TEHRAN, 10 September 2021, (TON): Russian Foreign Minister Ser-gei Lavrov and Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian discussed by phone the situation in Afghanistan and around the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action on the Iranian Nuclear Program (JCPOA).

The statement says “the focus of special attention was the situation in Afghanistan. Moscow and Tehran are interested in establishing stability in this country as an important factor in ensuring security in the region and beyond.”

Tthe Russian Foreign Mini-stry said in a statement “the telephone conversation took place on September 9 at the initiative of the Iranian side. The situation around the JCPOA was also considered on the eve of the next session of the IAEA Board of Governors.

“Restoring the nuclear deal in its original balanced configuration is the only correct way to ensure the rights and interests of all parties involved.”

The ministers “synchronized watches” on key iss-ues of the bilateral agenda in the context of the agreements reached between the presidents of Russia and Iran during a telephone co-nversation on Aug. 18, 2021.

The FM commented on Afghanistan the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, speaking about the new government of Afghanistan , said that the formation of the cabinet has not yet been completed, Moscow will f-ollow the process and advocate taking into account the interests of all ethnopolitical forces of the country.

MALE, 10 September 2021, (TON): The newly appointed Ambassador of China to the Maldives, Wang Lixin, has stated that China and the Maldives have forged an enduring relationship over the years.

Ambassador Wang had made this statement during her first official interview following her appointment as the ambassador, given by writing to Maldivian and Chinese media outlets.

In this regard, Ambassador Wang had stated that China and the Maldives have forged an enduring relationship since the establishment of diplomatic ties in 1972, setting a great example of equality and peaceful coexistence between countries of different sizes.

Noting that next year marks the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Maldives, Wang added that China would like to work with Maldives to hold various kinds of celebratory events.

Ambassador Wang also thanked the people of Maldives – for the support rendered in strengthening the China-Maldives relationship.  She also called onto explore additional avenues for further cooperation.

KATHMANDU, 10 September 2021, (TON): The operation of the Nepal-India Interstate Petroleum Pipeline has been completed for almost two years, resulting in a saving of Rs 3 billion. The pipeline reduced the cost of transportation.

Nepal Oil Corporation established the pipeline from Motihari, India to Amalekhgunj, Nepal, stretching in 79 km distance. The pipeline was established under the assistance of the Indian Oil Corporation. The petroleum product is being supplied via underground pipeline since Bhadra 2076 BS.

The NOC informed that with the implementation of the pipeline, it was able to save Rs 2.23 billion.

In this period of two years, NOC imported 1.61 billion litres of diesel. A total volume of 150,000 litres of diesel is imported daily.

NOC Executive Director Surendra Pandey said NOC was able to make this saving from the transportation cost and reduced technical loss. He further said the process was initiated with the help of the Indian Oil Corporation to import petrol and kerosene from the same pipeline.

The import of diesel via pipeline has been one of the successful G2G models.

WASHINGTON, 10 September 2021, (TON): The United States and Mexico agreed to work on making shared supply chains, especially for semiconductors, more competitive and invest in social programs to tackle migration, said top Mexican officials after high-level economic talks in Washington.

The so-called High-Level Economic Dialogue (HLED) was held for the first time in several years and the two sides also signaled they need greater cooperation to combat challenges of climate change and workers’ rights.

The two countries will create a bilateral working group on supply chains, Mexico’s government said a the statement.

The working group will aim to increase the resilience of cross border trade and manufacturing in the face of disruption as well as to attract production lines from other parts of the world.

Mexico discussed the need to “sit down with industries or companies and be able to detail the components of semiconductors” to determine what parts would be manufactured in Mexico or the United States, said Mexican Economy Minister Tatiana Clouthier at a news conference in Washington.

The United States agreed to give technical support including collaborating with Mexico on “Sembrando Vida,” its forestation program to provide work and support agriculture, and “Jovenes Construyendo el Futuro,” a jobs scheme for 18-to-29-year-olds in Central America and southern Mexico aimed at offering alternatives to migration, Mexico said in its statement.

NAYPYITAW, 10 September 2021, (TON): Around 5,000 people from 15 villages in Pauk Township, Magway Region, fled their homes out of fears of military assaults following the National Unity Government’s declaration of war against the junta.

While there have been no clashes in recent days between the military and local resistance forces in Pauk Township, in mid-June junta troops burned down nearly all of the homes in one of the 15 villages in question, Kinma. Some 1,000 residents from the village have been displaced ever since.

In an official statement released days later, the military council blamed the burning of Kinma, which killed an elderly couple, on “terrorists who wanted donations” and condemned the media for spreading “false news” about the event.

A member of a Pauk-based resistance force told Myanmar Now that the residents of the township had been traumatised after the military terrorised Kinma and Wun Chone and were trying to avoid experiencing that again.

