LILONGWE, 20 April, 2021 (TON): Peter Mutharika Malawian ex-president Peter Mutharika has accused the current government of politically prosecuting him.

The feud is the freezing of his bank accounts and arrests of his party officials over corruption allegations, but the authorities have maintained that they are simply following the law.

During a televised news conference at his home, Mutharika said, "The aim is simply to create a hardship on me. Even the account where my retirement package comes in, that account is closed. So, my retirement benefits cannot come in. The idea is to make me totally incompetent financially to make me impossible to support the DPP (Democratic Progressive Party), and therefore to destroy the DPP and make a one-party dictatorship."

Malawi’s Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) last August froze the personal bank accounts of Mutharika and his wife, Gertrude, in a probe seeking to uncover his role in a 5-billion kwacha ($6.6 million) cement scandal.

In his petition, the former President also wanted the court to order Standard bank to give him unrestricted access to his funds.

MALE, 20 April, 2021 (TON): The Maldivian Parliament declined to make a decision on a request by the Finance Ministry to extend an overdraft obtained by the government from the central bank for a further one-year period.

In order to meet the expenses of the government after the parliament granted approval for the overdraft in April last year, the Finance Ministry requested to extend the time period of the overdraft for a year.

Vilufushi MP Hassan Afeef proposed sending the request to a committee formed for the purpose of evaluation during the parliament meeting on Tuesday.

In today’s parliament sitting, 48 MPs voted against the move while only 12 voted for the move.

However, after the vote, Parliament Speaker Nasheed said that the Parliament had not reached a decision on the issue. 

MOSCOW, 20 April, 2021 (TON): On Tuesday, the U.S. ambassador in Moscow, John Sullivan, said he would return to Washington this week to consult on US-Russian relations amid a diplomatic crisis between the two countries.

Prior to the summit between US President Joe Biden and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin within the next few weeks, the media quoted Sullivan as saying he was planning to return to Moscow.

The Kremlin had previously recommended that Sullivan leave the country temporarily.

However, as it is well known that the Washington and Moscow are currently at odds over a number of issues, including alleged Russian meddling in U.S. elections and cyber attacks on U.S. government websites that the U.S. also blames on Russia.

RAMALLAH, 20 April, 2021 (TON): The Prime Minister Mohammed Ishtaye stated that Palestine is moving toward a gradual economic recovery with a significant drop in viral infections in the West Bank.

Ishtaye said in a statement issued after the weekly cabinet meeting on Monday, “The government's next step is to revive the economy.

The media cited the official saying, "All estimations indicate that we will emerge from the state of economic deflation to the state of economic recovery."

However, he warned that the COVID-19 situation in the Gaza strip is still alarming.

KATHMANDU, 20 April, 2021 (TON): Controls on foreign exchange have been progressively removed by the government and the central bank.

Foreign aid and foreign direct investment are the two other major sources of foreign exchange.

Experts say that tossing out import restrictions is the right thing to do now, but authorities should keep an eye out for possible disruptions to remittance inflows due to Covid-19, what with tourism knocked out and export incomes reduced to a trickle.

As a start, the cabinet on October 8 last year lifted restrictions on the import of foreign alcohol and luxury vehicles costing more than $50,000 for the official and personal use of foreign diplomats, diplomatic organizations and foreign officers.

In March, the freedom to import such as fancy automobiles, betel nuts, peas, peppercorns and dried dates were extended to all.

Furthermore, Nepal Rastra Bank lowered the daily import quota of gold to 20 kg from 10 kg, and permitted commercial banks to issue dollar cards for the procurement of foreign goods and services.

However, authorities had placed controls on the import of these items in April last year in a bid to conserve foreign exchange following concerns that Nepali migrant workers might lose incomes with the pandemic potentially spreading in the labor destinations.

KHARTOUM, 20 April, 2021 (TON): On Monday, the Sudanese government officially approved a bill cancelling the law on boycotting Israel.

Justice Minister Nasr-Eddin Abdul-Bari tweeted, “Today a draft bill abolishing the law on boycotting Israel was approved in a joint meeting for the Sovereign Council and the Council of Ministers.”

Earlier in the day, in the capital Khartoum, the Chairman of Sudan’s Sovereign Council Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan chaired a joint meeting for the council and the cabinet at the presidential palace.

However, the abolished law, which was enacted in 1958, forbids dealing and trading with Israel, with a penalty of up to 10-year imprisonment for violators.

THIMPHU, 20 April, 2021 (TON):  According to the Bhutanese Labor Secretary Sonam Wangchuk, the Technical and Vocational Education Training (TVET) reforms which are part of the government’s overhauling of the sector will be ready by June.

The interim TVET reform office with the Prime Minister’s Office returned the TVET programme to the labor and human resources ministry to implement the reform after almost two years.

In 2019, the government initiated TVET reforms and the PMO took over the TVET program from the ministry.

The official said that it aims to transform the TVET system into attractive learning and career choice although the secretary did not mention the TVET program being handed back.

The ministry prepared the deployment of the master trainers in February.

Accordingly, master trainers would be provided in fields like timber frame construction and building insulation, landscape design and management, and building painting.

BEIRUT, 20 April, 2021 (TON): The country will adopt a modern design for the reconstruction of the Port of Beirut, which was badly damaged in the August 2020 twin explosions, the Lebanese government said.

Public Works and Transport Minister Michel Najjar was quoted by media, "Studies on the new port will include all logistic matters and a vision about the port's role in Lebanon and the region with a focus on establishing solid scientific bases for the port's administrative, legal and technical aspects."

His remarks came during his meeting with Moscow's Ambassador to Lebanon Alexander Rudakov and representatives of Russian investment companies interested in the construction of infrastructure projects and the Beirut port.

However, the Russian delegation expressed a serious desire to contribute to vital projects in Lebanon, most notably the Beirut port's reconstruction project.

BAGHDAD, 20 April, 2021 (TON): The country's poverty rate has increased to about 27 per cent after the central bank devalued the Iraqi dinar against the US dollar, Iraq's Ministry of Planning said.

Media quoted the Ministry spokesman Abdul-Zahara al-Hindawi on Monday, "The devaluation of the Iraqi dinar pushed up the poverty rate to about 27 per cent, but the Ministry had completed a reform and recovery plan to respond to the economic and health crises."

Improving the private sector to boost the national economy, supporting public services, and addressing development gaps between provinces are included in the three-year plan (2021-2023).

However, the overall security situation has been relatively improved in Iraq since the defeat of the Islamic State group late in 2017, but significant challenges remain, including political and security maladies, economic instability, persistent low standards of living, social unrest caused and eroded public services.

TEHRAN, 20 April, 2021 (TON): Mohammad Reza Fallahzadeh was appointed the deputy commander of Quds Force of Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) after his predecessor died of heart disease on Sunday.

Before being offered this new position with the endorsement by Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Fallahzadeh previously served as the deputy coordinator of the IRGC's Quds Force.

The Quds Force is responsible for extraterritorial missions of the IRGC.