NEW DELHI, 02 December 2021, (TON): The weather bureau said “the states of Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Kerala and south interior Karnataka gauged 169% excess rainfall last month, mainly due to the presence of five low pressure systems over Andaman Sea compared to 2.4 systems forming on an average during this period.”

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) said “the south peninsular region, which receives the northeast monsoon during winter months, recorded its highest ever rainfall in November since 1901.”

It added “the region is most likely to see above-normal rainfall in December.”

The weather bureau said “he states of Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Kerala and south interior Karnataka gauged 169% excess rainfall last month, mainly due to the presence of five low pressure systems over Andaman Sea compared to 2.4 systems forming on an average during this period.”

In 1901, only 50% of long period average (117.5 mm) was recorded.

It added that the northeast monsoon was also in its active phase last month.

As many as 100 people were killed across Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu in various rain-related events in the southern peninsula last month.

NEW DELHI, 02 December 2021, (TON): Indian ambassador to Russia Pavan Kapoor offered credentials to President Vladimir Putin forward of his go to to New Delhi on December 6.

Taking to Twitter, the Indian envoy to Russia mentioned that he’s trying ahead to welcoming the Russian President to India subsequent week.

He mentioned “honoured to current my credentials to H.E President Putin at a ceremony within the Kremlin as we speak. Look ahead to welcoming him to India on Dec 6.”

Putin is scheduled to go to India on December 6. The assembly between Putin and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi can be probably to see the presentation of the S-400 air defence system to India which has already began arriving in India in components, as per sources mentioned.

In a serious enhance to India and Russia army ties, the 2 international locations are scheduled to ink the deal on supplying 7.5 lakh AK-203 assault rifles on upcoming Monday throughout Putin’s visit right here.

LONDON, 01 December 2021, (TON): Foreign Secretary Liz Truss vowed “Britain will work flat out and keep all options on the table in order to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear bomb.”

Truss met her Israeli counterpart Yair Lapid for talks in London on Monday, where he will also meet with Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

Truss made the comments in a press briefing shortly after signing a memorandum of understanding aimed at creating stronger collaboration between the two nations on cyber-security, defence and trade.

She said Britain would “work flat out to prevent the Iranian regime from gaining nuclear weapons.

She added “we are absolutely determined to prevent Iran from securing a nuclear weapon.”

Iran said “it hoped to reach an agreement with major powers on salvaging its 2015 nuclear deal at talks resuming in Vienna.”

Truss said that Britain “wants those talks to work, but if they don’t work, all options are on the table”. But Lapid accused Tehran of trying to get sanctions lifted.

He said“they will play for time, earn billions from the removal of sanctions, continue to deceive the world, and covertly advance their nuclear programme.”

LONDON, 01 December 2021, (TON): The Prime Minister Boris Johnson held a virtual meeting with Prime Minister Alexander De Croo of Belgium.

The leaders signed and welcomed the new UK-Belgium Joint Declaration on Bilateral Cooperation. The agreement, the first of its kind between our two countries, will enhance cooperation in crucial areas like trade, green technology, security, health and tackling illegal migration.

The Prime Minister welcomed the work that has already taken place between the UK and Belgium to keep supply chains open as we roll out vaccines to fight the coronavirus pandemic. The leaders discussed the recent emergence of the Omicron variant and the steps their countries have taken to limit its spread.

The Prime Minister also thanked Prime Minister De Croo for Belgium’s support and climate change commitments during the COP26 Summit earlier this month.

On illegal migration, the Prime Minister stressed the importance of breaking the business model of people traffickers by establishing a UK-EU returns agreement and using all the modern technology at our disposal.

LONDON, 01 December 2021, (TON): The UK Department of Defense said “General Nick Carter stepped down as British Chief of Staff after more than three years in that position.”

The agency said on Twitter “after more than three years in this position, General Sir Nick Carter left defense headquarters for the last time as chief of defense staff.”

Carter, in particular, was involved in conducting the evacuation from Afghanistan in August 2021.

PARIS, 01 December 2021, (TON): A senior Emirati official said “the United Arab Emirates would soon send a delegation to Iran as part of efforts to improve ties with rival Tehran.”

