After a gap of three months, Russia has reported the daily new Covid-19 cases below 18,000, pushing the tally to 3,774,672, health officials said on Wednesday.
Officials added that the country reported 17,741 fresh infections in the last 24 hours. The last time it had recorded below 18,000 single-day Covid-19 cases was on October 29, 2020.
The nationwide death toll has reached 71,076, even as 3,202,483 were recovered.
More than 100.3 million Covid-19 tests have been conducted across the country.
Those from high-risk groups have been receiving the Covid vaccination since early December, and the entire Russian population have been receiving the jab since last week.
Roque expressed confidence that Sobejana “will continue to modernize our military and undertake reform initiatives to make the AFP truly professional in its mandate as the protector of the people and the state…reports Asian Lite News
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte named Army chief Lieutenant General Cirilito Sobejana as the new chief of staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said on Wednesday.
Roque expressed confidence that Sobejana “will continue to modernize our military and undertake reform initiatives to make the AFP truly professional in its mandate as the protector of the people and the state.”
Sobejana was awarded the Medal of Valour, the highest military award, for leading troops in a deadly clash with around 150 Abu Sayyaf terrorists in the southern Philippine Basilan province in 1995, Xinhua reported.
Sobejana is the eighth military chief under Duterte. He will replace General Gilbert Gapay, who will retire on February 4 after serving for six months.
Sobejana, a member of the Philippine Military Academy Class 1987, will lead the AFP until he retires on July 31, when he reaches the mandatory retirement age of 56.
“Any attempt to undermine or derail the Inter-Government Negotiations (IGN) process will prove counterproductive,” urged Munir Akram, Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the UN…reports Hamza Ameer
As India, Brazil, Germany and Japan put forward efforts to reform the 15-member body of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) and add seats of new permanent members, Pakistan has opposed the idea, stating that it would “kill the consensus-based process to make it more effective, representative and accountable.”
“Any attempt to undermine or derail the Inter-Government Negotiations (IGN) process will prove counterproductive,” urged Munir Akram, Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the UN.
“The Inter-Government Negotiations (IGN) remains the only credible platform for a comprehensive reform of the Security Council,” he added.
He criticised the G-4 members (India, Brazil, Germany, Japan) for trying to create fear of losing the opportunity and need for reform unless their “procedural moves to short circuit the process were endorsed.”
Akram tweeted: “At the 1st meeting of the IGN today, I reiterated Pakistan’s principled position for a comprehensive ?#UNSCreform. We are prepared to breathe new life in the IGN process but some want to kill it.”
— Permanent Mission of Pakistan to the UN (@PakistanUN_NY) January 26, 2021
A general agreement to enlarge the Council has been in place since February 2009, when full-scale negotiations to reform the Security Council began in the General Assembly.
Since the start of the negotiations, member states have remained divided over the details. The G-4 states have suggested to expand the Security Council by at least 10 seats (six additional permanent and four non-permanent members). While Uniting For Consensus (UFC) group, comprising of Italy and Pakistan, opposes any addition to the list of permanent members.
“It would make the Council less representative, less effective and more divided and will diminish the right of the vast majority of the UN membership to serve to the Council,” the UFC maintained.
UFC has proposed a new category of members – non-permanent members with longer duration in terms and possibility to get re-elected.
“UFC proposal to add 11 new non-permanent seats would redress the deficit of equitable representation in the Security Council, as it accommodates the interests of all groups,” said Akram.
“In 1945, there was one non-permanent seat for 8 member states, today there is one non-permanent seat for 19 member states. A third of the UN members have never served on the Council. Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, for example, is only the second Small Island Developing State (SIDS) to ever serve on the Council,” Akram added.
The Security Council is currently composed of five permanent members – Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States and 10 non-permanent members elected to serve for two years.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attacks. However, Afghan officials blame the Taliban militant group for the bomb explosions in recent months…reports Asian Lite News
Three people were killed and 13 others injured in Afghanistan’s twin bomb explosions, the latest in a string of attacks in the militancy-hit country, authorities said on Wednesday.
In the capital city Kabul, two police officers were slightly wounded when an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) struck a police pickup truck in Police District 15 Wednesday morning, Kabul police spokesman Ferdaus Faramarz told Xinhua.
