LONDON, 30 July 2022, (TON): The US has warned “Iran has stepped up the production of military-capable drones, delivering its technology to militant groups across the Middle East as well as to countries such as Venezuela and Sudan.”

The New York Times cited Iranian media outlets, satellite images and US defense experts to suggest that Tehran is trying to increase its influence in the drone market.

Last week, Iranian state media quoted the head of the military, Brig. Gen. Kioumars Heydari, as saying “Tehran is ready to export weapons and military equipment to friendly countries and its drones are already “being operated far away and beyond our borders.”

Seth Frantzman, a drone expert and defense analyst, told media “Iran is increasingly becoming a global player in terms of drone exports.”

The fact that newer drones, such as the Mohajer-6 are now being seen in places like the Horn of Africa, shows that countries see them as a potential game-changer.”

LONDON, 30 July 2022, (TON): The UAE said “it is continuing efforts to return residents who have been evacuated to government-provided shelters and that 80 percent of those affected have returned to their homes.”

“Authorities are continuing their gradual recovery efforts, in light of the recent rain- and wind-induced weather fluctuations, and deal with the resulting damage,” Brig. Gen. Ali Salem Al-Tunaiji, director-general of Federal Central Operations at the Ministry of Interior.

He was delivering a statement on the developments related to rescue and assistance operations in areas affected by the turbulent weather conditions in the country, especially in Fujairah, Sharjah and Ras Al-Khaimah.

The ministry mourned the death of seven people, of Asian nationalities, and expressed its sincere condolences and sympathy with the families of the deceased.

PARIS, 30 July 2022, (TON): Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s first visit to Paris in 2018 had exposure as an objective. At the time, he as well as Emmanuel Macron were making their first steps as young leaders.

Much has happened in four years, and the world, as we have known it, has changed.

The first objective of the crown prince in Paris is to highlight the changes and other reforms undergone by the Kingdom.

As pointed out by Cedomir Nestorovic, professor of geopolitics at ESSEC, the important thing to assess is whether “the massive reforms and the structural change of the Saudi society driven by the crown prince have been sufficiently noticed abroad.”

BRUSSELS, 30 July 2022, (TON): NGOs said “almost 1,500 migrants rescued in the Mediterranean while trying to reach Europe were waiting to disembark.”

There were 659 people on board the Doctors Without Borders NGO’s ship Geo Barents, 387 aboard SOS Mediterranee’s Ocean Viking, and 438 on Sea-Watch’s boat SeaWatch3.

Sea-Watch said “Italian authorities had allowed its ship to reach the southern port city of Taranto.”

The organisation said on Twitter “relief on the one hand, disenchantment on the other, because the way there takes almost two days. More unnecessary hours that the people on board have to endure in the heat.”

Thousands of migrants have arrived on the Italian islands of Lampedusa and Sicily in recent weeks, often making the dangerous journey in makeshift boats or damaged fishing vessels.

TASHKENT, 30 July 2022, (TON): Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said “Moscow would soon propose a time for a call with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, in which Blinken has said he wants to discuss an exchange of prisoners held in Russian and US jails.”

Blinken said “Washington had made a substantial offer to obtain the release of US basketball star Brittney Griner and former Marine Paul Whelan, both detained in Russia.”

A source said “Washington was willing to exchange convicted arms trafficker Viktor Bout, jailed in the United States, as part of such a deal.”

Blinken and Biden have not spoken since Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24. Families of the US detainees have been increasing pressure on President Joe Biden, most recently in the case of two-time Olympic gold medallist Griner, who was arrested on drugs charges at a Moscow airport on Feb. 17.

ODESA, 30 July 2022, (TON): Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky visited a Black Sea port as crews prepared terminals to export grain trapped by Russia’s five-month-old war.

Work has been inching forward a week after a deal was struck to allow critical food supplies to flow to millions of impoverished people facing hunger worldwide.

Zelensky said “the first vessel, the first ship is being loaded since the beginning of the war.”

He said “however, that the departure of wheat and other grain will begin with several ships that were already loaded but could not leave Ukrainian ports after Russia invaded in late February.”

Ukraine is a key global exporter of wheat, barley, corn and sunflower oil, and the loss of those supplies has raised global food prices, threatened political insecurity and helped push more people into poverty and hunger in already vulnerable countries.

BEIJING, 30 July 2022, (TON): President Xi Jinping warned against meddling in China’s dealings with Taiwan during a phone call with his US counterpart, Joe Biden.

Xi also warned against splitting the world’s two biggest economies, according to a Chinese government summary of Thursday’s unusually lengthy, three-hour call. Businesspeople and economists warn such a change, brought on by Chinese industrial policy and US curbs on technology exports, might hurt the global economy by slowing innovation and increasing costs.

Meanwhile, Xi and Biden are looking at the possibility of meeting in person, according to a US official who declined to be identified further.

Xi has been invited to Indonesia in November for a meeting of the Group of 20 major economies, making it a potential location for a face-to-face meeting.

RIYADH, 30 July 2022, (TON): Saudi Press Agency reported “Saudi Arabia’s King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center signed an agreement to implement a project to support education in Yemen.”

The agreement was signed by KSrelief Assistant General Supervisor for Operations and Programs Ahmed bin Ali Al-Baiz at the center’s headquarters in Riyadh.

Through the project, school uniforms and bags will be provided to 11,586 Yemeni children, and 23 schools will be rehabilitated and their infrastructure improved in Hadhramaut, Al-Mahra, Aden and Hajjah governorates.

