NAIROBI, 04 September 2021, (TON): South Sudan is witnessing a “new wave of repression,” global rights group Amnesty International warned, with many activists now in hiding after a string of arrests in the conflict-wracked country.

The world’s newest nation has suffered from chronic instability since independence in 2011, with a coalition of civil society groups urging the government to step down, saying they have “had enough.”

According to rights groups “the authorities have taken a tough line against such demands in recent weeks, arresting eight activists as well as detaining three journalists and two employees of a pro-democracy non-profit.”

Deprose Muchena, Amnesty International’s regional director for East and Southern Africa, said “we are witnessing a new wave of repression emerging in South Sudan targeting the rights to freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly.”

The clampdown followed a declaration last month by the People’s Coalition for Civil Action (PCCA) calling for a peaceful public uprising.

The PCCA had urged the public to join its protest on Monday in the capital Juba but the city fell silent as the authorities branded the demonstration “illegal” and deployed heavily-armed security forces to monitor the streets for any sign of opposition.

Muchena said in a statement “peaceful protests must be facilitated rather than cracked down upon or prevented with arrests, harassment, heavy security deployment or any other punitive measures.”

The rights group noted that many activists had faced harassment since the aborted demonstration, “with some suspecting they were being surveilled by security forces.”

DAMASCUS, 04 September 2021, (TON): Lebanese officials are set to visit Damascus Saturday to discuss plans to import gas through wartorn Syria’s territory in what would mark the first official diplomatic visit during the 10-year-old conflict.

The delegation includes Finance Minister Ghazi Wazni, Energy Minister Raymond Ghajjar, General Security agency chief Abbas Ibrahim and Zeina Akar, who holds the posts of defense minister, foreign minister and deputy premier, Syria’s information ministry said in an invite sent to journalists.

The information ministry added “they will be greeted at the Syrian side of the border at 10:30am (0730 GMT) by Syrian foreign minister Faisal Mekdad.”

A source at Lebanon’s energy ministry said “the two sides will discuss plans to import natural gas via Jordan and Syria to ease Lebanon’s energy crisis.”

The source said “the aim is to revive a 2009 agreement that allowed Lebanon to import gas from Egypt through Syria.”

Lebanon has maintained diplomatic ties with Syria but it adopted a so-called policy of dissociation from the conflict since it started in 2011, which put a dampener on official dealings.

Lebanese security officials and politicians have made several visits to Syria in recent years, but almost exclusively in a personal capacity or on behalf of political parties that support President Bashar Assad’s government.

They include representatives of the powerful Iran-backed Hezbollah movement which has been battling alongside Assad’s forces in Syria since the early stages of the war.

KABUL, 04 September 2021, (TON): According to a spokesperson for the group “China will be the Taliban’s “main partner” and help rebuild Afghanistan.”

Zabihullah Mujahid said in an interview published by Italian newspaper La Repubblica “China will be our main partner and represents a great opportunity for us because it is ready to invest in our country and support reconstruction efforts.”

He said “the Taliban value China’s Belt and Road Initiative as the project will revive the ancient Silk Road.”

He said “China will also help Afghanistan fully utilise its rich copper resources and give the country a path into global markets.”

He added “the Taliban also view Russia as an important partner in the region and will maintain good relations with Moscow.

Speaking about the Kabul airport, Mujahid said the facility is fully under Taliban control but has been seriously damaged.

He told the Italian publication “Qatar and Turkey are leading efforts to resume operations at the airport.”

He said “the airport should be clean within the next three days and will be rebuilt in a short time. I hope it will be operational again in September.”

On relations with Italy, Mujahid said the Taliban hope Italy will recognize their government and reopen its embassy in Kabul.

 DHAKA, 04 September 2021, (TON): British Foreign Secretary Dominc Raab has apologized to his Bangladeshi counterpart Dr AK Abdul Momen for postponing the scheduled bilateral talks in London.

“UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab has travelled in response to the global Afghanistan crisis and he informed Bangladesh Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen to apologise. Hope to reset the meeting soon.”

