UNSC flags Makki as ‘global terrorist’, Biden’s classified documents & other buzz from the US

Here’s your weekly roundup of the most compelling US stories from the week gone by:Makki designated as global terroristChidanand starts by saying how China has played a key role in blocking the United Nations Security Council from designating the Leader of Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba, Abdul Rehman Makki, as “a global terrorist”. After blocking the designation four times, China finally gave up, which finally allowed the UNSC to move forward with the designation. Chidanand pegged China’s change of heart and strategy to a few factors. The first reason he mentions is universal shame in protecting a country that Chidanand feels is known to shelter terrorists. The United Nations designation also included around five-six terror attacks including the one that happened in Mumbai on November 26. The second factor Chidanand talks about is Indian diplomacy which designed a consistent international pressure on China. Thirdly, Chidanand also brings up the global perception of Pakistan in the current scheme of things, wherein the country has been shrouded in political and economic crises. The US and China, who have been footing the bill to alleviate Pakistan's perilous condition, are now rapidly losing patience. Chidanand feels that this international sentiment has also reached Islamabad, with Pakistan’s leaders lamenting over how a nuclear power is now going around with a begging bow. The fourth factor that Chidanand mentions is the change in the Chinese foreign ministry that might have caused changes in their strategy with Pakistan as well. Chidanand feels his inputs have also affected their decision. ALSO LISTEN: Why Australia wouldn’t play an ODI against Afghanistan and why UAE is bailing out a cash-strapped PakClassified documents in Biden’s former officeThe US Justice Department is reviewing a batch of potentially classified documents found in the Washington office space of President Biden’s former institute. The documents were found in a “locked closet” in the office. Chidanand points out how some of these documents were from his time as vice president. He mentions that despite this revelation, it is important to remember that President Joe Biden is a Washington DC veteran, from his time as Senator to becoming vice president and then President. Chidanand feels that even as vice president, it was likely that Joe Biden was just sloppy, with him stumbling over his words, forgetting things etc. As such, Chidanand feels that it is unlikely that there is any wilful deliberation in retaining these classified documents. Chidanand also draws a comparison with the time classified documents were found in former US president Donald Trump’s possession. Chidanand cited former Solicitor General Neal Katyal who compared the situation to a library. While Biden returned forgotten books to the library, Trump borrowed books, did not return them and also insisted they were his, when confronted. ALSO LISTEN: Biden and Trudeau in Mexico, Kevin McCarthy as new House SpeakerChanges in US and China’s populationChina's population has fallen for the first time since 1961, in 60 years. In the US however, according to Fortune, the population has gone up since Covid, but not by virtue of childbirths. Chidanand mentions how there have been incredible, new disclosures or developments in the field of population and demographics across the world. We know now that India is going to become the most populous country in the world, much sooner than it was anticipated overtaking China. China's birth rates have plunged precipitously to the extent that it not only scrapped it's one child norm, which for the longest time contained its population and slowed it down, but they also eventually literally capped it. The Chinese now encourage couples to have not just two, but even three children, because they've just realised that there's nothing as valuable to a country as human resources and particularly, a healthy, well-educated workforce. With the US, even with declining fertility rates, the population has gone up with respect to immigration, both legal and illegal.Audio production: Sahil Gupta