RUSSIA OKs EXTENSION TO ARMS CONTROL PACT WITH US

Russian lawmakers on Wednesday quickly approved the extension of the last

remaining nuclear Russia-US arms control treaty, a fast-track action that

comes just days before it's due to expire.

Both the Houses voted unanimously to extend the New START treaty for five

years, a day after a phone call between US President Joe Biden and Russian

President Vladimir Putin. The Kremlin said they agreed to complete the

necessary extension procedures in the next few days.

Speaking via video link to the World Economic Forum's virtual meeting, Putin

hailed the decision to extend the treaty as "a step in the right direction",

but warned of rising global rivalries and threats of new conflicts. The

pact's extension doesn't require congressional approval in the United

States.

BIDEN SIGNS 'EXISTENTIAL' EXECUTIVE ORDERS ON CLIMATE AND ENVIRONMENT

US President Joe Biden has signed a series of executive orders designed to

address climate change, including a new ban on some energy drilling.

The orders aim to freeze new oil and gas leases on public lands and double

offshore wind-produced energy by 2030.

They are expected to meet stiff resistance from the energy industry and come

as a sea change from Donald Trump, who cut environmental protections.

"Today is climate day at the White House," said Mr Biden on Wednesday.

"We have already waited too long," Mr Biden told reporters at the White

House. "And we can't wait any longer."

Mr Biden said the US "must lead" a global response to the climate change

crisis.

"Just like we need a unified national response to Covid-19, we desperately

need a unified national response to the climate crisis because there is a

climate crisis," he said.

He added that neither challenge could be met by the US alone.

ASTRAZENECA PULLS OUT OF VACCINE DELIVERY TALKS: EU OFFICIAL

AstraZeneca has pulled out of meeting with the European Union to discuss

delayed vaccine commitments to the bloc, an EU official said.

The official, who asked not to be identified because of the sensitivity of

the talks said the EU would "insist on them" coming back to the negotiating

table to explain the delay in deliveries once the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine

gets approved for use by the European Medicines Agency.

The talks on January 27 with the EU Commission and member states were slated

to be the third in as many days, as an ever angrier EU is demanding an

explanation about the delays.

On January 25, the EU threatened to impose tight export controls within days

on COVID-19 vaccines made in the bloc.

The EU, which has 450 million citizens and the economic and political clout

of the world's biggest trading bloc, is lagging badly behind countries like

Israel and Britain in rolling out coronavirus vaccine shots for its health

care workers and most vulnerable people. That's despite having over 400,000

confirmed virus deaths since the pandemic began.

The shortfall of planned deliveries of the AstraZeneca vaccine, which is

expected to get medical approval in the bloc on January 29, combined with

hiccups in the distribution of Pfizer-BioNTech shots is putting EU nations

under pressure.

U.S. WILL JOIN NUCLEAR DEAL IF IRAN COMPLIES WITH PROVISIONS: BLINKEN

The United States is ready to rejoin the Iranian nuclear deal and start

negotiations with it only if Tehran joins and complies with its provisions,

US Secretary of State Tony Blinken said on Wednesday.

The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), popular as the Iranian

nuclear deal, was one of the key foreign policy achievements of the

Obama-Biden Administration. The Previous Trump Administration withdrew from

it.

"With regard to Iran, President (Joe) Biden has been very clear in saying

that if Iran comes back into full compliance with its obligations under the

JCPOA, the United States would do the same thing and then we would use that

as a platform to build, with our allies and partners, what we called a

longer and stronger agreement and to deal with a number of other issues that

are deeply problematic in the relationship with Iran," Blinken said.

"But we are a long way from that point. Iran is out of compliance on a

number of fronts," he said.

With regards to how the US would engage in this issue if Iran decides to

come back into compliance, Blinken said the administration will build a

strong team of experts and bring to bear different perspectives on the

issue.

"One of the things that I feel very strongly about is that in any of the

issues we're engaged on, in any of the issues that we're tackling and that

our foreign policy has to confront, that we are constantly questioning our

own assumptions and premises, that we do not engage in groupthink, that

there is as much self-criticism and self-reflection as we get from,

appropriately, the outside, whether it's from you or whether it's from

people who disagree with the policies we're pursuing," he said.

"So I think you can expect to see that as we move forward both with regard

potentially to Iran and, for that matter, to just about any other issue we

tackle," Blinken said.

IRAN SAYS ISRAEL IS WAGING A 'PSYCHOLOGICAL WAR'

A top Iranian official on Wednesday said Israel was waging a "psychological

war" after the Jewish state's Army said new "offensive options" were being

drawn up in case they were needed against the Islamic republic.

