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WASHINGTON, 26 March 2021, (TON): US President Joe Biden on Thursday said it will be difficult to comply with the May 1 time constraint to pull out US troops from Afghanistan according to the arrangement made during the Donald Trump organization.

Speaking at his first press conference since taking office, Biden said that, "It is going to be hard to meet the May 1 deadline. In terms of tactical reason, it is hard to get those troops out. We have been meeting with our allies, those who also have troops in Afghanistan. If we leave we will do it in a safe and orderly way. We are in consultations with our allies and partners on how to proceed."

"It is not my intention to stay there for a long time. But the question is how and under what circumstances do we meet that agreement that was made by (former) President Trump," Biden said when asked about the exit of US troops from Afghanistan.

Lastly, Biden said, "We (US) will leave (Afghanistan), the question is when we will leave.

"Since coming to power the Biden administration has made it clear that it is not willing to let the Taliban have its way as the price for ending the war in Afghanistan amid reports of al Qaeda gaining strength in the country.

On February 29, 2020, the US and the Taliban development marked a harmony bargain in Doha, Qatar, specifying a progressive withdrawal of US troops just as the start of intra-Afghan dealings and prisoner exchanges.

The discussions were postponed on different occasions until the Afghan government and the Taliban figured out how to concur on the prisoner exchange measure.

WASHINGTON, 24 March, 2021, (TON): The United States has approached Sri Lanka to shield the privileges of ethnic and strict minorities. US State Department Principal Deputy Spokesperson Jalina Porter noticed that the United Nations Human Rights Council passed a goal to advance common freedoms in Sri Lanka.

"The United States co-sponsored this resolution and together with the international community calls on Sri Lanka to safeguard the rights of ethnic and religious minorities, human rights defenders, and civil society actors, and to take credible and meaningful steps to address its past, promote reconciliation, and guarantee equal access to justice for all its people," she said.

Jalina Porter said the goal grows revealing prerequisites for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and incorporates a command to gather and save proof for future responsibility cycles and communicates worry about the patterns over the previous year.

She said that the drawn-out security and flourishing of Sri Lanka rely upon regarding common liberties today and focusing on harmony and compromise for what's to come.

 

NEW DEHLI, 18 March, 2021, (TON):  Indian National security advisor Ajit Doval and American Defence Secretary General Lloyd Austin are likely to discuss China and important regional security issues including Afghanistan during the first visit by a top Biden administration official to India starting this Friday.

Austin is visiting India from March 19 to 21 in which he will be meeting the top political and military leadership of the country.

"The American Defence Secretary and national security advisor Ajit Doval are likely to meet on Friday itself during which they are expected to set the stage for the visit by discussing all important security issues including China," government sources told.

India and America have been working closely with each other after the Chinese attempts to change the status quo in the eastern Ladakh area in April May time frame last year.

The American side also helped by providing timely defense hardware supplies during the conflict apart from sharing important satellite feed and inputs.

TOKYO, 17 March, 2021, (TON): Japan and the US united on Tuesday to condemn China's compulsion and hostility in Asia as senior Ministers from the two nations held their first in-person talks since President Joe Biden got down to business in January.

Besides the sharp way of talking pointed toward Beijing, the meeting in Tokyo and a planned stop next in Seoul are as much exertion by the Biden organization to console stressed partners in Asia following four years of infrequently angry dealings with the Trump organization.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, after holding the so-called “two plus two” security talks with Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin and their Japanese counterparts Foreign Minister Motegi and Defence Minister Kishi said democracy and human rights in the region are being challenged and the US will push with its partners for a free and open Indo-Pacific.

Blinken said the Biden administration is committed to working with US allies and those in the region as they face challenges from China and its ally North Korea, which is pursuing an illicit nuclear weapons program.

“We will push back if necessary when China uses coercion or aggression to get its way,” he said. In a joint statement released after the talks, the ministers also shared strong worry over Beijing's human rights violations in Xinjiang.

 

SEOUL, 17 March, 2021, (TON): Korea's first remarks aimed at the Biden organization, Kim Jong Un's incredible sister on Tuesday cautioned the United States to “refrain from causing a stink” if it wants to “sleep in peace” for the following four years.

Kim Yo Jong's assertion was issued as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin showed up in Asia to converse with US partners Japan and South Korea about North Korea and other territorial issues. They have meetings in Tokyo on Tuesday prior to addressing authorities in Seoul on Wednesday.

“We take this opportunity to warn the US Administration trying hard to give off (gun) powder smell in our land,” she said.   “If it wants to sleep in peace for coming four years, it had better refrain from causing a stink at its first step.”     

