Coronavirus cases in the US has crossed 25 million mark as per numbers by Johns Hopkins University. This number has been reached just five days after the US recorded 400,000 deaths from the disease.

Meanwhile, President Joe Biden's chief of staff Ron Klain made a major assertion on Sunday that former US President Donald Trump's administration did not have any distribution plan for coronavirus vaccine even when coronavirus raged through US in Trump's last months in office.

"The process to distribute the vaccine, particularly outside of nursing homes and hospitals out into the community as a whole, did not really exist when we came into the White House," Klain said on NBC's "Meet the Press."

During the entirety of the year 2020 when COVID-19 pandemic made US the worst hit country, Trump was criticised for his lax approach to combat pandemic in the US. Dr Anthony Fauci, the man considered to be the foremost authority in the field of infection diseases had several disagreements with Trump and even made public comments to this effect.

Biden has made fighting the coronavirus a priority and is pushing for Congress to approve a $1.9-trillion relief package that would include billions of dollars to boost vaccination rates.&nbsp;

Biden has said he wants 100 million people vaccinated within his first 100 days in office, and he has called for Americans to wear masks for 100 days.

Coronavirus cases in the US has crossed 25 million mark as per numbers by Johns Hopkins University. This number has been reached just five days after the US recorded 400,000 deaths from the disease.

Coronavirus cases in the US has crossed 25 million mark as per numbers by Johns Hopkins University. This number has been reached just five days after the US recorded 400,000 deaths from the disease. Meanwhile, President Joe Biden's chief of staff Ron Klain made a major assertion on Sunday that former US President Donald Trump's administration did not have any distribution plan for coronavirus vaccine even when coronavirus raged through US in Trump's last months in office. "The process to distribute the vaccine, particularly outside of nursing homes and hospitals out into the community as a whole, did not really exist when we came into the White House," Klain said on NBC's "Meet the Press." During the entirety of the year 2020 when COVID-19 pandemic made US the worst hit country, Trump was criticised for his lax approach to combat pandemic in the US. Dr Anthony Fauci, the man considered to be the foremost authority in the field of infection diseases had several disagreements with Trump and even made public comments to this effect. Biden has made fighting the coronavirus a priority and is pushing for Congress to approve a $1.9-trillion relief package that would include billions of dollars to boost vaccination rates. Biden has said he wants 100 million people vaccinated within his first 100 days in office, and he has called for Americans to wear masks for 100 days.

US coronavirus cases cross 25 million mark: John Hopkins University

Arizona Republicans issued rebukes to three of the party’s most prominent figures Saturday, approving resolutions to censure Gov. Doug Ducey, former Sen. Jeff Flake and Cindy McCain, the widow of former Sen. John McCain.

Though largely symbolic, the political scolding during a meeting of the state GOP underscored a widening rift in Arizona between party officials who have made clear that their loyalty lies with former President Donald Trump and those in the party who refused to support him or his effort to overturn the election results in Arizona, which President Joe Biden won.

And, well beyond Arizona, the rift reflects the stark divisions in the Republican Party nationally in the wake of Trump’s tumultuous departure from office.

The party cited McCain’s and Flake’s criticisms of Trump and Ducey’s use of emergency orders related to the pandemic, which gave him broad control to enact policies without the Legislature’s approval such as closing “nonessential” businesses in the spring.

Both Flake and Cindy McCain endorsed Biden leading up to the November election. Though Ducey continually made it clear that he backed Trump, he drew ire from some Republicans by defending the state’s election process, rather than supporting efforts to challenge the November results in court.

John McCain was censured by the state party in 2015 over his voting record, which some Republican officials there perceived as not sufficiently conservative.

The censures came at the end of a raucous seven-hour meeting. Kelli Ward, the state party chair who has long been a Trump loyalist and a polarizing figure in Arizona politics, was reelected Saturday after playing a recorded phone call of Trump enthusiastically endorsing her.

A few Republicans speaking out in support of Ducey were booed, and nobody spoke in favor of McCain. The resolutions were approved by a wide margin.

“These resolutions are of no consequence whatsoever, and the people behind them have lost whatever little moral authority they may have once had,” Sara Mueller, Ducey’s political director, wrote in a statement issued minutes after the vote.

The party also approved resolutions staking out hard-right positions such as calls for revoking birthright citizenship, ending the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, program, and one that “stands firm on the principles of only two genders.”

The vote to censure comes 2 1/2 months after Biden became the first Democratic presidential candidate to carry Arizona in more than two decades, and only the second Democrat in 50 years. For decades, Republicans controlled both U.S. Senate seats, but lost the first in 2018 and the second last year. Ducey, who was easily reelected in 2018, is the most prominent Republican still in office who has won statewide.

McCain, Flake and Ducey each attended Biden’s inauguration Wednesday and McCain served on the president’s transition advisory board. She has responded to the threat of censure with a sense of both annoyance and amusement, joking that she was in “good company” with her husband.

The censure resolution against McCain cited her support for “leftist causes such as gay marriage and growth of the administrative state,” and her endorsement of Biden, which was described as “in direct opposition to Republican values, the interests of the American people and the Constitution of the United States.”

On Twitter, McCain replied: “It is a high honor to be included in a group of Arizonans who have served our state and our nation so well...and who, like my late husband John, have been censured by the AZGOP. I’ll wear this as a badge of honor.”

In an earlier interview with The Arizona Republic, McCain had blasted the state party chair, Ward, for pushing for the rebukes. She said that as the chairman of the party, Ward “managed to turn Arizona blue in November for the first time since 1996.” She added: “Maybe she should be reminded that my husband never lost an Arizona election since his first win in 1982.”

Ward’s representative declined to respond to a request for comment.

The party’s resolution against Flake said that he “once was a true Conservative, who supported freedom, Republican values, Republican candidates, and Americanism” but has since “abandoned true Republican values by professing support for progressive and globalist politicians.

Flake wrote on Twitter that he, too, was unconcerned with the rebuke.

“If condoning the president’s behavior is required to stay in the party’s good graces, I’m just fine being on the outs,” he wrote.

Ducey, in an interview Friday, said he has given “little to no time to think” about the vote.

“I think we’re better and stronger as a party when we’re adding people rather than the alternative,” he said.

None of the three Republicans plan to object to the censure.

Many moderate Republican officials have dismissed the resolutions as a distraction, saying they will largely serve to alienate other moderates in a state where independent voters make up nearly one-third of the electorate.

Like other Republicans who voted against the censures, Trey Terry, a state committeeman, laid the blame with Ward.

“She has set the party up for failure,” Terry said. “It’s her circus now, and the clowns have come out.”

Next year will bring a test of the state party’s might post-Trump — a U.S. Senate seat and all statewide offices will be up for grabs.

Arizona Republicans issued rebukes to three of the party’s most prominent figures Saturday, approving resolutions to censure Gov. Doug Ducey, former Sen. Jeff Flake and Cindy McCain, the widow of former Sen.

Arizona Republicans issued rebukes to three of the party’s most prominent figures Saturday, approving resolutions to censure Gov. Doug Ducey, former Sen. Jeff Flake and Cindy McCain, the widow of former Sen. John McCain. Though largely symbolic, the political scolding during a meeting of the state GOP underscored a widening rift in Arizona between party officials who have made clear that their loyalty lies with former President Donald Trump and those in the party who refused to support him or his effort to overturn the election results in Arizona, which President Joe Biden won. And, well beyond Arizona, the rift reflects the stark divisions in the Republican Party nationally in the wake of Trump’s tumultuous departure from office. The party cited McCain’s and Flake’s criticisms of Trump and Ducey’s use of emergency orders related to the pandemic, which gave him broad control to enact policies without the Legislature’s approval such as closing “nonessential” businesses in the spring. Both Flake and Cindy McCain endorsed Biden leading up to the November election. Though Ducey continually made it clear that he backed Trump, he drew ire from some Republicans by defending the state’s election process, rather than supporting efforts to challenge the November results in court. John McCain was censured by the state party in 2015 over his voting record, which some Republican officials there perceived as not sufficiently conservative. The censures came at the end of a raucous seven-hour meeting. Kelli Ward, the state party chair who has long been a Trump loyalist and a polarizing figure in Arizona politics, was reelected Saturday after playing a recorded phone call of Trump enthusiastically endorsing her. A few Republicans speaking out in support of Ducey were booed, and nobody spoke in favor of McCain. The resolutions were approved by a wide margin. “These resolutions are of no consequence whatsoever, and the people behind them have lost whatever little moral authority they may have once had,” Sara Mueller, Ducey’s political director, wrote in a statement issued minutes after the vote. The party also approved resolutions staking out hard-right positions such as calls for revoking birthright citizenship, ending the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, program, and one that “stands firm on the principles of only two genders.” The vote to censure comes 2 1/2 months after Biden became the first Democratic presidential candidate to carry Arizona in more than two decades, and only the second Democrat in 50 years. For decades, Republicans controlled both U.S. Senate seats, but lost the first in 2018 and the second last year. Ducey, who was easily reelected in 2018, is the most prominent Republican still in office who has won statewide. McCain, Flake and Ducey each attended Biden’s inauguration Wednesday and McCain served on the president’s transition advisory board. She has responded to the threat of censure with a sense of both annoyance and amusement, joking that she was in “good company” with her husband. The censure resolution against McCain cited her support for “leftist causes such as gay marriage and growth of the administrative state,” and her endorsement of Biden, which was described as “in direct opposition to Republican values, the interests of the American people and the Constitution of the United States.” On Twitter, McCain replied: “It is a high honor to be included in a group of Arizonans who have served our state and our nation so well...and who, like my late husband John, have been censured by the AZGOP. I’ll wear this as a badge of honor.” In an earlier interview with The Arizona Republic, McCain had blasted the state party chair, Ward, for pushing for the rebukes. She said that as the chairman of the party, Ward “managed to turn Arizona blue in November for the first time since 1996.” She added: “Maybe she should be reminded that my husband never lost an Arizona election since his first win in 1982.” Ward’s representative declined to respond to a request for comment. The party’s resolution against Flake said that he “once was a true Conservative, who supported freedom, Republican values, Republican candidates, and Americanism” but has since “abandoned true Republican values by professing support for progressive and globalist politicians. Flake wrote on Twitter that he, too, was unconcerned with the rebuke. “If condoning the president’s behavior is required to stay in the party’s good graces, I’m just fine being on the outs,” he wrote. Ducey, in an interview Friday, said he has given “little to no time to think” about the vote. “I think we’re better and stronger as a party when we’re adding people rather than the alternative,” he said. None of the three Republicans plan to object to the censure. Many moderate Republican officials have dismissed the resolutions as a distraction, saying they will largely serve to alienate other moderates in a state where independent voters make up nearly one-third of the electorate. Like other Republicans who voted against the censures, Trey Terry, a state committeeman, laid the blame with Ward. “She has set the party up for failure,” Terry said. “It’s her circus now, and the clowns have come out.” Next year will bring a test of the state party’s might post-Trump — a U.S. Senate seat and all statewide offices will be up for grabs.

