USA

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Wednesday pardoned more than two dozen people, including former campaign chairman Paul Manafort and Charles Kushner, the father of his son-in-law, in the latest wave of clemency to benefit longtime associates and supporters.

UNITED NATIONS, Dec 22 (APP): The investigation by the United Nations Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP) into Friday’s incident in which Indian troops at the Line of Control (LoC) in the disputed Kashmir region fired at a UN vehicle is continuing, according to a UN spokesman.

UNITED NATIONS, Dec 23 (APP): A top UN human rights expert Tuesday urged the departing United States President Donald Tump to pardon Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, while he awaits a decision on his extradition to the US.

Nils Melzer, who monitors torture and other forms of inhuman treatment around the world, issued an open letter to Trump ahead of a British court ruling on January 4 that will determine whether Assange will be extradited from Britain to the United States.

Australian national Assange is being held in the Belmarsh high security prison in London.

NEW YORK, Dec 23 (NNN-AGENCIES) —  At least 21 journalists have been victims of reprisal killings so far this year, more than double the number from last year, the Committee to Protect Journalists said in a report.

A total of 30 journalists were killed in the line of duty in 2020, according to a tally by the watchdog group.

The CPJ is still investigating the deaths of at least 15 other journalists this year to determine whether journalism was the motive.

UNITED NATIONS, Dec 23 (NNN-AGENCIES) – UN Undersecretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs, Rosemary DiCarlo, called for efforts to preserve the Iran nuclear deal.

“The Iranian nuclear issue is an important non-proliferation subject, with consequences for regional and global peace. In achieving the JCPOA, concerned countries showed that their dialogue and diplomacy, supported by a united Security Council, could forge a path to resolving this issue. We hope these countries and the council can do so again,” said DiCarlo.

ATLANTA (Reuters) - With hundreds of millions of dollars pouring into twin Jan. 5 Georgia runoff elections to determine control of the U.S. Senate, Democrats and a constellation of allies are waging an all-out campaign to mobilize as many Black voters as possible.

The success of their efforts - targeted advertising, virtual events and even door-to-door canvassing despite the coronavirus pandemic - will likely decide the outcome, analysts said.

23 Dec 2020; MEMO: US President Donald Trump criticised a draft resolution approved by Congress that includes aid to foreign countries while accusing the Egyptian army of using US aid to buy military equipment from Russia.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -President Donald Trump granted a full pardon on Tuesday to George Papadopoulos, a former campaign aide who pleaded guilty as part of the investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election.

Trump also pardoned Alex van der Zwaan, 36, the Dutch son-in-law of Russian billionaire German Khan. Van der Zwaan was sentenced to 30 days in prison and fined $20,000 for lying to U.S. Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigators about contacts with an official in Trump’s 2016 campaign.

23 Dec 2020; MEMO: The US administration of President Donald Trump is considering a Saudi request to grant Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman (MBS) legal immunity from a federal lawsuit accusing him of targeting for assassination a former top intelligence officer, the Washington Post has reported.

WASHINGTON, Dec. 23 (Xinhua) -- Even though two types of COVID vaccines have been granted emergency use in the United States and one of them has started to be injected to health care workers, a flawed distribution formula may result in those most vulnerable to the coronavirus unable to get vaccinated in time.