Kim Yo Jong, a senior authority who handles Korean issues, likewise censured the US and South Korea for holding military activities. She likewise said the North would consider surrendering a 2018 two-sided concession to lessening military strains and annul a decades-old decision party unit entrusted to deal with between Korean relations on the off chance that it not, at this point needed to help out the South.

She said the North would also consider scrapping an office that handled South Korean tours to the North's scenic Diamond Mountain.

 

BEIJING, 13 March, 2021, (TON): In front of the Quad culmination on Friday, China said trades and participation between nations ought to add to common seeing as opposed to focusing on third party and decline “pursuing exclusive blocs ".

US President Joe Biden, PM Narendra Modi, Australian PM Morrison and Japanese PM Yoshihide Suga will go to the virtual summit, which is the initial meeting of the top heads of the Quadrilateral partnership, on Friday.

Known as the “Quadrilateral Security Dialogue,” representatives for the four-member nations have met periodically since its establishment in 2007.

Asked for China's reaction to the Quad conclave, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told a media briefing here that “exchanges and cooperation between nations should contribute to the mutual understanding and trust among nations, rather than targeting a third party or damaging the interest of a third party.”

The meeting to be held virtually is expected to last about 90 minutes, during which all the four leaders would also lay out their vision of a free and open Indo-Pacific, amidst China flexing its muscles in the strategically-vital region.

China is engaged in hotly contested territorial disputes in the South and East China Seas. Beijing has also made substantial progress in militarizing its man-made islands in the past few years.

Beijing claims sovereignty over the entirety of the South China Sea. Yet, Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines, Brunei and Taiwan have counterclaims. In the East China Sea, China has regional questions with Japan.

The developing circumstance in the Indo-Pacific locale in the wake of China's expanding military muscle-flexing has become a significant argument among driving worldwide forces. The US has been preferring making Quad a security design to check China's developing confidence.

 

 

 

DHAKA, 12 March, 2021, (TON): US State Department upheld a workshop in Rajshahi upgrading understudy police commitment through authority development zeroed in on countering savage radicalism, mentorship, local area policing, and resistance.

Thirty students from Rajshahi University, Rajshahi University of Engineering and Technology, Rajshahi College, and five Rajshahi Metropolitan cops joined the current year's Student Leadership Development Workshop on Thursday, said a US embassy press release.

US Ambassador to Bangladesh Earl Miller and Rajshahi Additional Metropolitan Police Commissioner Md Sujayet Islam spoke at the inaugural ceremony of the workshop.

Ambassador Miller applauds programs like the Student Leadership Development Workshop, which illustrates the United States and Bangladesh’s enduring commitment to building a brighter future together.

The series’ five seminars involved over 150 Rajshahi students and 25 police officers, promoting the US embassy’s effort to countering violent extremism. Since 2016, the US States Department of Defense and Department of Justice utilized this program in Bangladesh.

 

 


Washington, 18 March 2020, TON: In a time when many are confined to their homes, consumers will have high expectations that Amazon will come though to meet their needs and demands.

Amazon, which has expanded its food operations with the acquisition of the Whole Foods grocery chain, has shifted its priorities in recent days to help people get needed household basics and medical supplies.

"There's enormous pressure on Amazon to meet these increased expectations," said Technalysis Research analyst Bob O'Donnell.

"Fairly or unfairly, people will expect that Amazon will always have some things, like toilet paper. If not, they're going to catch more grief than if a local grocery store is out."

Amazon this week boosted pay and set out to hire 100,000 more US workers to add to its global workforce of some 800,000 to cope with a surge in online shopping prompted by coronavirus fears.

The Seattle-based firm expects to spend more than $350 million to bump up hourly pay in the North America and Europe for employees and partners in distribution centers, transportation operations and stores.

"Getting a priority item to your doorstep is vital as communities practice social-distancing, particularly for the elderly and others with underlying health issues," senior vice president of worldwide operations Dave Clark said in a blog post.

"We are seeing a significant increase in demand, which means our labor needs are unprecedented for this time of year."

Amazon has been working to thwart price-gouging of sought-after products as it ramps up efforts to meet demands in the coronavirus age
Amazon accounts for some 37 percent of US e-commerce sales, according to the research firm eMarketer, and is the largest cloud computing firm which powers online operations around the world, including for firms like rival streaming platform Netflix.

If Amazon becomes a salvation for people unable or afraid to go out to shops due to coronavirus risk, it could win new users and become a more entrenched habit, and potentially boost its image at a time when Big Tech has come under fire.

