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A former US defense secretary has called on President-elect Joe Biden to reform the system that gives sole control of the nation’s nuclear arsenal to the president, calling it “outdated, unnecessary and extremely dangerous.” The call from William Perry came the same day US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi spoke with the nation’s top military leader about ensuring that an “unhinged” President Donald Trump not be able to launch a nuclear attack in his final days in office. “Once in office, Biden should announce he would share authority to use nuclear weapons with a select group in Congress,” said Perry, who served under President Bill Clinton. He was writing in Politico magazine with Tom Collina of the Ploughshares Fund, which advocates for stronger nuclear controls. They said Biden, who takes office January 20, should also declare that the United States will never start a nuclear war and would use the bomb only in retaliation. The piece argues that the current system gives the president — any

US President-elect Joe Biden has said he will introduce an immigration legislation “immediately” after taking office, reversing the Trump administration’s policies. Biden will taken the oath of office on January 20. “I will introduce an immigration bill immediately and have it sent to the appropriate committees to begin movement,” he told reporters in Wilmington, Delaware on Friday. Biden was responding to a question on what his administration would do first after his inauguration on January 20. He had also previously promised an immigration overhaul within 100 days of taking office. Reversing the Trump administration’s “cruel” immigration policies was Biden”s one of the key election promises. Restricting immigration has been a focus of the Trump administration since its first days when it issued the travel ban on seven Muslim-majority countries, and it has continued into Trump”s final year in office as the White House uses the coronavirus pandemic as cover. The Trump government harden

Popular gaming platform Twitch has banned indefinitely Donald Trump’s official channel on its platform, following the storming of Capitol Hill by supporters of the outgoing US President. “In light of yesterday’s shocking attack on the Capitol, we have disabled President Trump’s Twitch channel,” the company said in a statement according to CNN. “Given the current extraordinary circumstances and the President’s incendiary rhetoric, we believe this is a necessary step to protect our community and prevent Twitch from being used to incite further violence,” the live-streaming platform said. The San Francisco-based company is the latest among social media and tech platforms that have launched a crackdown on Trump after the president’s supporters breached the Capitol Hill building bringing to a halt the congressional debate to certify Electoral College votes of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris” win in the November 3 presidential elections. The chaos forced a lockdown and confrontations with police

Donald Trump condemns “in the strongest possible terms” violence by supporters who entered the US Capitol after being whipped up in a speech by the president, his spokeswoman said Thursday. “Let me be clear: The violence we saw yesterday at our nation’s Capitol was appalling, reprehensible and antithetical to the American way,” White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany told reporters. “We condemn it — the president and this administration — in the strongest possible terms.” Calls for Trump’s removal have been building a day after his supporters entered the seat of US government in Washington in a violent attempt to prevent the certification by Congress of Democrat Joe Biden’s election victory.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson cancelled his visit to India, sources said, hours after he announced a fresh lockdown in the United Kingdom over the new strain of coronavirus that has affected thousands of people in the UK. Mr Johnson was to be the chief guest at this year’s Republic Day parade in New Delhi, which was also to be his first bilateral visit after the UK’s departure from the European Union in December. He had accepted the invitation last month. “The prime minister spoke to Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi this morning, to express his regret that he will be unable to visit India later this month as planned,” read a statement from his Downing Street office. “In light of the national lockdown announced last night, and the speed at which the new coronavirus variant is spreading, the Prime Minister said that it was important for him to remain in the UK so he can focus on the domestic response to the virus,” the statement read. “The leaders underlined their shared commitment

Delhi Chief Minister and AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal on Monday appealed to the Centre to accept all the demands of the protesting farmers and repeal the three farm laws. In a tweet ahead of the protesting farmer unions’ meeting with the Centre, Mr Kejriwal lauded their resolve in continuing their agitation despite rains and cold weather. “Salute to the resolve of the farmers staying firm on the roads despite rains and cold. I appeal to the Centre to accept all the demands of the farmers and repeal the three black farm laws in today’s meeting,” Mr Kejriwal tweeted in Hindi. Farmers from Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and some other states are camping at several entry points of the national capital blocking the highways, demanding that the Centre repeal the farm laws and give legal guarantee of minimum support price (MSP) for crops. Protesting farmers who have been camping at Delhi borders for the last 39 days braving bone-chilling cold and now rains have threatened to intensify their p

