 10 million mark for people who have received a first dose was a “hugely significant milestone”, tweeting that “every jab makes us all a bit safer”.(BBC)…[+]

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has encouraged members of the public to clap for Captain Sir Tom Moore at 18:00 GMT on Wednesday. The 100-year-old, who raised almost £33m for NHS charities by walking laps of his garden, died with coronavirus in Bedford Hospital on Tuesday. Mr Johnson said the clap would also be for “all those health workers for whom he raised money”. Capt Sir Tom’s family said they were “incredibly touched”. In a statement on Twitter, they said they would be “taking part with huge love in their hearts for their father, grandfather and father-in-law”. Meanwhile, dozens of tributes have been left outside his home in Marston Moretaine, Bedfordshire. Capt Sir Tom tested positive for Covid-19 last week. His family said due to other medication he was receiving for pneumonia, he was unable to be vaccinated. The Army veteran won the nation’s hearts by walking 100 laps of his garden last spring during the first coronavirus lockdown, raising money for NHS Charities Together.(BBC)…[+]