MEXICO CITY, 19 March, 2021 (TON): On Thursday, a short distance outside the capital gunmen killed at least 13 Mexican policemen, said the local authorities.

The incident is one of the worst mass slayings of security forces to rock the country in recent years.

Security Minister for the State of Mexico, Rodrigo Martinez-Celis, said, ”The convoy of security personnel was attacked in broad daylight by suspected gang members in the Llano Grande area in the municipality of Coatepec Harinas as it patrolled the area.”

The authorities confirmed that eight of the slain officers to be state police, while five other were police assigned to the state prosecutor's office.

"This attack is an affront to the Mexican state. We will respond with all force and support of the law," the minister said.

It remained unclear how many criminals wounded or killed in the incident, however, Mexico's National Guard militarized police and the armed forces are searching by land and air for the perpetrators.

PYONGYANG, 19 March, 2021 (TON): On Friday, North Korea cut diplomatic ties with Malaysia in protest at a court ruling to hand over its citizen to the U.S. over the accusation of money laundering.

In reaction to the move, Pyongyang called the charges absurd, fabricated and sheer plot set by the Washington.

The N. Korean Foreign Ministry said, “Malaysia had committed a super-large hostile act by agreeing to extradite a man who had been engaged for years in the legitimate external trade activities in Singapore."

Following the move, Pyongyang confirmed a total severance of the diplomatic ties with Malaysia and claimed that US will also be made to pay a due price.

DEHRADUN, 19 March, 2021 (TON): The Nepalese security agencies have not yet removed the encroachment from the Uttarakhand-Nepal border, despite reminders.

On Thursday, Himanshu Kafaltia, SDM, Tanakpur of the border district of Champawat said, "We had talks with our counterparts in Nepal and requested the concerned authorities to immediately remove the encroachment; however, no action has been taken yet."

He added, "We hope that things will change in a day or two in the no man's land."

As the reports state that recently a number of Nepalese citizens have tried to cross the border with Indian Adhaar cards.

On Tuesday, the SDM and the Indian police officials went to the border on Tuesday and held meeting with the Nepalese authorities later over issue of temporary construction detected at the border area.

While discussing the issue, the SDM Himanshu Kafaltia informed on phone saying, “We have given them a day's time to remove the encroachment. But now we have been informed that the concerned agency has sent a report to their higher ups. If they do not remove the encroachment by Friday we will be holding a meeting on March 20."

However, in recent times local border disputes have escalated between both the countries, especially along the sensitive Uttarakhand-Nepal border. The porous border between the two countries and disappearance of border pillars play a part in escalating such disputes from time to time.

RIYADH, 19 March, 2021 (TON): For the lowest energy-consuming desalination plant in the world, Saudi Arabia’s Saline Water Conversion Corporation (SWCC) sets a Guinness World Record.

The plant operates at 2.27kW per hour per cubic meter of desalinated water.

The plant aims to “strengthen its global leadership in the desalination industry, continue its plans to achieve the goals of the Kingdom’s Vision 2030, and enable local content in all its current and future development projects,” SWCC said.

It added, “The new plant operates with environmentally friendly reverse osmosis technology that has been implemented with the latest international specifications and standards to develop supply chains. It reduces operational costs and achieves profitable financial returns.”

KATHMANDU, 19 March, 2021 (TON): As the present year marks the 60^th year of Nepal-Israel diplomatic relations, the Israel embassy collaborated with the Centre for Diplomatic Dialogue and conducted a seminar on "Six Decades of Nepal-Israel Relations" on Thursday.

This is one of the major events being organized during the year to celebrate 60 years' of the establishment of diplomatic relations.

In the event highlighting the bilateral ties between the two countries and multilateral relations, the Minister of Foreign Affairs Pradeep Kumar Gyawali seated as the chief guest.

The existing cooperation and the extent of future collaboration and cooperation between the two countries remained into focus during the event.

Addressing the ceremony, Minister Gyawali said, "I recall with pleasure that Nepal was the first country in the South Asian region to formally recognize the State of Israel by establishing diplomatic relations and hosting the Israeli Embassy in Kathmandu. Our relations have continued to flourish over the years. We have continued to cooperate and collaborate in various areas of mutual interest at the bilateral as well as multilateral levels. I express my confidence that Nepal-Israel relations will continue to strengthen and expand in the days ahead."

