MALE, 23 August 2021, (TON): Spokesperson of the President’s Office Mabrook Azeez has stated that President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih welcomes the effort to inquire about the public’s opinion regarding the governance system in the Maldives, in reference to the petition started calling for a constitutional referendum to switch from a presidential system to a parliamentary system.

With Maldivian Democratic Party’s (MDP) Leader Mohamed Nasheed spearheading, a group of MDP members began collecting signatures for a petition which calls for a constitutional referendum to switch from a presidential system to a parliamentary system.

When asked regarding President Solih’s view on the matter by media, Spokesperson Mabrook had stated that the President’s view on the parliamentary system has still not changed.

Mabrook had said “it is not such a big deal to inquire whether this is something that the public wants. Whether this is a public concern. Prior to this, President Solih has stated that this is the only way that the governing system can be changed. The petition was started in order to find out whether the public really wants it. So, the petition is welcomed.”

Noting that President Solih had previously stated that the governance system can only be changed through a constitutional referendum and his view has not changed.

Mabrooq also stressed that the President’s only concern right now is to fulfill the electoral pledges made by him.

MADRID, 23 August 2021, (TON): The Spanish government said that U.S. President Joe Biden and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez agreed two military bases in southern Spain can be used to receive Afghans who have worked for the U.S. government.”

In a 25-minute telephone conversation, Biden and Sanchez agreed Moron de la Frontera near Seville and Rota near Cadiz can be used for refugees from Afghanistan until their travel to other countries is arranged.

The Spanish government said in a statement “Pedro Sanchez and Joe Biden agreed the use of the bases of Moron and Rota to host Afghans who worked with the U.S. while in transit to other countries.”

Sanchez tweeted “I have just had a meaningful conversation with President Joe Biden in which we have addressed several topics of common interest, particularly the situation in Afghanistan and the collaboration between our governments in the evacuation of citizens from that country.”

A plane carrying 110 Afghan refugees and their families arrived at a Spain-based European Union hub at a military base outside Madrid on Saturday night, including 36 people who had worked for the U.S. administration in Afghanistan.

MALE, 23 August 2021, (TON): Following the expiration of the former Ambassador of China to Maldives Zhang Lizhong’s tenure in last April, China has appointed a new Ambassador, Wang Lixin.

Via a tweet, newly appointed Ambassador Wang confirmed that she had already arrived in the Maldives and expressed her willingness to work alongside the government and people of Maldives to further strengthen the bilateral tried between Maldives and China.

Communications Director at Foreign Ministry Miuvaan Ahmed confirmed that Ambassador Wang had arrived in the Maldives last night.

However, noted that a date has not yet been set for her to present her credentials to the President.

KATHMANDU, 23 August 2021, (TON): 34 houses at Keurani, Melamchi Municipality-8, are at risk of landslide due to incessant rainfall. It is said that 27 houses at Khaire and seven houses at Chhayali are in peril due to this.

The settlements at Khaire are endangered as landslide has started recurring at spots where it had taken place last year, said Kanchhaman Dong, a local.

He added that the locals are in constant fear after the landslide started taking place.

He complained that the local ward engineers did not pay attention although they were informed of this risk again and again.

Municipality's Ward No 8 chairperson Thakraj Giri called for making arrangements for temporary shelters for the locals whose houses are at risk. He said the District Disaster Management Committee as well as the experts have been informed of this risk and urged to assess the risk, but it has not yet been done.

WASHINGTON, 23 August 2021, (TON): The foreign ministry said “Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong met with U.S. special representative for North Korea, Sung Kim, and discussed ways to reactivate the stalled Korean Peninsula peace process at an early date.”

The ministry did not provide further details of the meeting that took place at Chung’s residence.

Kim arrived in Seoul on Saturday for talks with his South Korean and Russian counterparts as they seek North Korea’s return to dialogue amid renewed tensions over the ongoing military exercise between Seoul and Washington.

Kim told reporters upon arrival at Incheon International Airport “I’m looking forward to very close consultations with our Korean government colleagues.”

WASHINGTON, 23 August 2021, (TON):  The Pentagon will prepare recommendations for President Joe Biden on the issue of extending the evacuation from Afghanistan after August 31 closer to that date.

This was announced on Sunday by US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin in an interview with media.

He said in response to a related question “we will continue to assess the situation and will work hard to take out as many people as possible. As we approach this date, we will prepare recommendations for the president.”

