ISLAMABAD, 09 May 2021, (TON): Pakistan on Saturday strongly condemned the attacks on innocent worshippers in Al-Aqsa Mosque by Israeli occupation forces.

Statement by the Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry said, “Such attacks, particularly during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, are against all humanitarian norms and human rights laws… We pray for the speedy recovery of the injured, reiterate our steadfast support to the Palestinian cause, and once again urge the international community to take prompt action to protect the Palestinian people,”

The statement added, “For lasting peace, it is essential to have a two-state solution in accordance with the relevant resolutions by the UN and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, with the pre-1967 borders and Jerusalem as the capital of a viable, independent and contiguous Palestinian state.”

Israeli forces fired stun grenades, tear gas, and rubber-coated bullets to disperse Muslim worshippers inside the Haram al-Sharif area of Al-Aqsa Mosque on Friday evening. Over 200 people have been injured in Israeli attacks on Al-Aqsa and in other parts of occupied East Jerusalem, including the Damascus gate of the Old City and the Sheikh Jarrah district, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent.

In Sheikh Jarrah area Israeli settlers have forced Muslims to leave after an Israeli court ordered the eviction of Palestinian families. Israel occupied East Jerusalem, where Al-Aqsa is located, during the 1967 Arab-Israeli war. It annexed the entire city in 1980, a move that has never been recognized by the international community.

MALE, 09 May 2021, (TON): Two suspects have been arrested by the Maldives Police Service (MPS) in investigations into a terrorist attack that injured Speaker of Parliament Mohammed Nasheed, state media reported here Saturday.

State-owned PSM News reported that 21-year-old Mujaz Ahmed and 32-year-old Thahumeen Ahmed were arrested in connection to an attack on Speaker and former President Nasheed on Thursday.

Nasheed was admitted to the ADK Hospital in the Maldives after the attack, where he underwent multiple life-saving surgeries. Doctors said that ball bearings and shrapnel were lodged in Nasheed's body, injuring his ribs and organs.

Nasheed has been placed in the intensive care unit and is currently in critical condition according to the ADK Hospital.

According to the police, one of the suspects is the owner of a motorcycle that was planted with an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) and parked next to Nasheed's car. Police said that the motorcycle had a fake number plate, but the registered owner was tracked down through investigations.

PSM News quoted Chief of Defence Force Major General Abdulla Shamaa who said that the IED was remotely controlled and more powerful than the explosives used in the Sultan Park bombing in capital Male in 2007 which injured 12 tourists.

Director General of the National Counter-Terrorism Centre (NCTC) Brigadier General Zakariyya Mansoor was quoted as saying that the attack would have a long-term impact on the perception of the Maldives in the international community. He also raised concerns about locals joining foreign terrorist groups.

KATHMANDU, 09 May 2021, (TON): Nepal’s Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli called an emergency cabinet meeting at his official residence in Baluwatar on Saturday evening which discussed prevailing political situation as well as the COVID-19 crisis.

The meeting comes after the KP Sharma Oli government lost its majority in the parliament ahead of a vote of confidence as the CPN-Maoist Center withdrew its support formally on Wednesday. CPN-Maoist Center on Wednesday submitted a letter informing the Parliament Secretariat that it no more part of the government led by Prime Minister Oli.

On Thursday, Nepal reported 9,070 new COVID-19 cases, taking the cumulative caseload to 368,580. According to the country`s health ministry, the positivity rate stood at 42.90 per cent.

KABUL, 09 May 2021, (TON): Multiple blasts targeted a school in the Afghan capital in Dasht-i Barchi area of Kabul on Saturday killing at least 30 people and wounding dozens more, mostly students, an Afghan senior Interior ministry official said. He added that that most of the casualties were coming out of the Sayed ul Shuhada school.

The spokesman, Tariq Arian, put the death toll at least 25 and did not specify the cause or the target. However, eyewitnesses say that the deaths occurred due to blast was much higher than official figures.

Hospital authorities said that 46 people had been taken to hospitals.

Kabul is on high alert since Washington announced plans last month to pull out all US troops by 11 September, with Afghan officials saying the Taliban have stepped up attacks across the country. However, locals says it is not Tabiban rather the blame is leveled on Taliban wheres they are usually victims of atrocities and terrorist attacks.

Najiba Arian, spokeswoman for the Ministry of Education claimed that the wounded are mostly female students.

