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"We have a couple of options: We can send them back home. ... We can quickly transfer them from CPB to these [Department of Health and Human Services]-run facilities. ... We can put them with families and sponsors without any vetting," Psaki said. "We've chosen the middle option."
Behind India-Pak breakthrough, months of secret back channel talks led by Doval
The joint statement issued by India and Pakistan on Thursday on the ceasefire agreement between their top military commanders may have surprised many but it comes months after National Security Adviser (NSA) Ajit Doval and his counterpart in Islamabad initiated back-channel conversations to ensure peace along the tense border, people aware of the matter said on condition of anonymity.
NSA Doval and Moeed W Yusuf, Prime Minister Imran Khan's special assistant on National Security Division and Strategic Policy Planning, have been in touch directly and via interlocutors from the intelligence community, one of these people confirmed.
The joint statement is the first outcome of these conversations that included at least one face-to-face meeting in a third country, the person cited above said, without naming the location
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Late on Thursday evening, however, Yusuf tried to distance himself from the talks in a series of tweets. "No such talks have taken place between me and Mr. Doval...The welcome development on the LoC is a result of discussions through the established channel of DGMOs," he said.
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To be sure, this is not the first time that the two top army officers have agreed to hold peace along the border. They signed off on a similar pact in 2018 when they pledged to strictly adhere to the terms of the ceasefire understanding of 2003 in letter and spirit. That wasn't to be, though. Officials said Thursday's joint statement could be the first of the many steps that the two countries take over the next few months to normalise relations, one step at a time.
National security planners said there were five developments over the last month or so that indicated a nuanced shift.
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"British government scientists are increasingly finding the coronavirus variant first detected in Britain to be linked to a higher risk of death than other versions of the virus, a devastating trend that highlights the serious risks and considerable uncertainties of this new phase of the pandemic.
The scientists said last month that there was a "realistic possibility" that the variant was not only more contagious than others, but also more lethal. Now, they say in a new document that it is "likely" that the variant is linked to an increased risk of hospitalization and death....
The reasons for an elevated death rate are not entirely clear. Some evidence suggests that people infected with the variant may have higher viral loads, a feature that could not only make the virus more contagious but also potentially undermine the effectiveness of certain treatments.
But scientists are also trying to understand how much of the increased risk of death may stem from the propensity of the variant to spread very easily through settings like nursing homes, where people are already vulnerable.
No matter the explanation, scientific advisers to the British government said on Saturday, the new findings laid bare the dangers of countries easing restrictions as the variant takes hold." ("Covid-19: U.K.-Based Variant Is Probably More Lethal, Scientists Say", New York Times)
Comment: "Is privacy more important than life itself?" Those who 'see' would say so!