KABUL, 20 September 2021, (TON): The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) warned of the negative consequences of Afghan girls not attending school and called on all relevant actors in Afghanistan to ensure girls’ schools reopen.

UNESCO’s statement comes as boys’ secondary schools reopened on Saturday, but the fate of girls’ schools remains unclear. The education ministry of the caretaker cabinet on Friday announced that male students and teachers should appear in schools but did not mention anything about girls and female teachers.

UNESCO Director General Audrey Azoulay said in a statement that if the girls’ schools continue to remain closed, it would constitute a significant violation of the fundamental right to education for girls and women.

Azoulay said “UNESCO warns about the irreversible consequences, if girls are not allowed to return to school at all levels of education swiftly. In particular, the delayed return of girls to secondary school may risk them to be left behind in education and ultimately, in life. It increases the risk of dropping out from education altogether and exposes them to negative coping mechanisms such as child marriage. It may further widen the learning disparities between boys and girls, and ultimately hinder girls’ access to higher education and life opportunities.”

Azoulay said that educated boys and girls will shape the future of Afghanistan and they should equally benefit from the rights to an education. “The future of Afghanistan depends on educated girls and boys. We therefore call upon all relevant actors in Afghanistan to ensure that all children have unhindered access to education in the framework of the announced gradual reopening of schools. The right to education for all learners, especially girls, must be upheld at this critical time.”

In the meantime, the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) has also voiced its concerns over the unclear fate of Afghan girls and their education. While welcoming the gradual reopening of schools, UNICEF chief Henrietta Fore said in a statement that “we are deeply worried that many girls may not be allowed back at this time.”

Fore said that the girls must not be left behind and she called on relevant actors to address the problem. “Girls cannot, and must not, be left behind.”

ANKARA, 20 September 2021, (TON): Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that he would meet Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly next week in New York.

The NATO members and regional rivals have been at odds over a host of maritime issues in the Mediterranean and migration.

Mitsotakis said that Turkey was an important partner in tackling any new migration challenge to Europe and needed support.

Speaking at a news conference before departing for New York, Erdogan said Turkey, which hosts some 4 million refugees, most of whom are Syrians, was “suffering the biggest burden and the heaviest downsides” of migration.

He added that Turkey would take the necessary steps if its counterparts did not.

The Turkey’s president also said his country was ready for talks with Armenia but added Yerevan needed to take steps toward opening a controversial transport link through its territory.

ABUJA, 20 September 2021, (TON): The head of a parents association said “Gunmen who kidnapped more than 100 students from a high school in northwest Nigeria months ago have released 10 more of the hostages.”

Scores of assailants stormed Bethel Baptist High School on July 5 on the outskirts of Kaduna city, abducting 121 students who were sleeping in their dorms.

The incident was part of a string of kidnappings by armed gangs known locally as bandits terrorising northwest and central Nigeria, looting, stealing cattle and seizing residents. The gangs have recently targeted schools and colleges, abducting students to squeeze ransoms from parents and authorities.

Joseph Hayab, the head of the high school’s parents association, said 10 students were freed on Saturday, as kidnappers release the hostages in batches.

He told media they had been reunited with their families.

So far 100 of the kidnapped students have been freed or escaped from their abductors.

TEHRAN, 20 September 2021, (TON): Iran’s new foreign minister leaves tomorrow on his first official trip to the United States, where he will meet counterparts from countries party to the 2015 nuclear deal but not the US.

Hossein Amir-Abdollahian will travel to New York for the United Nations General Assembly that begins Tuesday, foreign ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh tells a news conference.

He “will have separate and bilateral meetings” with the foreign ministers of China, France, Britain, Russia, and Germany, Khatibzadeh says.

He added that a meeting with US officials is “not on the agenda.”

The nuclear deal between Iran and six world powers; Britain, France, Germany, Russia, China, and the US gave Iran sanctions relief in return for tight controls on its nuclear program, monitored by the UN.

Tehran has gradually rolled back its nuclear commitments since 2019, a year after then-US president Trump withdrew from the multilateral deal and began reimposing sanctions. Talks in Vienna that began in April have stalled since June.

In August, ultraconservative Ebrahim Raisi became Iran’s new president taking over from moderate Hassan Rouhani, the principal architect on the Iranian side of the 2015 deal. Khatibzadeh says that no decision has been made yet as to whether to hold a meeting bringing together all the countries still party to the nuclear deal.

ISLAMABAD, 20 September 2021, (TON): Pakistan's armed forces, among 20 other countries, participated in the multinational exercise Bright Star 2021 at Mohamed Naguib Military Base, Egypt, said the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR).

According to the ISPR, the 20 countries that participated in the drill included Egypt, United States, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Cyprus, Iraq, Bahrain, Sudan, Morocco, Kenya, Italy, Spain, United Kingdom, Greece, Kuwait, UAE, Tunisia, Nigeria, Tanzania and France.

The military’s media wing added "Pakistan contingent comprising Army, Navy and Pak Air Force troops participated for the first time since 2009.”

