WASHINGTON, 16 June, 2021 (TON): On Tuesday, the White announced that the U.S. President Joe Biden has decided to nominate Julie Chung as Ambassador to represent the United States in Sri Lanka and the Maldives.

Julie Jiyoon Chung, nominee as Ambassador to the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, and to serve concurrently as Ambassador to the Republic of Maldives is a career member of the Senior Foreign Service, class of Minister-Counselor and is currently serving as the Acting Assistant Secretary of the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs at the U.S. Department of State.

Previously, she was the Director of the Office of Japanese Affairs at the Department and, has served as Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Phnom Penh, Cambodia and Economic Counselor at the U.S. Embassy in Bangkok, Thailand.

Earlier, Chung was Chief of Staff to the Transition Coordinator at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, Iraq.

Alongside, she has also served at the U.S. embassies in Colombia, Vietnam and Japan, and the U.S. Consulate General in Guangzhou, China.

Moreover, she is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Secretary’s Distinguished Honor Award. Chung speaks Korean, Japanese, Spanish, and Khmer.

However, if the U.S. Senate appoints her, Chung will replace the current Ambassador Alaina B. Teplitz, who began her tenure as the U.S. Ambassador to Sri Lanka and Maldives in 2018 on 1 November 2018.

SUVA, 16 June, 2021 (TON): Fiji is set to make its foreign and domestic investment proposal approval process more business-friendly.

The media reported that this follows recent reforms spearheaded by Fiji's Ministry of Commerce, Trade, Tourism and Transport to streamline Fiji's investment regulatory framework to be friendlier.

The aim is to generate foreign exchange, knowledge and technology-intensive jobs and help with the long term recovery of the Fijian economy, in the wake of COVID-19 impacts.

However, this means that Fiji's Investment Act will increase the island nation's ability to attract foreign and domestic investment across key sectors.

YAMOUSSOUKRO, 16 June, 2021 (TON): President of Ivory Coast Alassane Ouattara announced that his predecessor and rival Laurent Gbagbo will return to IC after his acquittal in March by the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Since Ghagbo’s released by the ICC, Gbagbo is expected to arrive in Abidjan on Thursday from Belgium after 10 years.

Gbagbo was absolved of responsibility for crimes including murder, rape, and persecution following disputed elections in 2010, with judges saying prosecutors failed to prove their case.

His violent ouster in 2011 led to deep divisions in the West African country.

Political scientist Geoffroy Julien Kouao said, "The real stake of the return of Mr. Laurent GBAGBO is political. For nearly three decades, Ivory Coast has lived at the rhythm of political crises, especially electoral crises."

"Obviously, all this has caused a real social and political fracture. From the above, the issue, the real challenge for Côte d'Ivoire today, is national reconciliation and the return of Mr. Laurent GBAGBO should contribute enormously," he added.

Analysts say his return could make or break national reconciliation efforts.

However, despite being away from the political scene for over a decade, Gbagbo remains popular especially in the more developed southern part of the country.

COLOMBO, 16 June, 2021 (TON): On Tuesday, the Sri Lankan PM Mahinda Rajapaksa stated that the Sri Lanka is a global independent state because of Chinese Communist Party and our leftist movement.

On Tuesday afternoon, while addressing the 100th anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party through video technology at Temple Trees, the PM made the statement.

In his address the Premier said “we all know that the rise of Asia is due to the rise of China in this century,” and that historic victory was given by the Chinese Communist Party that was established 100 years ago.

“China is not just a country, China is a huge civilization. China was invaded by various countries but China never invaded other countries. It is also a country that has made the largest population in the world believe in a self-sufficient economy. Not only that, China is seen as a country built on agriculture based on its trust. That is why I say that China is a greatest civilization.”

According to him, China developed into a world power today because the Chinese Communist Party recognized the mark of that civilization.

While highlighting the China-SL similarities, the Premier asserted that the two nations maintained the same state, language and religion ever since.

The PM said, “It has helped us to grow economically. Sri Lankans still remember the China Rice-Rubber Agreement. We can never forget China's service to Sri Lanka's independence at the UN Human Rights Council. I always say China is our oldest friend in terms of history.”

“It was the Communist Party of Sri Lanka that brought the Chinese Communist Party so close to us. In the past, Buddhism connected China and Ceylon. After independence, the Communist Party was the first to build relations between us. Like the Chinese Communist Party, the Communist Party of Ceylon respects many things that are based on Sri Lankan civilization. We rely on a national economy, an independent country and a local industrial system, including agriculture.”

“I must say that it was the support of the Chinese Communist Party and our leftist movement that helped us to rise independently in the world as a non-aligned nation. We ended the war on separatism and terrorism under a government that worked with the Left parties including the Communist Party. We forever appreciate the sacrifices made by the Chinese Government for our independence during and after the war. It was a great contribution to the independence of a country in Asia in the history of the Chinese Communist Party,” the Prime Minister continued.

“The world has changed. Our country has also changed. After the Industrial Revolution passed the Technological Revolution Today there is a young generation in the cyber age. What we have today is not the political ideas that existed then. But we must remember that to win all the rights we enjoy today, leftist movements like the Communist Party of the progressive political forces of the past fought endlessly. No matter how different the world is, one thing we must remember. The Communist Party has always stood for equality.”

