Washington, Feb 20,2021: The United States has no plans to ease sanctions imposed on Iran ahead of the anticipated talks on reinstating the nuclear agreement, White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters.
“We don’t anticipate taking additional steps, as in snapback – snapping back of sanctions in advance of that.
This is about having a conversation about the path forward,” Psaki said during a press briefing on Friday.
On Thursday, the United States accepted an invitation from the European Union to attend a meeting of the P5+1 group – consisting of China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States plus Germany – with Iran to discuss a diplomatic way forward on Iran’s nuclear program.
US President Joe Biden has repeatedly vowed the United States would resume obligations under the nuclear agreement, abandoned by his predecessor Donald Trump, once Iran returns into compliance.
Washington , February 19,2021: The intelligence agencies in the Netherlands, Finland and Canada have expressed concern about China’s espionage and political influence in democratic countries.
The Frontier Post quoted Axios as reporting that the Dutch General Intelligence and Security Service (AIVD) in The Netherlands, last week, had released a report on threats to Dutch national security interests.
The report stated that China’s cyber-espionage poses an “imminent threat” to the economy of The Netherlands, in sectors such as banking, energy and infrastructure.
“Behind the scenes, China is rising on the agenda of the Dutch intelligence services. Spearheaded by the AIVD and NCTV, the focus is on economic espionage and political influence,” Ties Dams, a research fellow at the Clingendael China Centre at the Clingendael Institute, told Axios.
“With the upcoming elections in March, this is the intelligence community signalling that China has to be prioritised,” said Dams.
Similarly, Antti Pelttari, director of the Finnish Security and Intelligence Service, said that the authoritarian countries (referring to China and Russia) are “trying to get hold of Finland’s critical infrastructure”.
He further said that Huawei should not be allowed to build the 5G networks in Finland.
Axios quoted Canadian Security Intelligence Service Director David Vigneault as saying that China is “pursuing a strategy for geopolitical advantage on all fronts — economic, technological, political, and military — and using all elements of state power to carry out activities that are a direct threat to our national security and sovereignty.”
“These activities … cross the line by attempting to undermine our democratic processes or threaten our citizens in a covert and clandestine manner,” Vigneault said.
Several countries have refused to allow Chinese firm Huawei for building 5G Network amid continuous human rights abuses by Beijing authorities.
In August 2018, US President Donald Trump signed a decree that barred US departments from using network equipment made by Huawei and ZTE for national security reasons. Last July, the UK government said the country’s 5G networks would also be Huawei-free starting from January 2021 to the end of 2027.
Washington, Feb 19,2021: The heads of Google, Facebook and Twitter will testify in Congress on the issue of misinformation next month, the US House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee said in a statement.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg together with Google CEO Sundar Pichai and Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey will appear before lawmakers at the Energy and Commerce Committee on March 25, the statement said.
“Whether it be falsehoods about the COVID-19 vaccine or debunked claims of election fraud, these online platforms have allowed misinformation to spread, intensifying national crises with real-life, grim consequences for public health and safety,” committee Chairman Frank Pallone said on Thursday.
The lawmakers called on the tech giants to acknowledge their role in elevating misinformation to online audiences.
“Industry self-regulation has failed. We must begin the work of changing incentives driving social media companies to allow and even promote misinformation and disinformation,” the statement said.
Algiers, Feb 19,2021: Algeria President Abdelmadjid Tebboune announced the dissolution of the parliament’s lower house and called snap legislative elections.
“I made a decision to dissolve the National House of Representatives (the lower house). We will immediately move toward elections so that (the parliament will be) free of finances — be it corrupt money or not,” Tebboune said during an address to the nation, as broadcast on Algerian television.
According to the president, the youth will have an opportunity to enter the parliament.
Tebboune also announced plans for a government reshuffle in the next few days, adding that several ministries have shown poor performance.
Previous parliamentary elections were held in the North African country in May 2017, and the next ones were scheduled for 2022.
Washington, Feb 19,2021: Democrats have formally introduced President Joe Biden’s immigration bill in Congress, US Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said.
“Today, Democrats are taking a momentous step in establishing a better immigration system for our nation by introducing the US Citizenship Act,” Schumer said in a statement.
Schumer explained the legislation creates a pathway to citizenship for undocumented and documented immigrants residing in the United States.
The bill also addresses the root cause of migration to the US-Mexico border, establishes smart border management strategy, and boosts efforts to reunite migrant families separated by the Trump administration’s “zero-tolerance” policy.
Biden is expected to ease the restrictive Trump-era immigration policies and has already directed his advisors to review current US immigration policies.
On Friday, the Biden administration will begin processing asylum applications for about 25,000 migrants who were forced to wait in Mexico under the former administration’s Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP) program.
New Delhi, Feb 18 ,2021: The third India-Australia-Japan-US ministerial meeting will take place February 18, India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said.
“The 3rd India-Australia-Japan-USA Ministerial Meeting will be held on 18 February 2021 with participation of the respective Foreign Ministers. The meeting will provide an opportunity to continue the useful exchange of views from their last meeting in Tokyo on October 6, 2020,” the MEA said in a statement.
“The Ministers will exchange views on regional and global issues, especially practical areas of cooperation towards maintaining a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific region. They will also discuss ongoing efforts to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, addressing global climate change and other issues of mutual interest,” it said.
Murshidabad, Feb 18,2021: West Bengal Minister and ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) MLA from Jangipur Jakir Hossain was seriously injured in a bomb attack last night at Nimtita railway station in this district.
The ministers along with his party workers were waiting at platform no 2 of the station to catch a train to Kolkata at around 10 pm when he was attacked. A huge police contingent was rushed to the spot, a senior police officer said.
Hossain suffered serious injuries on his leg and at least two other persons who were with him also injured in the attack after unidentified attackers hurled crude bombs at him.
According to eyewitness, Hossain sustained severe injuries on his left limbs.
Among the TMC party workers who are injured, some may even need amputation, said a doctor.
While there have been instances of MLAs being targeted and killed this is the first occasion in recent times that a Minister of the State government has been attacked publicly in the state.
Hossain, who was earlier in the Congress joined the TMC and won the Jangipur assembly seat in 2016.
Trinamool Congress Murshidabad district president Abu Taher Khan said Hossain was rushed to the Jangipur government hospital and after initial treatment, he was shifted to a Kolkata hospital.
New Delhi, Feb 16 ,2021: Dr Kiran Bedi has been removed from the post of Puducherry Lieutenant Governor (LG), according to a Rashtrapati Bhavan communique on Tuesday late evening said, adding that Telangana Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan will additionally charge of Puducherry until a new LG has been appointed.
“The President has directed that Dr Kiran Bedi shall cease to hold the office of the Lieutenant-Governor of Puducherry and has appointed Dr Tamilisai Soundararajan, Governor of Telangana, to discharge the functions of the Lieutenant-Governor of Puducherry, in addition to her own duties, with effect from the date she assumes charge of her office until regular arrangements for the office of Lieutenant-Governor of Puducherry are made”, the Rashtrapati Bhawan communique said.
There have been several complaints against Kiran Bedi from the Chief Minister and government of Puducherry for interfering in governance issues.
The Puducherry Chief Minister Narayanasamy had met the President Ram Nath Kovind and reportedly lodged his grievance regarding her interference into day to day governance.