LONDON, 03 October 2021, (TON): The British army will begin delivering petrol to fuel stations tomorrow after fears over tanker driver shortages led to panic buying and forced the government to offer visa waivers to foreign truckers to plug the shortfall.

The government said in a news release issued "almost 200 military tanker personnel, 100 of which are drivers, will be deployed from Monday to provide temporary support as part of the government's wider action to further relieve pressure on petrol stations and address the shortage of HGV drivers."

Motorists queued at fuel pumps across Britain at the beginning of the week, draining tanks and fraying tempers. Business minister Kwasi Kwarteng said the situation is improving and emphasized that there was no national shortage of fuel in the UK.

WASHINGTON, 03 October 2021, (TON): The United States Air Force said “the United States will begin deploying a squadron of 27 fifth-generation F-35A fighters at Lakenheath Air Base in England this winter.”

The commander of 495 Squadron, which will include the F-35A, Lt. Col. Ian McLaughlin said “ the fighters will arrive this winter,”

It will be the first permanent base of such aircraft outside the United States. Lakenheath Air Force Base is located 113 kilometers northeast of London. Currently, there are American F-15 fighters in two squadrons.

In September, Air Force General Tod Walters, Chief of United States European Command and NATO Supreme Commander in Europe, announced plans by NATO member countries to deploy a total of 450 F-35 fighters from the national Air Force at their 12 bases.

In particular, it is planned that the United Kingdom in 2021 will deploy its fighters at two bases – Markham and Leukenheath, the Netherlands – at Volkel and Leeuwarden airbases (in 2022), Denmark – at Skridstrup airbase (in 2023), Italy – at Amendola airbases. and Gedi (in 2022), Norway – at Erland and Evenes airbases (in 2022), Belgium – at Florenn airbases (in 2025) and Kleine-Brogel (2027), Poland – at Lask and Svidwin airbases (in 2026) year).

TRIPOLI, 03 October 2021, (TON): A major crackdown in western Libya resulted in the detention of 4,000 migrants, including hundreds of women and children, officials said.

The raids took place Friday in the western town of Gargaresh as part of what authorities described as a security campaign against illegal migration and drug trafficking. The Interior Ministry, which led the crackdown, made no mention of any traffickers or smugglers being arrested.

Officials said that 500 illegal migrants had been detained but on Saturday reported that number had reached 4,000.

Gargaresh, a known hub for migrants and refugees, is about 12 kilometers (7.5 miles) west of Tripoli, the Libyan capital. The town has seen several waves of raids on migrants over the years, but the latest one was described by activists as the fiercest so far.

Since the 2011 NATO-backed uprising that ousted and killed longtime dictator Muammar Qaddafi, Libya has emerged as the dominant transit point for migrants fleeing war and poverty in Africa and the Middle East, hoping for a better life in Europe. Human traffickers have benefited from the chaos in the oil-rich nation and smuggled migrants through the country’s lengthy border with six nations.

They then pack desperate migrants into ill-equipped rubber boats in risky voyages through the perilous Central Mediterranean Sea route.

The detained were gathered in a facility in Tripoli called the Collection and Return Center, said police Col. Nouri Al-Grettli, head of the center.

He said the migrants have been distributed to detention centers in Tripoli and surrounding towns. Libya’s detention facilities are miserable places where migrants have suffered from abuses and severe ill-treatment, according to rights activists.

DOHA, 03 October 2021, (TON): Qataris go to the polls in the Gulf Arab state’s first legislative elections, to choose two-thirds of the advisory Shura Council in a vote that has stirred domestic debate about electoral inclusion and citizenship.

Thirty members of the 45-seat body will be elected, while the ruling emir will continue to appoint the remaining 15 members of the Council, which will have legislative authority and approve general state policies and the budget.

The Council has no control over executive bodies setting defence, security, economic and investment policy for the small but wealthy gas producer, which bans political parties.

The legislative polls, approved in a 2003 constitutional referendum, come ahead of Doha hosting the World Cup soccer tournament next year. Critics have said voting eligibility is too narrow.

Eighteen women are standing from among around 183 candidates hoping to be elected at polling stations across 30 districts in the country, which has for several years held municipal elections.

WASHINGTON, 03 October 2021, (TON): Democrats entered a second day of likely marathon negotiations on Friday to resolve splits over the scope of President Joe Biden’s domestic spending plans, knowing that failure could be crippling for the party.

On Thursday, a game of political chicken between moderate Democrats and more leftwing members over two disputed spending bills ended in stalemate.

The result was disappointing for Biden, who says the two bills would restore America’s battered middle class through massive spending on education and childcare, while also splurging on badly needed repairs to the nation’s infrastructure, and promoting clean energy.

In political terms, Biden’s legacy is at stake and so probably are the Democrats’ chances of keeping control of Congress in midterm elections next year.

