MINSK, 30 October 2021, (TON): Belarus demanded to close the offices of the public relations department of the US Embassy and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), including the American Center in Minsk.

The statement said “on October 20, 2021, the Belarusian authorities informed the United States of new measures aimed at obstructing the work of the US Embassy in Minsk by forcibly closing the offices of the public relations department of the embassy and the US Agency for International Development, including the American Center in Minsk.”

The Belarusian authorities are also forcing the embassy to fire more than 20 Belarusian employees, according to a US representative.

These measures, the statement says, will not force the American side “to abandon the work of informing and interacting with people, which benefited the Belarusian people and contributed to the development of relations between the citizens of the two countries.”

RIYADH, 30 October 2021, (TON): The King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center is supporting a nutrition project for children under the age of five, pregnant women and nursing mothers in the Yemeni governorates of Aden, Lahij, Taiz, Hodeidah, Hadramout, Hajjah and Marib.

The project, which provides therapeutic feeding, healthcare and counseling, has helped 28,583 people in one week.

The Emergency Center for Epidemic Control has also continued to provide treatment services to patients in the Hajjah governorate with the support of KSrelief. In one week, the center provided medical services to 3,344 patients.

KHARTOM, 30 October 2021, (TON): A military official said “Sudan’s strongman fired at least six ambassadors, including the envoys to the US, the European Union and France, after they condemned the military’s takeover of the country.”

The diplomats had pledged their support for the now-deposed government of Prime Minister Abddalla Hamdok. Their dismissal came hours before the United Nations Security council issued its first statement on recent events in the country, calling for the civilian transitional government to be restored to power and for those detained during the takeover to be released.

According to the official “also fired by Gen Abdel-Fattah Buran late were the Sudanese ambassadors to Qatar, China and the UN mission in Geneva.”

The ambassadors were fired two days after Burhan dissolved the transitional government and detained the prime minister, many government officials and political leaders in a coup condemned by the US and the West. The military allowed Hamdok to return home after international pressure for his release.

Burhan said “the military forces were compelled to take over because of quarrels between political parties that he claimed could lead to civil war.”

 However, the coup also comes just weeks before Burhan would have had to hand over the leadership of the Sovereign Council, the ultimate decision-maker in Sudan, to a civilian, in a step that would reduce the military’s hold on the country. The council has military and civilian members. Hamdok’s government ran Sudan’s daily affairs.

The coup threatens to halt Sudan’s fitful transition to democracy, which began after the 2019 ouster of long-time ruler Omar al-Bashir and his Islamist government in a popular uprising.

BEIJING, 30 October 2021, (TON): China will build a base for police in Tajikistan near the Afghan border, a Tajik official said, amid concerns from both countries about the Taliban's ability to keep a lid on extremist groups.

The base points to deepening security cooperation between impoverished Tajikistan and China, which is reported to maintain another base in the southeast of the ex-Soviet country.

A parliamentary spokesman told media that Tajikistan's lower house had approved the plan to build the base in the Ishkashim district of the mountainous Gorno-Badakhshan province.

The pokesman, who did not provide his name, told media by telephone "All construction is funded by the Chinese side. After construction, the base will be transferred to the Tajik (police).”

He said “China was providing $8.5 million (7.3 million euros) in assistance for the base.”

Asked about reports of the base, China's foreign ministry told meida that we can assure that China does not have any military bases in Central Asia.

China has looked to build friendly relations with the Taliban following their takeover of Afghanistan.

While other Central Asian nations have established working ties with the new regime in Afghanistan, Tajikistan has railed against the hardliners and eschewed direct talks.

The republic's authoritarian leader Emomali Rakhmon expressed alarm about what he called "terrorist groups" positioned at points along its more than 1,300-kilometre (810-mile) border with the country.

MOSCOW, 30 October 2021, (TON): No one is in a hurry to recognise the Taliban as Afghanistan's government, Russian UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said on Friday, signalling that Moscow is not ready to allow the Islamists to represent Afghanistan at the United Nations.

He also said “UN and unilateral sanctions on Taliban leaders would have to be addressed but perhaps not right away."

Nebenzia told reporters "the question of recognition will arise when the international community makes sure that the promises and commitments that the authorities announced will be delivered.”

He was referring to Taliban pledges - made since group ousted the Western-backed government in mid-August - that included upholding human rights, particularly those of women and girls, and combating terrorism and drugs.

The United Nations is considering rival claims on who should represent Afghanistan. The Taliban nominated their Doha-based spokesman Suhail Shaheen as UN ambassador, while Ghulam Isaczai - the UN envoy representing the government ousted by the Taliban - is seeking to remain in the country's seat.

Nebenzia said "when credentials are presented, they are presented on behalf of the head of a state.”

 "If it's presented on behalf of a (head of) state which nobody recognises then make your conclusions yourself."

WASHINGTON, 30 October 2021, (TON): The US Treasury hit Iran's drone programme with sanctions, boosting pressure on Tehran ahead of the reopening of negotiations on the country's nuclear programme.

The Treasury said lethal unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) from Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps have been used to attack US forces and international shipping in the Gulf region.

