NEW DELHI, 07 October 2021, (TON): The violence in Uttar Pradesh's Lakhimpur Kheri, that left eight people including four farmers dead - triggering a major political row over the alleged involvement of a union minister's son, will be taken up by a Supreme Court bench led by Chief Justice NV Ramana on Thursday.

The court has decided to take up the case amid a growing outcry over the Uttar Pradesh police's handling of the investigation, media reports and a letter written to the Chief Justice by two lawyers from the state. The letter had called for a CBI probe under the supervision of the Supreme Court.

Farmers have vowed to intensify their months-long movement against laws aimed at liberalising agriculture as tension flared after the eight people were killed in clashes between protesters and ruling party supporters on Sunday.

Four of the eight were killed when a car belonging to Union Minister of State for Home Ajay Mishra's son Ashish crashed into protesters in Uttar Pradesh state, protest leaders said. And yet four days later, despite being named in a police complaint, he was yet to be arrested.

The police have said they were investigating the crash and had registered a case against 13 people, including Ashish Mishra even as his father ruled out resigning and held a meeting with Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Delhi.

KABUL, 07 October 2021, (TON): After spending 13 years as a Taliban fighter waging an insurgency, Rahimullah is now slowly adjusting to the relatively ordinary role of a policeman in Afghanistan's capital.

Like the rest of the Taliban, he is grappling with an awkward transition from rebel fighter to civilian patrolman, as the hardliners vow security and build a new police force.

Kabul residents say street crime has dropped, with widespread fear rooted in memories of the Taliban's brutal regime in the 1990s, infamous for harsh punishments such as public stoning, lashing and amputations.

"This is not risky work," says Rahimullah, who joined the Taliban as a teenager "for Islam and for my country".

There is widespread fear of the Taliban, rooted in memories of their brutal first regime in the 1990s

There is widespread fear of the Taliban, rooted in memories of their brutal first regime in the 1990s.

The 28-year-old from neighbouring Wardak province, along with his team of eight men, has the task of managing security in a central Kabul district.

His work involves "catching thieves, murderers and those who drink wine", he tells AFP, which was allowed to accompany a patrol overseen by a more senior Taliban official.

 WASHINGTON, 07 October 2021, (TON): Naval Sea Systems Command said “the US Navy has sold two former aircraft carriers, USS Kitty Hawk and USS John F Kennedy, to a Texas shipbreaking company for one cent each.”

Alan Baribeau, a spokesman for the Naval Sea Systems Command said “the contract values reflect that the contracted company will benefit from the subsequent sale of scrap steel, iron, and non-ferrous metal ores.”

Both warships are aging and defunct. For the Kitty Hawk, that likely means a tug boat tow from Bremerton, Washington, around the tip of South America; for the John F Kennedy, a sailing from the Philadelphia Navy Yard, according to a media report.

The contract with International Shipbreaking Limited in Brownsville, Texas, for the tow, remediation, dismantling and recycling of the storied warships makes imminent their departures from the Navy’s mothball fleet, said the report.

LONDON, 07 October 2021, (TON): British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s special envoy met Taliban leaders in Afghanistan to discuss the humanitarian crisis and ways to prevent the country from becoming an incubator for militants.

The Foreign Office said “Simon Gass, Johnson’s high representative for Afghanistan, met Taliban leaders including Amir Khan Muttaqi, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar and Abdul Salam Hanafi.”

The Foreign Office added “they “discussed how the UK could help Afghanistan to address the humanitarian crisis, the importance of preventing the country from becoming an incubator for terrorism, and the need for continued safe passage for those who want to leave the country.”

“They also raised the treatment of minorities and the rights of women and girls.” Gass was accompanied by Chargé d’Affaires of the UK Mission to Afghanistan in Doha.

Recently, a group of high-profile US senators including a former presidential nominee has moved a bill in the US Senate seeking imposition of sanctions on the Afghan Taliban that could also potentially extend to Pakistan.

WASHINGTON, 07 October 2021, (TON): President Emmanuel Macron held talks with visiting US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in his first meeting with an American official since the scrapping of a submarine contract with Australia plunged relations into crisis.

Blinken, who has been seeking to patch up ties with France after Canberra ditched the deal as part of a security pact with the UK and US, did not originally have an appointment with Macron on the agenda for his two-day visit to Paris.

