WORLD
India completes UNSC term turning spotlight on terrorism, reforms
Assuming the presidency of the Council in the final month of its term as an elected member, India convened a high-level meeting chaired by External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar on reforming multilateral institutions, especially the Council. Many of the leaders who participated echoed India's call for expanding the permanent membership and there was near-unanimity on the urgency for reforms.
Lao cabinet reshuffled, new Prime Minister elected
Phankham Viphavanh, in his speech at the National Assembly (NA) meeting, said to resign from the post of prime minister for reaching the retirement age and health problems, reports Xinhua news agency. Viphavanh, born in 1951, was elected as prime minister of the Lao government by the National Assembly in March 2021.
Indian envoy hands over PM Modi's message to Prachanda
Modi was the first foreign head of the government to congratulate Prachanda upon his election as the Prime Minister of Nepal on December 25. Prachanda's private secretariat tweeted the photos of the meeting between the premier and the Indian envoy during which they also discussed strengthening the bilateral ties. Srivastava, during his meeting with Prachanda, had read out the message of Modi where the latter expressed his desire and intent to work together with the new government in the Himalayan nation. Modi says he is looking forward to working with Prachanda to further strengthen the friendship between the two countries.
Trump & legal team taking victory lap over dying subpoena of Jan 6 House Committee
The subpoena issued to him by the Committee to appear before it and answer to the charges and testimonies on the riots, allegedly incited by him, as testified by multiple witnesses, which he refused to respect and appear, is finally dying as the November 8 mid-terms has allowed the Republicans to retake the House of Representatives with wafer thin majority of 222 to the Democrats' 213. The new house sits for its first session on January 3, 2023. Trump's happiness seems like Prometheus Unbound. He loves golfing, interior design that prominently features the colour gold, and declaring victory.
Countries curbing China 'understandable' in absence of Covid data: WHO chief
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus made the remark as several countries from the US to South Korea put restrictions on air travellers from China which is seeing a massive Covid surge but not revealing data. "In the absence of comprehensive information from #China, it is understandable that countries around the world are acting in ways that they believe may protect their populations," the WHO chief said in a tweet.
People in Pak's Gwadar city rise up against CPEC
Public anger has now spilt out into the streets of the port city of Gwadar where shelling and stoning between the police and protesting public have become a common occurrence. The public protests are being organised under the banner of a new group called Haq Do Tehreek (Give Rights Tehreek). The group is led by Maulana Hidayatur Rehman Baloch, who is also the general secretary of the Balochistan chapter of Jamaat-e-Islami. The group is angry at the federal and provincial governments for ignoring the genuine demands of the people. These demands include illegal trawling in Gwadar's water, high number of security checkpoints and trade on the Pakistan-Iran border.
China to have 3.7 mn Covid cases a day by Jan 13, 1.7 mn deaths by April
Deaths are estimated to peak 10 days later at approximately 25,000 a day, by that stage a total of 584,000 since the virus began surging across the country in December. "We predict 1.7 million deaths across China by the end of April 2023," the firm said. Airfinity's model is based on data from China's regional provinces, before changes to reporting infections were implemented, combined with case growth rates from other former Covid-zero countries when they lifted restrictions such as Hong Kong and Japan.
Biden signs $1.7 trillion government spending bill into law
The legislation will keep the federal government operating through the end of the federal budget year in September 2023 and avoid a partial shutdown before the end of 2022, reports Xinhua news agency. The massive spending package for fiscal year 2023 includes $772.5 billion for non-defence, domestic programs, and $858 billion in defence funding. It also provides about $45 billion in emergency funding for Ukraine amid its ongoing war with Russia. "It'll invest in medical research, safety, veteran health care, disaster recovery, (Violence Against Women Act) funding and gets crucial assistance to Ukraine," Biden said in a tweet early Friday.
British-Indian in Dubai to be extradited to Denmark for $1.7 bn tax fraud
Sanjay Shah, 52, a British hedge-fund trader, is accused of masterminding a scam, which ran for three years since 2012, has been described as one of the largest fraud cases in Denmark's history. Shah's fraud scheme involved submitting thousands of applications to the Danish Treasury on behalf of investors and companies from several countries around the world in order to receive dividend tax refunds, the Dubai Police said in a statement.
Ukraine comes under massive Russian missile attacks
Thursday's strikes followed overnight attacks with kamikaze drones across the war-torn nation, Xinhua news agency quoted the Ukrainian Air Force Command as saying in a social media post. Ukraine's military said 69 missiles were launched, with air defences intercepting 54 of them. Earlier, presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak had said more than 120 missiles had been launched at civilian infrastructure.
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