At the same time, Austin avoided answering the question whether all American citizens and the Afghans collaborating with them would be removed from Afghanistan. Instead, he reiterated that the US military is making every effort to achieve this goal.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said that nobody predicted the Afghan government “would fall in 11 days.”

Austin said “it was very difficult to predict with accuracy. This all occurred in a span of about 11 days. Nobody predicted that, you know, the government would fall in 11 days.”

Austin said that assessments he reviewed prior to the insurgent group’s takeover estimated it could be several months or one to two years before the Afghan government fell.

KABUL, 23 August 2021, (TON): A panicked crush of people trying to enter Kabul’s international airport killed seven Afghan civilians in the crowds, the British military said, showing the danger still posed to those trying to flee the Taliban’s takeover of the country.

On Sunday, the British military acknowledged the deaths of seven civilians in the crowds in Kabul. There have been stampedes and crushing injuries in the crowds, especially as Taliban fighters fire into the air to drive away those desperate to get on any flight out of the country.

The defence ministry said in a statement “conditions on the ground remain extremely challenging but we are doing everything we can to manage the situation as safely and securely as possible.”

Thousands rushed the airport last Monday in the chaos that saw the US try to clear off the runway with low-flying attack helicopters. Several Afghans plunged to their deaths while hanging off the side of a US military cargo plane. It’s been difficult to know the full scale of the deaths and injuries from the chaos.

The Biden administration is considering calling on US commercial airlines to provide planes and crews to assist in transporting Afghan refugees once they are evacuated from their country by military aircraft.

ISLAMABAD, 23 August 2021, (TON): The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), said in a statement that a captain of the Pakistan Army was martyred while two other soldiers got injured as their vehicle struck an improvised explosive device (IED) in Tobo, Balochistan.

the military's media wing stated "Security Forces vehicle struck an IED planted by terrorists in Tobo, Gichik Balochistan. Resultantly Capt Kashif embraced shahadat while 2 soldiers got injured."

The communique further added that "Injured soldiers have been evacuated to medical facility at Khuzdar."

Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa, among other senior military officials, people from various walks of life and relatives of the martyr offered his funeral prayer in Rawalpindi later in the day.

Captain Kashif Shaheed was buried will full military honour, the ISPR said in a separate statement.

Separately, the military's media wing said that a terrorist was killed in an intelligence-based operation (IBO) in the Boya area of North Waziristan.

NEW DELHI, 23 August 2021, (TON): Government sources said that India has been allowed to operate two flights per day from Kabul to evacuate its nationals stranded in Afghanistan.

The permission has been granted by the American and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) forces which have been controlling operations of the Hamid Karzai International Airport after the Afghan capital fell to the Taliban on August 15.

Government sources said “two Indian aircraft would be permitted to operate from the Kabul airport which is under the control of American security forces.”

A total of 25 flights are being operated by them as they, at present, focusing on evacuating their citizens, weaponry and equipment.

More than 300 Indian nationals have to be taken out of Kabul which is now under the Taliban's control. India is airlifting its citizens through Dushanbe in Tajikistan and Qatar.

A flight of Air India is expected to land in India shortly with around 90 passengers. The Indian passengers were apparently taken out from Kabul in a C130J aircraft.

The first aircraft of India was allowed to operate from Kabul after National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval interacted with his US counterpart Jake Sullivan to facilitate the movement of Indian officials inside the American security zone at the airport.

KABUL, 23 August 2021, (TON): Hezb-e-Islami chief Gulbuddin Hekmatyar has urged India to refrain from interfering in the internal matters of Afghanistan and appreciated the efforts of Pakistan for conflict resolution in the war-torn country.

Hikmatyar said while speaking to the Pakistani media in Kabul “India should focus on its internal issues instead of issuing statements regarding the future of Afghanistan.”

He also called upon New Delhi to play a positive role to establish peace in Afghanistan.

Hezb-e-Islami chief Gulbuddin Hekmatyar has urged India to refrain from interfering in the internal matters of Afghanistan and appreciated the efforts of Pakistan for conflict resolution in the war-torn country.

He said “India should focus on its internal issues instead of issuing statements regarding the future of Afghanistan.”

He also called upon New Delhi to play a positive role to establish peace in Afghanistan.

The former prime minister of Afghanistan said “the Indian government should not fight Kashmir war from Afghan soil.

He maintained “New Delhi should respect sovereignty of Afghanistan.”

Hekmatyar was appreciative of the efforts of Prime Minister Imran Khan as well for his stance on a peaceful and negotiated settlement of Afghan issue.