Arizona republicans rebuke 3 influential figures

USA's new Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, during his first conversation with Japanese counterpart, renewed USA's commitment to defend Senkakau islands against Chinese expansionism. Japan and China have a dispute over islands in East China Sea that are called Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China.&nbsp;

Austin and Japanese Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi confirmed that Article 5 of the U.S.-Japan security treaty, which stipulates U.S. defence obligations to Japan, covers the Senkaku Islands, said Jiji news agency.

The defence ministers also reaffirmed their opposition to any unilateral act that would undermine Japan's right to administer the islands,

Japan has become increasingly concerned about Chinese expansionist manoeuvres in East China Sea including incursions in waters around disputed islands.

The talks marked the first ministerial talks between Tokyo and Washington since U.S. President Joe Biden took office on Wednesday

Retired Army general Austin made history on Friday by becoming America's first Black defence secretary

Also Read | <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/kremlin-says-putin-ready-for-dialogue-if-us-willing-359012">Kremlin says Putin ready for dialogue if US willing</a>

U.S. Indo-Pacific Command said on Sunday a U.S. Navy strike group entered the South China Sea on Saturday, the same day Taiwan reported a large incursion of Chinese bombers and fighter jets into its air defence identification zone near the Pratas Islands.

(With Reuters inputs)

USA's new Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, during his first conversation with Japanese counterpart, renewed USA's commitment to defend Senkakau islands against Chinese expansionism.

USA's new Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, during his first conversation with Japanese counterpart, renewed USA's commitment to defend Senkakau islands against Chinese expansionism. Japan and China have a dispute over islands in East China Sea that are called Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China. Austin and Japanese Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi confirmed that Article 5 of the U.S.-Japan security treaty, which stipulates U.S. defence obligations to Japan, covers the Senkaku Islands, said Jiji news agency. The defence ministers also reaffirmed their opposition to any unilateral act that would undermine Japan's right to administer the islands, Japan has become increasingly concerned about Chinese expansionist manoeuvres in East China Sea including incursions in waters around disputed islands. The talks marked the first ministerial talks between Tokyo and Washington since U.S. President Joe Biden took office on Wednesday Retired Army general Austin made history on Friday by becoming America's first Black defence secretary Also Read | Kremlin says Putin ready for dialogue if US willing U.S. Indo-Pacific Command said on Sunday a U.S. Navy strike group entered the South China Sea on Saturday, the same day Taiwan reported a large incursion of Chinese bombers and fighter jets into its air defence identification zone near the Pratas Islands. (With Reuters inputs)

New US defense secretary assures support to Japan against China over Senkaku islands

When Rep. Scott Perry joined his colleagues in a monthslong campaign to undermine the results of the presidential election, promoting “Stop the Steal” events and supporting an attempt to overturn millions of legally cast votes, he often took a back seat to higher-profile loyalists in President Donald Trump’s orbit.

But Perry, R-Pa., played a significant role in the crisis that played out at the top of the Justice Department this month, when Trump considered firing the acting attorney general and backed down only after top department officials threatened to resign en masse.

It was Perry, an outspoken member of the hard-line Freedom Caucus, who first made Trump aware that a relatively obscure Justice Department official, Jeffrey Clark, acting chief of the civil division, was sympathetic to Trump’s view that the election had been stolen, according to former administration officials who spoke with Clark and Trump.

Perry introduced the president to Clark, whose openness to conspiracy theories about election fraud presented Trump with a welcome change from the acting attorney general, Jeffrey Rosen, who stood by the results of the election and had repeatedly resisted the president’s efforts to undo them.

Perry’s previously unreported role, and the quiet discussions between Trump and Clark that followed, underlined how much the former president was willing to use the government to subvert the election, turning to more junior and relatively unknown figures for help as ranking Republicans and Cabinet members rebuffed him.

Perry’s involvement is also likely to heighten scrutiny of House Republicans who continue to advance Trump’s false and thoroughly debunked claims of election fraud, even after President Joe Biden’s inauguration this past week and as Congress prepares for an impeachment trial that will examine whether such talk incited the Capitol riot.

It is unclear when Perry, who represents the Harrisburg area, met Clark, a Philadelphia native, or how well they knew each another before the introduction to Trump. Former Trump administration officials said it was only in late December that Clark told Rosen about the introduction brokered by Perry, who was among the scores of people feeding Trump false hope that he had won the election.

But it is highly unlikely that Trump would have known Clark otherwise. Department officials were startled to learn that the president had called Clark directly on multiple occasions and that the two had met in person without alerting Rosen, those officials said. Justice Department policy stipulates that the president initially communicates with the attorney general or the deputy attorney general on all matters, and then a lower-level official if authorized.

As the date for Congress to affirm Biden’s victory neared, Perry and Clark discussed a plan to have the Justice Department send a letter to Georgia state lawmakers informing them of an investigation into voter fraud that could invalidate the state’s Electoral College results. Former officials who were briefed on the plan said that the department’s dozens of voter fraud investigations nationwide had not turned up enough instances of fraud to alter the outcome of the election.

Perry and Clark also discussed the plan with Trump, setting off a chain of events that nearly led to the ouster of Rosen, who had refused to send the letter.

After The New York Times disclosed the details of the scheme Friday, the political fallout was swift. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., incoming chairman of the Judiciary Committee, told the Justice Department in a letter Saturday that he would investigate efforts by Trump and Clark to use the agency “to further Trump’s efforts to subvert the results of the 2020 presidential election.”

Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., the majority leader, said that it was “unconscionable that a Trump Justice Department leader would conspire to subvert the people’s will.” He called on the department’s inspector general, Michael Horowitz, to investigate “this attempted sedition.”

Horowitz has already opened an investigation into whether Trump administration officials improperly pressured Byung J. Pak, who abruptly resigned this month as the U.S. attorney in Atlanta after being pressed to take actions related to the election, according to a person briefed on the inquiry. Durbin is investigating that matter as well.

Trump also tried to force Justice Department officials, including Rosen and the acting solicitor general, Jeffrey Wall, to file a lawsuit before the Supreme Court that would challenge Biden’s victory, according to a person briefed on the request.

One of Trump’s outside lawyers even drafted a brief for the department to file to the court. Department officials and the White House counsel, Pat Cipollone, told Trump that the plan would fail for several reasons, including the fact that the department did not have the grounds to challenge the outcome, the person said.

The fight between Trump and Justice Department officials over the Supreme Court filing was first reported by The Wall Street Journal.

The episode with Clark and Perry is yet another example at impeachment managers’ disposal as they put together their case that Trump should be disqualified from holding office again.

Clark declined to comment on his relationship with Perry, and he categorically denied devising any plan to oust Rosen. He said there had been “a candid discussion of options and pros and cons with the president” that had been inaccurately described by The Times, but he declined to provide details. He declined to say anything more about his conversations with Trump or Justice Department lawyers because of “the strictures of legal privilege.”

Asked whether his conversations with the president had violated the department policy governing contact with the president, he said that senior lawyers at the agency provided legal advice to the White House as part of their duties. “All my official communications were consistent with law,” he said.

Clark, a member of the conservative Federalist Society, had been appointed acting head of the civil division in September. He also oversaw the department’s environmental and natural resources division, where he had worked under President George W. Bush.

