Today’s Top Story 09 February 2021

1. BANGKOK:

United Nations human rights experts spoke out against Thailand’s increasing use of a law forbidding criticism of its royal family, singling out a 43-year sentence for an elderly woman convicted under the law

2. TAPOVAN:

Twenty-six people were confirmed dead on Monday and more than 170 others were missing after a devastating flash flood in India thought to have been caused by a chunk of glacier breaking off.

The resulting wall of water and debris barrelled down a tight valley in India’s Himalayan north on Sunday morning, destroying bridges, roads and hitting two hydroelectric power plants.

3. JERUSALEM:

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu denied corruption charges during a brief court appearance  as his graft trial resumed weeks ahead of a fourth national election within two years.

Netanyahu, the first Israeli premier to be indicted in office, was formally charged last year over allegations of accepting improper gifts and seeking to trade regulatory favour with media moguls in exchange for positive coverage.

4. WASHINGTON:

Donald Trump’s legal team argued on the eve of his impeachment trial that the case is constitutionally flawed and it was “absurd” to hold the former president responsible for the US Capitol riot. The House of Representatives impeached Trump for a historic second time last month over his role in inciting the deadly storming of Congress by his supporters, and his trial begins Tuesday with the Senate’s 100 members sitting as jurors.

5. Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government has decided to set up the Land Asset Management Authority in an attempt to retrieve 1,200 acres of land of Pakistan Railways and Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) across the country.

6. CHAGAI:

Iranian authorities have assured Pakistani officials that travel activities would soon be resumed for people living along the border to meet their loved ones.

Assistant Commissioner Asmatullah Khan Achakzai called a meeting at Raahdari Gate in Taftan, a town near Pak-Iran border in Chagai district, and discussed certain border issues with Mohammad Qasim Peeri, the Marzban Grade-2 of Mir Javeh border town of Iran.

7. ISLAMABAD:

Pakistan’s trade deficit swelled 8.27 per cent to $14.96 billion in the first seven months of 2020-21 from $13.82bn over the corresponding period last year, Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) data showed.