KHARTOUM, 1 December 2020, (TON): Chairman of Sudan's Sovereignty Council Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan and U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Monday discussed arrangements about removing Sudan from the list of states sponsoring terrorism in the coming weeks.

During a phone call from Pompeo, they also discussed the developments in Ethiopia and the need for a peaceful settlement to the conflict in a manner that achieves regional peace and enhances security in the region, said the sovereign council in a statement.

On 23 October US President Donald Trump decided to remove Sudan from the list of states sponsoring terrorism if Sudan pays 335 million US dollars to American victims. Later, President Trump tweeted, the “new government of Sudan has agreed to pay 335 million dollars to terror victims and families.” Once the payment is deposited, the tweet said, Trump will lift Sudan from the US State Sponsors of Terrorism List.

Due to the designation, Sudan faces a series of restrictions including a ban on defence exports and sales and restrictions on US foreign assistance. The decision was set to be effective on 11 December 2020.

I we recall, in April this year Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir has been ousted and arrested by the military and the  Sudanese Defence Minister Awad Ibn Auf announced that the army would oversee a two-year transitional period followed by elections. The whole coup was organized by Western nations in which Pentagon played a major role.

Analysts are of the view that Sudanese regime has no legitimacy to accept false allegation of country’s involvement in terrorism as only elected government has a mandate to strike any peace deal with foreign nations. Sudanese Leadership warns regime not to accept false allegations of Sudanese involvement in terrorism.

DHAKA, 1 December 2020, (TON): On November 29, 2020, PM Sheikh Hasina has virtuallyannounced the base stone of the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Railway Bridge from Ganobhaban. The railway bridge is designed above one of the well-known rivers, Jamuna of Bangladesh. The purpose of the construction is to accelerate the rail-based transportation between Dhaka and the western part of Bangladesh.

The Bangabandhu bridge will be the lengthiest rail bridge in Bangladesh. Bangladesh Railway and some consultant groups like Chodai Company Limited of Japan, Oriental Consultants Global Company Limited, Development Design Consultants Limited of Bangladesh,and ACE Consultants Limited of Bangladesh have completed the bridge’s design.

It is a 4.8 km double-line dual-gauge bridge which will consist of about 300 meters upstream and a single rail line. The entire construction process of the bridge will be finished in two packages. Two sides of the river, eastern and western will be they are covered according to the Japanese companies’ agreements ( Obayashi-TOA-JFE and IHI-SMCC JV ). The eastern and western part of the Jamuna River will be established respectively at the cost of USD 80 crore (BDT 6,801 crore) and USD 72.51 crore (BDT 6,148 crore). In July 2020, the decided land have been handed over to the assigned companies.

On the broad gauge track, trains will run at 120 kmph and 100 kmph on the metergauge track.Daily, 88 trains can be able to move through the way.

The construction scheme of the Bangabandhu Railway Bridge was approved in 2016. USD 114.80 crore (BDT 9,734 crore) was decided as the budget for the project. Now the fund has stood on about USD 200.50 crore ( BDT 17,000 crore).

Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Railway Bridge, in association withJICA, is the major investment works under Bangladesh Railway. Bangladesh Railway has facilitated the opportunities, geographical location, large population, huge demand, connectivity to a regional network and emerging as regional transport HUB.

DHAKA, 1 December 2020, (TON): Bangladesh has emphasized its strong backing towards the Two-State Model of Israel Palestinian on the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People. When few Muslim states have initiated to recognize Israel and establish the diplomatic relationship, Bangladesh has further uttered hard words about backing the solution of the Palestinian issue.

Prime Minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina and the President of Bangladesh Abdul Hamid have given statements separately on occasion, considering the significance of the Israel Palestinian Two-State Model. The model will be framed according to the border design of 1967.

Bangladesh achieved liberation by struggling hard in 1971. So Bangladesh has a conventional responsibility to support Palestinian. As an immediate response to show solidarity, Bangladesh rejected the recognition of Israel in 1971.

LONDON, 1 December 2020, (TON): British telecom companies will not be allowed to install new Huawei 5G equipment after September 2021. 

The UK government on Monday announced that it will ban British telecommunication companies from installing new Huawei 5G gear after September 2021, as part of its plan to phase out the Chinese tech giant's 5G infrastructure. 

Digital Secretary Oliver Dowden said in a statement "We are taking bold steps to implement one of the toughest telecoms security regimes in the world."  

"A central part of that is combating high-risk vendors, and I have set out an unambiguous timetable for the complete removal of Huawei equipment from our 5G networks no later than 2027," he said. 

The UK government in July reversed its policy to allow Huawei to provide infrastructure for its 5G network under pressure from the United States, which said the Chinese firm posed a security risk. 

It ordered a ban on buying new Huawei equipment after the end of this year and the complete removal of the Chinese firm's equipment from its 5G networks by the end of 2027. 