Neither Perry nor his top aides responded to repeated requests for comment.

Some Senate Republicans, including Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the minority leader, have grown increasingly worried that if they do not intervene and distance themselves from Trump, the havoc wreaked by the former president could hurt Republicans’ political fortunes for years to come. The episode amounts to an unwelcome reminder that damaging information around his presidency could continue to emerge even though Trump is no longer in office.

And Perry’s role in the discussions could further escalate tensions in the House, where Democratic lawmakers were already livid at Republicans for fanning the flames before the Capitol riot, with some rank-and-file members calling for the expulsion of lawmakers who led efforts to overturn the election.

The pressure that Trump placed on the Justice Department, including any plan that he may have considered to remove Rosen, also raises legal questions for him. Trump’s duty as president was to ensure that “laws be faithfully executed for the benefit of the country,” and efforts to interfere in the election could be considered a violation of his constitutional duty, said Neil Eggleston, a partner at Kirkland &amp;amp; Ellis and a White House counsel under President Barack Obama.

There is little chance that a Justice Department letter sent to Georgia lawmakers would have prompted the state to invalidate its Electoral College votes. But the plan was consistent with the posture Perry had taken since November, when he began to falsely claim that there had been rampant fraud in the election, and throughout it all, Perry has remained defiant. Facing calls to resign over his role in the efforts to overturn the election, Perry issued a one-word response: “No.”

Perry, a retired brigadier general in the Pennsylvania Army National Guard and an Iraq War veteran, has been scrutinized for his openness to the conspiratorial. He baselessly suggested that the 2017 mass shooting in Las Vegas by a lone gunman could have been influenced by “terrorist infiltration through the southern border” and refused to support a resolution that condemned QAnon, a pro-Trump conspiracy movement. ( Perry said he believed that the resolution infringed on individuals’ right to free speech and that he did not personally subscribe to the movement.)

An early supporter of the “Stop the Steal” campaign, Perry was one of 126 House Republicans who joined a legal brief in December supporting an extraordinary lawsuit seeking to overturn Biden’s victory. And he joined over two dozen of his colleagues who urged Trump to direct William Barr, the attorney general, to “investigate irregularities in the 2020 election.”

He objected on behalf of 79 other House Republicans to certifying Pennsylvania’s electoral results, and was among 139 House Republicans who voted to reject Biden’s electoral victory, even though he later acknowledged Biden as president-elect.

The plan that Perry devised with Clark set off a crisis at the Justice Department. When Clark approached Rosen with the Georgia letter at the end of December, Rosen refused to send it, according to four former administration officials. On Jan. 3, Clark notified Rosen that he would be taking his job at Trump’s behest.

As Rosen prepared to meet Trump later that day and fight for his job, his top deputies, including the acting deputy attorney general, Richard Donoghue, and his outgoing chief of staff, Patrick Hovakimian, convened the department’s senior leaders on a conference call, according to five former officials with knowledge of the call.

They told the department leaders that Rosen’s job was in jeopardy because of Clark’s machinations and said they would resign if Rosen was removed. They ended the call by asking their colleagues to privately consider what they would do if that happened. Over the next 15 minutes, all of them emailed or texted Hovakimian, saying that they would quit.

While Rosen, Donoghue and other top department and White House lawyers spent nearly three hours with Trump and Clark, debating the merits of sending the letter to Georgia lawmakers, Hovakimian drafted an email to the department’s senior leaders, including those who were not aware of what was transpiring at the White House, in anticipation of Rosen’s removal, according to two people briefed on the letter.

In it, he explained that Rosen had resisted Trump’s repeated calls to use the department’s law enforcement powers for improper ends and that the president had removed him, according to a person who reviewed the email. He wrote that he and Donoghue were resigning immediately and encouraged his colleagues to think hard about what they would do and to always act in the interests of the United States.

When Hovakimian received word that Rosen had been allowed to stay, he drafted a new email that he sent to the anxiously awaiting officials: Rosen and the cause of justice had won.

When Rep. Scott Perry joined his colleagues in a monthslong campaign to undermine the results of the presidential election, promoting “Stop the Steal” events and supporting an attempt to overturn millions of legally cast votes, he often took a back seat to higher-profile loyalists in President Donald Trump’s orbit.

When Rep. Scott Perry joined his colleagues in a monthslong campaign to undermine the results of the presidential election, promoting “Stop the Steal” events and supporting an attempt to overturn millions of legally cast votes, he often took a back seat to higher-profile loyalists in President Donald Trump’s orbit. But Perry, R-Pa., played a significant role in the crisis that played out at the top of the Justice Department this month, when Trump considered firing the acting attorney general and backed down only after top department officials threatened to resign en masse. It was Perry, an outspoken member of the hard-line Freedom Caucus, who first made Trump aware that a relatively obscure Justice Department official, Jeffrey Clark, acting chief of the civil division, was sympathetic to Trump’s view that the election had been stolen, according to former administration officials who spoke with Clark and Trump. Perry introduced the president to Clark, whose openness to conspiracy theories about election fraud presented Trump with a welcome change from the acting attorney general, Jeffrey Rosen, who stood by the results of the election and had repeatedly resisted the president’s efforts to undo them. Perry’s previously unreported role, and the quiet discussions between Trump and Clark that followed, underlined how much the former president was willing to use the government to subvert the election, turning to more junior and relatively unknown figures for help as ranking Republicans and Cabinet members rebuffed him. Perry’s involvement is also likely to heighten scrutiny of House Republicans who continue to advance Trump’s false and thoroughly debunked claims of election fraud, even after President Joe Biden’s inauguration this past week and as Congress prepares for an impeachment trial that will examine whether such talk incited the Capitol riot. It is unclear when Perry, who represents the Harrisburg area, met Clark, a Philadelphia native, or how well they knew each another before the introduction to Trump. Former Trump administration officials said it was only in late December that Clark told Rosen about the introduction brokered by Perry, who was among the scores of people feeding Trump false hope that he had won the election. But it is highly unlikely that Trump would have known Clark otherwise. Department officials were startled to learn that the president had called Clark directly on multiple occasions and that the two had met in person without alerting Rosen, those officials said. Justice Department policy stipulates that the president initially communicates with the attorney general or the deputy attorney general on all matters, and then a lower-level official if authorized. As the date for Congress to affirm Biden’s victory neared, Perry and Clark discussed a plan to have the Justice Department send a letter to Georgia state lawmakers informing them of an investigation into voter fraud that could invalidate the state’s Electoral College results. Former officials who were briefed on the plan said that the department’s dozens of voter fraud investigations nationwide had not turned up enough instances of fraud to alter the outcome of the election. Perry and Clark also discussed the plan with Trump, setting off a chain of events that nearly led to the ouster of Rosen, who had refused to send the letter. After The New York Times disclosed the details of the scheme Friday, the political fallout was swift. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., incoming chairman of the Judiciary Committee, told the Justice Department in a letter Saturday that he would investigate efforts by Trump and Clark to use the agency “to further Trump’s efforts to subvert the results of the 2020 presidential election.” Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., the majority leader, said that it was “unconscionable that a Trump Justice Department leader would conspire to subvert the people’s will.” He called on the department’s inspector general, Michael Horowitz, to investigate “this attempted sedition.” Horowitz has already opened an investigation into whether Trump administration officials improperly pressured Byung J. Pak, who abruptly resigned this month as the U.S. attorney in Atlanta after being pressed to take actions related to the election, according to a person briefed on the inquiry. Durbin is investigating that matter as well. Trump also tried to force Justice Department officials, including Rosen and the acting solicitor general, Jeffrey Wall, to file a lawsuit before the Supreme Court that would challenge Biden’s victory, according to a person briefed on the request. One of Trump’s outside lawyers even drafted a brief for the department to file to the court. Department officials and the White House counsel, Pat Cipollone, told Trump that the plan would fail for several reasons, including the fact that the department did not have the grounds to challenge the outcome, the person said. The fight between Trump and Justice Department officials over the Supreme Court filing was first reported by The Wall Street Journal. The episode with Clark and Perry is yet another example at impeachment managers’ disposal as they put together their case that Trump should be disqualified from holding office again. Clark declined to comment on his relationship with Perry, and he categorically denied devising any plan to oust Rosen. He said there had been “a candid discussion of options and pros and cons with the president” that had been inaccurately described by The Times, but he declined to provide details. He declined to say anything more about his conversations with Trump or Justice Department lawyers because of “the strictures of legal privilege.” Asked whether his conversations with the president had violated the department policy governing contact with the president, he said that senior lawyers at the agency provided legal advice to the White House as part of their duties. “All my official communications were consistent with law,” he said. Clark, a member of the conservative Federalist Society, had been appointed acting head of the civil division in September. He also oversaw the department’s environmental and natural resources division, where he had worked under President George W. Bush. Neither Perry nor his top aides responded to repeated requests for comment. Some Senate Republicans, including Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the minority leader, have grown increasingly worried that if they do not intervene and distance themselves from Trump, the havoc wreaked by the former president could hurt Republicans’ political fortunes for years to come. The episode amounts to an unwelcome reminder that damaging information around his presidency could continue to emerge even though Trump is no longer in office. And Perry’s role in the discussions could further escalate tensions in the House, where Democratic lawmakers were already livid at Republicans for fanning the flames before the Capitol riot, with some rank-and-file members calling for the expulsion of lawmakers who led efforts to overturn the election. The pressure that Trump placed on the Justice Department, including any plan that he may have considered to remove Rosen, also raises legal questions for him. Trump’s duty as president was to ensure that “laws be faithfully executed for the benefit of the country,” and efforts to interfere in the election could be considered a violation of his constitutional duty, said Neil Eggleston, a partner at Kirkland &amp; Ellis and a White House counsel under President Barack Obama. There is little chance that a Justice Department letter sent to Georgia lawmakers would have prompted the state to invalidate its Electoral College votes. But the plan was consistent with the posture Perry had taken since November, when he began to falsely claim that there had been rampant fraud in the election, and throughout it all, Perry has remained defiant. Facing calls to resign over his role in the efforts to overturn the election, Perry issued a one-word response: “No.” Perry, a retired brigadier general in the Pennsylvania Army National Guard and an Iraq War veteran, has been scrutinized for his openness to the conspiratorial. He baselessly suggested that the 2017 mass shooting in Las Vegas by a lone gunman could have been influenced by “terrorist infiltration through the southern border” and refused to support a resolution that condemned QAnon, a pro-Trump conspiracy movement. ( Perry said he believed that the resolution infringed on individuals’ right to free speech and that he did not personally subscribe to the movement.) An early supporter of the “Stop the Steal” campaign, Perry was one of 126 House Republicans who joined a legal brief in December supporting an extraordinary lawsuit seeking to overturn Biden’s victory. And he joined over two dozen of his colleagues who urged Trump to direct William Barr, the attorney general, to “investigate irregularities in the 2020 election.” He objected on behalf of 79 other House Republicans to certifying Pennsylvania’s electoral results, and was among 139 House Republicans who voted to reject Biden’s electoral victory, even though he later acknowledged Biden as president-elect. The plan that Perry devised with Clark set off a crisis at the Justice Department. When Clark approached Rosen with the Georgia letter at the end of December, Rosen refused to send it, according to four former administration officials. On Jan. 3, Clark notified Rosen that he would be taking his job at Trump’s behest. As Rosen prepared to meet Trump later that day and fight for his job, his top deputies, including the acting deputy attorney general, Richard Donoghue, and his outgoing chief of staff, Patrick Hovakimian, convened the department’s senior leaders on a conference call, according to five former officials with knowledge of the call. They told the department leaders that Rosen’s job was in jeopardy because of Clark’s machinations and said they would resign if Rosen was removed. They ended the call by asking their colleagues to privately consider what they would do if that happened. Over the next 15 minutes, all of them emailed or texted Hovakimian, saying that they would quit. While Rosen, Donoghue and other top department and White House lawyers spent nearly three hours with Trump and Clark, debating the merits of sending the letter to Georgia lawmakers, Hovakimian drafted an email to the department’s senior leaders, including those who were not aware of what was transpiring at the White House, in anticipation of Rosen’s removal, according to two people briefed on the letter. In it, he explained that Rosen had resisted Trump’s repeated calls to use the department’s law enforcement powers for improper ends and that the president had removed him, according to a person who reviewed the email. He wrote that he and Donoghue were resigning immediately and encouraged his colleagues to think hard about what they would do and to always act in the interests of the United States. When Hovakimian received word that Rosen had been allowed to stay, he drafted a new email that he sent to the anxiously awaiting officials: Rosen and the cause of justice had won.