Two days after Maharashtra Congress chief Balasaheb Thorat said his party would strongly oppose any proposal that seeks to rename Aurangabad as Sambhajinagar, the Shiv Sena on Saturday said its resistance will not affect the three-party MVA government in the state. Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut expressed confidence that the issue would be resolved when all the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) allies- Sena, NCP and Congress- sit together and talk. On Thursday, Mr Thorat had asserted that the Congress would oppose any proposal to rename Aurangabad, saying that changing the names of places was not part of the Common Minimum Programme (CMP) of the three ruling parties. It was the Shiv Sena, which had first made the demand to rename Aurangabad as Sambhajinagar over two decades ago. A proposal to that effect had been passed in the general body meeting of the Aurangabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) in June 1995, which was challenged by a Congress corporator in the high court and later in the Supreme Cou

The Madhya Pradesh cabinet on Tuesday gave nod to an ordinance on the bill against religious conversion through fraudulent means, including those for the sake of marriage, that stipulates a jail term of up to 10 years for violators. The ordinance on the Freedom of Religion Bill, 2020, has been sent to state Governor Anandiben Patel for approval, state Home Minister Narottam Mishra told reporters. “Several ordinances including Freedom of Religion Ordinance were approved in the virtual cabinet meeting headed by Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Tuesday,” he said.

28 MLAs elected in the recent bypolls in Madhya Pradesh were administered the oath as members of the Assembly on Monday by protem speaker Rameshwar Sharma, a government official said. They were supposed to take oath on the first day of the winter session of the Assembly which was scheduled to begin on Monday. However, after the session was postponed due to some Assembly staffers and MLAs testing positive for coronavirus, the oath ceremony was held in the office of the speaker, he said. Those who took oath were BJP legislators Pradyumn Singh Tomar, Mahendra Singh Sisodia, Brajendra Singh Yadav, Bisahulal Singh, Dr Prabhuram Choudhary, Rajwardhan Singh Dattigaon, Hardeep Singh Dang, OPS Bhadoria and Tulsiram Silawat. Their party colleagues Raksha Santram Sironia, Govind Singh Rajput, Pradyumn Singh Lodhi, Sumitra Devi Kasdekar, Kamlesh Jatav, Suresh Dhakad Rathkheda, Jajpal Singh Jajji, Manoj Narayan Singh Choudhary, Narayan Patel and Subedar Singh Sikarwar also took oath.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi asserted on Monday that his government has undertaken historic reforms in the farm sector to boost agriculture and strengthen farmers. Flagging off the 100th “Kisan Rail” from Sangola in Maharashtra to Shalimar in West Bengal via video-conferencing, PM Modi said his government’s policies are clear and intentions transparent in reforming the agriculture sector. It will continue to work to strengthen farmers and agri sector with full force and dedication, he said. His remarks came amid continuing protests by a section of farmers against the Centre’s three farm reform laws. PM Modi did not directly refer to these laws on Monday, but he has often asserted that they are in the interests of farmers and accused opposition parties of misleading them. The ”Kisan Rail”, a service started by his government, will help small and marginal farmers, who are over 80 per cent of the peasantry, in supplying their produce to far-off markets, the prime minister said, adding tha

Ramchandra Prasad Singh, a member of the Rajya Sabha, has been chosen by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to lead his party, the Janata Dal United. The decision was formally taken at the party’s national executive today but, sources say, Mr Kumar had communicated his wish to appoint him as the JDU chief to senior leaders a few days ago. By handing over the party to his close confidante, Mr Kumar has made himself unavailable to ally BJP, whom he holds responsible for reducing his party’s seat tally to 43 by propping up Chirag Paswan’s LJP in the recently concluded Bihar assembly election, sources say. Mr Singh will look after the party’s affairs, including its dealings with the BJP. The decision shows that all is not well in the ruling National Democratic Alliance in which the BJP has been playing the role of a dominant partner since the state polls. RCP Singh, a former Indian Administrative Service officer of the Uttar Pradesh cadre, is known to be close to Nitish Kumar. He belongs to

A high-level Chinese delegation led by a vice minister of the Chinese Communist Party arrived in Kathmandu today to “take stock” of Nepal’s political situation after the dissolution of Parliament and subsequent split in the ruling Nepal Communist Party, according to a media report. Although no specific details about the agenda of the visit are available, the four-member delegation, led by Vice Minister of the International Department of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Guo Yezhou, will hold high-level talks during its stay in Kathmandu, My Republica newspaper reported, citing senior NCP leaders. Quoting a diplomatic source, it said the visit is aimed at “taking stock of Nepal’s evolving political situation after the dissolution of the House of Representatives and subsequent split in the ruling Nepal Communist Party amid already-deepened intra-party rift”. Nepal plunged into a political crisis last Sunday after embattled Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, known for his pro-Beijing leaning

