CHICAGO 16 December 2020, (TON):  According to an annual death penalty report The U.S. government has carried out more executions in a year compare to others states that still conduct executions.

President Donald Trump has overseen a full resumption of federal executions in year 2020 after a 17-year gap, the number goes upto 10 execution. That's an annual total higher than for any term of office since the 1800s.

 “We have never seen it before. We never expected to see it. And it may be a long time before we ever see it happen again,” said Robert Dunham, the executive director of the Washington, D.C.-based center.

The Center does not take a position in the debate over the death penalty, but has criticized the way states and the federal government implement the death penalty, while identifying problems with racial bias and secrecy, among other things.

Although federal administration has three more executions scheduled ahead of the Jan. 20 inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden, a Democrat and death-penalty opponent.

Historically, the federal government hasn’t been a prolific executioner compared to states, carrying out no more than a few hundred non-military executions since the nation’s founding. From colonial days to the present, states have put to death more than 15,000 people, according to data compiled by leading death-penalty researchers M. Watt Espy and John Ortiz Smykla.

Historically, the federal government has not been a prolific executioner compared to the states, As per the compiled data of M Watt Espy and John Ortiz Smykla the two prominent death penalty researchers, from the colonial days to the present, states have executed more than 15,000 people.

While state numbers suddenly changed this year due to the stopping of many executions as a precaution against the spread of COVID-19. According to the report, the country witnessed 30 or fewer executions for the sixth year in a row, which has been declining steadily since executions approached 100 in 1999.

KABUL, 16 December 2020, (TON): Mahbubullah Muhibbi, deputy governor of Kabul, and his secretary were killed in an IED blast in Kabul on Tuesday morning, Kabul police confirmed. Two Mahbubullah bodyguards were also wounded.

The blast happened around 9:40 am local time in the Macroryan 4 area in Kabul's PD9 on Tuesday when an IED, placed on the vehicle, exploded, reads the statement.

No group has yet claimed responsibility for the blast.

This was the second incident that occurred yesterday in Kabul.

Earlier, it was reported that at least one policeman was killed and two others were wounded by gunmen in the Bagrami district of Kabul, local police officials said.

NEW DELHI, 16 December 2020, (TON): As the farmers' protests enter the third week in the wake of their commitment to achieve their due rights, the Supreme Court is set to hear a plea from government side on removal of farmers from the Delhi borders.

Farm leaders continued to insist on a complete repeal of the new laws while the Centre has only offered amendments. Farmer leader Jagjeet Dallewal said, "The government is saying we won't repeal these laws, we are saying we will make you do it." "The fight has reached a stage where we are determined to win no matter what," he added.

"Disagreement has become a major crime in the BJP regime. They did not like opposition and democratic values. The farmers are agitating for the past 20 days and instead of listening to them, the government has adopted a stubborn attitude. Not only this, but the BJP has also launched a campaign to divide farmers and discredit the movement and defame it," Yadav said in a statement.

Meanwhile, Aligarh Muslim University students has also protested in their support for farmers. They have written to President Kovind about the ongoing farmers protests and sought his intervention to repeal the new farm laws.

ISLAMABAD, 16 December 2020, (TON): American business magazine Forbes has featured 4 Pakistani in Forbes 30 under 30 list for their hard work, dedication and innovative ideas.

The 4 Pakistanis under Forbes 30 under 30 list are Sana Khan, Asad J Malik, Danish Dhamani, & Faizan Bhatty were recognized

Forbes has been releasing North America 30 under 30 list for the past 10 years. The 10th Annual Forbes ‘30 under 30’ list includes 600 young entrepreneurs, activists, scientists and entertainers from around the world. This year, 4 Pakistanis also made it to the coveted list.

Meanwhile, US embassy Islamabad has congratulated them on their success. ‘‘Congratulations to 4 Pakistanis who have been featured in #Forbes 30 under 30 list! Sana Khan, Asad J Malik, Danish Dhamani, & Faizan Bhatti were recognized for their hard work, dedication and innovative ideas.’’

Among the four, Sana Khan was the only Pakistani girl on the Forbes 30 under 30 list.

AYODHYA, 16 December 2020, (TON): The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) will launch on 15 January 2021, a massive public outreach programme from Makar Sankranti to peoples’ fund the grand Ram temple project in Ayodhya.

VHP cadres have set a target to collect amount of 55 crore people throughout the country.

The drive which will commence will come to an end on 27 February touching some four lack villages.  In other words the drive will commence from Makar Sankranti  and end at Magh Poornima and birth anniversary of Sant Ravidas.

Meanwhile, VHP cadres have got printed large amount of coupons for Rs 10, Rs 100 and Rs 1,000 for the peoples’ funding drive.

VHP national spokesperson, Vinod Bansal  said, "We have learnt that some organizations have already started issuing coupons for Rs 1,000, 2,000 and 3,000. This is certainly not the official route for donations and is designed to dupe devotees. People, at present, can donate directly into the designated bank accounts." He added, "VHP has decided to reach out to all these communities and seek funds for temple construction. We want the message of Lord Ram to reach every household."

Vishwa Hindu Parishad and other Hindus are struggling to built grand Ram temple project in Ayodhya but Nepal has challenged India that Ram’s birth place is in Nepal and not India, Nepal has also ear marked land for the construction of Ram Temple.