The Treasury said “the drones have also been supplied to Hezbollah, Hamas, and Yemen's Houthis, and have also been seen in Ethiopia, where the escalating crisis threatens to destabilize the broader region.”

The sanctions singled out Brigadier General Saeed Aghajani, who leads the Revolutionary Guards' UAV Command.

The Treasury said that Aghajani was behind a 2019 drone attack on an oil refinery in Saudi Arabia as well as the July 29, 2021 attack on a commercial ship off the coast of Oman that saw two crewmen killed.

Also named to the sanctions blacklist were two companies, Kimia Part Sivan and Oje Parvaz Mado Nafar, which provide components for and help develop the armed UAVs of the Revolutionary Guards.

Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo said in a statement “Iran’s proliferation of UAVs across the region threatens international peace and stability.”

He said “Treasury will continue to hold Iran accountable for its irresponsible and violent acts."

The sanctions came nine days after an attack on a US military base in Al-Tanf, Syria that involved drones.

KABUL, 30 October 2021, (TON): Afghanistan's Taliban government is pressing for the release of billions of dollars of central bank reserves as the drought-stricken nation faces a cash crunch, mass starvation and a new migration crisis.

Afghanistan parked billions of dollars in assets overseas with the US Federal Reserve and other central banks in Europe, but that money has been frozen since the Taliban ousted the Western-backed government in August.

A spokesperson for the finance ministry said the government would respect human rights, including the education of women, as he sought fresh funds on top of humanitarian aid that he said offered only "small relief".

Under Taliban rule from 1996-2001, women were largely shut out of paid employment and education and normally had to cover their faces and be accompanied by a male relative when they left home.

Ministry spokesperson Ahmad Wali Haqmal told media “the money belongs to the Afghan nation. Just give us our own money.”

"Freezing this money is unethical and is against all international laws and values."

One of the top central bank officials called on European countries including Germany to release their share of the reserves to avoid an economic collapse that could trigger mass migration towards Europe.

Shah Mehrabi, a board member of the Afghan Central Bank, told media “the situation is desperate and the amount of cash is dwindling.”

"There is enough right now ... to keep Afghanistan going until the end of the year.

Mehrab said “Europe is going to be affected most severely, if Afghanistan does not get access to this money.”

ISLAMABAD, 30 October 2021, (TON): Former provincial assembly speaker Mir Abdul Qudoos Bizenjo was elected unopposed as the new Balochistan chief minister on Friday, days after Jam Kamal Khan Alyani resigned from the position.

Of the 64 members who were eligible to vote in the election, 39 voted for Bizenjo, six more than the minimum needed, while members of three political parties, as well as an independent MPA, did not cast their votes.

Thirty-eight votes were cast by members of the Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) and its allies in the provincial government and one by a member from the opposition.

The Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl, Balochistan National Party-Mengal and Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party and independently elected member Nawab Aslam Raisani did not participate in the election.

Acting speaker Sardar Babar Khan Musakhel presided over the session.

This will be the second time Bizenjo will serve as Balochistan's chief minister.

Bizenjo's election as the province's chief executive follows a months-long political crisis, which ended with the resignation of former chief minister Alyani.

NEW DELHI, 30 October 2021, (TON): India has deployed recently acquired US-made weaponry along its border with China, part of a new offensive force to bolster its capabilities as the countries remain deadlocked over territory.

The buildup in India's northeast is centered on the Tawang Plateau adjoining Bhutan and Tibet, a piece of land claimed by China but controlled by India.

It holds historical political and military significance: In 1959, the Dalai Lama fled to India across nearby mountain passes to escape a Chinese military operation. Three years later, both sides fought a war in the area.

Now US-manufactured Chinook helicopters, ultra-light towed howitzers and rifles as well as domestically made supersonic cruise missiles and a new-age surveillance system will back Indian troops in areas bordering eastern Tibet.

The weapons have all been acquired in the past few years as defense ties between the US and India have strengthened due to rising concerns about Chinese assertiveness.

Indian military personnel escorted a group of reporters through the region last week to highlight the country's new offensive capabilities.

Eastern Army Commander Lieutenant General Manoj Pande said that boots, armour, artillery and air support were being combined to make the force "agile, lean and mean so that we can employ faster."

NAYPYITAW, 30 October 2021, (TON): Myanmar’s military sentenced a close aide of ousted civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi to 20 years in prison, his lawyer said “the first high-ranking member of her party to be jailed by a junta court.”

The country has been in turmoil since a February 1 coup ousted Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) government, accusing it of fraud in 2020 polls it won in a landslide.

According to a local monitoring group “Myanmar has since been in chaos, with huge democracy protests and a crackdown on dissent that has killed more than 1,200 people.”

Lawyer Myint Thwin told “former member of parliament and NLD speaker Win Htein was handed 20 years in jail for treason by a special court in the capital Naypyidaw.”

He added that he would appeal the sentence and that his client was in good health. Win Htein, 80, is the first high-ranking NLD member to be sentenced by the junta after a trial.

The former soldier is a longtime political prisoner who has spent long stretches of time in detention for campaigning against military rule. Considered Suu Kyi’s right-hand man, he was long been sought out by international and domestic media for insights into what Myanmar’s former de facto leader is thinking.