Amazon this week said it was reorganizing its operations, slowing down some deliveries to help people with more pressing needs.

"We are seeing increased online shopping and as a result some products such as household staples and medical supplies are out of stock," Amazon said.

"With this in mind, we are temporarily prioritizing household staples, medical supplies and other high-demand products coming into our fulfillment centers so we can more quickly receive, restock and ship these products to customers."

Amazon has also been forced into policing the platform to thwart price-gouging efforts by vendors who stockpiled coveted supplies like breathing masks and hand sanitizers.

They are a serious liability that could cripple Amazon."

Amazon has also faced criticism for keeping warehouses open in Europe even after cases of COVID-19 have been detected among workers.

A side effect of the coronavirus could be accelerated development of drone delivery mechanisms already being tested in some locations, according to Enderle.

KABUL: 18 March 2020, TON:  Following the Taliban’s statement over its strong standpoint against the malicious terrorist group, IS-K or so called Daesh, the US special representative for Afghanistan reconciliation, Zalmay Khalilzad – who had signed a peace deal with the Taliban’s deputy leader around two weeks ago in the Gulf state of Qatar – said that the fulfillment of the agreement by Washington would depend on Taliban’s stand on their commitments, in accordance to the peace deal.

The progressive remarks made while there is a strong distrust between the Afghan government and Taliban who are supposed to sit in one table under Afghan-to-Afghan negotiations to end the endless war in their country. “I welcome the Taliban’s statement denouncing Daesh and committing to stop any attempts by Daesh to recruit, fundraise, or train inside Afghanistan,” Khalilzad twitted and added, “These mirror Taliban’s public commitments (in our agreement) against Al Qaeda and all other groups that threaten the US or its allies.” Khalilzad had termed Taliban’s operation against IS-K in Kunar as a positives step, which are stated in the US-Taliban peace deal.

The Taliban group in a statement said that they have fought the IS-K and that most of the Daesh hideouts have been destroyed during their operations in eastern Afghanistan. After one and half years of negotiations with the Taliban, Khalilzad had hammered out an agreement with the group’s political office in Qatar that paved way for reduction in number of foreign troops and also facilitate direct-Afghan-talks. Based on the agreement, the Taliban should cut ties with other terrorists groups and assured that Afghanistan would not be used against U.S. and allies by any terrorists groups. In return, the U.S. would reduce the number of its roughly 13,000 troops to 8,600 within 135 days and the Afghan government would release around 5,000 Taliban prisoners. But the crucial phase of peace process, which is the intra-Afghan talks, is still looming in an unfinished business, as the Afghan government and Taliban are seemed reluctant to get into practical steps.

President Ashraf Ghani has signed a decree, which allows the gradual release of 5,000 Taliban prisoners but the militants group insists that all of the 5,000 prisoners be released at the same time before its representatives set on a negotiation table with the government’s delegation. On the other hand, the current political controversies among the Afghan politicians over Presidency Power and Election have become another great challenge against peace process. Afghan peace process should be finalized because internal stability of Afghan is necessary for Afghan people as they are suffering a lot due to prolonged war.

In the name of protecting Tibet's environmental and cultural rights, the US House of Representatives has passed a bill by an overwhelming vote of 392 to 22 that authorizes


financial and travel sanctions against Chinese officials who interfere in the process of selecting the successor to the Dalai Lama, the exiled spiritual leader of Tibet. In the next step the bill will be presented to the Senate and signed into law by the president.

The bill provides that the succession or reincarnation of Tibetan Buddhist leaders which includes nomination of 15th Dalai Lama, is an exclusively religious matter that should be decided solely by the Tibetan Buddhist community. The bill will also prohibit China from opening any new consulate in the US until Beijing allows Washington to open its diplomatic station in the Tibetan capital, Lhasa.

If we recall, US Congressman McGovern said on the House floor, "The Dalai Lama should be commended for his decision to devolve political authority to elected leaders. The Tibetan exile community is also to be commended for adopting a system of self-governance with democratic institutions to choose their own leaders, including holding multiple 'free and fair' elections to select its Parliament and chief executive."

There are serious concerns that Coronavirus may be linked with Washington’s plans to preventing Beijing from installing a Dalai Lama and linking it with “Global Magnitsky Act". The Global Magnitsky Act allows the US to sanction foreign government officials implicated in human rights abuses anywhere in the world. There are reports that last month Americans had been engaged in dialogue with Tibetan leaders and Beijing.

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