Republicans, not least the man Biden defeated yet who continues to lie that he was cheated, Donald Trump, are watching the Democratic infighting with undisguised glee.

Democrats control not just the White House but both houses of Congress, so on paper they have a rare chance to enact their priorities.

However, their majorities are so thin that even one opponent in the Senate or a handful in the House can derail any initiative.

The battle over the $1.2 trillion infrastructure plan and the bigger social spending bill feature dissenters in both chambers and for now neither is set to pass.

ISLAMABAD, 03 October 2021, (TON): Prime Minister Imran Khan has said "sooner or later" the United States will have to recognise the Taliban government in Afghanistan.

In an interview with TRT World, the premier said hearings of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee clearly implied that Americans were "completely surprised" by the Taliban coming back to power.

PM Imran said "they [US] are trying to find scapegoats and one of them is Pakistan,"

He said emphasising that this was not a rational mindset for a way forward.

He insisted that if the US kept Afghan reserves frozen and the Afghanistan government collapsed in its wake, “the biggest loser will be the people of the country.”

Imran said he found that President Biden was being "unfairly targeted" over the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan. He questioned how it could be anyone's fault when the Afghan army itself collapsed.

The prime minister said “the Taliban movement grew over a period of time in the face of US drone attacks and collateral damage from such attacks.

NEW DELHI, 03 October 2021, (TON): Army Chief General M M Naravane has said “the 13th round of Corps Commander-level talks between India and China could take place in the second week of October.”

Gen Naravane shared these details in an interview with news agency ANI in eastern Ladakh, where he is on a two-day visit.

He said “the situation over the last six months or so has been quite normal. The talks have been going on for more than a year now.”

“We are hopeful to have the 13th round of talks very soon, perhaps as soon as next week, in the second week of October. We are confident that as we discuss things with each other, we will be able to reach a consensus on how this disengagement will take place.”

The Army Chief expressed confidence that “by and by, all the friction points will get resolved”. He said “even when the talks had started, people were doubtful whether talks will resolve anything”, and mentioned that he was of the “firm opinion that we can resolve our differences through dialogue, and that is what has happened over the last few months.”

India and China have been involved in a military standoff in eastern Ladakh for almost 17 months now. While the two sides disengaged from most friction points, including Galwan Valley, north and south banks of Pangong Tso, and Gogra Post, a small number of Chinese troops continue to be on the Indian side of the Line of Actual Control at Hot Springs.

WASHINGTON, 03 October 2021, (TON): Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III spoke by phone with Turkish Minister of National Defense Hulusi Akar to discuss opportunities to increase and strengthen our longstanding defense ties and to share perspectives on regional issues, including the shared threat from terrorism.

The Secretary reaffirmed the great value the United States places on its defense relationship with Turkey, as demonstrated most recently by the strong cooperation between both countries on Afghanistan.

RIYADH, 03 October 2021, (TON): Dr. Abdul Aziz bin Mohammed Al-Wasel has represented Saudi Arabia at the Ministerial Meeting of the Group of 77 + China.

He affirmed the Kingdom’s support to encourage trade among the countries as well as the right of access to information while preserving the sovereignty of the member states of the group and respecting their internal laws.

Highlighting that lockdown is exhausted the economies of all countries, especially the least developed countries, which are members of the group, he said the Kingdom was keen to provide urgent economic and medical assistance to the most affected by the pandemic.

The Kingdom’s medical and economic aid has also reached dozens of countries in the world. Saudi Arabia is one of the top five aid-providing countries in the world.

PYONGYANG, 03 October 2021, (TON): North Korea has successfully fired a new anti-aircraft missile, state media said on Friday, as the United Nations Security Council prepares to meet in response to a recent flurry of weapons tests by the nuclear-armed nation.

The official Korean Central News Agency said that the anti-aircraft missile had a “remarkable combat performance” and included twin rudder controls and other new technologies.

A picture in the official Rodong Sinmun newspaper showed the missile ascending at an angle into the sky from a launch vehicle.

It is the latest in a series of tension-raising steps by Pyongyang, which had until recently been biding its time since the change in US administrations in January.

In September, it launched what it said was a long-range cruise missile, and earlier this week tested what it described as a hypersonic gliding vehicle, which South Korea’s military said appeared to be in the early stages of development.

And on Wednesday, the North’s leader Kim Jong Un decried Washington’s repeated offers of talks without preconditions as a “petty trick”, accusing the Biden administration of continuing the “hostile policy” of its predecessors.

South Korea’s defence ministry told media “it was unable to immediately confirm the latest launch.”

Anti-aircraft missiles are much smaller than the ballistic missiles the North is banned from developing under United Nations Security Council resolutions, and harder to detect from afar.