LONDON: Winston Churchill’s great-grandson yesterday delivered a petition with more than 70,000 signatures to Prime Minister David Cameron’s office, demanding action to protect Afghan interpreters who have served with British troops.
Alexander Perkins, a former soldier who has served two tours in Afghanistan himself, said Britain owed the interpreters a “huge debt” and they would be “sent to their deaths” if they were not offered asylum.
Some 600 Afghan interpreters who served on the frontline with British forces are being offered UK visas under a relocation package announced in May, while around 600 others will qualify for training or education in Afghanistan as well as payment for up to five years.
But Perkins, 27, said that the deal falls “short of the mark” as it offers only five-year visas rather than permanent residence in Britain, and only applies to interpreters with 12 months’ continuous service before December 19, 2012.
CAR on brink of collapse, says UN
UNITED NATIONS: The Central African Republic (CAR) is on the brink of collapse and the crisis is threatening to spread beyond its borders, senior UN officials said yesterday as they urged the Security Council to help fund and support an African Union peacekeeping force.
The landlocked former French colony — one of the poorest places on earth - has been plunged into chaos since the Seleka rebels seized power from President Francois Bozize four months ago, triggering a humanitarian crisis in the heart of Africa.
The African Union this month rolled an existing 1,100-strong regional peacekeeping mission, known as MICOPAX, into a new larger AU peacekeeping force. The number of troops will be more than tripled to 3,600 and the force has an AU mandate to protect civilians, help stabilise the country and restore government.
Monaco sets date for royal wedding
MONACO: Andrea Casiraghi, eldest son of Princess Caroline of Monaco, is to marry his Colombian girlfriend on August 31, the royal palace announced yesterday.
Casiraghi, 29, already has a child with the wealthy heiress and socialite Tatiana Santo Domingo, who gave birth to their son Sacha in London in March. New York-born and raised in Switzerland and France, Santo Domingo, 29, is the grand-daughter of Julio Mario Santo Domingo, a Colombian tycoon who died in 2011 and was one of the richest men in the world. Agencies