Mahmoud Vaezi, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani's chief of staff, also vowed

that his country was ready and willing to defend itself. "We have no

intention of going to war, but we are serious about defending the country,"

he said.

Israel, a close U.S. ally, accuses Iran of seeking to build a nuclear bomb,

a charge Tehran denies.

Israel's military chief General Aviv Kochavi said on Tuesday he had ordered

new plans be drawn up this year to counter Iran's nuclear capabilities, in

case political leaders decided to target the country.

"The power to initiate them lies with the political echelon," Gen. Kochavi

stressed. "However, the offensive options need to be prepared, ready and on

the table."

Mr. Vaezi shot back on Wednesday, accusing Israel of "conducting a

psychological war."

Iran's recent military manoeuvres, testing missiles and drones, Mr. Vaezi

added, showed that "our armed forces are trained" to defend Iran.

BIDEN SIGNS ORDER TO ENSURE RACIAL EQUITY

US President Joe Biden has signed a series of executive orders to ensure

racial equity across the country, acting on one of his core campaign

promises to dismantle "systemic racism" that has plagued America far too

long.

While announcing the four presidential actions at the White House on

Tuesday, Biden cited the killing of George Floyd, a Black man, by a

Minneapolis police officer last May, which touched off demonstrations across

the country. "In my campaign for President, I made it very clear that the

moment had arrived as a nation where we face deep racial inequities in

America and systemic racism that has plagued our nation for far, far too

long," Biden said.

"We have never fully lived up to the founding principles of this nation, to

state the obvious, that all people are created equal and have a right to be

treated equally throughout their lives. And it's time to act now," Biden

said at a White House ceremony to sign the executive order.

In an executive order, Biden directed federal agencies to combat resurgence

of xenophobia, particularly against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders,

that he said have skyrocketed during the Covid pandemic.

CHINA SEEKS CREW DETAILS AS JAKARTA SEIZES TANKERS

Chinese authorities on Wednesday said it was seeking details about 25 of its

nationals who were among 61 crew on two supertankers seized by Indonesia for

"illegally" transferring oil.

Indonesia said the seizure was made after the tankers were found making the

transfer from Iranian-flagged MT Horse to Panamanian-flagged MT Freya,

causing an oil spill. Authorities said the seizure was not related to US

sanctions on Iran amid a dispute over Tehran's nuclear programme. China's

Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian demanded a fair probe

RUSSIA MOOTS WEST ASIA PEACE MEET

Russia backed a Palestinian proposal for a West Asia peace conference,

suggesting on Tuesday it could be held at ministerial level in spring or

summer, as the U.S. said it would move towards renewing ties with the

Palestinians under Joe Biden.

The U.S. - which had sided with Israel under the administration of Donald

Trump - said on Tuesday it intended to "restore credible U.S. engagement

with Palestinians as well as Israelis."

Recalling that Moscow had backed Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas' idea for

international talks in early 2021 when he first proposed it in September,

Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov offered ideas about who could be

invited.

"We propose holding an international, ministerial-level meeting in

spring-summer 2021," Mr. Lavrov told a UN Security Council meeting held by

videoconference.

The roughly 10 participants would include Israel, the Palestinians, the four

members of the so-called West Asia diplomatic quartet (Russia, the UN, the

U.S. and the EU), along with four Arab states - Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan and

the United Arab Emirates, Mr. Lavrov said.

"It would also be important to invite Saudi Arabia, which is behind the Arab

peace initiative," he added.

China voiced its support for Russia's idea at the UN meeting, but most other

participants did not offer an opinion on the proposal.

PAK GOVT DECIDES TO AMEND CONSTITUTION FOR SENATE ELECTION

Pakistan Cabinet has decided to table a bill in Parliament to amend the

Constitution for holding the Senate elections through open vote.

The decision was taken during the Cabinet meeting on Tuesday, presided over

by Prime Minister Imran Khan.

"The government wants the (Senate) polls to be held in a transparent manner

and without horse-trading. This is why we want Senate polls to be held

through an open ballot," Information Minister Shibli Faraz told the media

after the meeting.

He said that in the past, money was used in Senate elections and votes were

bought making the House election a mockery. He asked what was the use of an

upper house in which people come through purchasing of votes.

Faraz also said that people opposing the proposed move are forgetting that

their own party had demanded open ballot in the past.

"The government will present a constitutional amendment bill in the

parliament so that Senate polls are held through open ballot," he said.

Already the government petitioned to the Supreme Court, seeking direction to

hold the upcoming Senate elections through open ballot. The decision is

pending.