PARIS, 20 September 2021, (TON): France's defence minister has cancelled talks with her UK counterpart as the row continues over a new security deal between Britain, the US and Australia.

Paris is angry after Australia signed the Aukus pact to build nuclear-powered submarines, pulling out of a major contract with France in the process.

UK PM Boris Johnson said “France had nothing to worry about from the deal.”

But Florence Parly's meeting with UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace in London this week has been called off.

Speaking in the House of Commons, Mr Wallace said there had been "absolutely no intent.... to slight, upset or drive a wedge between us and France".

He added "Britain and France on many issues are joined at the hip.”

Lord Ricketts, a former British ambassador to France who was due to co-chair the two days of talks, confirmed the meeting between Mr Wallace and Ms Parly had been "postponed to a later date".

MOSCOW, 20 September 2021, (TON): Law enforcement said that a student opened fire at a university in the Russian city of Perm on Monday, killing at least eight people and wounding several.”

Natalia Pechishcheva, a university spokesperson, said “the gunman was himself killed after the shootings at Perm State University, around 1,300 km (800 miles) east of Moscow.”

"He was liquidated," she said. Footage from the scene showed his prone body on the ground outside.

Earlier media footage from the scene showed students jumping from first-floor windows to escape the building, landing heavily on the ground before running to safety.

They said “students built barricades out of chairs to stop the shooter from entering their classrooms.”

The gunman was identified as a student at the university, the Investigative Committee, that handles probes into major crimes, said.

WASHINGTON, 20 September 2021, (TON): The Biden administration has signalled plans to double the United States’s refugee admissions cap for the next fiscal year, reaffirming a commitment to bolster a resettlement programme that was gutted by former President Donald Trump.

The Department of State announced on that the administration sent a report to Congress recommending that the limit be raised from 62,500 to 125,000 in the next fiscal year, which begins on October 1, 2021.

State Department spokesman Ned Price said in a statement “with the world facing unprecedented global displacement and humanitarian needs, the United States is committed to leading efforts to provide protection and promote durable solutions to humanitarian crises, to include providing resettlement for the most vulnerable.”

The move comes as Washington is planning to resettle thousands of Afghans who fled their country after the Taliban takeover last month. With as many 40,000 Afghans already brought to the US under different statuses, it is unclear how many will formally be admitted under the refugee system.

President Joe Biden faced criticism earlier this year after he delayed a promise to raise the 2021 admissions cap from a historic low of 15,000 set by his predecessor, Trump. But in May the Biden administration raised the limit to 62,500.

When raising the 2021 cap, Biden acknowledged that it would be difficult to resettle the maximum number of people that it allows. He also dampened expectations for the next fiscal year, saying it “will still be hard to hit” the 125,000 limit.

DHAKA, 20 September 2021, (TON): German ambassador in Dhaka Achim Troster said that Germany would increase its cooperation in tackling the impacts of climate change and in the ongoing development programmes in Bangladesh.

Referring to Bangladesh as a very close ally of Germany, the German envoy said this cooperation would be provided on the basis of mutual talks and expectations.

Troster said “this while paying a courtesy call on environment, forest and climate change minister Md Shahab Uddin at the Secretariat in Dhaka.”

Appreciating the development and progress of Bangladesh and the dynamic leadership of prime minister Sheikh Hasina, the German Ambassador said that Germany would continue its cooperation through the Paris Climate Agreement and the Green Climate Fund.

 Acting secretary of the ministry of environment, forest and climate change Iqbal Abdullah Harun and additional secretary of the climate change wing Sanjay Kumar Bhowmik were present on the occasion.

Shahab Uddin said that the German ambassador that Bangladesh was playing a significant role in the international arena on climate change as the president of Climate Vulnerability Forum and Vulnerable-20.

He said “as the President of CVF, prime minister Sheikh Hasina has announced 'Mujib Climate Prosperity Plan' for overall prosperity.”

NAYPYITAW, 20 September 2021, (TON): People’s Defence Force (PDF) fighters in Naypyitaw’s Lewe Township bombed a security checkpoint morning, injuring at least two police officers in the latest of a series of recent attacks in the capital.

The PDF said “in a statement that at least three officers were injured, while a witness told Myanmar Now she only saw two officers injured on their faces and chests.”

The witness said “after the explosion several police officers who had been standing away from the checkpoint ducked to the ground and pointed their guns at pedestrians, but did not shoot anyone.”

Neither the Lewe police station nor junta spokesperson Zaw Min Tun answered calls seeking comment on the attack.

It is the fourth attack the local PDF has launched in Naypyitaw. In the first week of September, the group shot and killed a deputy sheriff in an assault on a checkpoint in Shan Su. It also claimed responsibility for killing a suspected military informant from the Maung Yan village tract in Ottara Thiri Township.

In late August the PDF said that it killed 11 soldiers during an assault on a military column in Pyinmana Township. The junta has denied that the attack even took place.

Ngwe Soe, the Naypyitaw PDF’s information officer, said “the group would be accelerating its attacks against the junta in the city.”