Millions of Americans saw their jobless benefits expire on Saturday after US President Donald Trump refused to sign into law a $2.3 trillion pandemic aid and spending package, protesting that it did not do enough to help everyday people. Trump stunned Republicans and Democrats alike when he said this week he was unhappy with the massive bill, which provides $892 billion in badly needed coronavirus relief, including extending special unemployment benefits expiring on December 26, and $1.4 trillion for normal government spending. Without Trump’s signature, about 14 million people could lose those extra benefits, according to Labor Department data. A partial government shutdown will begin on Tuesday unless Congress can agree a stop-gap government funding bill before then. After months of wrangling, Republicans and Democrats agreed to the package last weekend, with the support of the White House. Trump, who hands over power to Democratic President-elect Joe Biden on January 20, did not obj

Prime Minister Narendra Modi often choses to dress in a traditional attire while attending an event of a particular region and this time it was a Kashmiri “pheran” as he launched the Ayushman Bharat scheme to extend health insurance benefits to residents of Jammu and Kashmir. Pheran is a Kashmiri form of cloak, worn by locals. Sources close to the prime minister said he had received the pheran as a gift in winters last year from a farm labourer from Jammu and Kashmir. PM Modi had planned to wear this during his visit to the region, but the trip could not materialise due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Asserting that the people of Jammu and Kashmir were deprived of their rights for decades, Union Home Minister Amit Shah stated that Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY)-SEHAT, launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the UT on Saturday, was another testament of his resolve towards the welfare of the erstwhile state. “The launch of PMJAY-SEHAT scheme is yet another testament of PM @NarendraModi’s resolve towards the health security and welfare of every person of J&K who remains deprived of their rights for decades,” Mr Shah tweeted.

In a setback to Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM) chief Kamal Haasan, ahead of the 2021 Tamil Nadu Assembly elections, general-secretary A Arunachalam joined Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the presence of Union Minister Prakash Javadekar on Friday. Mr Arunachalam is from a village in the Tuticorin district. The development came at a time when Mr Haasan is campaigning for the forthcoming state elections. During a press conference at the BJP’s headquarter in Chennai, BJP leader Javadekar said, “I am very confident BJP will show steller performance in Tamil Nadu. Many parties all over the country have a family party and our party is one family which is the difference between them and us. I am sure that we will give a stellar performance in the state elections.” The BJP leader said that the party has been performing in the state after state in every election.

China appears to be backing away from its initial financial promises to Pakistan under Beijing-financed China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a US$60 billion infrastructure building plan, amid rising corruption and terrorist attacks on Chinese engineers. According to Asia Times, Pakistan Army is set to take near-total control of the CPEC in a bid to reassure Beijing that their investments will be more secure amid terrorist attacks on Chinese engineers and others facilitating the infrastructure projects. The new bill comes at a time when reports suggest that China is slowly retreating from its promises. Overall lending by the state-backed China Development Bank and the Export-Import Bank of China declined from a peak of USD 75 billion in 2016 to just $4 billion last year. Provisional 2020 figures show that amount shrunk to around $3 billion in 2020, according to data of Boston University researchers in the United States.

European and British negotiators finalised a post-Brexit trade deal on Thursday, officials from both sides said. “We have finally found an agreement,” the president of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen said. “It was a long and winding road, but we have a good deal at the end of it,” she said. “The single market will be fair and remain so.” The announcement came after days of intense back and forth between von der Leyen and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

The Centre should repeal the new agri laws as they are making farmers feel insecure about their future, Congress leader Sachin Pilot said on Thursday. The former deputy chief minister of Rajasthan said the Congress is working hard to ensure that the organisation and the state government fulfil the promises made to the people of the state. “The centre should stop being stubborn and withdraw the farm laws with immediate effect. The farmers are feeling insecure about their future. They are very concerned,” Mr Pilot told reporters in Pali. He said the executive of the state unit of the Congress will be announced in December and political appointments will take place in January. “AICC (All India Congress Committee) general secretary in charge for Rajasthan Ajay Maken has said several times that the executive of the PCC (Pradesh Congress Committee) will be announced in December and political appointments will take place in January in the state,” he said. “The objective of all of us is to mak

The Visva-Bharati University should not be dragged into a political controversy, said West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar today. “Not all balls are meant to be played in the game of cricket and not all balls are meant to be spared. The university should not be dragged into a political controversy. Those who want to put Visva Bharati University into a controversy, I appeal to them to give total autonomy to the institution and the Vice-Chancellor,” said Mr Dhankhar. “If you want to contribute in a positive manner for the betterment of public, strengthen democracy, restore faith in the constitution and keep rule of law above all, then do not play every ball,” he said. His remarks come after West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee skipped the Visva-Bharati centenary celebration with her party saying she was not invited. The event was addressed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi today. Responding to Ms Banerjee’s comment that there is “no place for outsiders who come during polls and inc