WASHINGTON, 03 October 2021, (TON): Former US President Donald Trump asked a federal judge in Florida to ask Twitter to restore his account, which the company removed in January citing a risk of incitement of violence.

Trump filed a request for preliminary injunction against Twitter in the US District Court for the Southern District of Florida, arguing the social media company was "coerced" by members of the US Congress to suspend his account.

Twitter and several other social media platforms banned Trump from their services after a mob of his supporters attacked the US Capitol in a deadly riot on January 6.

That assault followed a speech by Trump in which he reiterated false claims that his election loss in November was because of widespread fraud, an assertion rejected by multiple courts and state election officials.

Twitter "exercises a degree of power and control over political discourse in this country that is immeasurable, historically unprecedented, and profoundly dangerous to open democratic debate," Trump's lawyers said in the filing. The filing was reported earlier by Bloomberg.

Twitter declined to comment on the filing when contacted by Reuters.

NEW DELHI, 03 October 2021, (TON): Indian Foreign Secretary Shri Harsh Vardhan Shringla will undertake an official visit to Sri Lanka from 2-5 October 2021 at the invitation of the Foreign Secretary Admiral Prof. Jayanath Colombage.

The visit will contribute towards consolidating the longstanding multifaceted relations and enhance bilateral partnerships between two countries.

Apart from the bilateral discussion with the Sri Lankan Foreign Secretary, the Foreign Secretary Shringla’s programme includes a call on the President, Prime Minister, Minister of Finance, and the Foreign Minister.

Visiting Foreign Secretary is also expected to visit Kandy, Trincomalee and Jaffna during his stay in Sri Lanka.

NAYPYITAW, 03 October 2021, (TON): Junta troops shot and killed a 26-year-old man in southeastern Myanmar’s Mon State this week, according to his relatives, who said that they were allowed only limited viewing of his body.

According to his family “the victim was Ye Naing Oo, resident of Khawzar town in Ye Township who, had recently been struggling with an undiagnosed mental illness.”

His sister Mi Cho Thet Oo told media “he left home on Wednesday morning and the family was notified at 7pm by police officials that he was dead.”

She said that officers from the Khawzar police station told her that Ye Naing Oo was shot and killed after he tried to run from the military’s Chaung Taung checkpoint on the Ye River bridge, some 18 miles from his home.

DHAKA, 03 October 2021, (TON): Bangladesh has expressed concern over the increased crimes, human and drug trafficking and unrest in the Rohingya camps in Cox's Bazar as their stay in Bangladesh is prolonging.

Bangladesh urged Myanmar as well as the international community to take effective steps to sustainably repatriate the Rohingyas to Myanmar at the earliest, said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Bangladesh is now hosting over 1.1 million Rohingyas in Cox's Bazar and Bhasan Char.

Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen condemned the murder of Mohib Ullah, who was a widely recognised leader of the Rohingyas in Bangladesh.

Mohib Ullah was an avowed supporter of the repatriation of the Rohingyas to Myanmar, according to a message shared by the MoFA on its verified Facebook page.

The government of Bangladesh is committed to investigating the heinous crime and bringing the killers to justice, the message reads.

Earlier in the morning, the Foreign Minister vowed to bring the killers of Mohib Ullah to justice soon, in his first remarks since the Rohingya leader's murder.

DHAKA, 03 October 2021, (TON): South Korean Ambassador to Bangladesh Lee Jang-keun said “as a natural and trustful partner of Bangladesh, South Korea is committed to further contributing to Bangladesh's path towards a bright future.

According to a statement from the South Korean embassy in Dhaka “he made the remarks at a programme ahead of National Foundation Day of the Republic of Korea, held virtually due to the pandemic.”

The Korean embassy has prepared a special website for the virtual celebrations which include congratulatory video messages from Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen; Saber Hossain Chowdhury MP; Archbishop George Kocherry, dean of the Diplomatic Corps in Dhaka, and  DNCC Mayor Atiqul Islam, among others.

ABU DHABI, 02 October 2021, (TON): Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al-Nahyan, UAE tolerance and coexistence minister, officially opened on Friday the World Policy Conference (WPC) in Abu Dhabi.

Al-Nahyan said during the opening “we welcome you again to the United Arab Emirates and Abu Dhabi, as a distinguished group of influential political, economic and business leaders.”

The minister praised the country’s efforts at co-existence among different cultures and religions and said it creates a conducive environment and makes doing business easier.

WPC is an independent organization which was launched in 2008 by Thierry de Montbrial, the President and Founder of the French Institute of International Relations, to enhance governance and promote a more open and prosperous world.

The organizers say the annual event “brings together leading figures from all five continents – political and business leaders, academics and journalists in a spirit of tolerance that is the only one conducive to the pursuit of the common good.”

