CAIRO, 14 August 2022, (TON): National Media Authority reported “an emergency session of parliament approved several cabinet changes in Egypt’s first major reshuffle since 2019, with 13 ministers moved.”

A statement said “the House of Representatives had approved all the nominations set forth in a letter from President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi regarding a ministerial reshuffle.”

El-Sisi’s official Facebook page said the president had urged parliament to discuss the changes in the more than 30-strong cabinet, which were agreed following consultations with Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouli.

The president said “in a Facebook post that the changes aimed at “developing the governmental performance in some important files which contribute to protecting the state’s interests and capabilities.”

RIYADH, 14 August 2022, (TON): Saudi Ambassador to Ireland Nayel bin Ahmed Al-Jubeir received Ireland’s Ambassador-designate to the Kingdom Gerry Cunningham at the embassy’s headquarters in Dublin, Ireland.

During the meeting, the pair discussed bilateral relations between the Kingdom and Ireland, and ways to develop ties in all fields.

In a tweet, Al-Jubeir wished Cunningham a successful tour in Riyadh.

Last week, the Saudi ambassador welcomed Adil Bannaga, ambassador-designate of Sudan to Ireland.

MILAN, 14 August 2022, (TON): The leader of Italy’s Democratic Party warned of the threats that Italy’s right-wing nationalistic parties pose to European democracy in a video released in multiple languages, and promised that his party would keep Italy at the center of the European Union if it wins the country’s early parliamentary election next month.

The video by Democratic Party leader Enrico Letta comes days after the leader of the far-right Brothers of Italy, Giorgia Meloni, did a multilingual video of her own to dispute suggestions that her election as premier would endanger democracy in Italy and threaten the management of EU pandemic funds.

Meloni, whose party controversially uses the symbol of a flame borrowed from a neo-fascist party, said in an Aug. 10 video that the Italian political right has “unambiguously” condemned the legacy of fascism.

At the moment, the center-left Democratic Party and the Brothers of Italy are the leading parties in opinion polls going into Italy’s Sept. 25 parliamentary election. Neither looks assured of having enough votes to govern alone.

JEDDAH, 14 August 2022, (TON): Yemen’s army claimed on Saturday that four of its soldiers were killed and 25 more wounded in Houthi attacks, accusing the Iran-backed militia of breaching a United Nations-brokered truce hundreds of times in the past week.

The international community is pressing the Houthis to open roads in Taiz and turn the truce into a lasting peace settlement to end the war.

The army’s media center said “the Houthis committed 351 violations last week alone by shelling and mounting ground attacks on government troops, launching explosive-rigged drones, gunning down army troops, mobilizing new forces and creating new military posts in Taiz, Hajjah, Marib, Hodeidah, Dhale and Abyan.”

Displaced Yemenis receive aids of tents, mattresses and bedding, after their camp was exposed to heavy rain that damaged their tents in the Khokha district of the country’s western province of Hodeida.

DUBAI, 14 August 2022, (TON): The UAE’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahyan, discussed with the Ukrainian Foreign Minister, Dmytro Kuleba, bilateral relations between their countries, the prospects for cooperation and ways to enhance them.

UAE state news agency reported “both officials also reviewed the latest developments in the Ukraine, in addition to a number of regional and international issues of common interest.”

During the phone call, Sheikh Abdullah praised the United Nations-backed agreement recently signed in Istanbul between Ukraine, Russia and Turkey, which provides for the safe export of grain through the Black Sea to global markets.

He reiterated the UAE's commitment to support all efforts to find a peaceful solution to the conflict in Ukraine and reach a political settlement of the crisis.

KYIV, 14 August 2022, (TON): Ukraine’s health minister has accused Russian authorities of committing a crime against humanity by blocking access to affordable medicines in areas its forces have occupied since invading the country 5 1/2 months ago.

In an interview Ukrainian Health Minister Viktor Liashko said “Russian authorities repeatedly have blocked efforts to provide state-subsidized drugs to people in occupied cities, towns and villages.”