"I hope that it is the sooner the better and all our friends are aware of it," Anwar Gargash, diplomatic adviser to the UAE president, told reporters when asked when a UAE delegation would hold talks in Tehran.

He said “the idea was to turn over a new page.”

Iran's top nuclear negotiator, Ali Bagheri Kani, met Gargash and other Emirati officials on Nov 24 in a rare visit.

The UAE started engaging with Iran in 2019 following attacks on tankers off Gulf waters and on Saudi energy infrastructure. Saudi Arabia began direct talks with Iran in April, with Riyadh describing the talks as "cordial" but largely exploratory.

He said "there is a recognition by the Iranians that they need to rebuild bridges with the Gulf. We are picking that up positively.”

VIENNA, 01 December 2021, (TON): Senior European diplomats said “European powers are still awaiting confirmation that they can pick up where they left off in nuclear talks with Iran in June.”

During a briefing to reporters by several senior European diplomats, they said they were now expecting to get down to business with Iran after beginning talks and that until now about 70%-80% had been completed in drafting a text for an agreement.

The diplomats said “there was urgency in reaching a conclusion, but they did not want to impose artificial deadlines.”

MOSCOW, 01 December 2021, (TON): Russia would pay a high price for any new military aggression against Ukraine, NATO and the United States warned as the Western military alliance met to discuss Moscow's possible motives for massing troops near the Ukrainian border.

President Vladimir Putin countered that Russia would be forced to act if US-led NATO placed missiles in Ukraine that could strike Moscow within minutes.

Ukraine, a former Soviet republic that now aspires to join the European Union and NATO, has become the main flashpoint between Russia and the West as relations have soured to their worst level in the three decades since the Cold War ended.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told reporters "there will be a high price to pay for Russia if they once again use force against the independence of the nation Ukraine.”

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken echoed Stoltenberg, saying "any escalatory actions by Russia would be a great concern to the United States..., and any renewed aggression would trigger serious consequences."

Tensions have been rising for weeks, with Russia, Ukraine and NATO all staging military exercises amid mutual recriminations over which side is the aggressor.

Putin went further than previously in spelling out Russia's "red lines" on Ukraine, saying it would have to respond if NATO deployed advanced missile systems on its neighbour's soil.

ADDIS ABABA, 01 December 2021, (TON): Ethiopia has denied it staged an attack over the weekend along its shared border with Sudan, blaming unrest in the disputed zone on rebels from its war-hit Tigray region.

Sudan's military said "several soldiers had been killed in an attack by armed groups and militias linked to the Ethiopian military in the fertile expanse known as Al-Fashaqa.”

The area has long been a source of tension between Addis Ababa and Khartoum, sparking deadly clashes over the last year.

But in comments that aired on state media Sunday, Ethiopian government spokesman Legesse Tulu dismissed claims the military had attacked Sudan as "groundless".

Instead he blamed the violence on the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), the insurgent group that has been locked in a gruesome war against Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's government since November 2020 and claims to be approaching the capital Addis Ababa.

Legesse said in comments aired by the Ethiopian Broadcasting Corporation, without providing evidence "a large group of insurgents, bandits and terrorists had entered [from Sudan].”

He added "the Ethiopian National Defense Force and the local militia have destroyed them.”

WASHINGTON, 01 December 2021, (TON): United States warned Russia of "serious consequences" if it launches an invasion of Ukraine, as Nato ministers looked to counter a military build-up by Moscow on its neighbour's border.

The long-scheduled meeting of NATO top diplomats in Latvia's capital Riga comes at a volatile moment along the bloc's eastern flank as allies also grapple with a migrant crisis the West says is fuelled by Kremlin-backed Belarus.

Western countries spearheaded by the United States worry that Moscow could be planning an incursion into Ukraine after accusing the Kremlin of massing tens of thousands of troops and heavy armour close to the frontier.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told journalists ahead of the meeting that any escalatory actions by Russia would be of great concern to the United States...and any renewed aggression would trigger serious consequences."

"We have seen Russia's playbook many times over."

Moscow, which seized Crimea from Ukraine in 2014 and backs separatists fighting Kiev, has strongly denied it is plotting an attack and blames Nato for fuelling tensions.