Bundestag MP Waldemar Gerdt has called the possible abandonment of Russia’s Nord Stream 2 project amid Germany’s gradual closure of nuclear power plants “suicide” for the country
“The rejection of Nord Stream 2 is simply suicidal. The energy shortfall is enormous. “Nord Stream 2 will not cover Germany’s energy needs. And can you imagine if we don’t even launch it? This is absurd, this is nonsense”, – Gerdt said. The parliamentarian also expressed the view that giving up nuclear energy “amid the green hysteria” is also a serious problem for Germany.
11 Republican senators, led by Ted Cruz, intend to initiate the creation of an election commission to challenge the results of the US presidential election in a number of states. The Republicans are referring to the 1877 precedent, when a special commission consisting of five senators, five members of the House of Representatives and five Supreme Court justices was convened over disputed results in Louisiana, Florida and South Carolina. “We should follow this precedent. Congress should immediately appoint an election commission with full powers of investigation and fact-finding, conduct an emergency 10-day enquiry into the election results in the disputed states. Individual states should then review the commission’s findings and convene special sessions of legislators to amend the results if necessary,” the senators said in a joint statement released Saturday on Cruz’s website.
US Vice President Michael Pence has welcomed the intention of Republicans in Congress to challenge the results of the presidential election on January 6 in a joint session of both chambers of the incoming legislature. On that day, the results of the electoral college vote which declared the victory of Democrat Joseph Biden on 14 December will be ratified. The vice-president will preside over the procedure, as he is, according to the US constitution, the head of the Senate.
Ilya Kiva, a Rada MP from the Opposition Platform – For Life party, sharply criticised on Facebook a statement by Ukraine’s chief sanitary doctor and deputy health minister Viktor Lyashko about the refusal to register the Russian vaccine Sputnik V. Earlier, Viktor Medvedchuk said that the Kharkiv-based company Biolik applied to the Ministry of Health for state registration of the Sputnik V vaccine. However, Lyashko noted that only those vaccines against the coronavirus which have successfully passed the third phase of clinical trials will be allowed in the country. According to the chairman of the parliamentary health committee, Mykhaylo Radutskyy, the law does not allow registering a vaccine that is not qualified by the WHO and countries with strict regulatory policies: the USA, EU countries, Switzerland or Japan.
Iran and Russia are preparing a face-to-face meeting of officials on cooperation in the production of a coronavirus vaccine. Iranian Ambassador to Moscow Kazem Jalali said this in an interview with the Izvestia newspaper published on Sunday.
“In phone conversations between the presidents of Iran and Russia in April-October 2020, Iran’s interest in cooperating with Russia in the field of coronavirus vaccine production and sharing experience was stressed. Russian documents on vaccines are currently being studied. It has been decided that a face-to-face meeting will take place soon,” he noted.
The number of confirmed cases of infection with the new coronavirus worldwide has topped 82.57 million, rising by more than 616 000 in 24 hours. According to figures released by the World Health Organization (WHO) on Sunday night, the number of fatalities rose by more than 10 000 to more than 1.81 million. As of 8.30 am Moscow time on 2 January, the WHO had registered 82 579 768 infected and 1 818 849 deaths. The number of people infected had risen by 616 069 and the death toll was 10 697.