The one-on-one meeting lasted around 40 minutes with “common agreement that we have an opportunity now to deepen and strengthen the coordination” even though “a lot of hard work remains to be done”, a senior State Department official told reporters in Paris. The Elysee also confirmed the meeting with Macron, saying Blinken’s visit would contribute to “restoring confidence” between the sides.

Macron was furious last month when Australia scrapped a multibillion-dollar deal for French submarines, saying it would pursue US nuclear versions instead. His government called secret talks leading up to the cancellation “a stab in the back” and the French president recalled his ambassadors from Washington and Canberra.

BRUSSELS, 07 October 2021, (TON): The European Union and NATO will develop a new joint declaration by June 2022, when the next NATO summit is due to take place. This is stated in the statement of the President of the European Council Charles Michel following the results of the first day of the informal EU summit in Slovenia.

The statement said “we will develop a new political declaration with NATO before the NATO summit in June 2022.”

The President of the Council of Europe once again assured that cooperation between the EU and NATO is the cornerstone of the community’s security.

Summit participants on Tuesday discussed the concept of a new community defense system called the EU Strategic Compass and plans to form an EU rapid reaction force. As Michel confirmed, this strategy and plans for a rapid reaction force are due for approval in March 2022.

BAMAKO, 07 October 2021, (TON): Mali has summoned France’s ambassador to the country to register its “indignation” at French President Emmanuel Macron’s recent criticism of the country’s government, which is dominated by army figures.

Tensions between France and its former colony Mali have been high since it emerged that the Sahel state is in talks with Russian mercenaries. Mali voiced its displeasure to the French ambassador.

These frustrations were on full display at the UN General Assembly last month, when Choguel Kokalla Maiga, Mali’s interim prime minister, accused France of a “sort of abandonment in full flight” over its decision to reduce its military deployment in the semi-arid Sahel region.

Macron later told French media that Maiga’s comments were “unacceptable” and suggested that Mali’s government was “not even really one” – because of the coup in Mali led by Colonel Assimi Goita in May. ‘Indignation and disapproval’.

BAGHDAD, 07 October 2021, (TON): International Committee of the Red Cross said “Iraq and Iran exchanged the remains of 31 soldiers killed in the 1980-1988 war between the two countries which have since become allies.”

“Under the auspices of the #ICRC, the remains of 11 Iraqi & 20 Iranian soldiers were repatriated to their respective homelands today,” the International Committee of the Red Cross said on Twitter.

It said the exchange took place at the Shalamcheh border post in the Basra region of southern Iraq.

PARIS, 07 October 2021, (TON): The French ambassador recalled to Paris will return to Canberra with a mission to review relations with Australia and protect France’s interests, said Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian.

“There is a need for a complete overhaul of bilateral relations (with Australia). I asked our ambassador to return to Canberra on two missions: to contribute to the establishment of a new framework for (bilateral) relations in the future and to strictly defend our interests in the implementation of Australia’s decision to withdraw from programs on submarinesf” – quotes the words of Le Drian RIA Novosti.

Earlier, Australia , the United States and the United Kingdom announced the signing of the AUKUS security deal. Against this background, the Australian side tore up the agreement on submarines with a French company in the amount of 56 billion euros.

WASHINGTON, 07 October 2021, (TON): The Supreme Court heard arguments over a Guantanamo Bay detainee’s request for information about his alleged torture at the hands of Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) contractors in Poland following the Sept. 11 attacks.

The dispute pitted Abu Zubaydah’s pursuit of evidence about his treatment in a so-called CIA “black site” against the U.S. government’s effort to block its disclosure.

The Biden administration argued that the state secrets privilege, a legal doctrine that lets the government conceal certain information to protect national security, should bar the request. The CIA contractor testimony sought by Zubaydah for use in a Polish criminal prosecution, if permitted, would risk damaging U.S. relations with foreign allies, the administration said.

“I think everyone acknowledges the importance of trust in covert relationships,” Brian Fletcher, a Justice Department lawyer who argued the government’s case, told the justices.

He said “The contractors were integral to the program, they’d be testifying under oath about information that they’ve learned in the CIA and is subject to confidentiality requirements, and they’d be doing so in a proceeding designed to investigate and prosecute alleged former allies abroad.”