05-01-2021

TUESdAY, JANUARY 5, 2021
7
The US aircraft carrier USS Nimitz will remain in the Gulf due to "recent threats" by Iran, the
Pentagon said Sunday, following reports the ship was returning home in what some read as a sign of
de-escalation.
Photo : AP
US aircraft carrier to stay in
Gulf: Pentagon
WASHINGTON : The US aircraft carrier
USS Nimitz will remain in the Gulf due to
"recent threats" by Iran, the Pentagon
said Sunday, following reports the ship
was returning home in what some read
as a sign of de-escalation, reports BSS.
The Nimitz has been patrolling Gulf
waters since late November, but
American media said this week that the
acting US defense secretary, Christopher
C. Miller, had ordered the vessel to
return home.
The New York Times, quoting US
officials, said this move was part of a
"de-escalatory" signal to Tehran to
avoid a conflict in President Donald
Trump's last days in office.
Brian Urquhart,
early leader of
United Nations,
dies at 101
TYRINGHAM : British
diplomat Brian Urquhart, an
early leader of the United
Nations who played a
central role in developing
the U.N. practice of
peacekeeping, has died,
according to his family. He
was 101.
Urquhart's son, Thomas,
confirmed he died at his
home in Tyringham,
Massachusetts, on Saturday
but didn't provide a specific
cause, the New York Times
reported.
Urquhart, born in
Bridport, England in 1919,
served in British military
and intelligence during
World War II before
becoming the second official
hired by the U.N. after its
formation in 1945. He went
on to be a principal adviser
to the first five U.N.
secretaries-general.
Urquhart worked for the
commission that set up the
United Nations Secretariat
in 1945, arranged the
General Assembly's first
meeting in London and
settled on New York City as
the U.N.'s permanent home.
But he was best known for
creating and directing U.N.
peacekeeping operations in
war zones around the world.
Urquhart called
peacekeeping forces an
army without an enemy and
decided they should wear
blue helmets to distinguish
them from combatants. He
said they should enter a war
zone only with broad
political support, with the
goal of ending hostilities and
facilitating negotiations.
Before he retired in 1986,
Urquhart had directed 13
peacekeeping operations,
recruited a force of 10,000
troops from 23 countries
and
established
peacekeeping as one of the
U.N.'s most visible and
politically popular functions.
The U.N. peacekeeping
forces won the 1988 Nobel
Peace Prize.
However, Miller issued a statement to
the contrary late Sunday.
"Due to the recent threats issued by
Iranian leaders against President Trump
and other U.S. government officials, I
have ordered the USS Nimitz to halt its
routine redeployment," he said.
"The USS Nimitz will now remain on
station in the U.S. Central Command
area of operations. No one should doubt
the resolve of the United States of
America."
His statement came one year after a
US drone strike in Baghdad killed
Iran's revered commander Qasem
Soleimani and his Iraqi lieutenant Abu
Mahdi al-Muhandis.
Thousands of Iraqi mourners chanted
"revenge" and "no to America" on
Sunday.
The anniversary of the Baghdad drone
strike was also marked in recent days
across Iran and by supporters in Syria,
Lebanon, Yemen and elsewhere.
Trump unilaterally withdrew the US
from a landmark nuclear deal with Iran
and world powers in 2018 and launched
a "maximum pressure" campaign against
Tehran, reimposing and reinforcing
crippling sanctions.
The two countries have twice come to
the brink of war since June 2019,
especially following the killing of
Soleimani.
Rescue workers have uncovered a seventh body from a landslide that buried
homes in a village near Norway's capital, police said Sunday, with a two-yearold
girl and her father among the dead.
Photo : AP
Seventh body found
in Norway mudslide,
three still missing
OSLO : Rescue workers have uncovered a
seventh body from a landslide that buried
homes in a village near Norway's capital,
police said Sunday, with a two-year-old
girl and her father among the dead.
The tragedy occurred early on
Wednesday when houses were destroyed
and shifted hundreds of metres under a
torrent of mud in the village of Ask, 25
kilometres (15 miles) northeast of Oslo.
Police spokesman Bjorn Christian
Willersrud told journalists they hoped to
find more survivors in the landslide zone.
"It is still a rescue operation until we
decide otherwise," he said.
Earlier Sunday, the head of the rescue
operation, Goran Syversen, told
reporters: "We are working hard in the
depression created by the landslide,
reports UNB.
