GAZA, 14 September 2021, (TON): Local sources said that Israeli warplanes carried out airstrikes on three separate areas in the blockaded Gaza Strip.

According to sources “Israel attacked Rafah, Khan Yunis and Beit Lahia in southern Gaza.”

The Israeli Defense Forces announced later on Twitter  “we struck 4 Hamas compounds used for military training, a weapons workshop & an entrance to an underground terrorist tunnel.”

There have been no reports of casualties.

LONDON, 14 September 2021, (TON): This came during a phone call between British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab and Iran’s new Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian.

Raab wrote on Twitter “held my first call with new Iran Foreign Minister @Amirabdolahian today.”

“We discussed our shared interest in a stable Afghanistan. I called on Iran to release all arbitrarily detained British Nationals and to return to the JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action) talks in Vienna.”

Delegations from the JCPOA's signatories, the UK, France, Germany, Russia, and China, launched efforts in April to bring Tehran and Washington, which abandoned the deal in 2018, back into its fold.

After the June 18 election victory of Iranian President Ebrahim Raeisi, these negotiations in Vienna were suspended.

MALE, 14 September 2021, (TON): Two newly appointed foreign ambassadors to the Maldives have presented their credentials to President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih.

András László Király, the newly appointed Ambassador of Hungary to the Maldives, presented his credentials to President Solih at a ceremony at the President’s Office.

A meeting between the two was held following the credentials ceremony at which President Solih welcomed Ambassador Király to the Maldives and congratulated him on the commencement of his term.

During the meeting, President Solih highlighted the positive strides made by the Maldives and Hungary to in fostering bilateral tires over the years.

President Solih also extended his gratitude to the Hungarian Government for supporting the Maldives’ candidature during the 76th Nations General Assembly (UNGA) elections, held in June.

Following this, the two discussed exploring new avenues of cooperation in higher education, to which Ambassador Király pledged his commitment to expanding cooperation in the field, detailing that the Hungarian Government is working to provide fully-funded scholarship opportunities to Maldivian students.

Ambassador Király also expressed interest to assist in food security, tourism and water management. He also added that Hungary wishes to explore mutually beneficial investment opportunities in the Maldives.

Dr. Hugo Javier Gobbi, the newly appointed Ambassador of Argentina to the Maldives, presented his credentials to President Solih at a ceremony held this afternoon at the President’s Office.

A meeting between the two was held following the credentials ceremony at which President Solih welcomed Ambassador Gobbi to the Maldives and congratulated him on the commencement of his term. He also thanked the Argentinian Government for supporting the Maldives’ candidature during the 76th Nations General Assembly (UNGA) elections, held in June.

DHAKA, 14 September 2021, (TON): In an interview Humayun Kabir Bhuiyan, outgoing European Union Ambassador to Bangladesh Rensje Teerink discussed various issues, including trade, investment and the Rohingya.

As your tenure ends, how do you describe the current bilateral relationship between Bangladesh and the European Union? How could it be further enhanced?

My tenure here in an official capacity ends though my engagement with Bangladesh will continue. I will go back to Brussels to continue working on regional matters related to Asia.

I hope that Bangladesh will play a prominent role in the wider geopolitical agenda that the EU is embarking on with countries in the Indo-Pacific. In that sense, I think you could say I could be an ambassador for Bangladesh in Brussels.

The European Union has been a steadfast development partner of Bangladesh since 1973 and is proud to have been associated with this country’s socio-economic development.

In 2001, a cooperation agreement was signed which extends to trade, economic and development cooperation, human rights, good governance, and the environment. European bilateral development aid to Bangladesh for 2014-2020 amounts to €655,000,000.

NAYPYITAW, 14 September 2021, (TON): Resistance fighters in Chin State teamed up with rebels from the Chin National Army (CNA) last week to overrun a military outpost near Myanmar’s border with India, killing 12 junta soldiers in the attack.

A CDF spokesperson said “about 200 fighters from the CNA and the Chinland Defence Force (CDF), which was formed by civilians who took up arms after the February coup, raided the outpost in Lungler village, Thantlang Township.”

But the military sent a fighter jet to bombard the newly occupied base, forcing the fighters to retreat. The coalition then gathered more fighters and attacked the base again the following evening with a force of around 400.

“We decided to attack the base again at night so that there wouldn’t be an air raid,” the spokesperson said. The battle lasted for around 90 minutes, he added. “We managed to occupy the base by 10pm.”