The project aims to increase access to basic and secondary education for Yemeni students, improve learning conditions, and enhance the capabilities of the education sector by reducing the dropout rate of students and providing them with a safe study environment.

By F. F. Mushfika

Regardless of announcing that Sajith Premadasa would contest the presidential election stating that “even though it is an uphill struggle” in his tweeter account, he withdrew himself from the list. Following the decision he tweeted as, “for the greater good for my country that I love and the people I cherish I hereby withdraw my candidacy for the position of president.” He also mentioned his intention to support Dullas Alahapperuma. Although Sajith has become one of the members of interest of the public, he chooses to move out from contesting. However, it is unlikely he would have been victorious as the voters for the interim presidency shall be the parliamentarians who was indefinitely favouring Ranil Wickremasinghe.

Does Sajith deserve a chance? Why does many prefer him abruptly? Why should he be the next president? These are essentially important questions to discuss.

Today, the Sri Lankans portray a different attitude and perception towards their government. This is because they expect profound changes to the constitution. This is the result of the on-going crisis that the Sri Lankans face presently. The weightlifting blunders of the previous government under the presidency of Gotabaya Rajapaksa has failed the people. Currently people are struggling with soaring inflation rate, never-ending queues, and rising unemployment. People have started to criticize how inefficient their leaders have been in their past. They also started to dig deep into their educational backgrounds and criminal records. This has brought Sajith Premadasa once again, into the limelight.

Sajith Premadasa is a prominent person in the field of politics. His father was late Ranasinghe Premadasa who was a president. He is one of the few from the people who have pursued higher education. He is fluent in economics, politics and international relations and proudly owns a graduation from London School of Economics and the University of London. He has worked much along with the UNP leader- Ranil Wickremasinghe. However, he split from him prior to the last election, formed SJB and secured him as the main opposition leader.

Most importantly, Sajith is a genuine patriotic person who is plainly in love with his country. He dropped his studies and continued from where his father left as a legacy. He is talented and a fluent speaker of English which is an essential factor in maintaining international relations. In addition, he has an effective and efficient team who stands as an “united people’s power.” This includes Sarath Fonseka – currently a vibrant speaker and supporter of the “Aragalaya” commonly known as the people’s protest. He is a field marshal and an experienced army officer who played a significant role in subduing the LTTE during the civil war. Also, members like Harsha de Silva who is an economist with a sound background of knowledge, Abdul Haleem who holds a diploma in banking, Lakshman Kiriella and Thalatha Athukorala who are lawyers are some of the characters in his alliance as a party. These members represent a fruitful ruling under the leadership of Sajith Premadasa.

As prominently said by the Welsh proverb “he that would be a leader must be a bridge” needs some attention. Sajith Premadasa has a clear understanding to perform as a whole and a team in achieving their goal. He has the capacity to negotiate and bring forth the people who are eligible and capable of handling affairs with a proper knowledge and guidance. He certainly believes that a leader needs to assist their collaborators in what they are thorough rather than merely influence them with one’s opinions. He says, “we will defeat this culture of family dominated politics and bring an era of clean politics where priority would be given to one’s capability and skills rather that one’s last name.” This ensures strong dislike to nepotism where the Sri Lankans are exhausted in witnessing family-oriented leadership under the Rajapakshas.

Although Sri Lankans as of today are more reluctant to believe the promises of the politicians, they understand the necessity of education and educated rulers. This brings Sajith Premadasa as a competitive candidate for presidency. In a widespread outlook Sajith Premadasa has no criminal records nor does he have any allegiance to any type of criminal activities so far. In fact, some even see him as “too good” for the politics. Yet is crucial that Sri Lankans needs to take a risk and trust their gut feeling for a complete and a practical change.

It is important that Sri Lanka needs to win the trust of the international. Sri Lanka is now widely discussed in terms of corruption associating with corrupted politicians. This must be changed. In order to bring that change it is compulsory that Sri Lankans need a better leader with a better qualification and a background. This will ensure foreign reserves to be increasing over the time when the internationals start to believe that Lankans are striving with a patriotic leader.

In brief, Sajith Premadasa deserves an opportunity. Before him, the country itself needs a change to steer away from the base of functioning as a crisis-ridden nation. Sajith Premadhasa on the other hand stands as an ideal candidate with his unique capabilities as a collaborator with his weaknesses that definitely lures people into doubt. Still, he deserves an opportunity. As a person of knowledge, vision, goals with a far-sight and reasoning - Sajith Premadasa is an ideal candidate. The citizens need to give the crown and watch him play for once. With that, I shall remind a famous quote of leadership of Albert Einstein – states as,

“Setting an example is not the main means of influencing another; it is the only means.”

DHAKA, 30 July 2022, (TON): Bangladesh and the United Arab Emirates have discussed a roadmap for future cooperation agenda, including high-level visits to mark the Golden Jubilee of Bangladesh-UAE diplomatic relations in 2024.

During the latest bilateral meeting held in Cox’s Bazar, the two delegations took stock and reviewed the entire gamut of bilateral, regional, and multilateral cooperation.

The issues that came up for discussion covered enhanced commerce and trade, increased investment from the UAE side in the exclusive economic zones, human resource development, people-to-people contact, visa facilitation, waiver for diplomats collaboration on food security, energy and power, civil aviation, blue economy and climate change.

Both sides expressed their resolve to further consolidate the existing bond of friendship and to take them to new heights.