KABUL, 07 November 2021, (TON): The Interim Foreign Minister of Afghanistan Amir Khan Muttaqi is expected to visit Pakistan in a bid to reset the ties between the two sides.

Report of Express Tribune quoting sources said that the visit by the interim Afghan foreign minister will be the first one since Taliban ousted the western-backed government in August.

The recent development comes two weeks after Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi visited the Afghan capital and held wide-ranging talks with the Afghan leadership.

FM Qureshi, after his recent visit to Kabul, reported a ‘visible change’ in the approach of the Taliban officials. The new administration in the war-ravaged country is ready to take steps to improve the ties, something the previous government was reluctant to do, he said in a post-visit presser.

Meanwhile, the delegation led by Muttaqi will also include several senior Taliban officials who will exchange views on a wide range of issues with Pakistani authorities.

KABUL, 07 November 2021, (TON): Deputy spokesman for the Islamic Emirate Bilal Karimi said “the Islamic Emirate is seeking to bring changes to the formation of the government cabinet.

Karimi said that efforts are underway to appoint professional officials to the cabinet.

He said “the cabinet is still in a process of completion. This cabinet will be completed with experts and talents who represent different aspects of the society–they will be included.”

The citizens urged the Islamic Emirate to form a strong army and include former security force members. “Those soldiers who served the country and didn’t betray it should come back and join the national security forces,” said Masbah Zaland, a resident of Kabul.

The international community has yet to recognize the incumbent government. The international community and regional countries have repeatedly called on the officials of the Islamic Emirate to work for the formation an inclusive government in Afghanistan and to uphold human rights.

ISLAMABAD, 07 November 2021, (TON): Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) said in a statement “OIC’s Special Envoy for Jammu and Kashmir, Ambassador Yousef Aldobeay will be visiting Pakistan and the Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) from November 7-12.

A high-level delegation including the OIC’s Assistant Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs Ambassador Tarig Bakhit and other senior officials will accompany the special envoy.

The envoy, according to the official communiqué, will hold discussions encompassing peace and security, human rights, humanitarian and legal aspects of the grave situation in the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK).

It added "his visit will reinforce the centrality of a just settlement of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute to lasting peace in South Asia.”

During his visit to AJK, according to the foreign office, ambassador Aldobeay will interact with a cross-section of the Kashmiri society including the true representatives of the Kashmiri people.

It said that the delegation will visit a model village housing Kashmiris forced from their homes by the Indian occupation forces in the occupied valley and meet victims of India’s cross-LoC violations including women and children.

"These engagements will provide the special envoy a first-hand account of the gravity of the situation on the ground in the IIOJK and along the LoC."

KABUL, 06 November 2021, (TON): NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that while the alliance’s military presence in Afghanistan for 20 years had not been in vain, there are lessons they need to learn from this time.

He also said “wrongful conclusions” should not be drawn from their military presence in Afghanistan as experience garnered might come in useful in the future.

He said NATO is facing the threat of terrorist attacks and that the alliance needs to be at the forefront of this to combat any such incidents. “Our presence in Afghanistan was not in vain; we defeated al-Qaeda; for 20 years we have prevented new terrorist attacks against our countries, organized from Afghanistan, but our presence in Afghanistan is also something that reminds us of what it means to go in with a military presence.

Stoltenberg said that we need to learn the lessons, but we should not draw wrongful conclusions from our military presence in Afghanistan. There may be future situations where we need to stand up against terror as we did among other things in Iraq and Syria when we defeated ISIS and liberated the areas under their control.

He went on to say that the alliance’s main goal in Afghanistan had been to defeat al-Qaeda and that over the past two decades, there have been no terrorist attacks against foreign countries that had been organized in Afghanistan.

RIYADH, 06 November 2021, (TON): The Saudi Project for Landmine Clearance dismantled 1,759 mines in Yemen during the last week of October.

The figure comprised 11 antipersonnel mines, 569 anti-tank mines, 1,174 unexploded ordnances, and five explosive device.

Masam is one of several initiatives undertaken by Saudi Arabia on the directive of King Salman to help ease the suffering of people in Yemen.

Saudi and international experts are removing mines planted by the Houthi militia in Marib, Aden, Al-Jawf, Shabwa, Taiz, Hodeidah, Lahij, Sanaa, Al-Bayda, Al-Dhale, and Saada.

A total of 284,637 mines have been cleared since the start of the project. More than 1.2 million mines have been planted by the Houthis, claiming the lives of hundreds of civilians.

NEW DELHI, 06 November 2021, (TON): Sources have said that India will host a high-level regional security dialogue over the developments in Afghanistan following the Taliban's takeover.”