The IED was likely to be detonated by remote control and a Criminal Investigation Department team of Kabul police was investigating the case, he said.
In southern Uruzgan province, two police officers and a civilian were killed and 10 civilians, and a policeman wounded in a similar incident on Tuesday night, according to the Provincial Governor.
The police pickup truck was destroyed by the explosion that occurred in Police District 1 of provincial capital Tirin Kot city, Governor Mohammad Omar Shirzad told Xinhua, adding the wounded were receiving treatment in a provincial hospital in Tirin Kot.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attacks. However, Afghan officials blame the Taliban militant group for the bomb explosions in recent months.
The Mediterranean port, located in the northern Israeli city of Haifa, handled a total capacity of about 1.47 million TEU (twenty-foot equivalent unit) throughout 2020, a 6-percent increase year on year…reports Asian Lite News
Haifa Port, the largest and busiest port in Israel, on Tuesday reported an all-time record high in container handling despite the Covid-19 outbreak in the country.
The Mediterranean port, located in the northern Israeli city of Haifa, handled a total capacity of about 1.47 million TEU (twenty-foot equivalent unit) throughout 2020, a 6-percent increase year on year.
The port’s previous record of about 1.46 million TEU was set in 2018.
The most substantial increase of 9 per cent was in unloading full import containers, totaling over 5,94,000 TEU in 2020, compared with 5,44,000 TEU in 2019, the port said in a statement.
In terms of exports, the number remained almost unchanged, with about 3,62,000 TEU loaded in 2020, the Xinhua news agency reported.
Haifa Port, with about 1,000 workers, handles almost 30 million tons of cargo each year.
The two leaders also agreed that bilateral cooperation to curb the Covid-19 spread turned out to be effective…reports Asian Lite News
Chinese President Xi Jinping has expressed his active support for Seoul’s initiative to denuclearise the Korean Peninsula, calling the efforts in line with the common interests of both countries.
It said Xi delivered the comments during his phone talks with South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Tuesday.
During the talks, Moon said he hopes Seoul and Beijing can work together to open a trilateral summit between the two countries along with Japan, Yonhap reported, citing Seoul’s presidential office, Cheong Wa Dae.
Xi replied by saying China will strengthen cooperation with South Korea to open the summit at the earliest date.
Seoul had planned to host the annual summit, held in turns in the three countries, last year, but was unable to do so apparently due to the Covid-19 pandemic situation.
The two leaders also agreed that bilateral cooperation to curb the Covid-19 spread turned out to be effective.
Chinese President Xi Jinping
Xi said he supports Moon’s vision of creating a Northeast Asian cooperative body on public health.
Xi also said he was aware of South Korea’s plan to begin public coronavirus vaccination next month and expressed hope that Seoul’s vaccination program could play a key role in the global fight against the pandemic.
Cheong Wa Dae announced Tuesday after the phone talks that Xi expressed hope for an “early visit” to South Korea, as soon as conditions are created.
Xi was quoted as saying that Beijing makes much of Seoul’s role for a “political resolution” to the North Korea issue, while describing the Korean Peninsula situation as “stable in general.”
The two leaders also agreed to explore strategic stability discussions on a range of arms control and emerging security issues…reports Asian Lite News
US President Joe Biden and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Tuesday discussed arms control and other issues during their first phone conversation, said the White House.
The White House said in a statement that Biden and Putin discussed both countries’ willingness to extend the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) for five years, agreeing to have their teams work urgently to complete the extension by February 5, the Xinhua news agency reported.
The two leaders also agreed to explore strategic stability discussions on a range of arms control and emerging security issues.
Biden in the phone call reaffirmed US support for Ukraine’s sovereignty. “He also raised other matters of concern, including the SolarWinds hack, reports of Russia placing bounties on United States soldiers in Afghanistan, interference in the 2020 United States election, and the poisoning of Aleksey Navalny,” said the statement.
The White House said last Thursday that the Biden administration proposed a five-year extension of the New START, which was welcomed by the Kremlin.
Their common ground on arms control might be a bright spot for the US-Russia relations, but the overall tensions between Washington and Moscow are unlikely to decrease given their differences on issues of Syria, Ukraine, cybersecurity as well as their mutual accusation of interference in the domestic politics.
