Sunak sacks Braverman, appoints former PM Cameron
London, Nov 13: British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Monday sacked his Indian-origin Home Secretary, Suella Braverman, days after it emerged that a controversial newspaper article attacking the Metropolitan Police was published without clearance from her boss, according to reports coming out from Downing Street. The 43-year-old Goan-origin Cabinet minister has been replaced by James Cleverly, 54, who moves from his portfolio of Foreign Secretary. Meanwhile, in a highly unusual move, former Prime Minister David Cameron was on Monday named UK foreign secretary. It’s rare for a former leader, and a non-lawmaker, to take a senior government post. The government said Cameron will be appointed to Parliament’s unelected upper chamber, the House of Lords. (AP)
‘Taliban’s control over TTP straining ties with Pak’
Islamabad, Nov 13: A senior Pakistani diplomat has for the first time openly alleged that the Afghan Taliban-led government in Kabul was allowing the outlawed TTP terror group to cross into Pakistan and conduct sabotage activities, massacre and then go back, amidst a spike in the number of terror attacks in this country. The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), which has ideological linkages with the Afghan Taliban and is also known as the Pakistan Taliban, was set up as an umbrella group of several militant outfits in 2007. Its main aim is to impose its strict brand of Islam across Pakistan. TTP was involved in several terror attacks in Pakistan. (PTI)
Agents protecting Biden’s kin open fire
WASHINGTON, Nov 13: Secret Service agents protecting President Joe Biden’s granddaughter opened fire after three people tried to break into an unmarked Secret Service vehicle in the nation’s capital, a law enforcement official said. The agents, assigned to protect Naomi Biden, were out with her in the Georgetown neighbourhood late Sunday night when they saw the three people breaking a window of the parked and unoccupied SUV, the official said on the condition of anonymity. One of the agents opened fire, but no one was struck by the gunfire, the Secret Service said in a statement. The three people were seen fleeing in a red car, and the Secret Service said it put out a regional bulletin to Metropolitan Police to be on the lookout for it. (AP)
China on alert for COVID relapse
Beijing, Nov 13: Chinese experts have sounded an alert about the relapse of COVID-19 infections during the current winter season and asked elderly and vulnerable populations to get vaccinated. The Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention shows that a total of 209 new severe COVID-19 cases and 24 deaths caused by COVID-19 were reported across the country in October, with the prevalent strains all being XBB variants, official media reported on Monday. (PTI)