Day: December 10, 2020

(CNN)President Donald Trump asked the Supreme Court on Wednesday to block millions of votes from four battleground states that voted for President-elect Joe Biden.Trump’s request came in a filing with the court asking to intervene in a lawsuit brought by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton seeking to invalidate millions of votes cast in Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/12/09/politics/trump-supreme-court/index.html

CNN)Scientists working off the western coast of Mexico say they have found a previously unknown species of whale.Three beaked whales were spotted last month by a team of scientists working with the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society near the San Benito Islands, some 300 miles from the US border, according to a press release published Tuesday.

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/12/09/americas/new-whale-species-mexico-scli-intl-scn/index.html

Pakistan’s army has been put on high alert after reports alleged India was preparing to launch an attack on the de facto border that divides the disputed Kashmir region between the two countries.

Pakistani Dawn newspaper quoted “informed sources” as saying on Wednesday that the Indian military had plans to launch the attack after it recently faced a humiliating defeat in Ladakh and Dokalam in the volatile region.

The daily said Pakistan’s Armed Forces had been put on high alert to face any “untoward situation.”

The sources said a “false flag operation” was also being planned by India to divert attention from they said were several of the country’s internal issues, including protests by farmers, the mistreatment of minorities, and alleged atrocities committed by the Indian forces in Kashmir.

https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2020/12/10/640437/Pakistani-army-on-high-alert-amid-reports-of-Indian-plan-to-conduct-surgical-raid

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian says the US should “unconditionally” and immediately return to the 2015 Iran nuclear deal and lift all sanctions against Tehran.   

The Chinese official said Washington should fulfill its duties under the historic deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plane of Action (JCPOA).   

“We hope that the new US administration will return to the JCPOA and resume compliance as soon as possible and unconditionally, lift all relevant sanctions, take concrete actions to fulfill its duties, and advance the process of political settlement of the Iranian nuclear issue and safeguard regional peace and stability,” Zhao said at a press briefing on Wednesday.

https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2020/12/09/640377/China-asks-US-to-end-Iran-sanctions-and-return-to-JCPOA

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States prepared to roll out a coronavirus vaccine within days as the country’s daily death toll surpassed 3,000 for the first time, exceeding the number of lives lost from the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

https://www.reuters.com/article/health-coronavirus-usa-covid/u-s-on-cusp-of-covid-19-vaccine-as-deaths-surpass-3000-in-a-day-idUSKBN28K1LN

LONDON (Reuters) – U.S. drugmaker Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech said on Wednesday that documents related to development of their COVID-19 vaccine had been “unlawfully accessed” in a cyberattack on Europe’s medicines regulator.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-ema-cyber/hackers-steal-pfizer-biontech-covid-19-vaccine-data-in-europe-companies-say-idUSKBN28J2Q7?il=0

TAIPEI – Months after eliminating a popular challenge to its rule in Hong Kong, China is turning to an even higher-stakes target: self-governing Taiwan. The island has been bracing for conflict with China for decades, and in some respects, that battle has now begun.

It’s not the final, titanic clash that Taiwan has long feared, with Chinese troops storming the beaches. Instead, the People’s Liberation Army, China’s two-million-strong military, has launched a form of “gray zone” warfare. In this irregular type of conflict, which stops short of an actual shooting war, the aim is to subdue the foe through exhaustion.

https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/hongkong-taiwan-military/

North Korea had an opportunity to fundamentally reinvent its relationship with the United States during Donald Trump’s presidency but failed to do so, the top US envoy on Pyongyang said on Thursday.

US Deputy Secretary of State Stephen Biegun made the statement while visiting Seoul, South Korea. “Regrettably, much opportunity has been squandered by our North Korean counterparts over the past two years,” he said, speaking to a think tank. He added that Pyongyang officials “too often have devoted themselves to the search for obstacles to negotiations instead of seizing opportunities for engagement.”

https://www.rt.com/news/509209-north-korea-wasted-chance-us/