BRATISLAVA, 10 February 2022, (TON): Slovakia’s parliament on Wednesday approved a defense military treaty with the United States.

The Defense Cooperation Agreement passed 79-60 in the 150-seat legislature in a vote split between lawmakers from the four-party ruling coalition and the opposition.

The treaty allows the U.S. military to use two Slovak air force bases, Malacky-Kuchyna and Sliac, for 10 years while Slovakia, a NATO member, will receive $100 million from the U.S. to modernize them.

The deal was signed by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Slovakia’s defense minister, Jaroslav Nad, on Feb. 3 in Washington. It still needs to be ratified by President Zuzana Caputova, who supports it.

The vote took place amid fears that Russia will invade Ukraine. Moscow has massed more than 100,000 troops near Ukraine’s borders, but insists it has no plans to attack. Slovakia borders Ukraine.

The treaty has been supported by the government of Prime Minister Eduard Heger, who said it will “significantly enhance our security.”

But the agreement is fiercely opposed by the opposition, which claims it would compromise the country’s sovereignty, make possible a permanent presence of U.S. troops on Slovak territory and even enable a possible deployment of nuclear weapons in Slovakia.

TEHRAN, 10 February 2022, (TON): Iran unveiled a new domestically-made missile with a range of 1,450 kilometers, state TV reported, a day after Tehran and Washington resumed indirect talks to salvage a 2015 nuclear deal.

Iran, which has one of the biggest missile programmes in the Middle East, says its ballistic missiles have a range of up to 2,000 km (1,200 miles) and are capable of reaching its arch-foe Israel and US bases in the region.

State TV displayed the new surface-to-surface Kheibar Shekan missile, which refers to an ancient Jewish oasis called Kheibar in the Arabian Peninsula's Hijaz region that was overrun by Muslim warriors in the 7th century.

Iranian state media reported "this long-range missile is domestically manufactured by the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC). It has high accuracy and is propelled by solid fuel and is capable of penetrating missile shields.”

Tehran regards its missile programme as an important deterrent against the United States, Israel and other adversaries. It has rejected Western demands to halt its ballistic missile work.

RIYADH, 10 February 2022, (TON): The Kingdom’s foreign ministry said “Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan made a phone call to his Zambian counterpart Stanley Kakubo.”

During the call, Prince Faisal thanked the Zambian foreign minister for supporting the Kingdom’s request to host the Expo 2030 in Riyadh.

They held discussions on bilateral relations and ways to enhance them, as well as the most prominent regional and international developments of common interest.

Meanwhile, Djibouti announced its support for Saudi Arabia’s request to host the World Expo 2030, in a memorandum received by the Kingdom’s ambassador to Djibouti, Faisal bin Sultan Al-Qabbani.

NEW YORK, 10 February 2022, (TON): The International Organisation for Migration launched an international appeal for more than $589 million to respond to the urgent humanitarian and protection needs of communities in Afghanistan and six neighbouring countries.

The IOM, the UN agency dealing with migration, needs the money to assist more than 3.6 million crisis-affected persons and strengthen the communities' resilience and recovery.

Ugochi Daniels, IOM Deputy Director General for Operations said "the ongoing crisis in Afghanistan is intensifying humanitarian needs and increasing displacement risks both inside the country as well as across borders to countries in the region.”

The IOM's revised Comprehensive Action Plan for Afghanistan and Neighbouring Countries says it builds on its expertise in responding to migration and displacement crises.

Daniels said "nearly six months after the August 2021 political upheaval and resulting political transition, more than half of the Afghan population are now in need of humanitarian assistance, which is 30% more than last year.”

He said “Afghanistan faces a real risk of systemic collapse and humanitarian catastrophe as nearly all Afghans have now plunged into poverty."

BERLIN, 10 February 2022, (TON): French President Emmanuel Macron said “he saw a path forward on easing tensions with Russia over Ukraine, after conducting an urgent round of shuttle diplomacy between Moscow and Kiev.”

Macron held talks with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kiev a day after a five-hour meeting at the Kremlin with Russia’s Vladimir Putin, as the West scrambles to defuse fears Moscow could invade its ex-Soviet neighbour.

The French leader said he now saw the possibility for talks involving Moscow and Kiev over the festering conflict in eastern Ukraine to move forward, and concrete, practical solutions to lower tensions between Russia and the West.