The coalition suffered eight injuries but no deaths, according to the spokesperson, who added that the fighters seized weapons and ammunition from the outpost before burning it down.

The attack came after the CDF ambushed junta soldiers who were inspecting houses and harassing civilians in Thantlang on Thursday. The CDF said it killed two junta soldiers in that attack.

NAYPYITAW, 14 September 2021, (TON): According to local sources “regime forces burned down an entire village in Sagaing Region’s Myaung Township following three days of clashes triggered by a raid on a police station.”

Residents of Kyauk Yit, located in the southern part of the township, said that soldiers shot at anyone who attempted to put out fires set by troops occupying the village of roughly 300 inhabitants.

Clashes broke out throughout the area last week after the National Unity Government (NUG) announced on September 7 that the people’s resistance war against Myanmar’s ruling military junta had begun.

According to a Kyauk Yit resident who spoke to media “most of the people living in Kyauk Yit had fled as the regime’s forces moved to take control of local villages over the weekend. Ten elderly residents who didn’t manage to escape right away were reported safe.”

The resident said “because we had already fled, we didn’t know they had started to burn down the village until we saw the smoke. They also kept firing gunshots.”

She added “no one dared to go back for those left behind because we knew we would be ambushed if we did. They got out by literally crawling out of their homes on their own.”

DHAKA, 14 September 2021, (TON): Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader yesterday said that the Indian government has assured Bangladesh that there will be no more killing along the border.

He said "there have been several meetings on border killings. The Indian government has promised that there will be no more killing along the border, they will keep their assurance."

Quader, also the road transport and bridges minister, came up with the remarks while speaking at a press briefing at his residence in the capital.

He also said “the independence and sovereignty of the country is safe only in the hands of Awami League.”

The minister said though BNP leaders now talk about the border killing issue, but they try to keep alive this problem for their political gains.

NAYPYITAW, 14 September 2021, (TON): , several residents have told media “soldiers torched 27 houses and killed two people during an assault on a Magway Region village that began early morning.”

The raid on Htei Hlaw, which is in Gangaw Township, began at around 4am, shortly after junta troops clashed with members of the local People’s Defence Force (PDF) in the village.

Junta soldiers injured three PDF fighters and killed another, locals said. Then at around 6am the soldiers began setting fire to houses, they added.

One Htei Law local “​​we can still see a lot of smoke coming from the village,”. Most of the village’s roughly 1,000 residents have fled and are now sheltering in the surrounding area.

“The losses are immeasurable,” the local added. “We had to leave all our belongings in our houses. We barely made it out alive, all our belongings were consumed by the fire.”

One man, 55-year-old Ba Win, refused to flee with the others and was shot in the head, a second Htei Hlaw resident said.

He “he got his brains blown out by the soldiers. He’s just a regular villager. He didn’t even do anything.”

Junta troops occupied the village until around 3pm. When some villagers returned to assess the situation afterwards, they found their livestock had been killed.

KABUL, 13 September 2021 (TON): Taliban's new Higher Education minister said “women in Afghanistan will be allowed to study in universities as the country seeks to rebuild after decades of war but gender-segregation and Islamic dress code will be mandatory.”

The minister, Abdul Baqi Haqqani, said that the new Taliban government, named last week, would "start building the country on what exists today" and did not want to turn the clock back 20 years to when the movement was last in power.

He said “female students would be taught by women wherever possible and classrooms would remain separated, in accordance with the movement's interpretation of Islamic Sharia law.”

He told a news conference in Kabul "thanks to God we have a high number of women teachers. We will not face any problems in this. All efforts will be made to find and provide women teachers for female students."

MADRID, 13 September 2021, (TON): Around 2,000 people have left their homes after wildfires broke out in the southern Spanish region of Andalusia.

One emergency worker has been killed in the blaze, which began on high ground above the popular resort town of Estepona on the Costa del Sol.

The Spanish government has deployed a military unit to help firefighters in the mountainous region.

Six more towns and villages were evacuated on Sunday, and huge plumes of smoke could be seen from miles away.

Residents of five other communities were told to leave their homes on Friday.

The blaze has burned 7,400 hectares, according to Spanish media.

"This is inhuman, nothing like this has ever been seen," one evacuee, Adriana Iacob told Reuters news agency. "The flames of the fire as they ran through the mountains, it was amazing."

Another local resident, Pepa Rubio, said "since the fire started, we haven't slept for days. It's awful.”

Europe has seen a number of wildfires this summer.