JERUSALEM, 08 May, 2021 (TON): Israeli police attacked Muslim worshippers late on Friday inside the Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem's Old City. 

At least 205 Palestinians and 17 officers were injured in the night-time clashes at Islam’s third-holiest site and around East Jerusalem, Palestinian medics and Israeli police said, as thousands of Palestinians faced off with several hundred Israeli police in riot gear. 

Israeli police fired rubber-coated metal bullets and stun grenades towards rock-hurling Palestinians at Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque as anger grows over the potential eviction of Palestinians from homes on land claimed by Jewish settlers in East Jerusalem. 

An Al-Aqsa official appealed for calm on the compound through the mosque’s loudspeakers. “Police must immediately stop firing stun grenades at worshippers, and the youth must calm down and be quiet.” 

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said he “held [Israel] responsible for the dangerous developments and sinful attacks taking place in the holy city”, and called on the UN Security Council to hold an urgent session on the issue. 

The intervention by Israeli police who also attacked young Palestinians in front of the Damascus and Es-Sahire gates of the Old City, caused panic among women and children. 

Police allow for controlled passage through the gates of the Old City. 

They continued their intervention at regular intervals against the Muslims in the mosque, while worshippers continued to perform Tarawih, special nightly prayers during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. 

TEHRAN, 08 May, 2021 (TON): Iran on Friday marked the Al-Quds Day, an annual event to show solidarity with Palestinians in their struggle for the liberation of occupied territories. 

Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei said the "downward spiral" leading to the decline of Israel "has started and will not stop." 

He said Palestinians who used to defend themselves with stones are now responding with sophisticated missiles, adding that the "balance has shifted" in favor of Palestine. 

Khamenei, Khomeini's successor, said fighting Israel is "everyone's responsibility," urging Palestinian resistance groups to continue to fight against the "usurping regime." 

He added the growth of the Palestinian resistance axis is a "nightmare" for Israel and its American and European supporters, adding that the "failed plot of the Deal of the Century" and efforts by some Arab countries to normalize ties with Israel are "desperate attempts to escape that nightmare". 

He also called for a referendum to determine the future of Palestinians and the return of Palestinian refugees to their land. 

Earlier, Iran's Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the Al-Quds Day has turned into a "symbol of fighting occupation and bullying among Muslims and all freedom-seekers across the world." 

Earlier in a statement by President Hassan Rouhani, called Israel "the enemy of the region," while referring to the Al-Quds Day as a "mourning day for the Zionists" this year. 

Foreign Minister Javad Zarif described Palestine as "a yardstick for justice" while calling Al-Quds Day "a yearly reminder of the moral imperative of global solidarity for Palestine." 

Palestinian worshippers clashed with Israeli police late Friday at the Al-Aqsa mosque compound, a major holy site sacred to Muslims and Jews, in an escalation of weeks of violence in Jerusalem that has reverberated across the region. 

TRIPOLI, 08 May, 2021 (TON): The UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) on Friday welcomed the release of detainees hold by the eastern-based army.

The UNSMIL said in a statement, "UNSMIL welcomes the recent release of dozens of detainees by the command of the Libyan Arab Armed Forces (LAAF) and is encouraged by their declared commitment for further releases during Ramadan."

"As the Holy Month draws to a close, the mission calls on all parties to release all persons who are arbitrarily detained," the statement added.

The UNSMIL said that prisoner releases are a vital confidence-building measure that will go a long way to foster a national reconciliation process in Libya.

According to local media, 194 detainees have been released by the eastern-based army during the month of Ramadan.

The conflict in oil-rich Libya has become a proxy war. For months, UN-backed government forces have battled rebel commander Khalifa Haftar for control of Libya, with foreign powers increasingly wading into the fray.

COLOMBO, 08 May, 2021 (TON): The World Bank launched public consultations to update its Systematic Country Diagnostic (SCD) in Sri Lanka.

The SCD is online platform that will enable the Bank to engage with the Sri Lankan public and development partners and seek their views on the most pressing development opportunities and challenges for the country.

“We are keen to hear from a wide range of development stakeholders – the government, private sector, citizens from different provinces, think tanks and civil society groups,” said Faris. H. Hadad-Zervos, World Bank Country Director for Maldives, Nepal and Sri Lanka.

“Their inputs will help the SCD to focus on areas that will have the maximum impact in fostering greener, resilient and inclusive recovery and growth for Sri Lanka.”

