DAMASCUS, 11 July 2021, (TON):  A vital border crossing between Syria and Turkey has been kept open thanks to Washington and Moscow forging an agreement to pass a resolution at the UN Security Council (UNSC), the deputy to the US ambassador to the UN told a press briefing attended by Arab News on Saturday.

He added that Jeffrey Prescott said keeping the border crossing open will save lives and deliver critical food and medicine, especially vaccines, to internally displaced Syrians. The US had initially expected Russia to veto the resolution.

Prescott described the passing of the resolution as a critical starting point that the US and others will have to build on in the months ahead in order to expand humanitarian assistance to the Syrian people.

The UNSC voted unanimously on Friday to extend its authorization to keep the Bab Al-Hawa border crossing open for humanitarian aid to the Syrian people for another year in two six-month intervals.

The UN said the resolution applies “only to Bab Al-Hawa, not to several other crossing points whose use was previously curtailed by the council.”

DHAKA, 11 July 2021, (TON): White House said in a statement that US President Joe Biden has chosen Peter D Haas as the next US ambassador to Bangladesh.

The veteran diplomat and trade policy expert will replace the current envoy, Earl R Miller, who had joined the embassy in Dhaka on November 13, 2018.

“Peter Haas [is the president’s] nominee for Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to [the] People’s Republic of Bangladesh” according to the White House statement.

The statement noted that Haas, a career member of the US Senior Foreign Service who holds the class of Minister-Counselor, currently serves as the acting assistant secretary of state and principal deputy assistant secretary for economic and business affairs for the State Department.

Previously, he was the senior advisor/deputy assistant secretary for trade policy and negotiations for the State Department and prior to that he served as the deputy permanent representative to the US Mission to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in Paris, France.

Statement said “throughout his career, Haas has also served in positions across five geographic bureaus of the State Department, including as the consul general of the US Consulate General in Mumbai, India.

DHAKA, 11 July 2021, (TON): The government is working with its utmost importance to remove the existing barriers in the export of fruits and vegetables to the developed countries, Agriculture Minister Muhammad Abdur Razzaque said.

He said "we want to export agricultural products not only in the Middle East but also in the key markets of the developed countries including Europe and Japan."

Razzaque said “therefore, work has already started to implement the Good Agricultural Practice Policy (GAP) in the country to remove the export barriers.”

The agriculture minister was speaking at a view exchange meeting after inspecting Bangladesh Agriculture Development Corporation (BADC)'s cold storage, built to facilitate the export of agriculture products, at the Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka.

He said "the country did not have an accredited lab of international standard, we have set it up. From there the certification has started. Work is underway to set up a vacuum heat treatment plant for mango export.”

SANA'A, 11 July 2021, (TON): A top Houthi battlefield commander was killed on Saturday as new fighting raged between Yemeni government troops and Iran-backed forces in the provinces of Al-Bayda, Marib and Jouf.

Abu Yahya Al-Hanemi died in a fierce five-hour battle for Al-Zaher district, south of the central Al-Bayda province.

The Houthis mounted counterattacks on army troops and allied tribesmen in Al-Bayda, where loyalists scored major advances over the last seven days. Yemen’s Defense Ministry said that the rebel forces suffered heavy casualties and lost military equipment in the battle for Al-Zaher.

Thousands of combatants and civilians have been killed since February when the Houthis resumed an offensive on oil-rich Marib, the government’s last bastion in the north.

Backed by air support from the Arab coalition, government troops last week mounted an offensive to seize control of districts in Al-Bayda, and to relieve pressure on other government troops battling Houthi attacks in the central province of Marib.

NAYPAITAW, 11 July 2021, (TON): A temporary ceasefire between local resistance forces and the military in Mindat, Chin State, has been extended until July 14, but locals say the junta continues to impose restrictions on the transportation of basic necessities into the area, contributing to food shortages and insufficient healthcare access.

The Chinland Defence Force (CDF) in Mindat and the military coup council had agreed to a temporary ceasefire from June 23 until July 4 in the town and then extended it 10 more days.

According to the Mindat People's Administration “rice is being transported to Mindat from Pakokku, in Magwe Region, but the junta is only allowing 10 bags of rice, each weighing around 45kg, to be brought in per day.”

A Mindat resident said “This rice is not enough, even for the town. Most of the people have bought millet and corn to eat.”

Each household is additionally restricted by the military authorities from buying more than one bag of rice per month, a town elder and member of the bilateral negotiating team told Myanmar Now.

NEW DELHI, 11 July 2021, (TON): President of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti,  reiterated that the only way to bring lasting peace in the subcontinent is through a process of dialogue and reconciliation.

