Today’s Top Story 12 February 2021

 

1. US President:

US President Joe Biden and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping held their first telephone call as leaders and appeared at odds on most issues, even as Xi warned that confrontation would be a “disaster” for both nations.

While Xi has called for “win-win” cooperation, Biden has called China America’s “most serious competitor” and vowed to “out compete” Beijing.

 2. PARIS:

Russia and France urged Iran to show restraint after it started producing uranium metal in a new breach of limits laid out in Tehran’s nuclear deal with world powers.

The UN’s nuclear watchdog in Vienna reported that Iran has started producing uranium metal in defiance of a 2015 deal with world powers on which ex-US president Donald Trump sensationally reneged in 2018.

 3.

At least for soldiers were martyred on Friday when terrorists attacked a security forces post on Friday in the South Waziristan district, said the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR).

Troops responded promptly to the attack and killed four of the attackers during the raid in the Makeen area of the district.

4. KARACHI:

An anti-terrorism court directed the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) to refund (unfreeze) the ‘unclaimed’ money deposited in a private bank by slain Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour in order to start the process of transferring the funds to the government treasury.

5. ISLAMABAD:

The government is aiming to achieve herd immunity by vaccinating 70 million people against Covid-19 by the end of the current year. About 30 million people will be vaccinated by September.

 6. ISLAMABAD:

The International Development Committee (IDC) has relaunched an inquiry into the effectiveness of UK Aid to Pakistan.

According to the terms of reference of the inquiry, the committee has invited written submissions on the effectiveness of UK Aid to Pakistan. In particular, the inquiry will ascertain whether the UK’s strategic aims for its Pakistan aid programme are clear and appropriate and UK-Pakistan relationship coherent and well-coordinated with the aid programme and its aims and objectives.