“Some have already brought their stuff into the forests and some are already spending the night there. The villages are all essentially empty now,” the guerrilla group member said, estimating that one-third of the area’s total population of 15,000 was in hiding.

He told media “They are all prepared to run as soon as the military arrives. They’re all scared of getting robbed, so they’ve taken all their valuable items and clothes.”

DHAKA, 10 September 2021, (TON): The government has appointed Khondker M Talha, currently serving as the director general of East Asia and Pacific Wing at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA), as the next Ambassador of Bangladesh to France.

The MoFA said “Talha is a career foreign service officer of the 15th batch of Bangladesh Civil Service (BCS) Foreign Affairs Cadre.”

 In his overseas assignments, he served at Bangladesh permanent missions to the UN in New York and Geneva where he was elected to the bureau of a number of UN and international organizations.

 He was also posted to Bangladesh missions in Tehran and London.

 In his earlier stints at the headquarters, he served as the Chief of Protocol and also worked at South Asia and Multilateral Economic Affairs wings in various capacities.

DHAKA, 10 September 2021, (TON): Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen said “Bangladesh will decide its policy towards Afghanistan independently after observing the situation and their attitude but no terrorists will be patronised.”

"We have zero tolerance we will in no way patronise terrorists," he told reporters referring to the involvement of some Bangladeshis in Afghanistan during the previous Taliban government rule.

Dr Momen said “he was asked whether Bangladesh will follow the policy of India or Pakistan but he made it clear that the decision of Bangladesh is not linked with the decision of any other country.”

While briefing journalists at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, he said “Bangladesh has a historic relationship with Afghanistan and is observing the situation in the Saarc member country.”

NAYPYITAW, 10 September 2021, (TON): Resistance fighters in Sagaing Region’s Myaung Township have said they killed 12 junta soldiers and captured three police officers on Wednesday, while 10 more troops were killed the next day as they travelled to Myaung as reinforcements.

The fighting started in Myit Son village at around 10am, when members of the local chapter of the People’s Defence Force (PDF), which calls itself the Civilian Defence and Security Organisation of Myaung, came under heavy artillery fire.

The PDF fighters fled the village along with its residents and junta soldiers took over. The fighters then launched attacks on the occupying soldiers throughout the afternoon, killing nine, according to a statement by the Myaung PDF.  

A PDF member told Myanmar Now “later that day, PDF fighters raided a police station in the nearby village of Kyauk Yit. Several officers fled with their weapons but three, including the station chief, surrendered and are now being detained in a safe place.”

DHAKA, 10 September 2021, (TON): The US has given 20 vessels to Bangladesh to help increase the country's capacity to monitor, patrol and respond to threats within Bangladesh's coastal waters and Economic Exclusive Zone.

US Ambassador Earl Miller handed over the vessels to Bangladesh Navy and Bangladesh Coast Guard in a virtual ceremony with Bangladesh Assistant Chief of Naval Staff for Operations Rear Admiral M Ashraful Haq and Rear Admiral Ashraf Hoq Chowdhury, director general of the Bangladesh Coast Guard, in a virtual event yesterday.

According to a statement of the US embassy in Dhaka “the event marked the formal handover of ten 38-foot (11-metre) Defiant Class Metal Shark Boats and ten 25-foot (8-metre) Defender Class Boats to the Bangladesh Navy and Bangladesh Coast Guard following a request from the Bangladesh government.”

It said “the 20 boats will significantly improve the maritime interdiction and counterterrorism capabilities of the Bangladesh Coast Guard and Bangladesh Navy's Special Operations Force Special Warfare Dive and Salvage Unit.”

The US and Bangladesh will conduct joint exercises in the coming months to train Bangladesh Navy and Coast Guard sailors to utilize this important new law enforcement and counterterrorism tool.

ADDIS ABABA, 9 September 2021, (TON): Doctors said “Rebels from Ethiopia's war-hit Tigray killed at least 125 residents of a village in the neighbouring Amhara region earlier this month before being driven out by pro-government forces.”

Mulugeta Melesa, head of the hospital in nearby Dabat town, told media "there were 125 dead in Chenna village, I saw the mass grave myself."

He said residents were "still searching for dead bodies around the area and counting is still going on."

Northern Ethiopia has been wracked by conflict since November when Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed sent troops into Tigray to topple the regional ruling party, the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), a move he said was in response to TPLF attacks on army camps.

Though the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize winner vowed a swift victory, fighting has dragged on for months, with myriad reports of massacres and other rights abuses.

In June, in a stunning turnaround in the conflict,the TPLF retook Tigray's capital Mekele and federal forces largely withdrew.

Since then the TPLF has launched offensives into neighbouring Amhara and Afar regions, displacing hundreds of thousands of people and triggering allegations of summary executions and indiscriminate shelling.