Under the new legislation, British telecom companies could be fined up to 10% of turnover or £100,000 ($133,140) a day if they contravene the ban. 

The government also announced its strategy to diversify the 5G supply chain, consisting of an initial £250 million investment, trials in collaboration with Japanese firm NEC and the establishment of new research facilities. 

UK government’s decision was made despite the absence of any evidence, while Huawei denies any allegations of wrongdoing. Huawei had previously expressed its hope the UK would reconsider its actions following Donald Trump’s defeat in the US election. However, this now appears not to be the case. 

NEW DELHI, 1 December 2020, (TON): The farmers protest over controversial farm laws in India has entered the sixth day. The government advanced talks with protesting farmers who have threatened to block entry points to the capital but farmers reject government talks offer. 

The Indian government has invited leaders of farm groups protesting newly enacted agricultural laws near the capital city of New Delhi for talks on Tuesday, two days before they were originally scheduled to take place. 

The government has already held two rounds of talks with the farmers with the last one held on November 13.  

Agriculture Minister Narendra Tomar said on Monday that farmers had misconceptions about the farm laws and the government was committed to discussing the issue with their representatives without any preconditions. 

This comes after the farmers rejected Home Minister Amit Shah's offer to advance the date of talks in exchange for them moving their protest to a designated site on the outskirts of Delhi. 

The farmers' protest, the biggest the country has seen in recent years, intensified over the last five days. Thousands of farmers have marched to the national capital, with many more trickling in, threatening to block five entry points to Delhi. 

However, Delhi Police has strengthened its presence at various border points in the wake of farmer's protest. Last week, hundreds of farmers clashed with police while trying to enter the capital.  

In September, India's parliament passed three controversial agriculture bills aimed at liberalizing the country's farm sector. They were subsequently signed into law, sparking farmers' protests across the country. 

Farmers' associations say the legislation does not guarantee the acquisition of farm produce at the minimum support price (MSP), thus leaving them at the mercy of corporations that are now expected to enter the country's troubled farming sector. 

The Indian government has so far dismissed the farmers' concerns and accused opposition parties of instigating the protests. 

Indian farmers have held huge rallies across the country in the past few years to protest against the government's "neglect" of the agriculture sector amid increasing privatization. 

More than half of India's farmers are reportedly in debt, with 20,638 committing suicide in 2018 and 2019, according to India's National Crime Records Bureau. 

TEHRAN, 1 December 2020, (TON): A Senior Iranian security official on Monday accused Israel of using “electronic devices” to remotely kill Fakhrizadeh, a scientist who founded the Islamic Republic’s military nuclear program in the 2000s.  
Ali Shamkhani, the secretary of the country’s Supreme National Security Council, made the comment at the funeral for Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, where Iran’s defense minister separately vowed to continue the man’s work “with more speed and more power.”  
“Unfortunately, the operation was very complicated and was done using electronic equipment and no [perpetrators] were at the scene,” he added. 
Israel, long suspected of killing Iranian nuclear scientists over the last decade.
He also accused the Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK) a foreign-based Iranian “regime change” organisation of having a role in the attack without elaborating. 
Fakhrizadeh headed Iran’s so-called AMAD program, which Israel and the West have alleged was a military operation looking at the feasibility of building a nuclear weapon. The International Atomic Energy Agency says that “structured program” ended in 2003. US intelligence agencies concurred with that assessment in a 2007 report. 
Meanwhile, Israeli Foreign Ministry Director-General Alon Ushpiz has sent a cable to all Israeli diplomatic delegations around the globe urging diplomats to maintain “the highest level of readiness and awareness of any irregular activity” around missions and Jewish community centers. 
Iran has vowed revenge for the assassination of Fakhrizadeh. In 2018, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu specifically mentioned Fakhrizadeh in a presentation, saying “remember that name.” 
The Iran–Israel proxy conflict is bound in threats, hostility of Iran's leaders against Israel. Neither Iran or Israel may seek war but a diplomatic breakdown after the US pulled out of the Iran nuclear deal, strategic errors and a military buildup make a direct conflict.

PARIS, 1 December 2020, (Media Report): Four French police officers have been charged on Monday over the beating and racial abuse of a Black music producer, a case that has outraged France and ramped up pressure on the government to give ground on a controversial security bill. 

The assault of Michel Zecler exposed in video footage published last week has become a new rallying cause for critics who accuse the police of institutionalized racism and brutality. 

President Emmanuel Macron summoned cabinet ministers and parliamentary leaders to a crisis meeting on Monday to rapidly produce “suggestions to re-establish confidence” between the police and the population, government sources said. 

Later, on Monday, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin is to face questions from a parliamentary commission over the new security law, which would restrict the right of the press – and of social media users – to publish images of on-duty police. 

The bill would criminalize publishing images of on-duty police with the intent of harming their “physical or psychological integrity”. It was passed by the National Assembly this month, though it still requires approval from the Senate. 