Liashko said “throughout the entire six months of war, Russia has not proper humanitarian corridors so we could provide our own medicines to the patients that need them.”

The minister said “we believe that these actions are being taken with intent by Russia, and we consider them to be crimes against humanity and war crimes that will be documented and will be recognized.”

The Ukrainian government has a program that provides medications to people with cancer and chronic health conditions.

SEOUL, 14 August 2022, (TON): North Korea’s foreign ministry criticized “the United Nations Secretary-General’s recent comment on his supports for the North’s complete denuclearization, calling the remarks lack impartiality and fairness.”

North Korea’s state news agency KCNA released a statement from the foreign ministry after UN chief Antonio Guterres on Friday said he fully supports efforts to completely denuclearise North Korea when he met with South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol.

Kim Son Gyong, vice minister for international organizations of North Korea’s foreign ministry said “I cannot but express deep regret over the said remarks of the UN secretary-general that grossly lack impartiality and fairness and go against the obligations of his duty, specified in the UN Charter, as regards the issue of the Korean peninsula.”

Kim added “the UN secretary-general should not request or accept orders from the government of a specific country but refrain from doing any act that may impair his or her position as an international official who is liable only to the UN.”

By Usman Khan

14 – 15 August, is a national holiday in Pakistan. It remembers with fervor the day when Pakistan attained independence and was professed a sovereign state following the end of the British Raj in 1947. Pakistan came into existence as a result of the hectic Pakistan Movement, which aimed for the creation of an independent Muslim state in the north-western regions of British India.

The movement was led by the All-India Muslim League under the dynamic leadership of Muhammad Ali Jinnah. The event was brought forth by the Indian Independence Act 1947 under which the British Raj gave independence to the Territory of Pakistan which consist of West Pakistan the present-day Pakistan and East Pakistan now Bangladesh. In the Islamic calendar, the day of independence matched with 27 Ramadan, the eve of which, being Laylat al-Qadr, is regarded as holy by Muslims.

The main Independence Day ceremony takes place in Islamabad, where the national flag become held at the Presidential and Parliament buildings followed by the national anthem and live speeches by leaders. Usual celebratory events and festivities for the day include flag-raising ceremonies, parades, cultural events, and the playing of patriotic songs. A number of award ceremonies are often held on this day, and Pakistanis hoist the national flag atop their homes and also to display it prominently on their vehicles and to the traditional dress.

The area constituting Pakistan was historically a part of the British Indian Empire throughout much of the nineteenth century. The East India Company initiated their commerce in colonial India in the 17th century, and the company rule started from 1757 when they won the Battle of Plassey.

After the uprising of 1857, the Government of India Act 1858 led to the British Crown supposing direct control over much of the Indian subcontinent. All-India Muslim League was founded by the All India Muhammadan Educational Conference at Dhaka, in 1906, in the background of the circumstances over the partition of Bengal in 1905 and the party aimed at creation of a separate Muslim state.

The period after World War I was marked by British transformations such as the Montagu-ford Reforms, but it also saw the enactment of the repressive Rowlatt Act and vociferous calls for self-rule by Indian activists. The widespread discontent of this period crystallized into nationwide non-violent movements of non-cooperation and civil disobedience.

The idea for a separate Muslim state in the northwest regions of South Asia was introduced by Allama Iqbal in his speech as the President of the Muslim League in December 1930. After three years the name of "Pakistan" as an independent state was offered in a declaration made by Chaudhary Rahmat Ali, in the form of an abbreviation. It comprised the five "northern units" of Punjab, the erstwhile North-West Frontier Province, Kashmir, Sindh, and Baluchistan.

In the 1940s, as the Indian independence movement intensified, an upsurge of Muslim nationalism by the All-India Muslim League took place, of which Muhammad Ali Jinnah was the most prominent leader.  Since a long time ideological differences between Hindus and Muslims were escalating. Being a Muslim political party to secure the interests of the Muslim diaspora in British India, the Muslim League played a decisive and key role during the 1940s in the Indian independence movement and worked as driving force behind the creation of Pakistan as a Muslim state in South Asia.