He said “we are preparing more bomb attacks in Naypyitaw. We have to take extra care because of the tightened security. I would like to tell people to anticipate more attacks.

A local taxi driver said that the military has been carrying out more security checks than usual in the city and requiring people to obtain permission slips before travelling between townships.

DHAKA, 20 September 2021, (TON): The prime minister's Private Industry and Investment adviser proposed setting up a special economic zone for Saudi investors.

Saudi Arabian Investment Minister Khalid Al-Falih said “there is potential for more Saudi investment in Bangladesh due to the latter’s investment-friendly climate.”

The Saudi minister made the remark during a meeting with Salman F Rahman, visiting Private Industry and Investment adviser to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

During the meeting, Salman F Rahman apprised the Saudi minister of the steps taken by the current government to attract foreign investment, read a press release.

He also proposed to set up a special economic zone for Saudi investors, as committed to by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

The Saudi investment minister welcomed Bangladesh's proposal. The adviser also requested that the minister finalize a draft memorandum of understanding (MOU) aimed at creating opportunities for Saudi investment under public-private partnerships.

WASHINGTON, 20 September 2021, (TON): The United States has started flying migrants out of a Texas border town that has seen an influx of mostly Haitian migrants over the past week.

Three flights landed at Haiti's Port-au-Prince airport, each carrying 145 people, the Associated Press reports.

About 13,000 would-be immigrants have gathered under a bridge connecting Del Rio in Texas to Mexico's Ciudad Acuña.

They have been waiting in a makeshift camp in temperatures of 37C (99F).

An emergency US public health order known as Title 42 allows authorities to expel most migrants before they can claim asylum.

Local officials have struggled to provide those in Del Rio with food and adequate sanitation.

Tom Cartwright, of the advocacy group Witness at the Border, who tracks US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) flights, told Reuters three flights left Texas - one from Laredo and two from San Antonio - on Sunday carrying Haitians back to Haiti.

Haitian migrants gather in Port-au-Prince after getting off a plane from Texas.

Border Patrol Chief Raul L. Ortiz said 3,300 migrants had been moved from the camp to planes or detention centres.

NEW DELHI, 20 September 2021, (TON): Firebrand Indian television anchor Arnab Goswami was left red-faced when his "intelligence" regarding Pakistan Army's alleged presence in Afghanistan's Panjshir valley backfired, becoming the fodder of countless memes on Pakistani as well as Indian Twitter space.

Goswami, who is notorious for his war-mongering and aggressive journalism that supports the interests of India's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, made the faux pas when he claimed that Pakistan Army officers were staying on the fifth floor of the luxury Serena Hotel in Kabul, apparently to support the Taliban in their fight against resistance fighters in Panjshir.

The bellicose anchor's claim was quickly exposed, however, because the Serena Hotel in Kabul only has two floors, not five.

In his programme 'The Debate' on Republic World TV channel last week, Goswami had invited an Indian analyst as well as PTI spokesperson Abdul Samad Yaqoob, to represent Pakistan, in a discussion on what the channel termed a "big split" within the Taliban, who seized control of Afghanistan last month.

When Yaqoob challenged the claims Goswami had attributed to his sources in Afghanistan, the anchor went on the defence and claimed that his information had proven to be true, including that the resistance fighters in Panjshir had not given up and Pakistani forces were "retreating" from the valley.

A day later, Yaqoob was back on Goswami's programme and countered the anchor's claim by saying "what I got to know from my sources [is that] Serena has only two floors. There are no third, fourth or fifth floors."

ISLAMABAD, 20 September 2021, (TON): According to reports in the international media “Argentina is planning to buy 12 JF-17A Block-III fighter jets from Pakistan.”

The reports surfaced after the Argen­ti­nian government proposed a $664 million allocation in its budget for the year 2022 presented before the national parliament.

The proposal for allocation does not mean that the deal has been closed because the sale contract is yet to be signed.

However, it does show that JF-17 is being preferred by Argentina over the various options that have been under consideration.

Proposes $664m allocation in its budget for the purpose

Argentina has been considering this purchase since last year after Britain blocked its previous attempts to procure aircraft from other sources. The UK has been maintaining the embargo on Argen­tina since the Falklands War in 1982.

Buenos Aires has since 2015 tried to purchase fighter jets from Sweden and South Korea, but both sellers backed down because of British pressure.

Argentina had in 2015 tried to acquire Swedish JAS 39 Gripen fighter jets. Later, it remained interested in South Korean FA-50 Fighting Eagle.

KABUL, 20 September 2021, (TON): The Taliban spokesman said on Twitter “Deputy Foreign Minister of Afghanistan Sher M Abbas and his delegation met with the head of the International Union of Religious Scholars (IURS) Dr Ahmad Raisoni at his office.”

Suhail Shaheen said that General Secretary IURS Dr Ali Qara Daghi and other members of the organisation was part of the visiting delegation.

Deputy foreign minister thanked the delegation for their message of congratulation, saying it meant recognition of IEA (Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan) on the part of the religious scholars and people of the Islamic world, he added.

Similarly, Shaheen said “Dr Raisoni pledged comprehensive cooperation with the IEA and the people of Afghanistan.”