A senior official of the Bangladesh High Commission in London also confirmed the postponement to this correspondent.

About the rescheduled meeting “officials of the Bangladesh High Commission in London and the British High Commission in Dhaka said that the talks would be held at a mutually convenient time.”

Foreign Minister Dr Momen and COP26 President-Designate Alok Sharma held an official bilateral talk at 9 Downing Street and discussed hosting a CVF-COP26 joint event on the sidelines of the COP26 in Glasgow in early November.

Highlighting Bangladesh's important role in the Climate Vulnerable Forum (CVF), Momen sought to have the CVF-COP26 joint event to strengthen climate cooperation between the President of COP-26 and the most climate-vulnerable countries, including Bangladesh, the current chair of CVF.

Furthermore, he proposed that the UK and Bangladesh expand their bilateral climate relations especially in transferring green technology, promoting green investment, and supporting climate mitigation projects such as building embankments to protect people from sea-level rise and river erosion.

At the meeting, Dr Momen briefed Sharma on the COP26 agenda for Bangladesh focusing particularly on loss and damage, and the proposed CVF-COP26 Leaders’ Summit under Bangladesh Presidency.

DAMASCUS, 04 September 2021, (TON): Syria is asking the United Nations Security Council to take measures to prevent a repeat of Israeli attacks on Syrian territory, the SAR Ministry said in a statement, quoted by the SANA agency.

The Syrian agency SANA reported that Israel inflicted airstrikes on the suburbs of Damascus , causing only material damage. Shortly after the airstrikes in the SAR, the Israeli media reported “the sounds of explosions that were heard in the central part of Israel,” but the sirens, warning of possible shelling, did not sound. It has not been established at this time whether these incidents are related.

The Israeli army, regarding reports of airstrikes in Syria, said it would not comment on information from foreign media.

The Syrian Foreign Ministry said in a statement “the Syrian Arab Republic, being one of the founders of the United Nations, again asks the Security Council and the United Nations General Assembly to fulfill their responsibilities within the framework of the UN Charter, the most important of which are maintaining international peace and security, condemning open Israeli aggression, bringing Israel to justice and accepting urgent and decisive measures to prevent a recurrence of aggression.”

WASHINGTON, 04 September 2021, (TON): The U.S. Treasury Department said “the US has sanctioned four Iranian intelligence operatives behind a failed plot to kidnap a US journalist and human rights activist.”

The sanctions come after US prosecutors in July charged the four with plotting to kidnap the New York-based journalist who was critical of Tehran, whom Reuters previously confirmed was Iranian-American journalist Masih Alinejad.

Iran has called the alleged plot “baseless.”

A Treasury statement said “the individuals were working as part of a wide-ranging campaign to silence critics of the Iranian government.”

Senior intelligence official Alireza Shahvaroghi Farahani led a network that plotted the kidnapping of a US journalist and human rights activist, a failed plot that led to the indictment of members of the network in late July.

The statement said “consistent with the well-documented role of the Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) in domestic repression, this operation demonstrates the pernicious role of Iran’s intelligence apparatus in targeting Iranians abroad, to include brazen attempts to return dissidents to Iran.”

DHAKA, 04 September 2021, (TON): Over 65,000 people have been stranded in the char areas of Sariakandi, Dhunat and Sonatala upazilas in Bogra as the water level of the Jamuna River continues to rise.

The water level was flowing 69cm above the danger level at Mathurapara point of Sariakandi as of 3pm on Friday.

According to the District Relief and Rehabilitation Office (DRRO), 98 villages under 14 unions of the upazila were flooded, affecting 65,380 people from 16,320 families along the Jamuna River.

Besides, 26 educational institutions and 348 hectares of croplands have also been submerged in the floodwater.

In the affected areas, 170 tons of rice have been distributed so far.

Sariakandi Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Rasel Mia said 50,800 people from 12,700 families in nine unions of the upazila had been stranded due to the flooding.

In the affected areas, 60 tons of rice have been distributed and local MP Shahdara Mannan Shilpi is also offering financial assistance and other forms of support.

