NAGORNO-KARABAKH, 14 December, 2020, (TON): Azerbaijan has said four of its soldiers have been killed accusing Armenian-backed separatists of an ambush. The deaths would be major breach of the Nagorno-Karabakh cease-fire.

Armenia and Azerbaijan have traded blame for breaking the terms of a cease-fire in the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region.

The Azeri government said Sunday that four of its troops had been killed in Nagorno-Karabakh after a group of Armenian fighters ambushed its forces on November 26.

The deaths are the first to be reported during the conflict's cease-fire, which has lasted more than a month.

For its part, Armenia said that six separatist fighters were injured in clashes with Azerbaijan's troops after skirmishes broke out on Friday evening.

Responding to Armenian accusations, the Baku government said the clashes over the weekend had taken place in an area that fell under its control. It said its forces had carried out a military operation against enemy forces responsible for the deadly attacks on Azeri servicemen.

But Armenia said its forces we simply repelling attempted intrusions by Azerbaijan's forces into territories supposed to remain under the control of the rebel province's government.

The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict erupted in September with clashes between Azerbaijan and separatists backed by Armenia over the mountainous region.

The 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh ceasefire agreement was signed on 9 November by the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, the Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan and the President of Russia Vladimir Putin. Under the deal, Azerbaijan will hold on to areas of Nagorno-Karabakh that it has taken during the conflict. Armenia has also agreed to withdraw from several other adjacent areas over the next few weeks.

Russia has deployed nearly 2,000 peacekeepers to the troubled region for at least five years, to monitor the peace deal and to facilitate the return of refugees.

LONDON, 14 December, 2020, (TON): Although the UK and the EU have not yet reached a deal, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen gave a short statement.

Von der Leyen said on Sunday that “Brexit trade talks with the U.K. will be extended beyond Sunday’s deadline, adding that “we think it is responsible at this point to go the extra mile.”

"We have accordingly mandated our negotiators to continue the talks and to see whether an agreement can even be reached at this late stage," she said.

Von der Leyen spoke with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson via telephone on Sunday before releasing a joint statement. Both have now mandated their negotiating teams to continue their work.

Johnson said the UK would not be the one to walk away from Brexit talks, but he still said Britain should prepare for a no-deal situation.

"We're going to keep talking. The UK certainly won't walk away from talks. ... The most likely thing now is we've got to get ready for WTO terms, Australia terms," Johnson said.

"Either way, whatever happens, the UK will do very, very well," he added.

Sunday's deadline was just the last in a series of such self-imposed cutoff dates, but time is running short, with a transition period scheduled to end on December 31.

EU chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier said late Sunday that he would brief the bloc's ambassadors early Monday morning regarding the state of negotiations with the UK.

Media reports from the U.K. suggested there had been some progress in talks in recent days, despite the lack of a breakthrough. No new deadline for the discussions was set by the EU and U.K. leaders.

The U.K. left the EU in January but it agreed to keep the same standards and regulations until the end of the year, so both sides would have time to develop new trading arrangements.

However, this transition period ends in less than three weeks and there are serious concerns that they will not have a new agreement ready by then. Failure to get an agreement in the coming weeks, a so-called no-deal Brexit, could push up taxes and costs for exporters on both sides.

Without a deal, the UK would have to trade with the EU under World Trade Organization rules.

NEW DELHI, 14 December 2020, (TON): The leaders of the agitating farmers including Punjab Kisan Sabha have decided to observe a one-day hunger strike today on Monday, 14 December. Another proposal still prevails for an indefinite hunger strike from Saturday, 19 December.

Meanwhile, Punjab Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who was extending moral support to the farmers even before the agitation started announced that he will also be holding a one-day hunger-fast in solidarity with the Punjab farmers.

The traffic authorities declared that on Sunday evening, some protesters were still on one carriageway but they were expected to clear the road soon. However, police restricted traffic on Noida-Delhi Link Road for Monday. The Delhi-Jaipur highway was shut down whole day on Sunday as farmers led a tractor march from Shahjahanpur on the Rajasthan-Haryana border.

Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar on Sunday accused Opposition parties including All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen for sprinkling oil on fire by challenging farm laws and highlighted that there would be some difficulties in the short term but these will be beneficial to farmers in the long run.