"We have five teams working at the
same time. They are doing very difficult
work which is not without risk.
Nevertheless, we are making good
progress." Police said the latest body was
found near where two others had been
recovered, but gave no further details.
The teams, backed up by sniffer dogs,
helicopters and drones, have now found
three bodies on Sunday, one on Saturday
and three on Friday.
Local residents left candles near the site
of the tragedy.
Five of the recovered victims have been
identified, including a woman in her
fifties and her 29-year-old son, and a 40-
year-old man and his two-year-old
daughter.
The first victim to be recovered, on
January 1, was a 31-year-old man.
Earlier police published the names of all
10 people, including the two-year-old and
a 13-year-old, who went missing on
Wednesday.
Ten people were also injured in the
landslide, including one seriously who
was transferred to Oslo for treatment.
About 1,000 people of the town's
population of 5,000 have been evacuated,
because of fears for the safety of their
homes as the land continues to move.
"It is a completely surreal and terrible
situation," one of the evacuees, Olav
Gjerdingen, told AFP.
South Korea
population falls
for first time
SEOUL : South Korea's
population fell for the first
time in 2020, with more
people dying than were born,
the government said
Monday, warning that towns
in poor regions faced a "crisis
of extinction".
The world's 12th-largest
economy has one of its
longest life expectancies and
one of its lowest birthrates, a
combination that presents a
looming demographic
disaster. As of December 31,
South Korea had 51,829,023
people, down 20,838 from a
year earlier, according to
data released by the interior
ministry. Annual births have
been falling for years and it
added that they had been
exceeded by deaths for the
first time, 275,815 to
307,764.
"In regions with poor
economic, medical and
educational infrastructure,
the crisis of the extinction of
such towns is escalating," the
ministry said.
It called for "fundamental
changes" in government
policies, including on welfare
and education.
According to experts there
are multiple causes for the
phenomenon, including the
expense of child-rearing and
soaring property prices,
coupled with a notoriously
competitive society that
makes well-paid jobs difficult
to secure.
The double burden for
working mothers of carrying
out the brunt of household
chores and childcare while
also maintaining their
careers is another key factor.
The South has spent more
than 180 trillion won ($166
billion) since 2006 to boost
birth rates but the
population is projected to fall
to 39 million in 2067, when
the median age will be 62.
WASHINGTON : Nancy Pelosi was
narrowly reelected Sunday as speaker,
giving her the reins of Democrats'
slender House majority as she and
President-elect Joe Biden set a
challenging course of producing
legislation to tackle the pandemic,
revive the economy and address other
party priorities.
"We accept a responsibility as
daunting and demanding as any that
previous generations of leadership have
faced," the California Democrat told the
chamber as she accepted a fresh twoyear
term in her post, perhaps her last.
Citing the 350,000 Americans who've
died from COVID-19 and the millions
who've lost jobs and livelihoods, she
won a standing ovation when she said,
"Our most urgent priority will continue
to be defeating the coronavirus. And
defeat it, we will."
Yet even before House Minority
Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif.,
ceremonially handed her the speaker's
gavel - a normally genial moment - he
provided a stark reminder of the
partisan divide coloring Congress.
McCarthy accused Pelosi of over the
past two years leading "the least
productive Congress in nearly 50 years"
and said there was a clear message in
World's biggest COVID-19
vaccination programme set
to begin in India: Indian PM
NEW DELHI : Indian Prime Minister
Narendra Modi said on Monday that the
world's biggest inoculation drive against
coronavirus is set to begin in the country, a
day after the drugs regulator approved two
vaccines for restricted emergency use.
Lauding the scientists and technicians for
the 'Made in India' vaccines, he said the
country is proud of them, reports PTI.
"World's biggest COVID-19 vaccination
programme set to begin in India. For this,
the country is proud of the contributions of
its scientists and technicians," Modi said.
India's drugs regulator on Sunday
approved Oxford COVID-19 vaccine
Covishield, manufactured by the Serum
Institute, and indigenously developed
Covaxin of Bharat Biotech for restricted
emergency use in the country, paving the
way for a massive inoculation drive.
Addressing scientists at the National
Metrology Conclave, Modi said it must be
ensured that 'Made in India' products not
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
last November's elections, when
Republicans gained seats by defeating a
dozen Democratic incumbents. "It was
a wake-up call," he said. "The question I
ask of this majority: were you
listening?" Those are assertions that
Democrats strongly dispute, saying it's
Republicans, especially in the GOP-led
Senate, who've blocked progress on
pandemic aid and other issues.
