WORLD

Defeated US President Donald Trump's effort to steal an election he lost decisively comes through loud and clear in a leaked phone call in which he is heard alternately pleading, flattering, intimidating, and threatening two Republican officials in Georgia into manipulating the results.

Attesting to the resilience of the democratic system, the two officials stand up to the President courageously, calling out his bogus conspiracy theories and maintaining President-elect Joe Biden’s 11,779-vote victory in Georgia was fair and accurate.

“So look. All I want to do is this. I just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have. Because we won the state," Trump says in the hour-long phone call which was first published in the Washington Post. He later adds, “So what are we going to do here, folks? I only need 11,000 votes. Fellas, I need 11,000 votes. Give me a break.”

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Sunday tougher lockdown restrictions were probably on the way as COVID-19 cases keep rising, but that schools were safe and children should continue to attend where permitted. COVID-19 cases in Britain are at record levels and the increase in numbers is fuelled by a new and more transmissible variant of the virus. The government has cancelled the planned reopening of schools in and around London but teaching unions want wider closures.

Much of England is already living under the toughest level of restriction under a four-tier system of regional regulations designed to stop the spread of the virus and protect the national healthcare system. But, asked in a BBC interview about concerns that the system may not be enough to bring the virus under control, Johnson said restrictions “alas, might be about to get tougher”.

Recovery of caches of arms and ammunition in the mountainous areas of Jammu almost on daily basis indicates that the Pakistan backed terrorists were trying to revive militancy in the Jammu division where terrorism was almost wiped out nearly 16 years ago.

These recoveries and a couple of encounters have also sent a signal that terrorists have again adopted the traditional infiltration routes through the Pir-Panchal range that were virtually abandoned after the Sarpvinash Operation which was launched by the Army sometime in 2002 to flush out the trained terrorists from Rajouri, Poonch and Reasi districts.

The security forces on Friday recovered a cache of arms and ammunition in the Mahore area of the Reasi district of Jammu. A 9 mm pistol, 5 grenades and ammunition have been recovered from a terror hideout, said IGP (Jammu) Mukesh Singh. A 20 years old youth, Mohammad Yousuf after sustained interrogation led the police to the hideout.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s father Stanely Johnson has said he is in the process of applying for French passport to maintain his ties with the European Union, Reuters reported.

Eighty-year-old Stanley Johnson, who is a former Conservative politician, Thursday said he wanted to become a French citizen because of his strong family ties with France.

“If I understand it correctly, I am French. My mother was born in France, her mother was totally French as was her grandfather. So for me it is about reclaiming what I already have. And that makes me very happy”, Johnson told RTL radio in an interview in which he spoke in French.

With the rival faction leader Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda' and accused him of breaching various agreements reached between them on several occasions to keep the ruling Nepal Communist Party's unity intact.

Oli's remarks came hours after a four-member Chinese delegation led by Vice Minister of the International Department of the ruling Communist Party of China (CPC) Guo Yezhou returned home without much success in its mission to patch up differences between Nepal's feuding leaders.

Nepal plunged into a political crisis on December 20 after Oli, known for his pro-Beijing leanings, in a surprise move, recommended dissolving the 275-member House, amidst a tussle for power with Prachanda.