Colombo, 12 June, 2021 (TON): On Friday, PM Mahinda Rajapaksa ordered immediate action to reactivate the State Engineering Corporation.

The corporation had suffered losses due to inefficient management and financial mismanagement by the Yahapalana government, Prime Minister’s Office said.

The PM took the decision in a discussion on Thursday at Temple Trees on the current situation of the State Engineering Corporation of Sri Lanka.

An official of the Engineering Corporation revealed that the services of the State Engineering Corporation had been obtained for the construction of the Sirikotha party headquarters and no payment has been made.

However, the officials pointed out that a crisis has arisen in the State Engineering Corporation due to the Yahapalana government granting unqualified appointments and promotions.

HONG KONG, 12 June, 2021 (TON): On Friday, Jimmy Lai and 19 other defendants appeared in court for their involvement in an illegal assembly in 2020.

Last year, Lai was accused of inciting others to participate in an unauthorized assembly in Victoria Park

The two of the defendants prepared to confess their offenses, eight made pleas of not guilty and the rest ten people including Lai have yet to decide.

The court decided to adjourn the case and will deal with their pleas, respectively.

COLOMBO, 12 June, 2021 (TON): Sri Lanka’s Defense Secretary Gen. Kamal Gunaratne (Retd) appreciated Indian High Commissioner’s rapid response and support in regard to the Indian Coast Guard (ICG) Ships.

On Friday, at a meeting with the Indian High Commissioner Gopal Baglay at the Defense Ministry today, the Defense Secretary also recalled the long existing bilateral ties and cooperation between the two countries.

General Gunaratne expressed these views during a bilateral discussion with the Indian envoy in Sri Lanka, on matters of defense cooperation today.

Moreover, attention was also drawn into the avenues of smooth functioning of long-existing military training exchange between two countries while taking the pandemic situation into consideration.

ALGIERS, 12 June, 2021 (TON): On Saturday, polls in Algeria opened for legislative election.

In 2019, President Bouteflika was forced from his office; it's the first legislative polls since he left.

President Tebboune says the vote is to tackle corruption and build a "new Algeria".

Some 24 million Algerians are called upon to elect the 407 deputies of the National People's Assembly for a five-year term.

Voters will have more than 13,000 candidates to choose from- more than half of them listed as an independent.

This is the first time that such a large number of independents have come forward to contest against the party candidates.

On Sunday, the preliminary results of the vote are expected to be released in public.

BRUSSELS, 12 June, 2021(TON): The EU council approved agreement between the bloc and the UK on fishing opportunities for 2021 and for deep-sea stocks for this year and next.

The media reported, the issue had been a major bone of contention during the Brexit talks.

 On Friday, council said, "The agreement guarantees stability for fishermen and women in both the UK and the EU, while also ensuring sustainable management of marine resources."

It added that the agreement is also in line with the social, environmental and economic principles of the bloc's Common Fisheries Policy, provides the certainty needed by the fishing industry, and paves the way for future consultations with the UK on fishing rights.

Moreover, the agreement was reached after several rounds of negotiations.

WASHINGTON, 12 June, 2021 (TON): Russia-U.S. relations are at their lowest in years, said Russian President Vladimir Putin in an interview on Friday.

He said, "We have a bilateral relationship that has deteriorated to its lowest point in recent years."

According to the media interview, Putin noted he can work with U.S. President Joe Biden.

While denying the Washington Post story saying Russia is preparing to supply Iran with an advanced satellite that would enable Tehran to track military targets in the region, Putin said, "It's just fake news. At the very least, I don't know anything about this kind of thing. Those who are speaking about it probably know more about it. It's just nonsense, garbage."

Moreover, Biden is on the first foreign trip of his presidency to Europe, and his highly anticipated meeting with Putin is scheduled on 16 June.

Relations between Washington and Moscow have been adversarial in recent years. The two sides have obvious differences on issues related to Ukraine, cyber security, human rights, and U.S. election interference.

SEOUL, 12 June, 2021 (TON): North Korean leader Kim Jong-un discussed measures to further enhance the fighting efficiency of the military, said the media.

On Friday, Kim presided over the meeting of the 8th Central Military Commission of the WPK.

Members of the Central Military Commission, commanders of the services and corps commanders of the Korean People's Army and other members of the relevant departments attended the meeting, said Pyongyang's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

The media cited the KCNA, "The enlarged meeting set forth important tasks for further enhancing the fighting efficiency of the revolutionary armed forces and bringing about a fresh turn in the overall work of national defense as required by the recent fast-changing situation around the Korean peninsula and the internal and external environment of our revolution and discussed the organizational issue."

The meeting also dealt with organizational issues of dismissing, transferring and newly appointing some commanding officers of the services and those of some units at corps level.

NEW YORK, 12 June, 2021(TON): On Friday, the UN spokesman said that after partial payment of the dues, Iran has regained its voting rights at the UN General Assembly.

Farhan Haq, deputy spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said, "I can confirm to you today that the Islamic Republic of Iran has paid the minimum amount due and is no longer under Article 19 of the UN Charter."

According to Article 19, a member state can no longer vote in the General Assembly if it is at least two years in arrears for membership dues.

On Friday, Majid Takht Ravanchi, the Iranian ambassador to the United Nations tweeted, "Illegal U.S. sanctions have not just deprived our people of medicine; they have also prevented Iran from paying our dues in arrears to the UN. After more than 6 months of working on it, the UN today announced it has received the funds. ALL inhumane sanctions must be lifted NOW."

Iran had to pay a minimum of 16.25 million U.S. dollars to regain its voting rights.

Iran paid after a letter on 28 May Guterres informed the UNGA that five countries the Central African Republic, the Comoros, Iran, Sao Tome and Principe, and Somalia were at least two years in arrears

CAIRO, 12 June, 2021 (TON): In an in-person meeting between the Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi and Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, regional issues and bilateral relations were made into focus.

In Egypt's Red Sea resort city of Sharm El-Sheikh on Friday, the meeting between the two took place.

On Friday, the President tweeted, "Our meeting focused on discussing ways to develop joint relations between our two countries. Our visions on regional and international issues of common concern also coincided."

Besides, the president also addressed the relations between the two countries.

MANGALURU, 12 June, 2021 (TON): On Friday, the city crime branch police arrested 38 illegal Sri Lankan immigrants.

Six local persons have also been arrested on charges of sheltering the illegal immigrants.

According to Mangaluru police commissioner N. Shashi Kumar, the illegal immigrants had allegedly been promised jobs in Canada, before being trafficked to India.

He further said, after shipping them from Sri Lanka to Thoothukudi in Tamil Nadu on 17 March, the traffickers had shifted the immigrants to Karnataka, to evade heightened scrutiny during the Tamil Nadu assembly polls.

In Mangaluru, the illegal immigrants had been claiming to be daily wage workers and fishermen from Tamil Nadu.

The police commissioner said that a tip off from Tamil Nadu police, had led to the raids.