DHAKA, 26 September 2021, (TON): Bangladesh has sought effective measures by the European Union for creating a conducive environment in Myanmar for sustainable repatriation of the Rohingyas sheltered in Bangladesh.

Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen raised the issue and explained that Bangladesh is facing enormous social, economic and environmental costs by sheltering over 1.1 million Rohingyas.

Momen held a bilateral meeting with Josep Borrell, the high representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and vice-president of the European Commission, on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York recently.

Borell thanked Bangladesh for the humanitarian gesture to the Rohingyas and assured that the EU would work with Bangladesh and the international community to ensure sustainable repatriation of the Rohingyas.

The issue of climate change was discussed in the bilateral meeting.

Foreign Minister Momen also briefed Borell about the role of Bangladesh as the president of the Climate Vulnerable Forum, said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

RIYADH, 25 September 2021, (TON): State news agency reported “Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister, Prince Faisal bin Farhan met with the US Special Envoy for Iran Affairs Robert Malley.”

The two officials met on the sidelines of the 76th United Nations General Assembly in New York.

During the meeting, they discussed enhancing joint action, and developments towards the nuclear program.

Iran has been urged to return rapidly to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) negotiations in Vienna to reduce tensions over Tehran’s nuclear programme.

ROME, 25 September 2021, (TON): The first International Youth Forum Against Islamophobia will be held this weekend in Rome.

The online forum, organized as part of the Youth Empowerment Support project, aims to raise awareness about Islamophobia so as to effectively combat it.

“Free to believe, free to think, free to be” is the title of the event, which is co-funded by the Rights, Equality and Citizenship Program of the European Commission.

The organizers said at a press conference “the forum “aims to be a space and an opportunity for young people to discuss and think concretely about how to build a more inclusive and diverse society, free from stereotypes and discrimination, through debates, workshops and exchanges of experiences.”

The goal, they added, is “to create new connections between communities in Europe and to transfer knowledge” so as to help young Italians and Europeans, Muslim and non-Muslim alike, provide information and guidance on the rights of religious minorities.

KABUL, 25 September 2021, (TON): It’s new head of prisons and one of the group’s founders Nooruddin Turabi says in an interview that the Taliban are likely to resume executions and amputations of hands as punishment in Afghanistan once again though not in public.

He said in an interview “we will follow Islam and we will make our laws on the Qur’an.”

Turabi, the chief enforcer of Taliban’s harsh interpretation of Islamic law, dismissed the outrage over the public executions when the militant forces last ruled the country.

Strictly warning anyone to refrain from interfering with the new regime, he said “everyone criticized us for the punishments in the stadium, but we have never said anything about their laws and their punishments.”

According to Turabi, the now prisons minister in Afghanistan, the cutting off of hands “is very necessary for security.”

He added that the existing cabinet was trying to develop a policy on whether the punishments would be publicly executed like before.

Turabi said that while the Qur'an will remain the foundation for Afghanistan’s laws, judges including women, would adjudicate cases but the same punishments would be revived.

KABUL, 25 September 2021, (TON): The Taliban's new defence minister has issued a rebuke over misconduct by some commanders and fighters following the movement's victory over the Western-backed government in Afghanistan last month, saying abuses would not be tolerated.

Mullah Mohammad Yaqoob said in an audio message that some "miscreants and notorious former soldiers" had been allowed to join Taliban units where they had committed a range of sometimes violent abuses.

He stated that we direct you keep them out of your ranks, otherwise strict action will be taken against you, we don't want such people in our ranks.

The message from one of the Taliban's most senior ministers underlines the problems Afghanistan's new rulers have sometimes had in controlling fighting forces as they transition from an insurgency to a peacetime administration.

Some Kabul residents have complained of abusive treatment at the hands of Taliban fighters who have appeared on the streets of the capital, often from other regions and unused to big cities.

There have also been reports of reprisals against members of the former government and military or civil society activists, despite promises of an amnesty by the Taliban.

Yaqoob said “there had been isolated reports of unauthorised executions, and he repeated that such actions would not be tolerated.”

He said "as you all are aware, under the general amnesty announced in Afghanistan, no mujahid has the right to take revenge on anyone.”

ABUJA, 25 September 2021, (TON): Police said “three people suspected of abducting more than 100 students from a Christian school in northwestern Nigeria two months ago have been arrested.”

On July 5, gunmen invaded the Bethel Baptist Secondary School on the outskirts of Kaduna and abducted 121 students who were sleeping in their rooms.