The 2021 SCD will be an update on the previous SCD, taking into account the new and pressing issues stemming from the unprecedented health and economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The online surveys are open from May 6, 2021 to May 20, 2021.

The current World Bank portfolio in Sri Lanka consists of 19 ongoing projects, with a total commitment value of US$2.33 billion in a variety of sectors including transport, urban, agriculture, water, education, and health.

The SCD is a country-specific report compiled by the World Bank Group in close consultation with the respective national authorities, stakeholders and the public.

NEW DELHI, 08 May, 2021 (TON): India Prime Minister Narendra Modi is facing strong criticism due to mismanagement of Coronavirus pandemic. Indian health and other autharities failed to handle the situation. Indian occupied State of Jammu and Kashmir is facing fear that prevails in the country.

Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leader Mehbooba Mufti has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi requesting for release of detainees and political prisoners in jails both in and outside Jammu and Kashmir, saying that most countries have released prisoners on parole in view of the alarming COVID crisis.

"Unfortunately, the health infrastructure has completely collapsed and the harrowing images of stranded COVID patients gasping for breath have shocked us all," she added that the entire country has been engulfed by a deadly second wave of COVID-19.

"The sense of helplessness is so acute and pervasive that the living are quite literally suffocating to death while the dead suffer indignity even after losing the battle to this virus. Families have watched on helplessly as they struggle to even accord their loved ones the proper dignified last rites of passage," she added.

The former Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir said perhaps the only silver lining in this tragic time is how Indians cutting across religious and regional lines are coming together to lend each other a helping hand.

"One does not wish or want to politicise the human tragedy that has befallen us all. It's an unprecedented humanitarian crisis that doesn't discriminate on the basis of caste, colour, religion or social status and has affected everyone," she said in the letter.

"As far as Kashmir is concerned, it is no secret that hundreds, or maybe thousands of detainees and political prisoners arrested since August 2019 continue to languish in jails both in and outside J-K. Most of them are detained under preventive laws and don't face any prosecution. Many continue to be held event after courts granted them bail. Most recent reminder of the lurking threat to their lives is Mohammad Ashraf Sehrai's death who lost his life because he contracted COVID in jail and was deprived of medical care", she said.

"Throughout the world, most countries have released prisoners on parole in view of the alarming COVID crisis. A democratic and civilised country like India shouldn't drag its feet and must release these detainees immediately so that they can return home at a time when life feels so threatened," she added.

The PDP leader said that worrying reports about prisoners dying due to COVID-19 and subsequent lack of medical attention have been trickling in and at a time when the system is struggling to cope with this horrendous situation, lives of prisoners may be the least priority.

Currently, approximately three thousand Hurriyat leaders, activists, youth, women and civil society members are detained in Indian jails. Many of the prisoners are detained under the PSA but have no charge or trials and have not committed any criminal offence.

WASHINGTON, 08 May, 2021 (TON): US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin has said that the US is seeking a new chapter of relationship with Afghanistan after the withdrawal of American forces from the country in September as ordered by President Biden.

At a joint press conference with Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Austin

Said, “The President has decided to end America’s involvement in our longest war and we are going do just that, and so far, less than one weakened, the drawdown is going according to plan, at the same time, we are shifting to a new bilateral relationship with our Afghan security partners. We will work toward our common goals in some new and different ways.”

“The Afghan National Security Forces and the government of Afghanistan at this time remain cohesive. The president of United States intent is to continue to support both the ANSF and the government of Afghanistan,” Milley added.

Secretary Austin meanwhile reiterated that the US will remain committed to its supports to Afghanistan.

“We will continue to support them after we retrograde with funding, with logistics, we will remain partners with the Afghan government, with the Afghan military and certainly we hope to our continued support to Afghan security forces,” added Austin.

But, Gen. David Howell Petraeus, the former commander of US forces in Afghanistan, has said that with the drawdown of US forces from Afghanistan, the Afghan security forces will face problems in it comes to using equipment and helicopters.

“Helicopters that we have sold to Afghanistan or given to them with our security assistance, various other weapons systems and so forth, again they don’t have logistical system, the maintenance system,” said Petraeus.

Over the past almost 18 years, the United States has tried numerous different strategies in Afghanistan.

The military of the US has formally begun its withdrawal from Afghanistan after almost 20 years in the country. Last month, US President Joe Biden ordered the final withdrawal of handful of US service members and civilian contractors.