During an earlier session, Josep Borrell Fontelles, the high representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, spoke about the neighboring Middle East, the Lebanese crisis and Tunisia.

ISLAMABAD, 02 October 2021, (TON): Prime Minister Imran Khan has said Pakistan is in talks with some factions of the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) to get them to lay down their weapons.

PM Imran Khan said during an interview to TRT World’s Ali Mustafa in Islamabad "I think some of the Pakistani Taliban groups actually want to talk to our government. You know, for some peace, for some reconciliation."

When asked to confirm whether Pakistan is actually in talks with the TTP, the premier clarified to say that talks are ongoing "with some of them".

He said that the Afghan Taliban are "helping", in the sense that the talks are taking place in Afghanistan.

The premier said that these talks, for disarmament, if successful, will lead to the government "forgiving" them, "and then they [will] become normal citizens".

Stressing that he does expect for some sort of deal to emerge with the TTP, he said "I do not believe in military solutions. I am anti-military solutions. So I always believe that you know, as a politician, political dialogue is the way forward, which I always believed was the case in Afghanistan with the US."

The premier noted he always believed that a non-military solution was the only way forward for Afghanistan and he has reiterated it time and again on national, international forums.

TEHRAN, 02 October 2021, (TON): Iran s new government will in the next few weeks decide on a date to return to nuclear talks in Vienna, a spokesman said.

“I assume that in a few weeks we are in a position to set a date with our friends in Europe,” Saeed Khatibzadeh said at a gathering in the French city of Caen.

“Then possibly we can start negotiations in Vienna.”

The analytical work will end “maybe in a few days, less than a few weeks”, he said.

He said “we are not going to waste even a minute to get back to Vienna.”

Khatibzadeh had earlier told Le Monde newspaper that the new Iranian administration would return to the talks more quickly than Biden s did.

Negotiations had resumed on 6 April in Vienna, 77 days after Joe Biden took office on 20 January.

However, “it has only been 50 days since the new Iranian government took office”, he said.

The 2015 nuclear deal with Iran offered to lift sanctions in return for Tehran committing to abandon any ambition to develop nuclear weapons and for a drastic reduction in its atomic programme and submission to tighter UN control.

CONAKRY, 02 October 2021, (TON): Colonel Mamadi Dumbuya, who came to power in Guinea as a result of a military uprising, was sworn in as transitional president on Friday.

The ceremony took place in the capital of Guinea, Conakry, at the Muhammad V.

“I, Mamadi Dumbuya, Transitional President, pledge, before the people of Guinea, to remain committed to the country’s sovereignty and to respect and promote compliance with the provisions of the Transitional Charter and to fulfill my functions in the best interests of the people, to consolidate democratic values, to guarantee the country’s independence and the integrity of the national territory. I solemnly pledge to work with the transitional authorities to ensure the implementation and maintenance of the country’s cohesion, “said Dumbuya.

The broadcast was hosted by Espace Tv Guinee. Dumbuya confirmed that he and the members of the transitional council will not be running for the upcoming elections.

Dumbuya said in an address after swearing in “I want to reiterate my commitment that neither I, nor any member of the National Committee for Cohesion and Development (CNRD) and transition bodies, will be candidates for elections in the future.”

In September, the rebels who detained Guinean President Alpha Conde announced a transitional charter. According to the document, the transition president will be the head of the National Committee for Cohesion and Development (CNRD).

The duration of the transition period in Guinea should be determined on the basis of mutual agreement of political forces, representatives of civil society and the CNRD.

KABUL, 02 October 2021, (TON): The health care system in Afghanistan is on the brink of collapse, international aid groups warned this week, threatening to deepen the country’s humanitarian crisis just as temperatures begin dropping.

Thousands of health care facilities have run out of essential medicines. Afghan doctors have not been paid in two months, with no paychecks in sight. And in recent weeks, there has been a surge of cases of measles and diarrhea, according to the World Health Organization.

For two decades, aid from the World Bank and other international donors propped up the country’s health care system, but after the Taliban seized power, they froze $600 million in health care aid. Now, just over a month into Taliban rule, the toll is becoming clear.

“We are deeply concerned that Afghanistan faces imminent collapse of health services and worsening hunger if aid and money do not flow into the country within weeks,” Alexander Matheou, Asia Pacific director of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, said at a news conference.

“Afghanistan’s looming harsh winter threatens greater misery and hardships.” The unfolding health care crisis has underscored how quickly basic services have unraveled as international donors struggle with how to dispense badly needed aid to the country under Taliban rule.

Foreign aid once made up nearly 75 percent of the country’s public expenditures, according to the World Bank, but after the militants seized control on Aug. 15, the US froze over $9 billion in the Afghan Central Bank’s American accounts, and major international funders like the World Bank and International Monetary Fund paused disbursements.