A spokesman for the Nigerian police, Frank Mba, said in a statement "Three of the key suspects involved in the kidnapping of the Bethel Baptist High School students have been arrested."

He said one of the three suspects "was in charge of the surveillance of the school and consulted with other members of his gang before attacking and kidnapping the students. An AK47 assault rifle was found in each of the three suspects' homes, he added, noting that the investigation was still ongoing.

Since July 5, 100 students have been released or have managed to escape, while 21 remain in the hands of their captors.

This mass kidnapping was part of a series of kidnappings carried out for months by armed criminal groups operating in northwestern and central Nigeria.

These groups, which carry out looting, attacks and kidnappings, are primarily motivated by greed. They target schoolchildren and students for ransom and are not ideologically motivated, unlike the jihadist groups operating in Nigeria.

BEIJING, 25 September 2021, (TON): Taiwanese officials said “China voiced opposition to Taiwan joining a major trans-Pacific trade deal as it flew 24 planes, including two nuclear-capable bombers ,into the self-ruled island’s air defence zone, the biggest incursion in weeks.”

Last week Beijing submitted its own application to become a member of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).

Taiwan has lobbied for years to join and announced that it had officially applied to be part of the CCTPP, which was signed by 11 Asia-Pacific countries in 2018 and is the region’s biggest free-trade pact, accounting for around 13.5 percent of the global economy.

“Taiwan can’t be left out in the world and has to integrate into the regional economy,” cabinet spokesman Lo Ping-cheng told reporters.

But China, which claims self-ruled democratic Taiwan as its own territory, insisted Taipei should not be allowed in.

On the same day, Taiwanese officials said 24 Chinese planes including 18 fighter jets and two nuclear-capable bombers, crossed into the island’s air defence identification zone.

NAYPYITAW, 25 September 2021, (TON): At least four civilians were killed during a military raid on a village in Mandalay Region’s Natogyi Township on Monday night, according to local sources and a relative of the victims.

At around midnight, junta troops entered Shaw Hpyu village while firing their weapons, forcing residents to flee. 

a relative of the victims told media “four members of the same household were killed on the spot when the soldiers fired into their home during the raid.”

Two more members of the family, 50-year-old Daw Nyunt and 30-year-old Kyaw Thu Khin, were seriously injured in the shooting and at the time of reporting were undergoing treatment at Mandalay General Hospital.

Also shot in the leg was an 18-month-old boy, Zwe Htet Maw, whose condition could not be confirmed at the time of reporting. 

The deceased included Bo Khin, 76; Daw Than, 75; Maung Tun, around 50 and Maw Htay, 30.

Their relative said “Junta troops buried them on Tuesday morning at the Natogyi cemetery.”

“All seven members of the household were affected,” a local said. “Now the burial is over, so there is nothing we can do.”

NAYPYITAW, 25 September 2021, (TON): A church and several buildings were hit by artillery shells fired by the Myanmar army during a clash with the Chinland Defence Force (CDF) night in Mindat.

At around 7pm, the CDF-Mindat launched a guerrilla attack on junta troops in Ashaypyin ward, and the military responded by firing heavy weapons, according to a spokesperson for the Mindat People's Administration Committee, who said shootouts occurred in two locations in the ward.

The shells destroyed at least three homes and some buildings within the compound of the Sacred Heart of Jesus Catholic Church.

Father Shal Thang, the church’s priest, said “The troops were stationed on a hill, very close to a junta general administration office and a police station. They fired artillery because youth from the CDF came there and opened fire on the junta's troops.”

He told media “the glass above the church was hit by some bullets, and an artillery shell fell beside the church and exploded. The shrapnel hit the windows.”

Father Shal Thang said “Myanmar army soldiers visited the damaged church compound morning.”

At the time of reporting, it was unknown if there were casualties on either side of the fighting in Mindat on Wednesday.

TEHRAN, 25 September 2021, (TON): An Iranian foreign ministry official said “talks between Middle East regional rivals Tehran and Riyadh have led to “serious progress” on the issue of Gulf security.”

“Serious progress has been made on the subject of security in the Gulf,” state news agency quoted ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh as saying.

Iran and Saudi Arabia, on opposing sides in multiple regional conflicts, have been engaged in talks since April with the aim of improving relations, for the first time since cutting ties in 2016.

The discussions were launched under Iran’s former moderate president Hassan Rouhani and have continued since his ultraconservative successor, Ebrahim Raisi, took office in August.

Speaking to journalists on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York, Khatibzadeh said the talks were “good” and called for countries to settle regional issues between themselves, without foreign interference.