Pelosi, who has led her party in the
House since 2003 and is the only
woman to be speaker, received 216
votes to 209 for McCarthy, who again
will be the chamber's minority leader.
It was the first vote of the new
Congress, which convened Sunday with
COVID-19 guidelines requiring testing
and face coverings for lawmakers. There
was widespread mask-wearing and far
fewer legislators and guests in the
chamber than usual, an unimaginable
tableau when the last Congress
commenced two years ago, before the
pandemic struck.
Pelosi's election came 17 days before
Biden is inaugurated. Yet rather than a
fresh start for him and Pelosi, there are
issues and undercurrents that will carry
over from President Donald Trump's
tempestuous administration. Though
Congress enacted - and Trump finally
only have global demand but also global
acceptance.
"Quality is as much important as quantity,
our standards should rise with our scale in
our quest for Aatmanirbhar Bharat," he said.
The prime minister said in any progressive
society, research is key and effective and its
effects are commercial and social. They also
help widen approach and thinking.
"Past teaches us that more a country
concentrates on science, the more its
technology gets strengthened. This
technology in turn helps new industries and
promotes research. This cycle takes the
country ahead," he said.
"We do not want to fill the world with
Indian products, but we must win the hearts
of every customer of Indian products in
every corner of the world," he said.
Quality of services in our country and
products, both public or private sector, will
determine India's strength in the world, he
stressed.
Photo : AP
Pelosi narrowly reelected speaker,
faces difficult two years
signed - a $900 billion COVID-19 relief
package late last month, Biden and
many Democrats say they consider that
measure a down payment. They say
more aid is needed to bolster efforts to
vaccinate the public, curb the virus and
restore jobs and businesses lost to the
pandemic.
Biden's priorities also include efforts
on health care and the environment.
Guiding such legislation through the
House will be a challenge for Pelosi
because her party's narrow majority
means just a handful of defectors could
be fatal. In addition, cooperation with
Republicans could be made more
difficult as many in the GOP are
continuing to demonstrate fealty to the
divisive Trump, backing his unfounded
claims that his reelection loss was
tainted by fraud. Congress will meet
Wednesday to officially affirm Biden's
clear Electoral College victory over
Trump. Many House and Senate
Republicans say they will contest the
validity of some of those votes, but their
efforts are certain to fail.
There was no widespread fraud in the
election, which a range of election
officials across the country including
Trump's former attorney general,
William Barr, have confirmed.
Pressure on French government
to speed up vaccinations
PARIS : The French
government on Monday faced
growing pressure to accelerate
its Covid-19 vaccination drive,
with President Emmanuel
Macron reportedly also furious
over the slow pace of progress.
Just a few hundred people
have received the jab so far in
France, compared with over
200,000 in Germany and
around one million in Britain.
"What we have seen is a
government scandal," Jean
Rottner, the head of France's
Grand Est eastern region,
which has seen a particularly
sharp rise in infections, told
France 2 television.
"Things need to accelerate,"
said Rottner, a member of the
right-wing Republicans (LR)
opposition party. "The French
need clarity and firm messages
from a government that knows
where it is going. It is not giving
this impression."
Macron in his New Year
address to the nation had
already pledged there would
be no "unjustifiable delays" in
the rollout of the vaccination,
but the Journal du Dimanche
newspaper reported Sunday
that he has been scathing in
private about the speed of
progress. A pace at the level of
"a family stroll" was not
"worthy of the moment nor of
the French," the newspaper,
seen as close to the Elysee
Palace, quoted Macron as
saying.
"I am at war in the morning,
noon, evening and night," the
president, who recently
himself recovered from Covid-
19 infection, said according to
the report. "I expect the same
commitment from all. This
won't do. It must change
quickly and firmly." The
deputy president of the farright
National Rally (RN),
Jordan Bardella, said that
France had become the
"laughing stock of the world."
"We vaccinated in a week the
same number that the
Germans vaccinated in 30
minutes. It's shameful," he told
RTL television.
According to the French
health ministry just 516 people
had received the vaccination
by January 1.
The government had begun
the vaccination drive by
targeting residents of care
homes, a laborious process
given that consent is required
from each patient.