Mehbooba Mufti, as per a statement issued “the mechanisms of coercion and oppression are tested methods, failed to bring any change in the vexed Kashmir scenario. Dialogue and reconciliation has proved effective to end alienation among youths and bring considerable change, paving way for the economic upliftment of society."

Mehbooba Mufti was interacting with a delegation of a dozen PDP office bearers from the twin border districts of Rajouri and Poonch on the second day of her ongoing tour of the Jammu region. She asserted that democracy, being a battle of ideas, derives its strength from dissent.

Vice President Choudhary Abdul Hamid, General Secretary Amreek Singh Reen, Ex-legislators Master Tasaduq Hussain, Firdous Tak, Muhammad Rasheed Qureshi, Additional General Secretary Rasheed Malik, State Secretaries Adv Maroof Khan, Javaid Iqbal Choudhary, Imtiyaz Banday, Shamim Ganai, Tazeem Dar, Master Iqbal Shah, Bari Shah, Waseem Khan, Nadeem Khan, Showkat Choudhary, Majid Shah were among those who were present.

Mehbooba Mufti said that entering into an alliance with the Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) after the 2014 elections was the most difficult decision for the PDP, but it was crucial for an organisation that wanted to resolve the Kashmir issue and facilitate peaceful ties between India and Pakistan.

MOGADISHU, 11 July 2021, (TON): At least nine people pronounced dead after a car bomb targeting a top police chief exploded in Somalia's capital Mogadishu.

The terrorist attack, second to another explosion targeting a teashop in the city last week which took over ten lives, has since been claimed by The Al-Qaeda group al-Shabab.

Kassim Ali Shire, an eyewitness, shares his personal account of the violent incident.

"Thank God I'm ok, my brother and I were driving here on this road when the suicide car bomb hit at close range, there are lots of casualties. All onboard our vehicle survived, only my brother received injuries."

A doctor at the Medina Hospital told reporters that the toll reflected only the dead and wounded who were taken to the facility in Mogadishu where he works. He said the actual toll was likely higher as victims were rushed to other hospitals, including privately owned ones.

A Somali police spokesman Sadiiq Dudishe said the targeted police commissioner Colonel Farhan Mohamud Qaroleh has been declared safe. The commissioner is unharmed but there are other casualties the attack inflicted.

KABUL, 11 July 2021, (TON): President Ashraf Ghani said he sees the Taliban responsible for the ongoing violence in the country in which at least 200 to 600 people are killed every day.

 Addressing a gathering in Khost province, Ghani asked the nation to stay united in support for independence, the republic and coexistence.

He added that “the Taliban is responsible for the continuation of the war.”

Ghani said “Taliban should be asked whom they are fighting for? Who will benefit if Afghanistan is ruined and if Afghans are killed?”

He further added that they should also be asked that are they fighting for Afghanistan, or they want the country to be controlled by others?

PARIS, 11 July 2021, (TON): Finance officials in the Group of 20 (G-20) endorsed key components of a framework for an international tax overhaul that is a top priority of the Biden administration.

The G-20 finance ministers and central bank governors announced their backing of major elements of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s (OECD) tax framework following a meeting in Venice, Italy. The framework calls for a global minimum tax for corporations of at least 15 percent.

The G-20 finance officials said in a statement “after many years of discussions and building on the progress made last year, we have achieved a historic agreement on a more stable and fairer international tax architecture.”

The statement from the G-20, a group of major economies that includes the U.S.  comes after more than 100 countries in the OECD released a statement earlier this month in support of a global minimum tax of at least 15 percent.

The G-20 countries were among those that signed onto the OECD statement.

The G-20 and OECD have been working for several years on international tax issues and are hoping to finalize a detailed implementation plan in October.

A final agreement will include more details about the tax rate and base for a global minimum tax. In addition to the discussions on a global minimum tax, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and G-20 are also working on a framework related to the location of where corporate profits are taxed.

KATHMANDU, 11 July 2021, (TON): Nepal’s Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli has reached Sindhupalchok for onsite observation of flood and landslide-ravaged Helambu and Melamchi.

He arrived in Helambu in a helicopter and will be visiting Melamchi then after. PM Oli is then scheduled to visit Ganeshbagar following discussions with local representatives and locals at Melamchi Ghyang. The Prime Minister will also make an aerial inspection  of the main tunnel of the Melamchi Water Supply Project.

He is accompanied by Minister for Physical Infrastructure and Transport, Basanta Kumar Nembang, and other concerned officials.Floods and landslides triggered by incessant rain on June 15 following the onset of monsoon had led to loss of lives and massive infrastructural damages in the district.