Putin plays with f ire in his new doctrine
Of late Vladimir Putin has shifted Russia’s nuclear doctrine to a more directly and openly retaliatory posture in response to any attack by Ukraine or any NATO country using longer-range US missiles.
US President Donald Trump on Monday said that postponing elections over the coronavirus crisis was “unnecessary,” even as Ohio’s governor called for the state’s presidential primary vote scheduled for Tuesday to be delayed.
Addressing the media at the White House, President Trump said, “Postponing elections is not a very good thing”.
“I think postponing is unnecessary”, Trump further added.
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Taking to Twitter on Monday night, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine said, “During this time when we face an unprecedented public health crisis, to conduct an election tomorrow would force poll workers and voters to place themselves at an unacceptable health risk of contracting coronavirus.”
Earlier on Monday, DeWine said he requested a court in the midwest state to grant a delay of the state’s Tuesday primary to June, but a Franklin County judge ruled in the evening that it would be a “terrible precedent” for a judge to change the date and rule 12 hours before the election takes place, according to local media reports.
President Trump on Monday advised people not to gather in groups of more than 10, one day after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended no gatherings with 50 people or more for the next eight weeks.
The number of infections in the US climbed to nearly 4,000 with more than 65 people dying of the disease.
Last week, Trump announced a national state of emergency, freeing up $50 billion in federal funds for the battle against the coronavirus pandemic as he vowed to “vastly” ramp up testing capacity.
The death toll due to the COVID-19 outbreak in China has increased to 3,226, authorities said on Tuesday, while the number of confirmed cases in the Asian country has risen to 80,881.
Of the deaths, 12 were in Hubei Province and one in Shaanxi Province, according to the National Health Commission.
The novel Coronavirus outbreak has caused alarm as it has crossed global fatalities in the 2002-03 SARS epidemic.
(With inputs from agency)
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