NEW DELHI, 12 December 2020, (TON): The Punjab farmers despite announcement of all the demands put forward by farmers associations decided to continue with the 14 December protest call. In a statement by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he said that Government has accepted all their demand but now they are asking for the release of Naxals.

Meanwhile, some of the farmers claim that negotiation are not finished as all the conditions set by the farmers have not been satisfied. They claimed both sides are still open to discussions but Government officials are not ready to compromise on major issues.

The talks between the farmers and the Government basically focused three laws - The Farmers Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020; The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020; and The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020.

The new laws provide a lot of incentives to the farmers as they got a new option insofar they will have the freedom to sell their produce outside the APMC (agricultural produce market committee) market within the state or anywhere else in the country and there will be no tax on such trade which will give a higher price to the farmers.

Meanwhile, agitating farmer unions are now demanding India as a ‘toll-free’ country. Bharatiya Kisan Union  is one of the union which intend to put forward new demand during 14 December protest.

BRUSSELS, 12 December, 2020, (TON): European Union (EU) Leaders reached an agreement to cut the bloc's greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55 percent by the end of next decade from the 1990 level, European Council President Charles Michel announced on Friday.

"Europe is the leader in the fight against climate change. We decided to cut our greenhouse gas emissions of at least 55 percent by 2030," he tweeted early Friday morning.

The member states green-lighted the European Commission's proposal to toughen the bloc's medium-term target as part of the long-term goal to achieve climate neutrality by 2050.

The deal was reached following late-night talks as part of the leaders' two-day summit in Brussels. Some member states, especially those which still rely on coal, had been opposing the ambitious plans but finally agreed to support the enhanced goal.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen celebrated the decision in a tweet, saying their “ambitious proposal” to slice emissions would put the EU “on a clear path towards climate neutrality in 2050.”

The agreement, reached after final talks began on Thursday, faced some hurdles.

The European Parliament's environment committee had voted for tougher emissions reductions, calling for an ambitious 60 percent reduction by 2030 rather than the 55 percent proposed by the Commission. EU leaders have agreed that 30 percent of the package should be used to support the transition.

TEHRAN, 12 December, 2020, (TON): Iranian dissident journalist Ruhollah Zam, who was convicted of fomenting violence during the 2017 anti-government protests, was executed on Saturday.

Iran’s Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld the death sentence of Zam, who was captured in 2019 after years in exile. His Amadnews feed had more than one million followers.

State broadcaster Seda va Sima said on Saturday Zam, “director of the counter-revolutionary Amadnews network, was hanged this morning.”

Iran's Revolutionary Guards announced the arrest of Zam in October 2019, claiming he had been “directed by France's intelligence service”.

State television said he was “under the protection of several countries' intelligence services”.

The official IRNA news agency said he was also convicted of espionage for France and an unnamed country in the region, cooperating with the “hostile government of America”, acting against “the country's security”, insulting the “sanctity of Islam” and instigating violence during the 2017 protests.

At least 25 people were killed during the unrest in December 2017 and January 2018 that was sparked by economic hardship.

Zam was charged with “corruption on earth”, which isone of the most serious offences under Iranian law and sentenced to death in June.

ANKARA, 12 December, 2020, (TON): Turkey on Friday rejected a declaration of the European Union (EU) summit where the European leaders agreed to extend sanctions against Ankara over the dispute in the Eastern Mediterranean.

"We reject the biased and illegal approach that had to be adopted with the EU Council Conclusions of Dec. 10," the Turkish foreign ministry said in a written statement.

The sanctions would damage both sides and benefit nobody, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday.

"The summit held by the EU yesterday did not actually respond to the expectations of several countries, because their demands were not justified," Erdogan told reporters.

The EU leaders decided to draw up a list of Turkish targets for sanctions at a summit on Friday in response to Turkey's gas exploration in Mediterranean waters also claimed by EU members Greece and Cyprus.

Turkey is locked in various disputes with the EU, including claims to drilling rights in Cyprus and a wider disagreement over the way maritime borders are drawn across the seas.

France and Turkey are also at loggerheads in Libya. Turkey’s leading role in NATO is also causing concern in some quarters.

It is unclear anyway whether more sanctions would slow Turkey down. Steps were taken in the past the slashing of funds meant to prepare Turkey for EU membership and the virtual freezing of its accession talks, however Ankara has become more vocal.