The ISPR stated that the closing ceremony of the exercise was held at Mohamed Naguib Military Base. Engineer-in-Chief Lieutenant General Moazzam Ejaz attended the closing ceremony of the exercise.

It added "the two weeks long exercise was focused on the capability to counter regional hybrid threats, strengthen regional stability by fostering combined force interoperability, joint force integration and enhance maritime security operations.”

ISLAMABAD, 20 September 2021, (TON): Pakistan started dispatching humanitarian aid to Afghanistan through land route and sent 13 truckloads of fresh consignment of humanitarian assistance to the war-torn country through Torkham border crossing.

The consignment weighing tonnes consisted of food items including flour, sugar, cooking oil, pulses and rice.

Another four trucks of humanitarian assistance would also be crossing through Torkham soon.

Pakistan’s Consul General in Jalalabad Abidullah received the consignment at Torkham from Pak-Afghan Cooperation Forum. These humanitarian goods will be dispatched for distribution among needy people in various Afghan provinces.

Pakistan is in the forefront of countries providing relief assistance to Afghanistan to meet the current challenges.

Earlier, Pakistan dispatched four C-130 loaded with food and medicines to Kabul, Kandahar, Khost and Mazar-e-Sharif.

These supplies along with the additional items such as blankets and tents to help people meet the needs of upcoming winter season will be continued in the coming weeks.

NEW DELHI, 20 September 2021, (TON): Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has questioned the "acceptability" of the Taliban rule in Afghanistan, saying it is not "inclusive".

Addressing virtually the outreach session of Shanghai Cooperation Organization Summit on Afghanistan in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, last night, Modi, without naming the Taliban, said "the transition of power in Afghanistan is not inclusive and it has happened without negotiation."

He also urged the international community not to rush into recognising the "new system" in that country, reports our New Delhi correspondent.

He added "this raises questions about the acceptability of the new system.”

For the first time since the capture of power by the Taliban, Modi mentioned four parameters on which a collective decision by the global community on recognition of the Taliban should be based on.

The representation of all sections of Afghan society, including women and minorities, is important, the Indian PM said.

He said "and therefore, it is necessary that the decision on recognition of such a new system is taken by the global community collectively and after due thought.”

WASHINGTON, 20 September 2021, (TON): The United States and the European Union called on more nations to join a pledge to slash methane gas emissions and cut warming by at least 0.2 degrees Celsius by 2050.

The initiative unveiled by President Joe Biden, means countries would commit to a collective goal of reducing emissions of the powerful greenhouse gas by at least 30 percent from 2020 levels by 2030.

“Important step taken with President Biden towards a Global Methane Pledge,” European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen wrote on Twitter.

“We will reach out to global partners to bring as many as possible on board for tackling methane emissions.” A joint statement from the EU and US said that Argentina, Ghana, Indonesia, Iraq, Mexico, and the United Kingdom had “already indicated their support” for the pledge.

The initiative is set to be formally launched at the major COP26 summit organised by the United Nations in Glasgow, Scotland in November. “Methane is a potent greenhouse gas and, according to the latest report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, accounts for about half of the 1.0 degrees Celsius net rise in global average temperature since the pre-industrial era,” the statement said.

MOSCOW, 20 September 2021, (TON): Russian President Vladimir Putin's party was set to retain a majority in parliament on the last day of three-day elections in which most Kremlin critics were barred from the ballot.

The vote comes in the wake of an unprecedented crackdown on the opposition this year, with Russian authorities jailing Putin's best-known domestic foe Alexei Navalny and banning his organisations as "extremist".

In the lead-up to this weekend's vote, all of his top allies were arrested or had fled the country, with anyone associated with his groups kept from running in the parliamentary and local polls scheduled to close at 8:00 pm Sunday.

"These essentially aren't elections. People in effect have no choice," 43-year-old businessman Vladimir Zakharov told media in Russia's second city Saint Petersburg.

The elections were also marred by claims of censorship and rampant ballot stuffing.

As voting kicked off on Friday, Apple and Google caused an uproar among Russia's opposition after they removed Navalny's "Smart Voting" app, which showed supporters which candidate they should back to unseat Kremlin-aligned politicians.

NAYPYITAW, 20 September 2021, (TON): The military and media said that Myanmar anti-junta dissidents have carried out a bomb attack on security forces near Yangon, with several killed in an ensuing firefight.

The Southeast Asian nation has been in turmoil since the military toppled Aung San Suu Kyi's elected government in February, sparking mass pro-democracy protests and a bloody crackdown by the military.

Various townships across Myanmar have formed so-called "people defence forces" to fight back against the junta, although the majority of clashes have been reported in rural areas.

The junta said in a statement “security forces were travelling through Khayan, a suburb of Myanmar's commercial hub Yangon on Friday when they were attacked with a homemade bomb.”

"Both groups fired back and forth -- a member of the security forces was injured," the statement said, adding that firearms and ammunition were confiscated after the clash.

"Some fighters were killed, one of them was wounded."