CONGO, 25 May 2021, (TON): lava poured into villages after dark in eastern Congo with little warning, leaving at least 15 people dead amid the chaos and destroying more than 500 homes, survivals said. 

The eruption of Mount Nyiragongo on Saturday night sent about 5,000 people fleeing from the city of Goma across the nearby border into Rwanda, while another 25,000 others sought refuge to the northwest in Sake, the UN children's agency said Sunday.

More than 170 children were still feared missing Sunday, and UNICEF officials said they were organising transit centres to help unaccompanied children in the wake of the disaster.

Goma ultimately was largely spared the mass destruction caused by the volcano's last eruption in 2002. Hundreds died then and more than 100,000 people were left homeless.

ISTANBUL, 25 May 2021, (TON): Turkish intelligence officers have arrested an Egyptian-born suspect wanted by Washington who is claimed to be top explosives expert for the Islamic State group.

The suspect, identified as Mustafa Abdulwahab Mahmud was detained with three others on the outskirts of Istanbul after fleeing Syria. 

It was revealed that US insput said he joined the IS group in Syria, where he specialised in making suicide belts and various explosive devices.

KUALA LUMPUR, 25 May 2021, (TON): More than 200 passengers were injured in the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur yesterday when two metro trains collided in a tunnel, police said. 

The accident happened just before 9:00 pm, when a packed train collided with a second that was empty and heading in the opposite direction.

Forty-seven people suffered serious injuries and 166 had minor injuries, said police official Mohamad Zainal Abdullah.

There was no sign of foul play and the accident could have been caused by miscommunication, he said.

Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said on Facebook that the crash was "serious".

"I have instructed the transport minister and (train) operator... to conduct an in-depth probe to find out the cause of the accident," he said.

Accidents are rare on the metro system that serves Kuala Lumpur.

Transport Minister Wee Ka Siong said the collision was the first major accident in the metro system's 23 years of operation, and he pledged a thorough investigation.

NEW DELHI, 24 May, 2021, (TON): Indian troops killed at-least eight people in Assam.

A senior police officer from the area clai,med that these people were killed in an encounter with security forces in Assam’s West Karbi Anglong district along the Nagaland border and are militants from National Liberation Army (DNLA).

The security forces launched the operation in Karbi-Anglong district, along the Nagaland border, on Saturday night.

The Dimasa National Liberation Army is a group based in Assam that announced its launch in April 2019, claiming it was “committed to revamp the national struggle and fight for the liberation of a sovereign, Independent Dimasa Nation”.

Earlier, Indian police forces killed at least thirteen people in the name of Naxalite in Gadchiroli district of Maharasthra.

DHAKA, 24 May, 2021, (TON): Bangladeshi passports will no longer bear the text “valid for all countries of the world except Israel,” officials said on Sunday.

Bangladesh made it clear that it has dropped the phrase “all countries except Israel” from passport to maintain international standards of the document and there was no change in its decades-long policy of travel ban to Israel.

Bangladeshi passports earlier had a clause written on them that said “This Passport is valid for all countries of the world except Israel.”

Bangladesh’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement that said the holders of Bangladeshi passports are still banned from travelling to Israel.

“The ban on travel of Bangladeshi passport holders to Israel remains unchanged. The Government of Bangladesh has not deviated from its position on Israel and remains firm in its longstanding position,” the statement said.

Bangladesh and Israel do not maintain diplomatic relations. Bangladesh says that it will not recognize Israel until there is an independent Palestine.

NAYPYIDAW, 24 May, 2021, (TON): Over 125,000 school teachers have been suspended by the military authorities for joining a civil disobedience movement to oppose the military coup in February, said an official of the Myanmar Teachers’ Federation.

The teachers were suspended days before the start of a new school year. Some of the teachers and parents are boycotting new school year as part of the campaign that has paralyzed the country since the coup cut short a decade of democratic reforms.

According to the official from the teachers’ federation a total of 125,900 school teachers had been suspended, who declined to give his name for fear of reprisals.

According to the most recent data, from two years ago Myanmar had 430,000 school teachers.

“These are just statements to threaten people to come back to work. If they actually fire this many people, the whole system will stop,” said the official, who is also a teacher.

Around 19,500 university staff has also been suspended, according to the teachers’ group.

After Myanmar’s military seized power in the first week of February, the mass of Myanmar’s younger generation, teachers, factory workers and different groups of civilians are protesting against the coup since the February 1^st coup.

KHATMANDU, 24 May, 2021, (TON): Nepal President Bidya Devi Bhandari issued an ordinance to amend the Nepali Citizenship Act.

The President's office said in a statement that the President had issued the Nepali Citizenship (first amendment) ordinance pursuant to Article 114 (1) of the Constitution of Nepal.

The amendment was one of the demands put forth by the Mahantha Thakur-Rajendra Mahato faction of the Janata Samajbadi Party-Nepal to provide their support to Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli.

After the issuance of the ordinance, citizenship by descent will be provided to offsprings of 'bona fide' citizens of Nepal, those owning citizenship by birthright. Likewise, as per the ordinance, the children whose mothers are Nepali citizens but their fathers' identities cannot be established, will be granted Nepali citizenship.

For the past two years the bill was under discussion in the House of Representatives but was not endorsed due to disputes among the parties, reported by the Himalayan Times.

Earlier, Nepal's President dissolved the House of Representatives for the second time in five months and announced snap elections in November, rejecting both embattled Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli and the Opposition alliance's claims to form a government.

The next election will be on November 12 and 19 as per the recommendation of the Cabinet.

BEIJING, 24 May, 2021, (TON): China's foreign ministry on Monday warned the United States and South Korea not to interfere in Taiwan, after leaders of the two countries agreed last week to work together to seek peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait.

"China brooks no foreign interference on the Taiwan issue," Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told a regular news briefing in Beijing, reuters reported.

China and Taiwan have had separate governments since the end of the Chinese civil war in 1949. Beijing has long tried to limit Taiwan's international activities and both have vied for influence in the Pacific region.

Taiwan is China’s most sensitive territorial issue and a potential military flashpoint.

KABUL, 24 May, 2021, (TON): In an operation in northern Baghlan on Sunday night, eight security force members were freed from Taliban prison, said the Ministry of Defense (MoD) in a statement.

According to the statement the operation was launched in Amarkhil village of Baghlan-e-Jadid and the security force members who had been taken captive were released.

Meanwhile, a security source said that two security forces members were killed, and another was wounded during the operation. 

The MoD did not comment on the possible casualties of the security forces during the operation.

NAYPYITAW, 24 May, 2021, (TON): Myanmar's ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi appeared in person at a court hearing on Monday for the first time since her government was overthrown by the military in a February 1 coup. her lawyer told media.

Suu Kyi held a meeting with her legal team for about 30 minutes before the hearing, said lawyer Thae Maung Maung.

Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party first came to power after a landslide 2015 election victory, and won an even greater majority in last November's general election. It was set to start a second term in February when the military seized power in a coup, arresting her and dozens of top government officials and party members. 

The army seized power alleging fraud in a November election won by Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy. The then electoral commission had rejected its accusations.