Pennsylvania lawmaker was key to Justice Dept scheme

Scientists believe that there was not adequate evidence to hold coronavirus vaccines responsible for deaths among those who received the vaccine. Health agencies stress that great majority of post-vaccination fatalities were elderly, more vulnerable to coronavirus infection.

Norway sparked alarm last week when it reported the deaths of 33 of some 20,000 retirement home residents who had received a first shot of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine.

Norwegian Institute of Public Health said that at least 13 of the fatalities were not only elderly but also had other ailments.

While it noted that no analysis had yet been carried out on the causes of the deaths, it suggested that with the aged and vulnerable the normal side effects of vaccination such as fever or nausea could have contributed.

Outside Norway the news raised widespread concern and fed anti-vaccine scepticism, prompting the authorities to stress that no link had been established between the vaccine and post-jab deaths.

In France, of 800,000 people vaccinated, nine deaths of chronically ill residents of care and retirement homes were recorded by Friday.

The national medicines agency ANSM said that based on available evidence, "Nothing leads to the conclusion that the reported deaths were linked to vaccination."

Other examples include 13 deaths of elderly people recorded in Sweden and seven in Iceland, all with no link established.

In Portugal, a care worker died just two days after receiving the vaccine but the country's justice ministry did not find a link between the vaccine and the death.

France's interior ministry on January 18 listed 71 "observations of death" in Europe of people who had the inoculation, but offered no further details.

Continued monitoring

The European Medicines Agency said that despite the deaths, "to date no specific concerns have been identified with Comirnaty", the commercial name for the Pfizer shot.

The EMA noted that the authorities investigate fatalities to determine whether the vaccine was responsible.

National and European agencies check any problems with vaccinations reported by health professionals, pharmaceutical firms and patients themselves.

For the moment, the number and type of deaths among those vaccinated are not considered abnormal, with no cause-and-effect relationship identified.

In many countries -- such as France, Norway, Britain and Spain -- the frail and elderly are first in line for vaccinations.

(With AFP inputs)

Scientists believe that there was not adequate evidence to hold coronavirus vaccines responsible for deaths among those who received the vaccine. Health agencies stress that great majority of post-vaccination fatalities were elderly, more vulnerable to coronavirus infection.

Scientists believe that there was not adequate evidence to hold coronavirus vaccines responsible for deaths among those who received the vaccine. Health agencies stress that great majority of post-vaccination fatalities were elderly, more vulnerable to coronavirus infection. Norway sparked alarm last week when it reported the deaths of 33 of some 20,000 retirement home residents who had received a first shot of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine. Norwegian Institute of Public Health said that at least 13 of the fatalities were not only elderly but also had other ailments. While it noted that no analysis had yet been carried out on the causes of the deaths, it suggested that with the aged and vulnerable the normal side effects of vaccination such as fever or nausea could have contributed. Outside Norway the news raised widespread concern and fed anti-vaccine scepticism, prompting the authorities to stress that no link had been established between the vaccine and post-jab deaths. In France, of 800,000 people vaccinated, nine deaths of chronically ill residents of care and retirement homes were recorded by Friday. The national medicines agency ANSM said that based on available evidence, "Nothing leads to the conclusion that the reported deaths were linked to vaccination." Other examples include 13 deaths of elderly people recorded in Sweden and seven in Iceland, all with no link established. In Portugal, a care worker died just two days after receiving the vaccine but the country's justice ministry did not find a link between the vaccine and the death. France's interior ministry on January 18 listed 71 "observations of death" in Europe of people who had the inoculation, but offered no further details. Continued monitoring The European Medicines Agency said that despite the deaths, "to date no specific concerns have been identified with Comirnaty", the commercial name for the Pfizer shot. The EMA noted that the authorities investigate fatalities to determine whether the vaccine was responsible. National and European agencies check any problems with vaccinations reported by health professionals, pharmaceutical firms and patients themselves. For the moment, the number and type of deaths among those vaccinated are not considered abnormal, with no cause-and-effect relationship identified. In many countries -- such as France, Norway, Britain and Spain -- the frail and elderly are first in line for vaccinations. (With AFP inputs)

No deaths in Europe directly tied to COVID jabs: experts

European Council President Chrles Michel said on Sunday that the European Union will 'make' comapanies respect the contracts for coronavirus vaccine supply. His comments have come amid statements from vaccine providers that suggest that there will be a delays in supply of the vaccines.Pfizer said last week that it was temporarily slowing supplies to Europe to make manufacturing changes that would boost output. &nbsp;On Friday, AstraZeneca also said that initial deliveries to the region will fall short because of a production glitch

"We plan to make the pharmaceutical companies respect the contracts they have signed ... by using the legal means at our disposal," Michel said on Europe 1 radio.

There are increasing voices of displeasure over declared delay in vaccine supply. On Saturday, Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said that delay in EU was serious breach of contract. The pm said that the delay was "unacceptable"

"This is unacceptable," Conte said in a Facebook post. "Our vaccination plan ... has been drawn up on the basis of contractual pledges freely undertaken by pharmaceutical companies with the European Commission."

vaccinations in Italy have slowed to 20,000-25,000 a day from peaks of more than 90,000 around two weeks ago, said the head of Italy's higher health council, Franco Locatelli.

Rome has threatened to sue Pfizer.

Conte said expected delays in the vaccine by AstraZeneca were even more worrying, adding Italy would receive 3.4 million doses instead of 8 million in the first quarter if the 60% reduction were confirmed.

He added the heads of AstraZeneca Italy had confirmed the reduction in production capacity at a meeting on Saturday with Italian Health Minister Roberto Speranza and COVID-19 Special Commissioner Domenico Arcuri.

