Indian-American Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal has been elected as the chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC), making her one of the most powerful US lawmakers in the 117th Congress. Jayapal, 55, who was elected last week, said the caucus is going to advance racial justice, tackle poverty and inequality and help transform the country. “I am honoured that my colleagues have elected me,” she said. “We have massive crises knocking at our nation’s door, and the work of the CPC has never been more important.” Indian-American Congressman Ro Khanna has been elected as deputy whip of the CPC.
Indian-origin appointed CEO of WHO Foundation
Indian-origin global health expert Anil Soni has been appointed as the first CEO of the newly launched The WHO Foundation, which works alongside the World Health Organization to address most pressing health challenges across the world. Soni will assume his role on January 1 next year. In his new role, Soni will accelerate the Foundation's "work to invest in innovative, evidence-based initiatives that support WHO in delivering on its mission to ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all," the Foundation said. The WHO Foundation, an independent grant-making agency headquartered in Geneva, was launched in May 2020 to work alongside the World Health Organization (WHO) and the global health community to address the world's most pressing global health challenges. Soni joins the Foundation from Viatris, a global healthcare company, where he served as Head of Global Infectious Diseases.
Rs 150,000 monthly expense allowance for Lakhvi
The UN Security Council’s 1267 Al Qaeda Sanctions Committee has given a go ahead for a monthly payment of Pakistani Rupee 150,000 for Mumbai attack plotter Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, a proscribed UN terrorist, to meet his expenses. The committee approved the payment that will include expenses of about Rs 45,000 for medicines, food (Rs 50,000), public utility charges (Rs 20,000), lawyer fees (Rs 20,000) and transportation (Rs 15,000) to be accessed monthly from Lakhvi’s bank account, which had been frozen since he was listed a terrorist, sources said. Lakhvi, 60, was designated as a global terrorist by the UN in December 2008 for being associated with LeT and al-Qaida. Proscribed terrorists and entities are subject to an assets freeze. The Security Council Resolution 1267 provides for states to sanction basic expenses of the designated individuals if there is no objection over it.
Bhutan to decriminalise homosexuality
A joint sitting of both houses of Bhutan’s parliament approved a bill to legalise gay sex, making it the latest Asian nation to take steps towards easing restrictions on same-sex relationships. Lawmaker Ugyen Wangdi, the vice-chairperson of a joint panel considering the changes, said 63 of the total 69 members of both houses of parliament had voted in favour of amending the code to scrap the provision. Six members were absent. “Homosexuality will not be considered as unnatural sex now,” Wangdi said on phone from the capital city of Thimphu, without giving details. The changes still need to be approved by the King of Bhutan to become a law. Rights activist Tashi Tsheten said he was “thrilled and really happy” over the move, calling it a “victory” for the LGBT+ community. Neighbouring India removed a centuries-old colonial prohibition on gay sex in 2018.
HK activist denied bail after landmark sentencing
Hong Kong pro-democracy activist Agnes Chow was denied bail pending an appeal against her 10-month jail sentence on charges related to unauthorised assembly during anti-government protests last year. The 24-year old activist was jailed on Dec 2 along with Joshua Wong for their roles in an unlawful rally near police headquarters in 2019, the toughest and most high-profile sentencing of opposition figures this year. Chow's hearing came after around 16 activists were arrested since Monday, part of a relentless crackdown on opposition forces in the Chinese-ruled city. Critics say Hong Kong's Beijing-backed government is curtailing opposition and wide-ranging freedoms guaranteed after the former British colony returned to Chinese rule in 1997, a charge authorities in Beijing and Hong Kong reject.
Saudi Arabia approves Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine
Saudi Arabia last week approved the use of the Pfizer-BioNTech novel coronavirus vaccine, state media reported, becoming the second Gulf country after Bahrain to green-light the drug. "The Saudi Food and Drug Authority (SFDA)... has approved the registration of Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia," it said in a statement. "Health authorities in the kingdom can import and use the vaccine," it added. The SFDA did not specify when it would begin the rollout of the vaccine by US pharmaceuticals giant Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech. Last week, Bahrain announced it had approved the emergency use of the same vaccine. Britain and Canada have also approved it. Saudi Arabia has so far recorded nearly 360,000 novel coronavirus cases, including more than 6,000 deaths –- the highest in the Gulf. But the kingdom has also reported a high recovery rate.
France confirms bird flu outbreak
The French farm ministry said that highly pathogenic H5N8 bird flu had been found on a duck farm in the southwest of the country, confirming France’s first farm outbreak of the virus this year. The outbreak was first reported last week but at the time it was unclear what strain of the virus it was. Bird flu has been spreading rapidly in Europe, putting the poultry industry on alert after previous outbreaks led to the culling of tens of millions of birds. “The ANSES national reference laboratory confirmed the infection of a farm of 6,000 ducks by the H5N8 virus in the municipality of Benesse-Maremne (Landes region), in which high mortality was observed on December 5,” the ministry said. A security zone was set up around the farm on December 7, a ban on the move of poultry and additional sanitary measures, the ministry said.