The New START, which limits the numbers of deployed strategic nuclear warheads to 1,550 and delivery systems to 700 for each, is the last remaining nuclear arms control pact in force between the two nuclear superpowers.
The treaty can be extended by a maximum of five years with the consent of the two countries. The former Trump administration tried to conclude a shorter extension of the treaty last year after rounds of negotiation with Russia, but the two sides failed to finalise a formal agreement.
Iran has also lifted JCPOA limitations on its nuclear research and development activities…reports Asian Lite News
Iran will stop inspections pertaining to the Additional Protocol of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) if the parties to 2015 landmark nuclear deal do not adhere to their commitments, an official said here.
“The parliament Law of Strategic Action Plan (to Counter Sanctions) is completely clear. If JCPOA parties fail to comply with their obligations, Iran should stop inspections pertaining to the Additional Protocol of the IAEA, which Iran is implementing voluntarily,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said in a briefing on Monday.
The deal is officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
“However, Iran’s cooperation with the IAEA will not be suspended, and it does not mean the expel of IAEA inspectors in general, but it means the cessation of inspections related to the additional protocol,” he said.
Former US President Donald Trump had unilaterally withdrawn the country from the JCPOA in May 2018.
As a result of the US’ unilateral exit, Iran has surpassed JCPOA-stipulated limits on its uranium enrichment level and on its stockpiles of heavy water and low-enriched uranium.
Iran has also lifted JCPOA limitations on its nuclear research and development activities.
On January 4, the Islamic Republic launched 20 per cent uranium enrichment process as part of the country’s Strategic Action Plan to Counter Sanctions which was approved by the parliament in December 2020.
The PLO includes Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas Fatah Movement and several other left-wing groups…reports Asian Lite News
Several factions of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) have intended to form a unified list to compete in the elections scheduled for May 22, a top official said here.
Wassel Abu Yousef, a member of the PLO Executive Committee, told the Voice of Palestine radio on Monday that leaders of the factions met last week in Ramallah and discussed the possibility of forming a unified list to compete in the upcoming elections, Xinhua news agency reported.
Abu Yousef is also the Secretary-General of the Palestinian Liberation Front (PLF), one of the minor PLO’s factions.
The PLO includes Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas Fatah Movement and several other left-wing groups.
“Out of the 12 factions, members in the PLO, leaders of four factions expressed readiness to join the unified list to compete in the legislative elections scheduled on May 22,” Abu Yousef said.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas
However, he added that there were efforts to convince the eight other factions’ leaders to join the list which will be headed by Fatah Movement.
On January 16, Abbas had issued a presidential decree that called for holding the legislative elections on May 22, presidential elections on July 31 and the National Council elections on August 31.
Leaders of Palestinian factions and political powers, including the Hamas movement and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, are expected to convene in Cairo in the first week of February to discuss the mechanisms of holding the elections.
The last legislative elections were held in the Palestinian territories in late 2006 when the Hamas movement won a majority.
Abbas was elected as the president of the Palestinian Authority in 2005.
The international Ben Gurion Airport outside Tel Aviv will remain closed until January 31, when the ban is expected to be lifted, the Airport Authority said in a statement….reports Asian Lite News
Israel on Tuesday closed its international airport to all flights as a one-week measure aimed at stopping the new coronavirus variants from entering the country.
The international Ben Gurion Airport outside Tel Aviv will remain closed until January 31, when the ban is expected to be lifted, the Airport Authority said in a statement.
The measure bans all incoming and outgoing flights, except for medical emergencies and attending legal procedures or a funeral of a relative, reports Xinhua news agency.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told a weekly cabinet meeting on Sunday that the goal of the ban is to stop the arrival of new coronavirus variants and curb the outbreak in the country, according to a statement released by his office.
Some health officials said the ban might be extended.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (Yoav Dudkevitch/JINI via Xinhua/IANS)
“Six days of airport closure will not suffice,” Sharon Alroy-Preis, head of Public Health Services, told the parliament’s Law and Justice Committee on Monday.
She said the Ministry wants to prevent the arrival of new variants before a large part of the population is vaccinated.
The country began a large-scale vaccination drive on December 20.
Israel has been under a third nationwide lockdown since December 19, 2020, which is expected to be lifted on January 31.
With a population of about 9 million people, Israel has so far reported a total of 606,365 coronavirus cases and 4,498 deaths.