"Such delays in deliveries represent serious contractual violations, which cause enormous damage to Italy and other countries," Conte said.

"We'll use all available legal tools as we're already doing with Pfizer-BioNTech," he added.

(With Reuters inputs)

European Council President Chrles Michel said on Sunday that the European Union will 'make' comapanies respect the contracts for coronavirus vaccine supply. His comments have come amid statements from vaccine providers that suggest that there will be a delays in supply of the vaccines.

European Council President Chrles Michel said on Sunday that the European Union will 'make' comapanies respect the contracts for coronavirus vaccine supply. His comments have come amid statements from vaccine providers that suggest that there will be a delays in supply of the vaccines.Pfizer said last week that it was temporarily slowing supplies to Europe to make manufacturing changes that would boost output. On Friday, AstraZeneca also said that initial deliveries to the region will fall short because of a production glitch "We plan to make the pharmaceutical companies respect the contracts they have signed ... by using the legal means at our disposal," Michel said on Europe 1 radio. There are increasing voices of displeasure over declared delay in vaccine supply. On Saturday, Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said that delay in EU was serious breach of contract. The pm said that the delay was "unacceptable" "This is unacceptable," Conte said in a Facebook post. "Our vaccination plan ... has been drawn up on the basis of contractual pledges freely undertaken by pharmaceutical companies with the European Commission." vaccinations in Italy have slowed to 20,000-25,000 a day from peaks of more than 90,000 around two weeks ago, said the head of Italy's higher health council, Franco Locatelli. Rome has threatened to sue Pfizer. Conte said expected delays in the vaccine by AstraZeneca were even more worrying, adding Italy would receive 3.4 million doses instead of 8 million in the first quarter if the 60% reduction were confirmed. He added the heads of AstraZeneca Italy had confirmed the reduction in production capacity at a meeting on Saturday with Italian Health Minister Roberto Speranza and COVID-19 Special Commissioner Domenico Arcuri. "Such delays in deliveries represent serious contractual violations, which cause enormous damage to Italy and other countries," Conte said. "We'll use all available legal tools as we're already doing with Pfizer-BioNTech," he added. (With Reuters inputs)

EU: Will 'make' companies respect COVID vaccine supply contracts

Brazillian President Jair Bolsonaro on Friday thanked Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi for coronavirus vaccines. India, one of world's biggest drug manufacturers is already helping several countries by providing them coronavirus vaccines. In his tweet, Bolsonaro included an image of Lord Hanuman bringing the 'Sanjivani booti' from India to Brazil. Sanjivani Booti is the medicine Lord Hanuman delivered for Laxmana, the legendary warrior and brother of Lord Rama when he was injured in battle in the Indian epic Ramayana. But in Bolsonaro's tweet, the 'Sanjivani Booti' is the COVID vaccine.

"Namaskar, Prime Minister @narendramodi Brazil feels honoured to have a great partner to overcome a global obstacle by joining efforts. Thank you for assisting us with the vaccines exports from India to Brazil," said Bolsonaro in Twitter.

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Namaskar, Prime Minister <a href="https://twitter.com/narendramodi?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@narendramodi</a> 
 
Brazil feels honoured to have a great partner to overcome a global obstacle by joining efforts. 
 
Thank you for assisting us with the vaccines exports from India to Brazil. 
 
Dhanyavaad! धनयवाद
— Jair M. Bolsonaro (@jairbolsonaro) <a href="https://twitter.com/jairbolsonaro/status/1352630699480797186?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 22, 2021</a></blockquote>
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Two flights, each carrying two million vaccine doses for Brazil and Morocco took off from Mumbai airport early on Friday.

"The Covishield vaccine, manufactured by the Serum Institute of India, departed from Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) carrying 2 million doses to Brazil via Emirates Sky Cargo and 2 million doses to Morocco on Royal Air Maroc," said a press release by the airport. It mentioned that the airport has facilitated movement of over 14.17 million doses of the Covishield vaccine across various international and domestic destinations

On Friday, Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said in a media briefing that India had sent consignments of coronavirus vaccines under grant assistance to Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal, Bangladesh, Myanmar and Seychelles.

Asked whether India is sending the vaccines to Pakistan, Srivastava said he was not aware of any request for their supply by Pakistan on a government-to government basis or commercial basis.

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On Wednesday, India sent 1,50,000 doses of Covisheild vaccine to Bhutan and 1,00,000 doses to the Maldives as grant assistance. 
India on Thursday delivered two million doses of Covisheild vaccine to Bangladesh and one million doses to Nepal under grants assistance, while a consignment containing 1.5 million doses was sent to Myanmar, 50,000 doses to Seychelles on Friday.

"Keeping in view the domestic requirements of the phased rollout, India will continue to supply COVID-19 vaccines to partner countries over the coming weeks and months in a phased manner. It will be ensured that domestic manufacturers will have adequate stocks to meet domestic requirements while supplying abroad," Srivastava said.

Srivastava said supplies of coronavirus vaccines under grant assistance will be made to Sri Lanka and Afghanistan after getting confirmation of regulatory clearances.

"Acting East. Acting fast. Indian vaccines have arrived in Myanmar to contribute to our neighbour's inoculation efforts," External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar tweeted. 
"Indian vaccines reach Seychelles. That's what friends are for," he said in another tweet.

(With agency inputs)

Brazillian President Jair Bolsonaro on Friday thanked Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi for coronavirus vaccines. India, one of world's biggest drug manufacturers is already helping several countries by providing them coronavirus vaccines.

Brazillian President Jair Bolsonaro on Friday thanked Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi for coronavirus vaccines. India, one of world's biggest drug manufacturers is already helping several countries by providing them coronavirus vaccines. In his tweet, Bolsonaro included an image of Lord Hanuman bringing the 'Sanjivani booti' from India to Brazil. Sanjivani Booti is the medicine Lord Hanuman delivered for Laxmana, the legendary warrior and brother of Lord Rama when he was injured in battle in the Indian epic Ramayana. But in Bolsonaro's tweet, the 'Sanjivani Booti' is the COVID vaccine. "Namaskar, Prime Minister @narendramodi Brazil feels honoured to have a great partner to overcome a global obstacle by joining efforts. Thank you for assisting us with the vaccines exports from India to Brazil," said Bolsonaro in Twitter. Namaskar, Prime Minister @narendramodi Brazil feels honoured to have a great partner to overcome a global obstacle by joining efforts. Thank you for assisting us with the vaccines exports from India to Brazil. Dhanyavaad! धनयवाद — Jair M. Bolsonaro (@jairbolsonaro) January 22, 2021 × Two flights, each carrying two million vaccine doses for Brazil and Morocco took off from Mumbai airport early on Friday. "The Covishield vaccine, manufactured by the Serum Institute of India, departed from Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) carrying 2 million doses to Brazil via Emirates Sky Cargo and 2 million doses to Morocco on Royal Air Maroc," said a press release by the airport. It mentioned that the airport has facilitated movement of over 14.17 million doses of the Covishield vaccine across various international and domestic destinations On Friday, Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said in a media briefing that India had sent consignments of coronavirus vaccines under grant assistance to Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal, Bangladesh, Myanmar and Seychelles. Asked whether India is sending the vaccines to Pakistan, Srivastava said he was not aware of any request for their supply by Pakistan on a government-to government basis or commercial basis. × On Wednesday, India sent 1,50,000 doses of Covisheild vaccine to Bhutan and 1,00,000 doses to the Maldives as grant assistance. India on Thursday delivered two million doses of Covisheild vaccine to Bangladesh and one million doses to Nepal under grants assistance, while a consignment containing 1.5 million doses was sent to Myanmar, 50,000 doses to Seychelles on Friday. "Keeping in view the domestic requirements of the phased rollout, India will continue to supply COVID-19 vaccines to partner countries over the coming weeks and months in a phased manner. It will be ensured that domestic manufacturers will have adequate stocks to meet domestic requirements while supplying abroad," Srivastava said. Srivastava said supplies of coronavirus vaccines under grant assistance will be made to Sri Lanka and Afghanistan after getting confirmation of regulatory clearances. "Acting East. Acting fast. Indian vaccines have arrived in Myanmar to contribute to our neighbour's inoculation efforts," External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar tweeted. "Indian vaccines reach Seychelles. That's what friends are for," he said in another tweet. (With agency inputs)

With a Hanuman image, Brazil President Bolsonaro thanks PM Modi for COVID vaccines

France will tighten its laws on incest, President Emmanuel Macron said in a series of tweets on Saturday (January 23), after publication of a book accusing a top French political commentator of abusing his stepson sparked outrage across the country.

Macron said in a post on his Twitter account that France needs to adapt its law to better protect children from sexual violence and he had asked the justice minister to chair a consultation aimed at quickly making legislative proposals.

"We have to punish the criminals for their past acts and to prevent any further offence," Macron said in a video posted on Twitter. "Shame, today, is shifting sides."

Macron said France had already increased the statute of limitations on incest to 30 years, counted from the legal age of majority of the victim, and had tightened controls on people working with children, but he said much more needed to be done.