Germany heads for another national lockdown
Germany is heading for a major new nationwide lockdown to stem the rapid spread of the coronavirus after health experts said that to wait until after Christmas to wind the country down could cost tens of thousands of lives and overwhelm hospitals. The country recorded almost 23,000 new cases last week, and 598 deaths, both rates higher than at any time since the start of the pandemic. Leading politicians urged the government to act immediately to instigate what some media were calling a “blitz lockdown”. Markus Söder, leader of the southern state of Bavaria, where cases have risen sharply in the past few days, said: “We have to act as soon as possible.” He said that every day counted, tweeting: “Why hesitate, when we know that it’s necessary? Which is why we need to push everything forward and act decisively. We need to wind everything down before Christmas.”
Senate okays Trump's arms sale to UAE
An effort to stop President Donald Trump's high-tech weapons deals with the United Arab Emirates fell short in the US Senate as Trump's fellow Republicans opposed resolutions of disapproval seeking to block the sale of drones and advanced F-35 fighter jets. The Senate voted 50-46 and 49-47, mostly along party lines, to stop consideration of the resolutions, killing them at least until President-elect Joe Biden takes office on Jan. 20. Biden, a Democrat, is expected to review the sales. Earlier, the Trump administration had issued a formal notice of its intention to veto the measures if they passed the Senate and House of Representatives. The White House said the sales support US foreign policy and national security objectives by "enabling the UAE to deter increasing Iranian aggressive behavior and threats" in the wake of its recent peace deal with Israel. Backers of the sale also described the UAE as an important US partner in the Middle East.
US carries out rare execution
The Trump administration last week carried out its ninth federal execution of the year in what has been a first series of executions during a presidential lame-duck period in 130 years, putting to death a Texas street-gang member in the slayings of a religious couple from Iowa more than two decades ago. Four more executions, are planned in the weeks before President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration. The case of Brandon Bernard, who received a lethal injection of phenobarbital at a US prison in Terre Haute, Indiana, was a rare execution of a person who was in his teens when his crime was committed. Several high-profile figures, including Kim Kardashian West, had appealed to Trump to commute Bernard’s sentence to life in prison.
Probe into Hunter Biden's tax affairs
President-elect Joe Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, said that the US attorney’s office in Delaware had opened an investigation into his “tax affairs”. Hunter Biden, who has long been a target of Donald Trump and his allies, said he had learned about the federal investigation from his lawyer, who was informed of the matter by the US attorney’s office earlier that day. “I take this matter very seriously but I am confident that a professional and objective review of these matters will demonstrate that I handled my affairs legally and appropriately, including with the benefit of professional tax advisers,” Hunter Biden said in a statement released by the president-elect’s transition office.
Netanyahu to be first to get Pfizer vaccine in Israel
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he’s going to demonstrate his faith in Pfizer Inc.’s coronavirus vaccine by being the first in the country to be inoculated. Netanyahu disclosed his plan following the delivery of the first shipment of the vaccine to Israel last week. “I believe in this vaccine, I expect it to get the necessary approvals in the next few days,” Netanyahu said. “I want the citizens of Israel to be vaccinated, and in order to do that, I want to serve as an example to them, and I plan to be the first to be inoculated with the vaccine in Israel.” Netanyahu promised to bring millions of doses of vaccine to Israel, where morbidity figures have been climbing since the easing of the country’s second lockdown, imposed in mid-September. The daily average for new coronavirus infections climbed to nearly 1,500 last week, double the figure two weeks ago.
Passengers stuck in cruise after Covid-19 scare
A Royal Caribbean “cruise-to-nowhere” from Singapore began disembarking its nearly 1,700 passengers who were confined to their cabins for 16 hours last week after a Covid-19 case was detected onboard, forcing the ship back to port. All passengers aboard the Quantum of the Seas had cleared a mandatory PCR test for the virus. Authorities said close contacts of the Covid-19 patient on board had so far tested negative. The patient, an 83-year-old male, had reported to the ship’s medical centre with diarrhoea and a onboard test revealed the infection. However, two further tests have come back negative.
Iran arrests some suspects for killing N-scientist
Some of those involved in the assassination of Iran’s top nuclear scientist last month have been arrested, an adviser to the Iranian parliament speaker said, according to the semi-official news agency ISNA. Iran has blamed Israel for the November 27 killing of Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, who was seen by Western intelligence services as the mastermind of a covert Iranian nuclear weapons programme. Tehran has long denied any such ambition. Israel has neither confirmed nor denied responsibility for the killing. “The perpetrators of this assassination, some of whom have been identified and even arrested by the security services, will not escape justice,” ISNA quoted adviser Hossein Amir-Abdollahian as telling. “Were the Zionists (Israel) able to do this alone and without the cooperation of, for example, the American (intelligence) service or another service? They certainly could not do that,” Amir-Abdollahian said.