Ambassador of Israel to Nepal, Hanan Goder said during the ceremony, "Relations between the countries stand on two legs: one is this excellent bilateral leg and the second one is the multilateral leg, which is less famous, less known and has much lower visibility. The multilateral relations take place mainly in the UN building in New York and in the Human Rights Council in Geneva, and sometimes in other locations. It's imperative that both bilateral and multilateral ties are reflected in the voting pattern of Nepal at the UN as well as other global forums."

However, the embassy reiterated that the seminar provided an opportunity to commend the existing bilateral ties and invited reflections on the possibilities of improving multilateral relations between the two nations.

DHAKA, 19 March, 2021 (TON): On Friday, the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka Rajapaksa arrived in Dhaka to join the celebrations of birth anniversary Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and golden jubilee independence of Bangladesh.

At the Shahjalal International Airport, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina received him at the airport and given a red carpet reception at the VVIP terminal and was given a 21-gun salute. A team of the armed forces offered a guard of honor.

Later in the day, the prime minister left the airport for the National Monument in Savar to pay his homage to the martyrs of Bangladesh's Liberation War and will hold a meeting with Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen.

COLOMBO, 19 March, 2021 (TON): Sri Lanka’s opposition political alliance the Samagi Jana Balawegaya opposed India’s involvement in the country’s politics, says SJB MP S. M. Marrikkar on Thursday.

He stated that the party cannot approve the current trend where India seems to be trying to gain control over Sri Lankan politics.

He said in a statement, “India’s ruling party has teamed up with the ADIMK in South India. The latter had promised Eelam to Sri Lankan Tamils. The SJB is opposed to this move and will oppose any move by the Sri Lankan government to allow India to become a decisive force in Sri Lanka’s politics.”

On asking about the statement made by Former governor Azath Salley that Muslims in Sri Lanka should not respect other laws expect Islamic laws, the MP said Sri Lanka should have one law on which cultural values of all people are woven in.   

WASHINGTON, 19 March, 2021 (TON): On Thursday, top U.S. and Chinese officials met in Alaska for the first time as the  met in Alaska for the first time after the President Biden took the office.

The officials from the U.S. included the U.S. State Secretary Antony Blinken and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, China's top diplomat included Yang Jiechi and Foreign Minister Wang Yi.

Blinken said in his opening remarks, the US-Chinese relationship would be competitive if necessary, cooperative if possible, and hostile if need be and China's actions threatened global stability, he warned.

In response to Blinken’s comments, Yang said, "It is important for our two countries that we conduct our affairs well instead of shifting the blame on someone else in the world."

Referring to last year’s Black Lives Matter protests against racial violence, he said, "It is a fact that there are many human rights problems in the US."

Blinken said U.S. was concerned about the human rights situation in Hong Kong and Xinjiang province, a home to the Uighur minority and allegedly blame China for cyber attacks and blackmailing the U.S. allies with economic pressure. Similarly, he criticized Beijing for its stance on Taiwan, adding that all these are not internal matters.

However, the meeting intended to look for the ways to work together on the matters concerning both the sides.

DHAKA, 19 March, 2021 (TON): President of Maldives, Ibrahim Mohamed Solih signed a preferential trade agreement (PFA) with the PM Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina as the two countries aim to foster bilateral ties.

The development came when the two leaders met on Thursday.

Later, Dhaka and Malé signed four memoranda of understanding, including an effort to form a joint commission for comprehensive cooperation to boost bilateral ties between the countries.

The two leaders reviewed the entire gamut of the relations and agreed to expand mutual cooperation in multiple prospective areas, and agreed to regularly hold Commerce Secretary Level Meeting (CSLM) to address bilateral trade issues in detail.

Further, the two leaders decided to establish a direct commercial shipping link between Malé and the three sea ports of Bangladesh through a shipping agreement.

Hasina called upon Maldives to import varieties of world-class products from Bangladesh.

Solih praised Hasina’s visionary leadership and phenomenal success in setting Bangladesh on the path to becoming a developed country by 2041 and also Bangladesh’s efforts in helping to develop Maldives economy

ISLAMABAD, 19 March, 2021 (TON): Amid Pakistan and India’s hostile relations, Pakistan’s Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Genral Qamar Javed Bajwa asserted that India has to create conducive environment.

However, Washington also has to play in ending the regional conflicts, the official added.

At a conference in Islamabad on Thursday, the military official said, "We feel it is time to bury the past and move forward."

"But our neighbor (India) will have to create a conducive environment, particularly in Kashmir," he added.

Indian and Pakistani disputes have always made the economic potential of South and Central Asia a hostage, however, the country seeks for the Biden administration to help ease the conflict and build peace in the region.