He said that as part of current routine medical examinatons for children, France would introduce sessions about incest in primary and secondary schools in order to give children a chance to talk about incest, which in France is defined as sexual abuse of minors within a family.

He also said that better psychological help for victims of incest would be made available and that it would be reimbursed by social security.

In recent weeks, hundreds of people have taken to social media to tell their stories of incest after the publication of a book accusing French professor and constitutional specialist Olivier Duhamel of abusing his stepson.

The book was written by Duhamel's stepdaughter Camille Kouchner, daughter of Bernard Kouchner, former foreign minister and founder of NGO of Medecins Sans Frontieres.

Duhamel resigned earlier this month from his post overseeing Sciences Po, one of France's top universities, following publication of the book.

"Being the object of personal attacks and wanting to preserve the institutions in which I work, I put an end to my functions," he said on Twitter on Jan. 4.

Neither Duhamel nor his lawyer have commented on the accusations dating back to the 1980s.

Higher Education Minister Frederique Vidal has ordered an inspection at Sciences Po to determine responsibilities and potential failings. The Paris prosecutor opened an investigation for rape and sexual abuse by a person with authority over a minor of 15 years old in early January.

France will tighten its laws on incest, President Emmanuel Macron said in a series of tweets on Saturday (January 23), after publication of a book accusing a top French political commentator of abusing his stepson sparked outrage across the country.

France will tighten its laws on incest, President Emmanuel Macron said in a series of tweets on Saturday (January 23), after publication of a book accusing a top French political commentator of abusing his stepson sparked outrage across the country. Macron said in a post on his Twitter account that France needs to adapt its law to better protect children from sexual violence and he had asked the justice minister to chair a consultation aimed at quickly making legislative proposals. "We have to punish the criminals for their past acts and to prevent any further offence," Macron said in a video posted on Twitter. "Shame, today, is shifting sides." Macron said France had already increased the statute of limitations on incest to 30 years, counted from the legal age of majority of the victim, and had tightened controls on people working with children, but he said much more needed to be done. He said that as part of current routine medical examinatons for children, France would introduce sessions about incest in primary and secondary schools in order to give children a chance to talk about incest, which in France is defined as sexual abuse of minors within a family. He also said that better psychological help for victims of incest would be made available and that it would be reimbursed by social security. In recent weeks, hundreds of people have taken to social media to tell their stories of incest after the publication of a book accusing French professor and constitutional specialist Olivier Duhamel of abusing his stepson. The book was written by Duhamel's stepdaughter Camille Kouchner, daughter of Bernard Kouchner, former foreign minister and founder of NGO of Medecins Sans Frontieres. Duhamel resigned earlier this month from his post overseeing Sciences Po, one of France's top universities, following publication of the book. "Being the object of personal attacks and wanting to preserve the institutions in which I work, I put an end to my functions," he said on Twitter on Jan. 4. Neither Duhamel nor his lawyer have commented on the accusations dating back to the 1980s. Higher Education Minister Frederique Vidal has ordered an inspection at Sciences Po to determine responsibilities and potential failings. The Paris prosecutor opened an investigation for rape and sexual abuse by a person with authority over a minor of 15 years old in early January.

France to tighten legislation on incest, Macron says

India's Union Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying said on Saturday that bird flu cases had been found in 13 Indian states. The Avian Influenza has been reported in poultry birds from nine states while in wild birds from 12 states.

As on January 23, outbreaks of Avian Influenza (Bird flu) have been confirmed in nine states (Kerala, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Uttarakhand, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh and Punjab) for poultry birds and in 12 States (Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Delhi, Rajasthan, Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab) for crow/migratory/wild birds, said the ministry in a statement.

However, crow/pigeon samples submitted from Rudraprayag, Lansdowne Forest Range and Paudi Forest Range of Uttarakhand; pigeon samples from Sriganganagar district of Rajasthan; crow and peacock samples from Fatehpur district of Uttar Pradesh have been found negative for Avian Influenza, the statement added.

Control and Containment is going on in epicentres of Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Uttarakhand and Kerala.

Compensation is paid to the farmers whose poultry birds, eggs and poultry feed are culled/disposed of by the state as per the action plan. The Department of Animal Husbandry &amp; Dairying (DAHD) provides funds to states/UTs on a 50:50 sharing basis under ASCAD component of its LH &amp; DC Scheme, said the ministry.

The statement said that all the states are reporting to the department on a daily basis about control measures adopted by them based on the Revised Action Plan for Prevention, Control and Containment of Avian Influenza 2021.

(With agency inputs)

India's Union Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying said on Saturday that bird flu cases had been found in 13 Indian states. The Avian Influenza has been reported in poultry birds from nine states while in wild birds from 12 states.

India's Union Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying said on Saturday that bird flu cases had been found in 13 Indian states. The Avian Influenza has been reported in poultry birds from nine states while in wild birds from 12 states. As on January 23, outbreaks of Avian Influenza (Bird flu) have been confirmed in nine states (Kerala, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Uttarakhand, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh and Punjab) for poultry birds and in 12 States (Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Delhi, Rajasthan, Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab) for crow/migratory/wild birds, said the ministry in a statement. However, crow/pigeon samples submitted from Rudraprayag, Lansdowne Forest Range and Paudi Forest Range of Uttarakhand; pigeon samples from Sriganganagar district of Rajasthan; crow and peacock samples from Fatehpur district of Uttar Pradesh have been found negative for Avian Influenza, the statement added. Control and Containment is going on in epicentres of Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Uttarakhand and Kerala. Compensation is paid to the farmers whose poultry birds, eggs and poultry feed are culled/disposed of by the state as per the action plan. The Department of Animal Husbandry & Dairying (DAHD) provides funds to states/UTs on a 50:50 sharing basis under ASCAD component of its LH & DC Scheme, said the ministry. The statement said that all the states are reporting to the department on a daily basis about control measures adopted by them based on the Revised Action Plan for Prevention, Control and Containment of Avian Influenza 2021. (With agency inputs)

Bird Flu cases in 13 Indian states so far, says government

Emanuele Filiberto, the descendent of Italy'w wartime king Victor Emmanuel III apologised to country's Jewish community for monarchy's role in Holocaust.&nbsp;

"I condemn the 1938 racial laws, all of whose weight I still feel on my shoulders to this day, and with me the whole royal house," 48-year-old Emanuele Filiberto of Savoy said of his great-grandfather.

Victor Emmanuel III had put his signature to an "unacceptable document", he added in a letter posted to Facebook, "officially apologising" in the name of his family.

During the second world war, about 8000 Italian Jews were deported from the country and murdered in Nazi concentration camps.

Alongside the letter, Filiberto also gave a TV interview in which he mentioned royal family's positive role in Italian unification and granting equal rights to Jews from 1848.

Several Italian royals were themselves deported to Nazi concentration camps, he recalled.

After the war, Victor Emmanuel III abdicated in May 1946 and died the following year in Egypt.

His son Humbert II reigned for only a month before leaving for Switzerland when Italians opted for a republican constitution in a referendum.

Parliament only ended a constitutional ban on the House of Savoy's male heirs returning to Italy in 2002, after Emanuele Filiberto and his father Vittorio Emanuele swore loyalty to the republic.

The two men gave up on compensation claims demanding 260 million euros ($316 million) for their family's exile and the return of the royal family's confiscated property after a public outcry.

Emanuele Filiberto is married to French actress Clotilde Courau.

(With AFP inputs)

Emanuele Filiberto, the descendent of Italy'w wartime king Victor Emmanuel III apologised to country's Jewish community for monarchy's role in Holocaust. "I condemn the 1938 racial laws, all of whose weight I still feel on my shoulders to this day, and with me the whole royal house," 48-year-old Emanuele Filiberto of Savoy said of his great-grandfather.

Emanuele Filiberto, the descendent of Italy'w wartime king Victor Emmanuel III apologised to country's Jewish community for monarchy's role in Holocaust. "I condemn the 1938 racial laws, all of whose weight I still feel on my shoulders to this day, and with me the whole royal house," 48-year-old Emanuele Filiberto of Savoy said of his great-grandfather. Victor Emmanuel III had put his signature to an "unacceptable document", he added in a letter posted to Facebook, "officially apologising" in the name of his family. During the second world war, about 8000 Italian Jews were deported from the country and murdered in Nazi concentration camps. Alongside the letter, Filiberto also gave a TV interview in which he mentioned royal family's positive role in Italian unification and granting equal rights to Jews from 1848. Several Italian royals were themselves deported to Nazi concentration camps, he recalled. After the war, Victor Emmanuel III abdicated in May 1946 and died the following year in Egypt. His son Humbert II reigned for only a month before leaving for Switzerland when Italians opted for a republican constitution in a referendum. Parliament only ended a constitutional ban on the House of Savoy's male heirs returning to Italy in 2002, after Emanuele Filiberto and his father Vittorio Emanuele swore loyalty to the republic. The two men gave up on compensation claims demanding 260 million euros ($316 million) for their family's exile and the return of the royal family's confiscated property after a public outcry. Emanuele Filiberto is married to French actress Clotilde Courau. (With AFP inputs)

Italian king's heir apologises for monarchy's role in Holocaust during second world war

Davos in Switzerland is normally very crowded at this time of the year thanks to World Economic Forum (WEF). However, the streets of the ski resort are deserted this year as WEF went online this time due to coronavirus pandemic. This year, world's great and good will interact virtually. There is no shortage of topics as the world economy is in deep crisis after a year marred by the COVID crisis. Soaring unemployment and debt levels, growing income inequality and climate change have proven to be great impediments in global progress.

