GENEVA, 13 April, 2021 (TON): On Monday, UNHCR chief Michelle Bachelet called on the British legislators to amend the proposed new Overseas Operations Bill.

She emphasized that the bill could lead to shielding its military personnel operating abroad from due accountability for acts of torture or other serious international crimes.

She stated, "As currently drafted, the Bill would make it substantially less likely that UK service members on overseas operations would be held accountable for serious human rights violations amounting to international crimes."

"The purpose of the bill is to provide greater certainty for Service personnel and veterans in relation to claims and potential prosecution for historical events that occurred in the complex environment of armed conflict overseas," the explanatory notes on the UK Parliament’s site said.

However, the Bill is underway reaching its final stages in the legislative process, and will shortly be debated again by the House of Lords, the UK's upper chamber, where amendments may still be made.

MOGADISHU, 13 April, 2021 (TON): The UN and Somalia issued a joint statement saying over 116,000 Somalis have been displaced by extreme water shortages since October 2020.

The statement issued by Mogadishu and the UN Somalia office said, “Most parts of the country are facing critical water shortages, with more than 50 districts facing moderate to severe drought conditions.”

They expressed deep concern about the worsening drought conditions.

In the statement, Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management Minister Khadija Mohamed Diriye appealed to donors to give generously and to give now to help respond rapidly to the drought which she said was compounding the effects of the various crises in this country.

She said, "We are facing widespread food insecurity, malnutrition, population displacement and disease. We need funding now to save lives, alleviate suffering and get assistance out before the situation becomes a complete catastrophe."

However, Somalia has been facing especially concerning conditions as forecasts indicate a second consecutive season of below-average rainfall from April to June.

KATHMANDU, 13 April, 2021 (TON): World Bank finding revealed on Monday that Nepal has untapped export potential worth an estimated $9.2 billion.

Nepal could boost its exports twelvefold, which represents an opportunity to create around 220,000 new jobs, the agency said.

In the last fiscal year 2019-20 ended mid-July shipments from Nepal were worth $835 million while imports valued at $10.22 billion flooded in, resulting in a gargantuan trade deficit of $9.39 billion.

The World Bank has termed Nepal’s export potential as 'missing exports' in the special focus section under the theme 'Harnessing Export Potential for a Green, Inclusive, and Resilient Recovery'.

However, it seems that this export potential represents an opportunity to create new jobs, with significant implications for productivity growth.

DJIBOUTI CITY, 13 April, 2021 (TON): The regional head of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) confirmed that 34 migrants had died after their boat capsized off Djibouti.

Mohammed Abdiker, IOM's director for the East and Horn of Africa tweeted, "The migrants were being transported by smugglers.

He added "It is second such tragedy in just over a month after 20 people died in the same Bab el-Mandeb Strait on March 4.”

A source within IOM indicated that the capsizing happened around 04:00 in the morning, north of Obock, a city on the Djiboutian coast.

"It is a boat that left Yemen with about 60 migrants on board, according to survivors," added the source.

The Bab el-Mandeb Strait, which separates Djibouti from Yemen, is a place of heavy traffic of migrants and refugees, where both Yemenis, fleeing the war and Africans going to try their luck in the Arabian Peninsula cross.

In March, some 20 migrants from Djibouti drowned after smugglers threw dozens of people on an overcrowded boat of 200 people into the sea.

Two similar incidents were reported in October, resulting in the deaths of at least 50 migrants.

CAIRO, 13 April, 2021 (TON): Human errors and gross negligence by the railway staff caused last month’s deadly collision of two trains in Sohag province, Egypt's Public Prosecution revealed on Monday.

On March 26, a Spanish train crashed into the back of a standing one, leaving 20 people dead and 199 others wounded, and resulting in losses which have been estimated at more than EGP 25 million.

The reason behind the accident was the driver's assistant of the moving train and the person in the watchtower who was in charge of changing the train's course at the site of the accident have been under the influence of narcotic substances, the prosecution revealed.

Additionally, a drug test showed the two persons had taken cannabis and tramadol.

Meanwhile, the investigation results revealed that the driver and assistant in the train that caused the crash were not inside the driving cabin at the moment of the accident.

However, it added that the chairman of the control department that is responsible for monitoring the movement of trains was not present in his place at the time of the crash either and that the two trains' Automatic Train Control (ATC) systems were deactivated.