The Delhi Regional Security Dialogue, which was held in September 2018 and December 2019, was not held last year.

Sources said “the meeting to be held on November 10 will be chaired by National Security Adviser Ajit Doval.”

There has been an overwhelming response to India's invitation, sources said, adding central Asian countries as well as Russia and Iran have confirmed participation.

This is for the first time that all central Asian countries, not just Afghanistan's immediate land neighbours, are participating in this format of dialogue.

The source said “the enthusiastic response is a manifestation of the importance attached to India's role in regional efforts to promote peace and security in Afghanistan.”

China and Pakistan have been invited, but their replies are yet to come. Pakistan has, however, indicate to the media that it won't attend.

JERUSALEM, 06 November 2021, (TON): The Palestinian Health Ministry said “a 13-year-old Palestinian was shot and fatally wounded on Friday by Israeli troops in the occupied West Bank.”

It said “Mohammed Daadas died in hospital after being shot in the stomach during clashes between Palestinian protesters and Israeli forces in Deir Al-Hatab village, east of Nablus.”

The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the report.

Two other Palestinians were injured Friday in clashes in Beita, another West Bank village where locals have struggled for months to dislodge Israeli settlers and the military from a hilltop.

The clashes come days after Israel announced it would advance plans for 3,000 more homes for Jewish settlers in the West Bank, despite international criticism.

Israel has also advanced plans to build about 1,300 homes for Palestinians in the West Bank, but critics see the move as an attempt to parry global condemnation of settlement construction.

Palestinians eye the West Bank as part of a future state, while hard-line Israelis including Prime Minister Naftali Bennett say it is a heartland of Jewish history.

COPENHAGEN, 06 November 2021, (TON): Danish authorities said that a Russian science vessel, currently held in Denmark, had been detained due to a legal dispute in Canada.

A judge at the district court in the city of Hjorring told media she had ordered the seizure of the ship on Monday, to be kept as collateral in a case brought by a Canadian tour operator.

The Russian embassy in Denmark confirmed the detention of the state-owned research vessel Akademik Ioffe, saying the action “was carried out as an interim measure in a third-party claim.”

One Ocean Expeditions, which had previously rented the Russian state-owned Akademik Ioffe via a Cypriot company for cruises, blames the crew of the ship for an accident that occurred in Canada’s north in 2018.

According to court documents seen by AFP, the tour operator is demanding 39.6 million Danish kroner ($6.2 million, 5.3 million euros) in damages from the ship’s owner, Russia’s Shirshov Institute of Oceanology, for costs incurred in relation to the accident.

“This is a claim against an independent institution owned by the Russian state, so the possibilities of enforcement are very limited if you don’t have the ship as collateral,” the Danish court explained in its decision to seize the ship.

The court also notes “the rules on state immunity are not applicable,” even though the vessel is state-owned, as this is a strictly commercial dispute.

RIYADH, 06 November 2021, (TON): Dr. Aqeel Al-Ghamdi, the assistant supervisor general for planning and development at the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center, met the head of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Saudi Arabia, Sascha Graumann, in Riyadh.

During their meeting, they discussed relief and humanitarian affairs, joint projects and ways to enhance the bilateral cooperation.

Al-Ghamdi reviewed KSrelief’s achievements in 76 countries around the world, which included the implementation of 1,784 humanitarian and relief projects at cost of more than $5.5 billion in cooperation with 144 local, regional and international partners.

TEHRAN, 06 November 2021, (TON): Iran will not back down “in any way” in defending its interests, President Ebrahim Raisi said, a day after all sides announced the resumption of nuclear talks between Tehran and major powers on Nov 29.

Washington said “it hoped the talks would see Iran willing to negotiate in good faith on reviving a 2015 nuclear deal, while Iran s top nuclear negotiator Ali Bagheri Kani said the talks would cover the removal of “unlawful and inhumane sanctions”.

The negotiations that started in April have been on hold since the election of hardline cleric Raisi in June.

Raisi, under personal U.S. sanctions over allegations of human rights abuses in his past as a judge, said Iran seeks the “lifting of all U.S. sanctions and neutralisation of sanctions”, sounding an uncompromising tone ahead of the Vienna discussions.

Iranian state TV quoted Raisi as saying “the negotiations we are considering are result-oriented ones. We will not leave the negotiating table … but we will not retreat from the interests of our nation in any way.”

Under the 2015 deal between Iran and six world powers, Tehran curbed its uranium enrichment program, a possible pathway to nuclear arms, in return for the lifting of U.S., U.N. and European Union sanctions.