"We have practically assembled the same high level - and also amount - of global decision-makers for politics, business, society as we usually do in Davos." said WEF chief Klaus Schwab in an interview with Reuters.

"What makes Davos different is that you do not just have some heads of state or some top business leaders, you have practically everyone who counts coming together," he added.

Heads of states, CEOs, civil society leaders, global media and youth leaders from Africa, Asia, Europe, Middle East, Latin America and North America will attend the WEF virtually this year.

The WEF is hoping that normalcy returns and has planned a face-to-face meeting in Singapore in May.

The World Economic Forum 2021 kicks off on Monday (January 25) and ends on Friday (January 29).

Davos in Switzerland is normally very crowded at this time of the year thanks to World Economic Forum (WEF). However, the streets of the ski resort are deserted this year as WEF went online this time due to coronavirus pandemic.

Davos in Switzerland is normally very crowded at this time of the year thanks to World Economic Forum (WEF). However, the streets of the ski resort are deserted this year as WEF went online this time due to coronavirus pandemic. This year, world's great and good will interact virtually. There is no shortage of topics as the world economy is in deep crisis after a year marred by the COVID crisis. Soaring unemployment and debt levels, growing income inequality and climate change have proven to be great impediments in global progress. "We have practically assembled the same high level - and also amount - of global decision-makers for politics, business, society as we usually do in Davos." said WEF chief Klaus Schwab in an interview with Reuters. "What makes Davos different is that you do not just have some heads of state or some top business leaders, you have practically everyone who counts coming together," he added. Heads of states, CEOs, civil society leaders, global media and youth leaders from Africa, Asia, Europe, Middle East, Latin America and North America will attend the WEF virtually this year. The WEF is hoping that normalcy returns and has planned a face-to-face meeting in Singapore in May. The World Economic Forum 2021 kicks off on Monday (January 25) and ends on Friday (January 29).

Empty streets in Davos as World Economic Forum goes virtual

As the coronavirus tears across much of Texas, Dr. Esmaeil Porsa is grappling with one of the most formidable challenges he has faced: The Houston hospital system he operates is running out of vaccines.

Porsa, the CEO of Harris Health System, which treats thousands of mostly uninsured patients, warned Friday that its entire vaccine supply could be depleted by midday Saturday. The problem is not one of capability — the vaccination centers he oversees have easily been administering as many as 2,000 vaccines a day — but of availability.

“All of a sudden the distribution of vaccines stopped,” Porsa said. “It’s perplexing and frustrating because I keep hearing that there are high percentages of vaccines that have been distributed but not administered.”

In the midst of one of the deadliest phases of the pandemic in the United States, health officials in Texas and around the country are growing desperate, unable to get clear answers as to why the long-anticipated vaccines are suddenly in short supply. Inoculation sites are canceling thousands of appointments in one state after another as the nation’s vaccines roll out through a bewildering patchwork of distribution networks, with local officials uncertain about what supplies they will have in hand.

In South Carolina, one hospital in the city of Beaufort had to cancel 6,000 vaccine appointments after it received only 450 of the doses it expected. In Hawaii, a Maui hospital canceled 5,000 first-dose appointments and put 15,000 additional requests for appointments on hold.

In San Francisco, the public health department had at one point expected to run out of vaccines this past week because the city’s allocation dropped sharply from a week ago and California officials temporarily had to put thousands of doses on hold after a higher than usual number of possible allergic reactions were reported. In New York state, officials in Erie County have canceled thousands of vaccine appointments in recent days after a sharp decline in allocations from the state.

The situation is especially dire in Texas, which is averaging about 20,000 new coronavirus cases a day, fueling concerns over whether officials will be able to curb the spread when they cannot get their hands on the vaccines they desperately need to do so.

Health officials trying to piece together why this is happening are puzzled by reports that millions of available doses are going unused. As of Friday morning, nearly 39.9 million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines had been distributed to state and local governments, but only about 19.1 million doses had been administered to patients, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Pfizer and Moderna have each agreed to provide the United States with 100 million vaccine doses, and the companies are racing to manufacture the vaccines, together releasing between 12 million and 18 million doses a week.

At that rate, it is feasible for the new administration to meet President Joe Biden’s pledge to inject 100 million vaccines by his 100th day in office. Public health officials could even potentially ramp up the pace of vaccinations with existing supply.

It appears that problems with distributing the already available doses are responsible for many of the acute vaccine shortages now being seen in parts of the country. Factor in the ever-increasing demand as more states make the vaccine widely available to those 65 and older, and officials warn that distribution headaches could persist in the weeks ahead.

The Biden administration has pledged to overhaul distribution to the states and even use the Defense Production Act to increase supply, but vaccine experts warn that shortages of the doses will persist in the short term with manufacturing sites already facing capacity constraints.

State and local governments, as well as hospital administrators, are fending for themselves. In Houston, Porsa said his staff was scrambling as the supply of vaccines dwindled this past week, squeezing six doses out of vials intended to provide five.

In one sign of the confusion around vaccine distribution in Texas, officials in Dallas County scrapped a plan that would have prioritized shots for people living in heavily Black and Latino communities hit hardest by the virus. Texas state officials threatened to slash allocations of the vaccine if the county went ahead with the plan even though data showed that most of the shots administered in Dallas County had been in wealthier neighborhoods.

Houston, the fourth-largest city in the country, is now struggling with a similar problem as the hospitals serving some of its poorest residents run out of the vaccine, prompting some public health experts to question why doses are not being made more available to vulnerable communities.

“These are our front-line workers who are at the greatest risk of contracting the virus and at the greatest risk of spreading it to others,” said Vivian Ho, a health economist at Rice University and Baylor College of Medicine. “We would be able to resolve the pandemic in Harris County quicker if we could get a sufficient number of vaccines,” she added, referring to the county encompassing much of Houston.

Adding to the turmoil, just days after Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas, a Republican, praised the state’s vaccine rollout at a meeting in Houston where Democratic city and county officials were excluded from participating, the lieutenant governor, Dan Patrick, also a Republican, sent a letter Thursday to the state’s Expert Vaccination Allocation Panel urging its members to fix the problems.

“Right now, in many cities and counties when an announcement of available vaccinations is made, website sign-up pages crash and phone calls go unanswered,” Patrick said in the letter. “Texans need to have a better understanding of the time it will take for everyone to be vaccinated in order to reduce lines, confusion and frustration.”

The sense of chaos afflicting the distribution efforts, not just in Texas but in an array of states, is laying bare how local officials are struggling to fill the void left by the lack, until this week, of a comprehensive response at the federal level.

Dr. George Rutherford, a public health researcher at the University of California, San Francisco, said the most obvious problem with vaccine administration in the San Francisco area was clear.

“There’s not enough doses, period,” he said. “That’s it. Everything would work fine if you had enough doses.”

The public health department in San Francisco and hospitals in the city were “caught by surprise” by the lack of doses, Rutherford said, and by the eligibility expansion to those 65 and older, which likely strained the system. Varying vaccine distribution channels — such as Kaiser Permanente and UC San Francisco — receive the doses on their own, he said, further complicating an already convoluted distribution system.

“So it’s a little hard for the city to understand exactly what’s left over, what they need to do, where the holes are to fill,” Rutherford said.

Still, new vaccination sites are opening in San Francisco, which Rutherford said would help speed the process along once more doses become available.

“There’s this tension between efficiency and equity,” he said. “It’s never easy.”

Dr. Grant Colfax, head of the San Francisco Department of Health, said the city was “very close to doses running out” and said a lack of overall coordination has led to distribution problems.

“I think what this really is, is a continuation of the fallout of the lack of a coordinated federal response,” he said. “Basically cities and counties were left on our own to deal with this pandemic.”

He said local jurisdictions “simply did not have the resources and the capacity” to handle the complicated effort without help. “It has manifested in a very tragic way.”

In Austin, Texas, Curt Fisher, a 76-year-old who has served on the boards of several high-tech startups, experienced firsthand the confounding roadblocks to securing a vaccine. He was playing golf with friends several weeks ago when they learned that Austin Public Health had vaccines available.

They quickly registered with their cellphones from the golf course and landed appointments in a matter of minutes. The system was deluged, and Fisher, who had waited about 30 minutes to call, missed out.

He doggedly checked the website from his home about four or five times a day for more than three weeks. Each attempt bore the same result: no vaccines available within the maximum 100-mile search radius.

Then after days of pinning his hopes on his hometown health service, good fortune finally came from more than 150 miles away. He received a text from a Memorial Hermann hospital in Houston, where he was automatically registered because he had seen a doctor about three months earlier, inviting him to come to the hospital for his first dose of the vaccine.