Rallies against the law mobilized tens of thousands of protesters at the weekend, with dozens wounded during clashes with police in Paris.  

A Paris investigating magistrate early on Monday charged all four officers with assault by a person holding public authority. Three were also charged with fabricating their statement on the incident. 

Critics say the legislation is further evidence of a slide to the right by Macron, who came to power in 2017 as a centrist promising a liberal overhaul of France. 

The president “is caught in a trap,” said the headline in the left-leaning Liberation daily. “The government prefers to let the situation decay rather than withdraw Article 24.” 

The protests in Paris saw a brasserie set alight, cars torched and stones thrown at security forces, who responded with tear gas and anti-riot tactics. 

CANBERRA, 1 December 2020, (TON): Australia and the United States will jointly develop hypersonic cruise missiles, the Australian defence minister announced on Tuesday, pledging to invest in “advanced capabilities” that will give the country’s military “more options to deter aggression” against its interests. 

China and Russia, both are developing similar missiles. 

The weapons are capable of travelling at more than five times the speed of sound and the combination of speed, manoeuvrability and altitude makes them difficult to track and intercept. 

Linda Reynolds, the Australian defence minister, called the bilateral project a ‘game-changing’ project with US that will help deter aggression against its interests. 

“Investing in capabilities that deter actions against Australia also benefits our region, our allies and our security partners,” she said. 

Australia had set aside up to 9.3 billion Australian dollars ($6.8bn) this year for high-speed, long-range missile defence systems, including hypersonic research. 

Australia’s collaboration with the US on missile development, however, could inflame tensions with China. 

Beijing has introduced a string of economic sanctions on Australian goods, and relations hit a new low on Monday after a senior Chinese official posted a fake image of an Australian soldier holding a blood-covered knife to the throat of an Afghan child. 

China has deployed, or is close to deploying, hypersonic systems armed with conventional warheads, according to defence analysts. 

Russia deployed its first hypersonic nuclear-capable missiles last year, while the Pentagon, which tested a similar hypersonic missile in 2017, has a goal of fielding hypersonic war-fighting capabilities in the early to mid-2020s. 

Tensions between Australia and China have recently read like the edge-of-your-seat part of a geopolitical thriller. Anger and mistrust between the countries has been bubbling under the surface for years. 

A turning point happened in 2017 after the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) warned of growing Chinese attempts to influence decision-making in Canberra. 

GENEVA, 1 December 2020, (TON): Delegations from Syria’s government, opposition and civil society are meeting in Geneva for the latest round of talks toward revising the war-battered country’s constitution. 

The meeting, involving 15 people from each delegation, is the fourth among the so-called Constitutional Committee. Another meeting is planned for January. 

The U.N. envoy for Syria, Geir Pedersen, was hosting the various sides Monday a day after saying Swiss health officials signed off on hygiene measures in place to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus. Several cases cropped up among the Syrian envoys during a previous round of talks. 

Nearly a decade into Syria’s war, Pedersen acknowledged Sunday “challenges” in moving forward talks on the constitution, however, notably do not include extremist factions that control some parts of Syria -- notably much of northwestern Idlib province. 

He said overcoming “deep mistrust” would take a long time, but hoped that work toward possible exchanges of detainees and the establishment of common “principles” in the discussions could help to overcome it. 

“I hope that what we have achieved is actually the beginning of starting to build trust between the parties and that this building of trust could then be a door opener to a broader political process,” he told reporters on Sunday. 

Earlier, negotiations in Geneva aimed at drafting a new constitution for Syria were ended with an agreement to meet for further talks. There was no breakthrough in the complex process of drafting a constitution, a key prelude to forming a post-conflict government in Syria. However, there also was no rancorous breakup. 

ISLAMABAD, 1 December, 2020, (TON): Pakistan and China signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for enhancing defence cooperation between the two armies, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said on Monday. 

The development comes during a meeting of Minister of National Defence China General Wei Fenghe with Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa at the General Headquarters in Rawalpindi. 

Chinese visiting dignitary also acknowledged and appreciated the Pakistan Army’s sincere efforts for regional peace and provision of secure environment for the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects, according to the military's media wing. 

Matters of mutual interest, regional security and enhanced bilateral defence collaboration were discussed during the meeting. 

The army chief thanked the national defence minister for China’s unwavering support to Pakistan on all key issues at regional and international forums. He said that Pakistan Army greatly values "our time-tested and brotherly relations with China". 

Both the dignitaries discussed matters related to changing geostrategic environment and further strengthening of security and defence cooperation between the two countries, the ISPR said. 

Earlier on arrival at the GHQ Pakistan Army presented the guard of honour to the visiting dignitary. 

China has proved to be an increasing source of stability and security of Pakistan. Both countries have developed closer defence cooperation with each other. There have been frequent military exchanges between the two-armed forces and have signed a number of defence agreements to promote defence cooperation to take existing bilateral military cooperation to new heights.