Top foreign stories at 1720 hrs

By Yoshita Singh FGN23 US-HOMELAND-LD RESIGNATION US Acting Homeland Security chief Wolf resigns over Capitol Hill violence Washington Chad Wolf, the acting secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, has resigned over the storming of the US Capitol by outgoing President Donald Trumps supporters.

FGN30 CHINA-XI Time and momentum on China's side as world faces unprecedented turbulence, says Xi Beijing: Time and momentum are on China's side as the world faces an unprecedented turbulent time, President Xi Jinping has said, outlining his vision for the ruling Communist Party for the next 30 years to achieve ''great rejuvenation of Chinese nation''. By K J M Varma FGN9 US-LD CUBA US re-designates Cuba as 'state sponsor of terrorism' Washington: The Trump administration has re-designated Cuba as a ''state sponsor of terrorism'', reversing an Obama-era decision days ahead of the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden.

FGN29 US-SECURITY LD FBI FBI warns 'armed protests' being planned at all 50 state capitols and in Washington DC Washington: The FBI has warned that it has received intelligence that ''armed protests'' were being planned at all 50 US state capitols and in Washington DC in the run-up to President-elect Joe Biden's inauguration on January 20, leading to fears of more deadly violence by extremists supporting outgoing President Donald Trump. By Lalit K Jha FGN25 TRUMP-DC-LD EMERGENCY Trump issues emergency declaration in Washington DC Washington: US President Donald Trump has issued an emergency declaration for the national capital here ahead of his successor Joe Biden's inauguration on January 20, amidst threat perception to the event by federal agencies. By Lalit K Jha FGN22 UN-GUETERRES Antonio Guterres to seek second five-year term as UN Secretary-General United Nations: UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has said that he will be seeking a second five-year term as chief of the world organisation. By Yoshita Singh FGN16 US-TRUMP-LD IMPEACHMENT US House to vote on Trump impeachment on Wednesday Washington: The Democratic-controlled House of Representatives would vote on the impeachment of outgoing President Donald Trump on Wednesday on charges of inciting his supporters to carry out a violent attack on the Capitol Hill last week. By Lalit K Jha FGN45 CHINA-LD WHO WHO experts to directly fly to Wuhan to probe COVID-19 origins amid virus spike in China Beijing: A 10-member team of WHO experts assigned to probe the origins of COVID-19 will directly fly from Singapore to the central Chinese city of Wuhan, where the virus first emerged in December 2019, amid a resurgence of the deadly disease in several cities close to Beijing, prompting lockdowns. By K J M Varma FGN37 NEPAL-OLI Nepal will not compromise on sovereign equality in its engagement with either India or China: PM Oli Kathmandu: Ahead of the Nepalese foreign minister's visit to New Delhi during which his talks are likely to be centered on the border row, Nepal's Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli has said that his country will not compromise on sovereign equality in its engagement with either India or China.

FGN34 TWITTER-TRUMP-GADDE Vijaya Gadde: The Indian-American lawyer at the forefront of Trump's Twitter ban New York: When Twitter permanently suspended the account of Donald Trump, the microblogging giant's top lawyer, Indian-American Vijaya Gadde, was at the forefront of the unprecedented decision following the attempted insurrection of the US Capitol by supporters of the outgoing President. By Yoshita Singh FGN23 US-HOMELAND-LD RESIGNATION US Acting Homeland Security chief Wolf resigns over Capitol Hill violence Washington: Chad Wolf, the acting secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, has resigned over the storming of the US Capitol by outgoing President Donald Trump's supporters. By Lalit K Jha FGN15 US-FACEBOOK Facebook to remove content containing 'stop the steal' phrase Washington: Facebook has announced that it would remove all the contents from its platform that contain the phrase ''stop the seal'', which is being used by the supporters of outgoing US President Donald Trump to allege election fraud. By Lalit K Jha FGN5 VIRUS-WHO-IMMUNITY UN: COVID-19 herd immunity unlikely in 2021 despite vaccines Geneva: The World Health Organization's chief scientist warned that even as numerous countries start rolling out vaccination programs to stop COVID-19, herd immunity is highly unlikely this year.