Vinod Janardhanan

Stay at home: England enters Covid Lockdown 2 until December 2

Unlike the first lockdown that began on March 23, the second lockdown is likely to be enforced more vigorously by the police. Home secretary Priti Patel told the police they are expected to “strengthen enforcement”.

US Election 2020: As Joe Biden closes in on presidency, Trump resorts to lawsuits

Biden picked up Michigan, the second of the Blue Wall states Trump had won in 2016, taking up his tally of electoral college votes to 264, just six shorts of the threshold of 270, to Trump’s 214.

‘We won’, declares Trump, vows to move Supreme Court to stop counting

“Frankly, we did win this election,” he said, when he was nowhere near the 270 electoral college votes he needed to win. Joe Biden, the Democratic nominee, was ahead with 225votes to Trump’s 213 in Associate Press tracker at the time of writing of this report.

US polls: No clear winner yet as Trump, Biden locked in swing state contests

But President Donald Trump did not lose in a landslide as some pundits had forecast, and Biden did not close the contest early as some others had said he might.

Covid-19, Brexit from Jan 1 mean UK set for winter of discontent: Report

Talks on a deal before January 1 are still ongoing with Brussels, but the Institute of Government said in a new report that whether a deal will be in place or not, the scale of the task to prepare business, people and the UK government itself “is huge”.

China rejects report it had seized territory from Nepal as ‘unfounded, rumour’

A report in the Daily Telegraph published on Tuesday quoted Nepalese politicians as saying that Beijing had surreptitiously annexed more than 150 hectares on the Nepal-Tibet border, on the Nepalese side.

Symptoms or not, UK to pilot whole-city testing in Liverpool

The army has been called to help roll out the tests in Liverpool, which has been in the highest alert level 3. The whole-city testing is part of a new approach to deal with the virus following limitations were revealed in the controversial three-tiered regional alert level.

White House fenced up, Trump warns of violence as America votes

Massachusetts has kept 1,000 National Guards personnel on alert for deployment against any violence and Oregon has declared a state of emergency in Portland, which saw a prolonged bout of unrest months ago.

China adds new test for Indians after 23 test Covid +ve on flight to Wuhan

The large number of cases on the flight – and the high incidence of the disease in India – seemed to have prompted the Chinese embassy in New Delhi to change pre-boarding Covid-19 testing rules for Indians coming to China on special flights from November 7 onwards.

Labour blames Rishi Sunak for blocking lockdown earlier

Sunak had reportedly opposed it in cabinet on the ground that it would further aggravate economic distress.

Biden, Trump make last-mile dash of swing states before Election Day

Joe Biden, the Democratic nominee, focused on just one battleground state on his penultimate day of campaigning: Pennsylvania.

19 Indians test Covid positive on Vande Bharat flight to Wuhan, future flights may be delayed

Among the 277 passengers who came on the flight, at least 39 were found to have Covid-19 antibodies – an indication they had the disease but have recovered – and are being monitored.

China shops for graphene clothes for PLA soldiers at Ladakh border, flaunts it

The PLA’s wish list includes “smart warm clothing made of graphene”, a revolutionary form of carbon, the discovery of which led physicists Andra Geim and Konstantine Novoselov to the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2010.

Canada stabbing attack suspect who killed two people identified, charged with murder

He used a Japanese katana sword for the attacks which took place at four locations in the city.

Pakistan dismisses India’s strong opposition to its moves in Gilgit-Baltistan

India had firmly rejected the attempt by Pakistan “to bring material changes to a part of Indian territory under its illegal and forcible occupation,” after Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan declared the provisional provincial status to GB, carved out from the former occupied Northern Areas.

The India-Bangladesh bond is dominated by domestic compulsions

Experts agree that relations between the two countries are in the best phase and there was significant progress in the last nine years of the Hasina government. However, the Teesta treaty remains a concern for the neighbour

Japanese-Bangladeshi Hindu convert masterminded Dhaka terror attack: Report

Sajit Debnath aka Muhammad Saifullah Ozaki, a former associate professor of Ritsumeikan University, is also the elusive ‘ameer’ of ISIS in Bangladesh.

Bhutan media’s reaction to India-China border standoff has no aggressive posturing

If one goes by what can be accessed online, there is a general sense in most of the Bhutanese media reports that the issue may not see a major escalation or a military conflict.

A stronger, united European Union is good for India: Here’s why

Brexit and the ascent of Trump in the US may have strengthened, not weakened, the European Union. And a further integrated, united, stable and stronger EU is in the best interest of India.

Preet Bharara takes on ‘bully CEO’ Trump, demands Congress probe Russian role in polls

The Indian origin former prosecutor demanded a truly bipartisan investigation in US Congress on Russian interference, appointment of a new FBI director who is apolitical, and an independent and uncompromised special counsel to oversee the Russia investigation.

How Islamic State is spreading wings in Indian states, slowly but surely

Some of at least 75 Indians were arrested from airports while on their way to join the terror group in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan, while several are also reported to have died in battle abroad.

Modi and Erdogan condemn terror, pitch for expanded trade ties

Erdogan by his side, Modi invites Turkish investment in railways, airports, textile

Addressing a business summit with visiting Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Modi said India and Turkey enjoy good economic ties. “While this is encouraging, the level of present economic and commercial relations is not enough against the real potential,” he said.

Internet is hailing this Syrian videographer who saved a child instead of clicking pictures

“What I and my colleagues have done...is what inspires our humanity to those who were partners in killing the children of Khan Sheikhan,” Habak tweeted, referring to the recent gas attack by Syrian regime.

Three-month-old baby summoned by US embassy in error over terror

Paul Kenyon mistakenly ticked ‘Yes’ on a visa waiver document, known as Esta form, to a question on whether baby Harvey Kenyon-Cairns engaged in terrorism.

Pilot turns around plane to help elderly couple meet dying grandson

An elderly couple, who were going to Australia via Abu Dhabi on March 30, learnt that their grandson was in intensive care and they needed to get there.

How Pakistani newspapers reported Hafiz Saeed’s detention

The “preventive detention” of Lashkar-e-Taiba founder Hafiz Saeed made the front pages of prominent Pakistani newspapers on Tuesday.