MALE, 25 August 2021, (TON): Foreign Minister Abdulla Shahid is set to depart to Japan for an official visit in his capacity as the President-elect of the 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly.

Minister Shahid is making the trip upon the invitation of the Government of Japan, from August 26 to August 28.

During his visit, Shahid will pay a courtesy call to the Japanese Prime Minister Suga Yoshihide and will also call on the Japanese Foreign Minister Motegi Toshimitsu.

The visit is expected to provide an opportunity for Minister Shahid to hold close consultations on enhancing cooperation within the auspices of the United Nations General Assembly.

NAYPYITAW, 25 August 2021, (TON): The armed rebel group has said “dozens of junta soldiers have been killed and hundreds of civilians have fled their homes during clashes between the Myanmar military and the Karen National Union (KNU) so far in August.”

Six of the seven regions controlled by the KNU have seen continued fighting in recent weeks between the junta’s forces and the KNU’s armed wing, the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA).

The clashes have been most intense in Hpapun district, also known as Mutraw, in Karen State, which is controlled by the KNLA’s Brigade 5. At least 50 junta troops have been killed there this month, according to Thoolei News, a publication of the KNU’s information department.

The outlet said “the junta-backed Border Guard Force (BGF) provided reinforcements for the Myanmar military during those clashes. Last month around 65 junta soldiers were reported killed in fighting in Hpapun.

Junta troops have also launched offensives in Dooplaya district against the KNLA’s Brigade 6 this month, as well as Hpa-an district, where Brigade 7 is active.

Padoh Saw Taw Nee, the head of the KNU’s foreign affairs department, warned that more clashes would be unavoidable if the junta’s troops continued to invade the group’s territory.

ATHENS, 25 August 2021, (TON): Scores of firefighters backed by water-dropping aircraft battled a forest fire that broke out early yesterday on the southern part of Greece's Evia island, less than two weeks after an inferno decimated its northern part.

The fire was burning near the village of Fygia where two neighbourhoods have been evacuated and was moving toward the coastal tourist village of Marmari, where authorities were preparing boats to evacuate people if needed.

The Greek fire brigade said “forty-six firefighters were battling flames fanned by high winds assisted by 20 fire engines, three water-dropping airplanes and two helicopters.”

Authorities have boats on standby off Marmari. Evia is northeast of the capital Athens.

The civil protection authorities had announced on Sunday a "very high risk" of fire for many areas of Greece yesterday.

Wildfires since July have ravaged the islands of Evia and Rhodes as well as forests to the north and southeast of Athens, and parts of the Peloponnese peninsula. Three people have died as a result of the fires.

WASHINGTON, 25 August 2021, (TON): The White House said that President Joe Biden told G7 leaders that the United States is on pace to complete the U.S. pullout from Afghanistan by Aug. 31 depending on cooperation from the Taliban.

Biden sent thousands of U.S. troops to the Kabul airport after the Taliban militant group took over the city and much of the country less than two weeks ago.

The nearly 6,000 U.S. troops are helping to evacuate American citizens and at-risk Afghans and to protect the airport so other countries can evacuate their citizens as well.

U.S. officials said “the Pentagon made the recommendation that Biden stick to his Aug. 31 target date on Monday.”

"During a meeting with the G7 leaders, the President conveyed that our mission in Kabul will end based on the achievement of our objectives. He confirmed we are currently on pace to finish by August 31st," White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said in a statement.

DHAKA, 25 August 2021, (TON): President M Abdul Hamid has asked the new Bangladesh ambassador to South Korea to work for the development of bilateral relations, including increasing Korean investment in various fields, including agro-processing and IT sectors.

President’s Press Secretary Md Joynal Abedin said “the president came up with the directives as the newly-appointed ambassador to South Korea Muhammad Delwar Hossain met with him at the Bangabhaban.”

During the meeting, President Hamid said “Bangladesh's trade and investment relations with South Korea are very good.”

The head of the state asked the ambassador to increase the existing bilateral ties in different issues.

DHAKA, 25 August 2021, (TON): Around 300-metre of the same road was eroded by flood last year

As the water levels of Jamuna and Brahmaputra rivers continue to rise, erosion has started in Jamalpur’s Dewanganj upazila.

Around 200-metre of Dewanganj-Kholabari road in Mandalbazar area of the upazila has been washed away in the last 24 hours till Monday night, cutting off the communication between Dewanganj Sadar and at least 20 villages.