He made the roughly three-hour drive Monday, spending about an hour at the hospital with little waiting for his first shot of the vaccine. He is supposed to go back Feb. 8 for the second and final injection. Looking back, Fisher said the success he found in Houston and the hassles he went through in Austin illustrated that some vaccine distribution centers “really have their act together” and others do not.

“I don’t think the system that Austin Health had could handle the stress of the high volume, obviously,” he said.

But some people have struggled to get vaccine appointments, only to see them canceled because of supply problems.

Jeanelle Fernandes, 33, who has sickle cell anemia and lives in Miami, initially felt relieved after setting up a vaccine appointment for Jan. 28.

Having it confirmed “was kind of like a light at the end of the tunnel,” she said. “This has been a really hard journey for me.”

But then Baptist Health South Florida tweeted this week that all first-dose vaccine appointments scheduled for Jan. 20 or later would be canceled.

“I’m definitely frustrated,” she said.

It was not the hospital’s fault, she said; she blamed a government that seemed unprepared to roll out millions of vaccine doses when people urgently needed them.

“Now I have to wait,” Fernandes said. “I’m up in the air. I don’t know what’s going to happen.”

As the coronavirus tears across much of Texas, Dr. Esmaeil Porsa is grappling with one of the most formidable challenges he has faced: The Houston hospital system he operates is running out of vaccines.

As the coronavirus tears across much of Texas, Dr. Esmaeil Porsa is grappling with one of the most formidable challenges he has faced: The Houston hospital system he operates is running out of vaccines. Porsa, the CEO of Harris Health System, which treats thousands of mostly uninsured patients, warned Friday that its entire vaccine supply could be depleted by midday Saturday. The problem is not one of capability — the vaccination centers he oversees have easily been administering as many as 2,000 vaccines a day — but of availability. “All of a sudden the distribution of vaccines stopped,” Porsa said. “It’s perplexing and frustrating because I keep hearing that there are high percentages of vaccines that have been distributed but not administered.” In the midst of one of the deadliest phases of the pandemic in the United States, health officials in Texas and around the country are growing desperate, unable to get clear answers as to why the long-anticipated vaccines are suddenly in short supply. Inoculation sites are canceling thousands of appointments in one state after another as the nation’s vaccines roll out through a bewildering patchwork of distribution networks, with local officials uncertain about what supplies they will have in hand. In South Carolina, one hospital in the city of Beaufort had to cancel 6,000 vaccine appointments after it received only 450 of the doses it expected. In Hawaii, a Maui hospital canceled 5,000 first-dose appointments and put 15,000 additional requests for appointments on hold. In San Francisco, the public health department had at one point expected to run out of vaccines this past week because the city’s allocation dropped sharply from a week ago and California officials temporarily had to put thousands of doses on hold after a higher than usual number of possible allergic reactions were reported. In New York state, officials in Erie County have canceled thousands of vaccine appointments in recent days after a sharp decline in allocations from the state. The situation is especially dire in Texas, which is averaging about 20,000 new coronavirus cases a day, fueling concerns over whether officials will be able to curb the spread when they cannot get their hands on the vaccines they desperately need to do so. Health officials trying to piece together why this is happening are puzzled by reports that millions of available doses are going unused. As of Friday morning, nearly 39.9 million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines had been distributed to state and local governments, but only about 19.1 million doses had been administered to patients, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Pfizer and Moderna have each agreed to provide the United States with 100 million vaccine doses, and the companies are racing to manufacture the vaccines, together releasing between 12 million and 18 million doses a week. At that rate, it is feasible for the new administration to meet President Joe Biden’s pledge to inject 100 million vaccines by his 100th day in office. Public health officials could even potentially ramp up the pace of vaccinations with existing supply. It appears that problems with distributing the already available doses are responsible for many of the acute vaccine shortages now being seen in parts of the country. Factor in the ever-increasing demand as more states make the vaccine widely available to those 65 and older, and officials warn that distribution headaches could persist in the weeks ahead. The Biden administration has pledged to overhaul distribution to the states and even use the Defense Production Act to increase supply, but vaccine experts warn that shortages of the doses will persist in the short term with manufacturing sites already facing capacity constraints. State and local governments, as well as hospital administrators, are fending for themselves. In Houston, Porsa said his staff was scrambling as the supply of vaccines dwindled this past week, squeezing six doses out of vials intended to provide five. In one sign of the confusion around vaccine distribution in Texas, officials in Dallas County scrapped a plan that would have prioritized shots for people living in heavily Black and Latino communities hit hardest by the virus. Texas state officials threatened to slash allocations of the vaccine if the county went ahead with the plan even though data showed that most of the shots administered in Dallas County had been in wealthier neighborhoods. Houston, the fourth-largest city in the country, is now struggling with a similar problem as the hospitals serving some of its poorest residents run out of the vaccine, prompting some public health experts to question why doses are not being made more available to vulnerable communities. “These are our front-line workers who are at the greatest risk of contracting the virus and at the greatest risk of spreading it to others,” said Vivian Ho, a health economist at Rice University and Baylor College of Medicine. “We would be able to resolve the pandemic in Harris County quicker if we could get a sufficient number of vaccines,” she added, referring to the county encompassing much of Houston. Adding to the turmoil, just days after Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas, a Republican, praised the state’s vaccine rollout at a meeting in Houston where Democratic city and county officials were excluded from participating, the lieutenant governor, Dan Patrick, also a Republican, sent a letter Thursday to the state’s Expert Vaccination Allocation Panel urging its members to fix the problems. “Right now, in many cities and counties when an announcement of available vaccinations is made, website sign-up pages crash and phone calls go unanswered,” Patrick said in the letter. “Texans need to have a better understanding of the time it will take for everyone to be vaccinated in order to reduce lines, confusion and frustration.” The sense of chaos afflicting the distribution efforts, not just in Texas but in an array of states, is laying bare how local officials are struggling to fill the void left by the lack, until this week, of a comprehensive response at the federal level. Dr. George Rutherford, a public health researcher at the University of California, San Francisco, said the most obvious problem with vaccine administration in the San Francisco area was clear. “There’s not enough doses, period,” he said. “That’s it. Everything would work fine if you had enough doses.” The public health department in San Francisco and hospitals in the city were “caught by surprise” by the lack of doses, Rutherford said, and by the eligibility expansion to those 65 and older, which likely strained the system. Varying vaccine distribution channels — such as Kaiser Permanente and UC San Francisco — receive the doses on their own, he said, further complicating an already convoluted distribution system. “So it’s a little hard for the city to understand exactly what’s left over, what they need to do, where the holes are to fill,” Rutherford said. Still, new vaccination sites are opening in San Francisco, which Rutherford said would help speed the process along once more doses become available. “There’s this tension between efficiency and equity,” he said. “It’s never easy.” Dr. Grant Colfax, head of the San Francisco Department of Health, said the city was “very close to doses running out” and said a lack of overall coordination has led to distribution problems. “I think what this really is, is a continuation of the fallout of the lack of a coordinated federal response,” he said. “Basically cities and counties were left on our own to deal with this pandemic.” He said local jurisdictions “simply did not have the resources and the capacity” to handle the complicated effort without help. “It has manifested in a very tragic way.” In Austin, Texas, Curt Fisher, a 76-year-old who has served on the boards of several high-tech startups, experienced firsthand the confounding roadblocks to securing a vaccine. He was playing golf with friends several weeks ago when they learned that Austin Public Health had vaccines available. They quickly registered with their cellphones from the golf course and landed appointments in a matter of minutes. The system was deluged, and Fisher, who had waited about 30 minutes to call, missed out. He doggedly checked the website from his home about four or five times a day for more than three weeks. Each attempt bore the same result: no vaccines available within the maximum 100-mile search radius. Then after days of pinning his hopes on his hometown health service, good fortune finally came from more than 150 miles away. He received a text from a Memorial Hermann hospital in Houston, where he was automatically registered because he had seen a doctor about three months earlier, inviting him to come to the hospital for his first dose of the vaccine. He made the roughly three-hour drive Monday, spending about an hour at the hospital with little waiting for his first shot of the vaccine. He is supposed to go back Feb. 8 for the second and final injection. Looking back, Fisher said the success he found in Houston and the hassles he went through in Austin illustrated that some vaccine distribution centers “really have their act together” and others do not. “I don’t think the system that Austin Health had could handle the stress of the high volume, obviously,” he said. But some people have struggled to get vaccine appointments, only to see them canceled because of supply problems. Jeanelle Fernandes, 33, who has sickle cell anemia and lives in Miami, initially felt relieved after setting up a vaccine appointment for Jan. 28. Having it confirmed “was kind of like a light at the end of the tunnel,” she said. “This has been a really hard journey for me.” But then Baptist Health South Florida tweeted this week that all first-dose vaccine appointments scheduled for Jan. 20 or later would be canceled. “I’m definitely frustrated,” she said. It was not the hospital’s fault, she said; she blamed a government that seemed unprepared to roll out millions of vaccine doses when people urgently needed them. “Now I have to wait,” Fernandes said. “I’m up in the air. I don’t know what’s going to happen.”

New pandemic plight: Hospitals are running out of vaccines

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Zee News Rajasthan

Editor

Manas Joshi

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