Talking on the phone

Khalilzad and his team will also visit other regional capitals as part of a mission aimed at working toward "a just and durable political settlement and permanent and comprehensive ceasefire" in the Afghan conflict, the State Department said in a statement. It did not provide dates or other details. US-brokered peace talks began in September but progress has since slowed and violence has risen with uncertainty over whether international forces will pull out troops by May as originally planned. President Joe Biden's administration is conducting a review of a February 2020 deal with the Taliban that is expected to determine whether it will meet the deadline to withdraw the remaining 2,500 US troops from America's longest war. US and European officials have said the Taliban has not fulfilled commitments it made in the accord amid a surge of violence blamed on the insurgents. The Taliban, seeking to reimpose Islamist rule in Afghanistan after its 2001 ouster at the hands of US-led troops, denies the charges. …

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A nurse fills a syringe with the AstraZeneca Covid-19 coronavirus vaccine at a health care centre in Seoul on February 26, 2021, as South Korea starts coronavirus vaccination campaign.(JUNG YEON-JE / POOL / AFP) Beginning at 12:30 pm local time (1130 GMT), the meeting is the first in post for US President Joe Biden's new Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, expected to be far less confrontational than Donald Trump's representatives at past gatherings. "With the new American administration, it will certainly be easier to reach a deal" for increased aid to poorer nations, international economy professor Lucia Tajoli of Milan's Polytechnic business school said. Bu while "Joe Biden's approach to international cooperation is much more open... it won't be easy to gather funds given the economic crisis hitting many countries," she added. On Thursday, Washington urged wealthy G20 countries to launch a truly global, coordinated vaccination campaign. "Without access to vaccines, low-income countries in particular will experience further tragic loss of life and needlessly delay their economic recoveries," Yellen wrote in an open letter to G20 finance counterparts. - New moves on debt - Yellen also signalled openness to issuing new so-called Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) at the International Monetary Fund to worse-off countries, reversing a Trump position. Several G20 countries have already suggested the move, after the financial instruments -- which can be exchanged for US dollars, euros, Chinese renminbi, Japanese yen or British pounds -- proved their worth as crisis firefighting tools in 2009. Financial crisis-era SDR allocations amounted to around half the $500 billion now under discussion. Last year, the rich country club also agreed a pause in debt interest payments for the poorest countries, extending it until June 30 this year. And in November the G20 finance ministers agreed a framework for reducing debt burdens. So far Chad, Zambia and Ethiopia …

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Vietnam logs no new COVID-19 infections on March 1 morning Vietnam documented zero COVID-19 infections in the past 12 hours as of 6:00 am on March 1, leaving the national tally unchanged at 2,448 patients, according to the National Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control. Earlier, Vietnam reported 16 COVID-19 cases at 6pm on February 28, including 12 locally infected cases in the northern province of Hai Duong, the country's largest COVID-19 hotspot, and four imported cases in the southern provinces of Tay Ninh and Dong Thap. Of the total infections, there were 1,542 domestically-transmitted cases, including 849 recorded since the latest outbreak hit the northern province of Hai Duong on January 27. Ten cities and provinces nationwide have gone through 16 consecutive days without any locally-infected cases of COVID-19, including Hoa Binh, Dien Bien, Ha Giang, Binh Duong, Hung Yen, Bac Giang, Gia Lai, Bac Ninh, Quang Ninh, and Ho Chi Minh City. Meanwhile, Hanoi has recorded 14 straight days of no coronavirus cases. A total 60,693 people who came in close contact with COVID-19 patients or arrived from pandemic-hit areas are under quarantine nationwide, including 560 at hospitals, 12,298 at other quarantine sites, and 47,835 at home. Among patients under treatment, 62 have tested negative for SARS-CoV-2 once, 53 twice, and 95 thrice. Report from the Treatment Sub-committee showed that Vietnam has seen 1,876 recoveries so far. In a bid to live safely with the pandemic, people should strictly follow the Ministry of Health’s 5K message: khau trang (facemask), khu khuan (disinfection), khoang cach (distance), khong tu tap (no gathering), and khai bao y te (health declaration)./. Hai Duong dissolves COVID-19 treatment hospital No.1 Chairman of the Hai Duong provincial People's Committee Nguyen Duong Thai, who is also head of the provincial Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control, on February 27 decided to …

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