The PM kept on endorsing the Sri Lankan- Chinese relations as saying that their historical similarities as well as friendships are very powerful.

JIUQUAN, 16 June, 2021 (TON): On Wednesday, Thursday, China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) made the announcement that on Thursday the Shenzhou-12 manned spaceship is expected to be launched at 9:22 a.m. from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China.

Ji Qiming, assistant to the director of the CMSA told at a press conference held at the launch center that the spaceship will take three male astronauts; Nie Haisheng, Liu Boming and Tang Hongbo into space for the construction of China's space station.

The launch will be carried out with a Long March-2F carrier rocket, which will be filled with propellant on Wednesday morning, Ji said.

It is noted that after entering the orbit, the spaceship will conduct a fast automated rendezvous with the in-orbit space station core module Tianhe.

It will form a complex with the core module and the cargo craft Tianzhou-2.

However, the astronauts aboard Shenzhou-12 will be stationed in the core module and remain in orbit for three months.

LISBON, 16 June, 2021 (TON): On Tuesday, the EU Ministers of agriculture and fisheries agreed and vowed to maintain and improve the objectives of the current Common Agricultural Policy and the Common Fisheries Policy.

The media reported that the agreement was made at a meeting in Lisbon that was promoted by the Portuguese presidency of the EU Council.

All participants confirmed that the progress achieved in the fisheries policy since 2014 is "unquestionable," said, Ricardo Santos, Portuguese minister of maritime affairs.

"The need to strengthen the principle of equity between the European fleet and those from third countries was highlighted," he added.

Spanish Minister of agriculture, fisheries and food, Luis Planas said, “The EU must keep the fishing sector sustainable and competitive, which generates wealth and employment with a horizon of stability and future."

However, for the next period 2023-2027, the future of the Common Agricultural Policy agreement was also discussed by the ministers.

ACCRA, 16 June, 2021 (TON): On Tuesday, a senior official of ECOWAS said that the escalation of insecurity in West Africa has posed a threat to the sub-regional integration process.

Shirley Ayorkor Botchway, the chairperson of the ECOWAS (Economic Community of West African States) Council of Ministers, made the remarks in her keynote speech at the opening of the 46th ordinary session of the ECOWAS Mediation and Security Council.

While talking about the terrorist attacks in the region, Botchway said, "From the Sahel region through the Lake Chad Basin, attacks from terrorists and violent extremists have morphed with banditry, kidnapping, farmer-herder dynamics and transnational organized crime to leave a trail of death, destruction, despair and fear among our populations."

The recent attacks in Burkina Faso which led to more than 100 deaths among the civilians, including children, is the latest example of this situation, she added.

However, in the end, Botchway warned that the situation in Chad and Mali, which straddles the Lake Chad Basin and the G5 Sahel countries (Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger), could aggravate the insecurity situation facing the region.

BEIRUT, 16 June, 2021 (TON): On Tuesday, Lebanon and Netherlands signed an agreement on boosting economic and business ties between the two sides.

According to the officials, the agreement will facilitate Lebanese exports and its raw imports to Netherlands.

It will also benefit the two in developing agricultural, industrial and commercial exchanges.

Toufic Dabbousi, head of Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture of Tripoli and North Lebanon, and Mohammad Sinno, president of the Lebanese Dutch Business Association signed the agreement.

ABUJA, 16 June, 2021 (TON): Nigerian expert said, promises made by the leaders in G7 fail consistently.

Sheriff Ghali, a professor of political science with the University of Abuja said, on Sunday, the leaders in the Group of Seven (G7) reaffirmed their commitments on sharing of the vaccines, overcoming the pandemic, climate change and security and the question is the bloc's capability to execute those commitments.

 The professor told the media that the rich countries in the West know exactly what Africa expects of them in a world faced with challenges, such as climate change, terrorism and the recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.

He added that as a continent most vulnerable to crisis, Africa expects practical solutions through effective multilateral actions, and not the blame games that undermine the global responses to the crisis.

However, he was of the view that China and the West can merge multilaterally in order to address the global challenges.  

BRUSSELS, 16 June, 2021 (TON): On Tuesday, the EU and the U.S. held their first summit in 7 years.

According to the media, Biden met the European Council President Charles Michel and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, and together they agreed to cooperate more on trade, investment and preparation for future global health challenges.

Bilateral trade and investment between the two sides were "unrivaled," and the trade was worth almost one trillion euros in 2020 despite the Covid-19 pandemic, told Von der Leyen.

During the summit, both sides agreed to remove the tariffs for five years until they continue discussions on an overarching deal on the subsidies.

The EU and the U.S. agreed on a truce in their long-standing conflict over aircraft subsidies.

The dispute over subsidies for US plane maker Boeing and its European rival Airbus has resulted in parallel cases filed at the World Trade Organization (WTO) since 2004.

Both sides had agreed in March to a four-month suspension of tariffs on $11.5 billion of goods from EU wine to US tobacco and spirits, which they had imposed during the dispute.

However, they also agreed to establish an EU-US Trade and Technology Council with a view to expand bilateral trade and investments and discuss how to avoid new unjustified technical barriers.