Confirming the matter, Md Mamtaz Uddin Ahmed, chairman of Chikajani Union of the upazila, said they have provided local people boats and light vehicles to cross the 200-metre, where the road has been washed away.

According to the locals “around 300-metre of the same road was eroded by flood last year and potholes were also created in several other parts.”

However, hundreds of vehicles and thousands of people from 20 villages have no alternative, but to use the road, which has potholes at several points.    

NAYPYITAW, 25 August 2021, (TON): According to local sources “one 21-year-old man was killed and four others were arrested during a police raid on a home in the village of Hintha in Magwe Region’s Yesagyo Township.”

An eyewitness said “the police who carried out the raid came to the village in an ambulance afternoon.”

Nine civilians were present in the house that was targeted in the assault, four men, two women, and three children, including one teenager. 

According to the eyewitness “one of the men, Chit Ye Yint, was shot in the forearm and died on the way to the hospital. The three other men and one teenaged boy were taken into junta custody.”

Paing Soe Oo is the owner of the house and is believed to have participated in anti-coup activities and protests, according to villagers, although the reason for the raid was not confirmed.

A second villager said “the ambulance came in first and a pick-up truck was behind it. The guys were minding their own business and were unarmed.”

They surrounded the house and opened fire. One of the guys was startled by the gunfire and tried to flee through a window. The police shot him.

DHAKA, 25 August 2021, (TON): Seventy-four Rohingyas, who managed to flee from camps in Cox's Bazar, were arrested in Chattogram's Boalkhali upazila.

Abdul Karim, officer-in-charge of Boalkhali Police Station, said “acting on a tip-off, police raided Karoldanga area of the upazila around 5:30am and held them.”

The OC added “fleeing from the camps in Cox's Bazar's Ukhiya, they went to Boalkhali and started work at a lemon orchard as labourers.

A case was filed against the arrestees, the police official said.

Fleeing from Rohingya camps in Teknaf and Ukhiya of Cox's Bazar, Rohingyas have been found hiding their identities and working as labourers in Satkania, Lohagora, Patiya and Boalkhali upazilas. Police on different times arrested and rescued a number of Rohingyas.

KABUL, 24 August 2021, (TON): A spokesman said “Taliban forces have recaptured three districts in northern Afghanistan that fell to local militia groups last week.”

The districts of Bano, Deh Saleh and Pul-e-Hesar in Baghlan province were taken by local militia groups in one of the first signs of armed resistance to the Taliban since their seizure of the capital Kabul on August 15.

According to the Twitter account of spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid “by Monday, Taliban forces had cleared the districts and were established in Badakhshan, Takhar and Andarab near the Panjshir valley.”

Forces loyal to Ahmad Massoud, son of the anti-Soviet Mujahideen commander Ahmad Shah Massoud, have established themselves in the Panjshir valley, a mountainous area northwest of Kabul which resisted the Taliban before 2001.

Massoud, whose forces include remnants of regular army and special forces units, has called for negotiations to form an inclusive government for Afghanistan but has promised to resist if Taliban forces try to enter the valley.

The Taliban's Alemarah information service said “hundreds of fighters were heading towards Panjshir but there has been no immediate confirmation of any fighting.”

ADDIS ABABA, 24 August 2021, (TON): The United States Department of the Treasury sanctioned an Eritrean official it accused of engaging in serious human rights abuses committed during the ongoing conflict in Ethiopia’s Tigray region.

It said in a statement “the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is blacklisting General Filipos Woldeyohannes, the chief of staff of the Eritrean Defense Forces (EDF).”

The Treasury accuses EDF troops of massacres, looting, rape, torture, executions and purposely shooting civilians in the street.

Director of the Office of Foreign Assets Control Andrea M Gacki said in a press release “today’s action demonstrates the United States’ commitment to imposing costs on those responsible for these despicable acts, which worsen a conflict that has led to tremendous suffering by Ethiopians.”

She added “we urge Eritrea to immediately and permanently withdraw its forces from Ethiopia, and urge the parties to the conflict to begin ceasefire negotiations and end human rights abuses.”

Brkti Gebrehiwot, a 20-year-old woman from Agulae, a town previously occupied by Eritrean troops, tries to feed her 20-month-old son Aamanuel Merhawi, who suffers from severe acute malnutrition at Wukro hospital in Wukro, Tigray region, Ethiopia [FIle: Giulia Paravicini/Reuters]

An estimated five million people are in need of humanitarian aid and more than 400,000 people are experiencing famine conditions due to the conflict in Ethiopia’s Tigray region, the Treasury said in the statement.