1. Labour and Conservatives Tied Again Ahead of UK election: YouGov Poll
Ahead of Britain’s parliamentary election on Thursday, Prime Minister David Cameron’s Conservatives and the opposition Labour Party are tied at 33 percent, according to a YouGov opinion poll for the Sun newspaper published on Monday. The poll showed Conservatives down 1 percentage point from Sunday versus Labour who remained unchanged, polling company YouGov said.
2. Progress Toward Peace Talks Unclear as Taliban, Afghan Figures Meet
Taliban representatives met with Afghan political figures for a second day on Sunday, but it was unclear if the dialogue hosted by Qatar moved any closer to long-awaited formal negotiations to end Afghanistan’s devastating war. Participants in the meeting in Al-Khor, a seaside town north of Doha, emerged from the venue smiling and laughing on Sunday, but they refused to talk to reporters.
3. Nigeria‘s Boko Haram in Disarray as Government Forces Advance
Boko Haram is fracturing as shortages of weapons and fuel foment tensions between its foot soldiers and leaders, women rescued from the Islamist jihadi fighters by Nigerian troops told Reuters. The group abducted an estimated 2,000 women and girls last year as it sought to carve out an Islamic state in the northeast of Africa’s biggest economy. The army has freed nearly 700 in the past week as it advances on Boko Haram’s last stronghold in the vast Sambisa forest.
4. About 100 Bodies Found in Nepal Trekking Village
Nepali police and local volunteers found the bodies of about 100 trekkers and villagers buried in an avalanche set off by last month’s devastating earthquake and were digging through snow and ice for signs of dozens more missing, officials said on Monday. The government began asking foreign teams to wrap up search and rescue operations, as hope of finding people alive in the rubble receded.
5. Britain’s New Princess Named Charlotte Elizabeth Diana
Britain’s Prince William and the Duchess of Cambridge have named their newborn daughter Charlotte Elizabeth Diana, a choice that honors the baby’s late grandmother Princess Diana and her great-grandmother Queen Elizabeth. The news, announced in a statement on Monday from the couple’s Kensington Palace residence, was eagerly awaited by royal watchers and bookmakers who had been placing bets and speculating on the subject since the baby’s birth on Saturday.
6. Saudi Arabia Replaces Head of Royal Ceremonies
Saudi Arabia issued a royal decree on Monday replacing the head of its royal ceremonies, the state news agency SPA said. The decree removed Mohamed bin Abdelrahman al-Tubaishi from his position and appointed Khaled bin Saleh al-Abbad, the SPA said.
7. U.S. Calls for Speedy Inquiry into Thai Mass Grave
The United States, which has censured Thailand for failing to act against human trafficking, called on Monday for a speedy and credible inquiry into the discovery of a mass grave containing more than two dozen bodies thought to be of ethnic migrants. Police and volunteers exhumed 26 bodies on Friday and Saturday near a suspected trafficking camp deep in the southern Thai jungle near Malaysia that held as many as 400 trafficked migrants, mainly Muslim Rohingyas from Myanmar and Bangladesh.
8. Clinton Willing to Testify Once to Benghazi Panel -Lawyer
Hillary Clinton is willing to testify once before a special congressional panel investigating the 2012 attack on U.S. diplomatic facilities in Benghazi, Libya, not twice as the panel’s chairman has asked, her lawyer said on Monday. The attack has hounded former Secretary of State Clinton for years, and Republicans in charge of the House of Representatives investigative panel are digging deeper as she ramps up her bid for the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination.
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)