TEHRAN, 13 April, 2021 (TON): On Monday, during a meeting with visiting South Korean Prime Minister Chung Sye-Kyun, the Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf called on South Korea to unfreeze Iran’s assets.

Qalibaf said, "Unfortunately, South Korea has lost its position in Iran's foreign trade and the two countries' economic and political relations, which once stood at the highest level, have declined."

"We expect South Korea's prime minister to come up with immediate and practical solutions to settle the problem of Iran's foreign exchange resources and (help) release the Islamic Republic's frozen money," he added.

One day earlier, Iran's First Vice-President Eshaq Jahangiri said in a joint press conference with Chung that "South Korea has followed the United States in implementing illegal sanctions against Iran over the past three years, which has depressed the bilateral relations,” he further added.

However, Chung's visit to Iran follows the recent release of a South Korean oil tanker.

WASHINGTON, 13 April, 2021 (TON): On Tuesday, the U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken set about his visit to Brussels, Belgium, to consult the NATO allies.

The visit supposed to aim to hold talk on a range of shared priorities with the NATO allies.

"Glad to be heading back to Brussels. The US is committed to rebuilding US alliances, particularly with our NATO allies.

"We remain steadfast in our support for NATO as the essential forum for trans-Atlantic security," Blinken tweeted.

On Monday, State Department spokesman Ned Price said in a statement that accompanying Blinken will be Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin for discussions with allies and partners.

Price said, "The Secretary will take this opportunity to reaffirm the US commitment to the Transatlantic alliance as a critical partnership for achieving our mutual goals.

"Separately, Secretary Blinken will hold bilateral and multilateral meetings with European counterparts to discuss key priorities and shared challenges," he added.

However, the trip came amid escalating tensions in eastern Ukraine and Russia's military build-up along the border.

ISLAMABAD, 13 April, 2021 (TON): Over $2 Billion Pakistan’s remittances remained in March for the 10^th month, central bank said.

On Monday, the State Bank of Pakistan said in a statement, that the remittances rose to $2.7 billion in March 2021 that was 20 per cent higher than those of February and 43 per cent higher than those of March 2020.

 The statement said, "Cumulatively during July-March of FY21 (from July 2020 to June 2021), remittances have risen to $21.5 billion, up by 26 per cent over the same period of FY20."

"Orderly foreign exchange market conditions are also continuing to contribute to this sustained rise in workers' remittances," the statement said.

However, on Monday, the Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan lauded the overseas Pakistanis and hailed the increase in the remittances.

DHAKA, 13 April, 2021 (TON): Following an order by the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP), light machine gun posts have been installed and additional police have been deployed, a top official said on Tuesday.

This move was followed by a militant attack threat.

Any attack either carried out by the Hifazat-e-Islami militant outfit or other extreme communal forces on the country's police will not be spared, said the Deputy Commissioner of Police Dhaka's Tejgaon Zone, Harun-Ur-Rashid.

He said that special security measures were put in place at police stations in Dhaka on Monday.

He added that a number of extremist group leaders and activists were arrested as a precautionary measure against the threat on Monday.

Meanwhile, on Monday, the Police Bureau of Investigation (PBI) submitted its investigation report in the case filed over the death of the group’s former chief (amir) Shah Ahmad Shafi, accusing 43 members of the militant outfit, including the organization's incumbent chief.

KABUL, 13 April, 2021 (TON): The delegation that is expected to attend the Turkey conference should be inclusive and that it should defend Afghans’ interests and the gains of the last two decades, lawmakers in the Wolesi Jirga, the lower house of the Afghan Parliament.

During the Monday session, the choice of delegation members had created tension among lawmakers who went into details on the issue.

Nilofar Ibrahimi, an MP from Badakhshan said,  “The level of the presence of ethnic groups should be considered in the delegation formation because it is not good to have 90% of one side from one respected ethnic group and 50% of the government side also represent one respected ethnic group.”

“The Taliban, who see themselves as representatives of the respected ethnic group of Pashtuns, have not represented this ethnic group and they will not be able to,” said Khan Agha Rezaee, an MP from Kabul.

“Afghans are the victims of this land but those countries benefit from it who have kept fueling the war,” said Mamur Ahmadzai, an MP from Baghlan.

“The proposals from us have no importance for them. They have made their decision and they know what evil to impose on this country,” said Ramazan Bashardost, an MP from Kabul.

Meanwhile, however, other MPs meanwhile were criticized for regarding the Taliban as one ethnic group. Such statements disrupted the session. Following this, the live event was stopped for a while.