Coronavirus: Fears rise of Chinese cover-up as 56 million in lockdown and hospitals overwhelmed

TheTelegraph: Mask-wearing patients fainting in the street. Hundreds of fearful citizens lining up cheek by jowl, at risk of infecting each other, in narrow hospital corridors as they wait to be treated by doctors in forbidding white hazmat suits.

A fraught medic screaming in anguish in a break-room.

The terrifying video clips, reportedly recorded by shocked citizens from hospitals in Wuhan, the epicentre of the deadly coronavirus that has swept across China and infected 20 in eight foreign countries, went viral on Chinese social media this week and did not paint a picture of a government in control. 

Donald Trump to sign trade accord with Mexico, Canada next week: White House

TheStatesman: US President Donald Trump is all set to sign the new North American trade pact with Mexico and Canada next week, according to the White House official on Thursday.

The USMCA, the fruit of years of negotiation between the three key trading partners, is billed as an update to the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement, which Trump had long lambasted as a job killer and threatened to scrap outright.

Earlier NAFTA created a vast free-trade zone across North America, leading to radical shifts in the makeup of industries in the three countries and vastly increasing cross-border exchanges in goods, services and people.

On December 10, US House Democrats reached a tentative agreement with labor leaders and the White House over a rewrite of the US- Mexico-Canada trade deal that has been a top priority for President Trump.

Pope backs Iraqi call for its sovereignty to be respected

MorungExpress: Pope Francis met Iraq's president on Saturday and the two agreed that the country's sovereignty must be respected, following attacks on Iraqi territory this month by the United States and Iran.

President Barham Salih held private talks for about 30 minutes with the pope and then met the Vatican's two top diplomats, Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin and Archbishop Paul Gallagher, its foreign minister.

The talks "focused on the challenges the country currently faces and on the importance of promoting stability and the reconstruction process, encouraging the path of dialogue and the search for suitable solutions in favour of citizens and with respect for national sovereignty," a Vatican statement said.

Iraqi security forces raid protest camps, 4 killed after Sadr supporters withdraw

MorungExpress: Iraqi security forces raided Baghdad's main protest site on Saturday and tried to eject protesters in southern cities, firing tear gas and bullets killing four people and wounding dozens more, police and medical sources said.

The new push to end the sit-ins and restore order came hours after populist cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, who counts millions of supporters in Baghdad and the south, said he would halt his involvement in anti-government unrest.

Sadr's supporters, who had bolstered the anti-government protesters and sometimes played a role in protecting them from attacks by security forces and unidentified gunmen, began withdrawing from sit-ins early on Saturday after Sadr's announcement.

Supreme Court refuses to admit plea on National Security Act

Deccanchronicle: The Supreme Court on Friday refused to entertain a plea challenging the imposition of National Security Act (NSA) in few states as also in the national capital amid anti-CAA protests.

A bench of Justices Arun Mishra and Indira Banerjee said that it cannot pass a blanket order with regard to the imposition of NSA and asked lawyer M.L. Sharma to withdraw the plea.

The apex court asked Mr Sharma to file a fresh petition or an interim application in pending pleas on the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) giving specific details of violations of NSA.

Mr  Sharma’s plea said NSA has been imposed to curb and pressure people protesting aga-inst the CAA, National Population Register (NPR) and National Register of Indian Citizens (NRIC).

India, Brazil sign 15 pacts, agree on joint action plan

Thehindubusinessline: Modi, Bolsanaro hold wide ranging talks on trade, defence, strategic partnership.

India and Brazil agreed on an action plan to strengthen bilateral partnership and signed fifteen pacts in sectors ranging from agriculture to energy following talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro in New Delhi on Saturday.

Bolsanoro, who is on a four-day visit to India heading a high-powered delegation comprising eight Ministers, senior officials and several business representatives, will be the Chief Guest at India’s Republic Day celebrations on Sunday.

Scholars, policymakers set action plan for anti CAA-NRC-NPR push

Siasat: In the past month, the citizens of India have risen in opposition against the recently introduced Citizenship (Amendment Act) (CAA), National Population Register (NPR) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC). The country is witnessing a spate of active citizen engagement via protests, demonstrations and activism. In light of the current clamour of confusion around the security and rights of minorities, the Centre for Development Policy and Practice (CDPP) organised a talk on ‘The State of the Nation’ at Lamakaan.

An esteemed panel of experts including Dr. Abusaleh Shariff, NC Saxena and Dr. Amitabh Kundu addressed the audience. The event was chaired by Dr. Amir Ullah Khan, professor at Marri Channa Reddy Human Resources and Development Institute (MCRHRDI), Government of Telangana. Shariff is a former advisor to PM Manmohan Singh and a member of the Sachar commission, also the Chief Scholar at the US-India Public Policy Institute. He stressed that the NRC and CAA will deepen the institutional bias against the Muslim community. During his segment , he touched upon with the budgetary burdens of the NPR exercise.

Kashmir: US urges India to release detained political leaders

Siasat: The political leaders in Jammu and Kashmir have been detained for over a month now since the Abrogation of Article 370 in the region by the saffron party and now the US has urged India to release the leaders detained without charge in Jammu and Kashmir.

While addressing a briefing about her recently concluded three-nation tour, Alice Wells, principal deputy assistant secretary of state for South and Central Asian affairs, said: “On Jammu and Kashmir, I was pleased to see some incremental steps, including the partial return of internet services in Kashmir. And the visit by our ambassador and other foreign diplomats to Jammu and Kashmir is something that I know was extensively covered in the press,” TOI reported.

Kerala to mark R-Day with tricolour in mosques, human chains

Siasat: The southern state of Kerala will see the Tricolour in mosques, reading out of pastoral letters in churches, and a 700-km long human chain as a protest against the CAA and proposed NRC on Republic Day on Sunday.

The human chain, which will be organised by the ruling CPI-M, will run from Kasargode till the state capital. The top brass of the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government along with prominent civil society personalities and filmstars are likely to join the massive human chain.

Earthquake in eastern Turkey kills 21

Siasat: A powerful earthquake has killed at least 21 people and injured more than 1,000 in eastern Turkey, as rescue teams searched through the rubble of collapsed buildings for survivors on Saturday.

The Turkish government’s disaster and emergency management agency (AFAD) said in a series of tweets early on Saturday that five people were pulled alive from the rubble in the eastern province of Elazig.

State news agency Anadolu said among those found alive was a pregnant woman who was rescued 12 hours after the quake hit.

At least 30 people were missing following the magnitude 6.8 quake on Friday night, which had its epicentre in the small lakeside town of Sivrice in Elazig.