Macron said at a joint press conference after meeting Zelensky “we cannot underestimate the moment of tension that we are living through.”

He said “we cannot resolve this crisis in a few hours of talks.”

“It will be the day and the weeks and the months to come that will allow us to progress.”

Macron said Putin had told him that Russia would not be the source of an escalation, in the situation, despite amassing more than 100,000 troops and military hardware on Ukraine’s border.

KABUL, 10 February 2022, (TON): Abdul Salam Hanafi, Deputy Prime Minister of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA), met with Deborah Lyons, Special Representative of the United Nations, in Kabul to discuss a number of issues including the matter of kangaroo courts.

At the meeting Hanafi said that the IEA has banned kangaroo courts and that no one is allowed to violate the law.

Hanafi said “unfinished projects contracted by various organizations need to be completed so that both the people can benefit from them and the salaries of the economically disadvantaged contractors can be addressed.”

Lyons, meanwhile, expressed satisfaction with the security situation in Afghanistan but expressed concern over the recent disappearance of a number of women activists.

KABUL, 10 February 2022, (TON): Afghanistan Permanent Mission in the United Nations in a statement announced that Muhammad Wali Naeemi has been appointed as PR and Charge d’affair to the UN.

The statement reads that Muhammad Wali Naeemi could not assume his post on time due to his health issues and added that he will occupy his post now that he feels well.

Naeemi has replaced Naseer Ahmad Faiq who was appointed as Afghanistan PR after Ghulam Muhammad Ishaqzai resigned from the post in December last year.

Naseer Ahmad Faiq has recently accused former Afghan authorities of plotting against him after he made a speech in UNSC demanding the confiscation and freezing of bank accounts of former Afghan officials.

Afghanistan’s representation in the UN has been a matter of conflict in recent months as the Taliban has repeatedly asked for their envoy-Suhail Shaheen- to be allowed to occupy the post but the UN has refused to.

Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan is yet to be recognized by any country now six months after they recaptured power in the country.

KABUL, 10 February 2022, (TON): A Taliban delegation has traveled to Switzerland and is busy talking with international organizations and foreign officials over international aid to Afghanistan.

The Taliban delegation is supposed to meet with Red Cross, Swiss, and European officials.

This is the second visit of the Taliban to a European country after they gained control over Afghanistan last year. Swiss Foreign Ministry has insisted that the visit of the Taliban to the country does not mean recognition.

Meanwhile, sources in the Taliban-run government said that the delegation is led by Lutfullah Hakimi-head of the purification commission of the Taliban- and is in the country for the past five days.

The closed-door conference which will continue through February 11, is hosted by Geneva Call, a foundation that works to protect civilians during conflict.

DHAKA, 10 February 2022, (TON): Myanmar’s Border Guard Police (BGP) opened fire on two fishermen in the Naf River of Cox's Bazar’s Teknaf upazila.

One of the fishermen named Gura Miah was able to return but another named Md Ilias, 40, is still missing. Both are from the Huaicheng Balukhali area.

The incident took place on the Bangladesh-Myanmar border of the Naf River, said Lt Col Sheikh Khalid Mohammad Iftekhar, commander of Border Guard Bangladesh’s (BGB) Teknaf-based 2nd Battalion.

Ilias’s brother Shamsul Alam said that the two fishermen went fishing.

When they reached the Myanmar border, the BGP opened fire on them. At that moment, Ilias screamed and disappeared into the river.

NEW DELHI, 10 February 2022, (TON): A commerce ministry official said after a formal order was issued that India barred import of foreign drones with immediate effect in an effort to encourage domestic manufacturing of drones.

A notification issued by Director General of Foreign Trade Santosh Kumar Sarangi said “import policy of drones… under HS Code 8806 is ‘Prohibited’ with exceptions provided for R&D (research and development), defence and security purposes.”

“Import of drone components shall be ‘Free’. This shall come into force with immediate effect,”

It added “HT has reviewed the notification.”

The official cited above said the import of drones under the three exceptions will be permitted only after taking required permissions and clearances.

The notification comes days after the ministry of civil aviation issued the drone certification scheme on January 25 to stipulate minimum safety and quality requirements to boost indigenous manufacturing.