ISLAMABAD, 15 December 2020, (TON): Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) cleared 110 pilots out of the 141 whose licences to fly the aircrafts were suspended in the backdrop of the fake degrees controversy.  14 pilots had been declared unfit to fly.

The three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed had taken up an appeal moved by PIA Chief Executive Officer Air Marshal Arshad Malik against a Sindh High Court order.

The information came when Justice Umar Ata Bandial asked what steps were taken by the airline to vet the suspended licences and whether the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) was pushing the issue enough to get back the business by verifying the licences.

The issues of licenses surfaced in the wake of the tragic crash of a PIA plane in Karachi on 22 May, killing about 95 people.

It aroused widespread concerns about the safety of PIA, many countries of the world banned PIA flights.

MAKKAH, 15 December 2020, (TON): The Royal Kingdom of Saudi Arabia resumed the Umrah service from 4 October 2020.  Since then the administration of Holy Mosques commenced monitoring of temperatures of around four million Umrah pilgrims and visitors by using 25 thermal cameras that are installed at various entry gates of the Holy Mosque.

Hassan Al-Suwaihri, the Director of the Environmental Protection And Epidemic Control Department at the Grand Mosque, said that more than 100 employees have been trained to use thermal cameras to monitor the temperatures of the visitors of Islam’s holiest shrine as well as that of the presidency staff. 

Al-Suwaihri said that the number of passages at entry gates has been increased to ensure the physical distance among pilgrims as well to facilitate thermal cameras detect those with symptoms of coronavirus. These cameras can monitor temperatures from a distance of six meters with high accuracy and can distinguish the visitor who has symptoms of high temperature and put it in a special list to facilitate his identification before he enters the Grand Mosque.

Al-Suwaihri said that these services and efforts are under the supervision of the general administration of technical and service affairs under the agency for technical and service affairs. This is also under the constant follow-up of Muhammad Al-Jabri, deputy head of the presidency for technical and service affairs, in implementation of the directives of Sheikh Abdul Rahman Al-Sudais, head of the presidency, to enable the pilgrims and worshipers to perform their rituals with ease and comfort.

It is noteworthy that the presidency has made available 20 special sterilization equipment and they are spraying on vast areas of surfaces inside the Grand Mosque. They sterilize both the surface and the air simultaneously at a high speed and there are about 1.2 million micro-particles of sterilization that remain in the air for about two hours. The dry steam equipment helps remove all remnants from the surface so as not to affect the pilgrims and visitors, SG reported.

KHARTOUM, 15 December 2020, (TON): Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok on Monday reiterated Sudan's commitment to the leadership of the African Union in the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) issue.

"Our official position continues to adhere to African Union's leadership in the Renaissance Dam issue," said Hamdok at a press conference in Khartoum.

Sudan and Ethiopia are on talks regarding Sudan's return to the GERD negotiating table after Ethiopian Irrigation Minister reached in Khartoum earlier in the day.

Sudan, Egypt and Ethiopia have been negotiating under the African Union over technical and legal issues related to the filling and operation of the GERD.

Ethiopia, while earlier started building the GERD in 2011, expects to produce more than 6,000 megawatts of electricity from the project, however, Egypt and Sudan, downstream Nile Basin countries that rely on the river for its fresh water, are concerned that the dam might affect their water resources.

RIYADH, 15 December 2020, (TON): A commercial oil tanker which was reportedly hit by some external element off Saudi Arabia’s port city of Jeddah and perceived to have been targeted by an unidentified “external source” that caused an explosion with fire has been investigated. It was claimed by shipping company crew that vessel come under attack as a result foreign-backed Houthis insurgents’ attacks against Saudi Arabia’s years-long war in against Yemen.

In the yesterday statement, shipping company Hafnia said all 22 sailors on board the Singapore-flagged BW Rhine escaped without injury. The official statement said, “BW Rhine has been hit from an external source whilst discharging at Jeddah, Saudi Arabia at approximately 00:40 local time on 14 December 2020 (21:40 GMT on Sunday), causing an explosion and subsequent fire onboard,” Hafnia said in the statement on its website.

The investigation also inspected oil leakage at the site of the blast but it was not found as the  oil levels on board are at the same level as before the incident.

The Western interest groups which deployed their Navies in the Arabian Gulf, Gulf of Aden and off the coast of Somalia want to create a suspicion about threat of Houthis for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabian so that military presence remain in the Indian Ocean and the choke points and Riyadh keep them paying for intelligence inputs and protection.

NEW YORK, 14 December 2020, (TON): The Supreme Court refusal to hear Republicans lawsuit on Friday against the conduct of the elections in at least four states led to Electoral College voting today. However, uncertainty still prevails as street protests continue.

President Donald Trump's objections to the election results are a reality and may members from Democrats too consider it as “Fraud election 2020”. Even after the vote by the 538 members of the Electoral College which formalise Biden's election, anything may happen.

Joe Biden and Harris are assured of a victory with their 306 electors but under legal requirements, the state officials will send their results to Vice President Mike Pence, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, the local chief judge and the nation's Archivist David Ferreiro, who will make them officially available to the public.

Finally, the next state is a meeting of the newly elected Congress on January 6 to formally count the electoral votes and certify the election. At this stage members of Congress have decided to object to the election result, questioning the legitimacy of Joe Biden's election because election 2020 was fraud.