On 22–24 March 1940 during a three-day general session of All-India Muslim League a political declaration was presented, known as the Lahore Resolution, which called on the necessity of creation of an independent state for Muslims. In 1956, 23 March also became the date on which Pakistan transitioned from a dominion to a republic, and is known as Pakistan Day.

In 1946, the Labor government in Britain, tired by events such as World War II and many riots, realized that it had neither the ability at home and internationally, nor the reliability of the British Indian Army for continuing to control an increasingly volatile British India. The reliability of the native forces for continuing their control over an increasingly insubordinate India reduced, and so the government decided to end the British rule of the Indian Subcontinent.

In 1946, the Indian National Congress, being a secular party, demanded a single state. The All India Muslim League, who disagreed with the idea of single state, stressed the idea of a separate Pakistan as an alternative. The 1946 Cabinet Mission to India was sent to reach a compromise between Congress and the Muslim League, suggesting a regionalized state with more power given to local governments, but it was disallowed by both of the parties and resulted in a number of insurrections in South Asia.

Finally, in February 1947, UK Prime Minister announced that the British government would grant full self-governance to British India at the latest. On 3 June 1947, the British government declared that the division of British India into two independent states was accepted.

The successor governments would be given dominion status and would have an implicit right to secede from the British Commonwealth. The then Viceroy chose 15 August, the second anniversary of Japan's surrender in the World War II, as the date of power transfer. He chose 14 – 15 August as the date of the ceremony of power transfer to Pakistan because he wanted to attend the ceremonies in both India and Pakistan.

The Indian Independence Act 1947 (10 & 11 Geo 6 c. 30) passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom divided British India into the two new independent dominions; the dominion of India (later to become the Republic of India) and the Dominion of Pakistan (later to become the Islamic Republic of Pakistan).

The act provided a mechanism for division of the Bengal and Punjab provinces between the two nation’s establishment of the office of the Governor-General, conferral of comprehensive legislative authority upon the respective Constituent Assemblies, and separation of joint property between the two new countries.

The act later received royal assent on 18 July 1947.The partition was convoyed by violent riots and mass fatalities, and the displacement of nearly 15 million people due to religious violence across the subcontinent; millions of Muslim, Sikh and Hindu refugees shifted the newly drawn borders to Pakistan and India respectively in the months surrounding independence.

On 14 – 15 August 1947, the new Territory of Pakistan became independent and Muhammad Ali Jinnah was sworn in as its first governor general in Karachi. Independence was marked with widespread celebration, but the atmosphere remained heated given the communal riots prevalent during independence in 1947.

NEW DELHI, 14 August 2022, (TON): External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said “India-China relations cannot be normal unless border situation is and added that if China disturbs the peace and tranquillity in border areas, it will impact the relations further.”

EAM S Jaishankar said "we have maintained our position that if China disturbs the peace and tranquillity in border areas, it will impact our relations. Our relationship is not normal, it cannot be normal as the border situation is not normal.”

Jaishankar also said “the big problem is the border situation and Indian military has been holding on to the ground.”

He added "we have made substantial progress in pulling back from places where we were very close to the LOC.”

DHAKA, 14 August 2022, (TON): The connectivity between Saidpur Airport and the nearest Nepalese airport is in limbo due to funding problems, despite several requests from the landlocked Himalayan nation.

The Civil Aviation Authority, Bangladesh said that they were not expanding the existing runway of Saidpur Airport now due to a fund crunch following the pandemic as over Tk 5,000 crore would be required just for land acquisition and runway construction.

There is a real commitment to building a regional airport at Saidpur. We have taken our work to this end.

CAAB chairman Air Vice-Marshal Muhammad Mafidur Rahman said “unfortunately, it needs around Tk 5,000 crore just for the land requisition and expansion-related works and it is not getting priority in the post-Covid financial situation.”