Meanwhile, there has been extensive damage throughout Chaluabari, Kajla, Karnibari, Bohail, Hatsherpur, Chandanbaisha, Kamalpur, Kutubpur, and Sadar unions under Sariakandi upazila as well.

NAYPYITAW, 04 September 2021, (TON): Myanmar ethnic rebels have killed at least 23 government soldiers in days of fighting near the Chinese border, a spokesman for the group said yesterday, in the latest clashes likely to worry powerful neighbour Beijing.

The country has been in turmoil since a military coup in February, which sparked huge pro-democracy protests, a bloody crackdown and renewed fighting in ethnic border areas.

The group's spokesman and local media reports said “clashes broke out in Mongko, Shan state, on August 28 when troops tried to seize a base from the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA).”

Fifteen soldiers were killed on August 28 and eight more in renewed clashes on September 1, he said, adding one MNDAA fighter had been killed.

Media sources has not been able to verify the casualty figures.

NAYPYITAW, 04 September 2021, (TON): The Myanmar military has desecrated religious sites in Chin State in what locals say is retaliation for the growing losses sustained by the army in their fight against local resistance forces in the region.

According to a spokesperson for the anti-dictatorship Mindat People’s Administration team “three military columns have carried out attacks on villages around Mindat Township in southern Chin State since mid-August.”

During these assaults, the junta’s troops ransacked and then destroyed a church in the village of Chat on August 30, he said, as well as a Buddhist monastery near Khwee Rein village on August 24.

According to photographs seen by Myanmar Now, furniture was broken and Bibles were destroyed in the Chat village church, and the temple quarters in which the abbot was residing at the Khwee Rein monastery were also looted and left in disarray.

The people’s administration spokesperson said “they’re not even sparing the religious buildings this time. They have also burned motorbikes, destroyed houses and robbed families.”

There were no reported casualties in the attacks on the religious buildings as both the leaders and their congregants had already fled the area due to growing military tension.

Both a Buddhist monk and a Christian pastor from Chin State spoke to media on the condition of anonymity and implored the junta’s armed forces to spare their communities’ religious sites.

The priest said “one should never harm sacred places like churches or monasteries. It is really hurtful to the people who practice that religion.”

WASHINGTON, 04 September 2021, (TON): The US State Department has refused to endorse former Afghan president Ashraf Ghani’s claim that 10 to 15 thousand Pakistanis had joined the Taliban offensive on Kabul.

Instead, a senior State Department official praised Pakistan and other partners for providing critical assistance to US efforts to evacuate American troops and civilians from Afghanistan.

“I’m just not in a position to comment on that, to confirm those reports” said the department’s spokesperson Ned Price when asked to comment on Mr Ghani’s claim. The US official did not respond to another query: Whether Washington still considers Mr Ghani as Afghanistan’s legitimate ruler.

“If we have anything more, we’ll provide it,” said Mr Price when asked if he would comment on another claim that the Taliban forces now in Kabul include foreign troops.

But Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland, who also addressed this Wednesday afternoon news briefing, included Pakistan among a dozen countries who, she said, provided critical support to US evacuation efforts.

“We’re enormously grateful to the huge network of countries that have provided critical assistance for our evacuation efforts,” she said while naming Pakistan, Kuwait, Qatar, Turkey and the UAE among the countries that supported the evacuation. She also named America’s key European allies – Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and others “who have helped transit Americans and others to safety.”

She said “our close coordination with our allies and partners remains critical both on evacuation and relocation, but also as we begin to scope our ongoing relationship with the Afghan people and with the Taliban.”

The US media published excerpts from a July 23 conversation between President Joe Biden and Mr Ghani. In that telephone call, Mr. Biden urges his Afghan counterpart to empower his Defence Minister Bismillah Khan Mohammadi to combat Taliban fighters in key population centres.

Mr Ghani responds by claiming that he was “facing a full-scale invasion” by Taliban and at least 10-15,000 international terrorists, predominantly Pakistanis.

Commenting on such claims, Pakistan’s US Ambassador Asad Majeed Khan said that Pakistan’s role in Afghanistan was being mischaracterised.