TEHRAN, 12 December, 2020, (TON): A senior Iranian official has said that foreign sanctions imposed on Iran are expected to continue for at least four to five years affecting Tehran's trade for several years.

Mohsen Rezaei, Secretary of Iran's Expediency Discernment Council, as said on Friday that

"It is completely clear that, whether (US President-elect Joe) Biden is ratified or (US President Donald) Trump can reverse the situation at the US Supreme Court, the sanctions will continue for another four or five years."

Commenting on the draft budget bill for the next Iranian year starting on March 21, 2021, Rezaei, also a senior adviser to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said both Trump and Biden intend to continue using economic sanctions to "pressure the Iranian people".

The budget should be thus designed according to the Resistance Economy doctrine and on the basis of Article 44 of the Iranian Constitution, he said.

Article 44 was reinterpreted in 2005 by the Expediency Discernment Council and Iran's Supreme Leader to allow for a transfer of state companies to the private sector.

"We expect Parliament to amend the budget bill, applying two factors: attracting the people's participation in investments and eliminating poverty," Rezaei, also a former chief of Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps, added.

Defending the draft budget bill submitted to Parliament on December 2, President Hassan Rouhani had said on Wednesday that the projected sale of 2.3 million barrels of oil per day for the next Iranian year was "not based on whether Iran will or will not hold talks or reach an agreement with other countries".

The conditions in Iran's oil production and sales will be "completely different" in 2021 from 2020 and 2019, Rouhani noted.

Despite more than two years of Mr Trump's policy of "maximum pressure" on Iran, the Islamic Republic has not buckled.

Future US presidents will have an awful choice between living with the possibility of an Iranian bomb or ordering military action that could start new conflict in the region.

KABUL, 12 December, 2020, (TON): The World Bank Board of Executive Directors on Saturday approved two grants totaling nearly $85 million from the International Development Association (IDA), as part of a $393 million financial package to help Afghanistan alleviate COVID-19 impacts and improve access to clean water, sanitation, and public services.

The grants are part of Two financial packages, this includes aid from the Afghanistan Reconstruction Trust Fund, managed by the world bank on behalf of 34 donors, grant comprise $50 million from IDA for Water, Sanitation Hygiene and Institutional support A-Wash project, the grand will total $200 million, that includes 150-million-dollars from ARTF.

 The project will bring improvement to water access and quality of water supply in Kabul, Kandahar, and Herat, it will also build up the capacity of Afghanistan Urban Water Supply and Sewerage Corporation to deliver sustainable services and contribute to efforts for managing the pandemic and other disasters.

“Access to clean water, hygiene, and basic services is essential to prevent the transmission of infectious diseases, including COVID-19,” said Henry Kerali, World Bank Country Director for Afghanistan.

$35 million of funds are for the second additional financing of the Citizen’s Charter Afghanistan Project, according to the statement the grant will total 193-million-dollars, including $158 from ARTF.

The target of the project is to improve the delivery of core infrastructure, emergency support, and social services to strengthened Community Development Councils, under the second additional financing, the Citizens’ Charter Project will improve and expand its service delivery to 10 cities across Afghanistan.

And continue to respond to the pandemic crisis in the communities, provide critical assistance to Kuchi communities, increase employment, initiate peace pilots in rural and urban areas, and build gender equality.

KABUL, 12 December, 2020, (TON): A series of rockets has struck the Afghan capital, killing at least one person and wounding two others. This is the second such attack to rock Kabul in less than a month.

At least 10 rockets were fired from the Lab-e-Jar area in Kabul on various parts of the city, including areas near the airport, Hawashinasi area in PD9, Zan Abad area in PD9 and Khwaja Rawash area in PD15, the Interior Affairs Ministry says.

A series of rockets has struck the Afghan capital, killing at least one person and wounding two others – the second such attack to rock Kabul in less than a month.

Khwaja Rawash, Hawashinasi and Zan Abad where some of the rockets landed are residential areas, the ministry said.

On November 21, at least 23 rockets were fired on different parts of the city that killed eight civilians, according to the Interior Affairs Ministry.

No group took immediate responsibility for the attack and the target was not immediately clear.

Violent attacks in Afghanistan have surged by 50 percent over recent months, with several deadly attacks carried out in Kabul, despite the Afghan government and the Taliban launched unprecedented peace talks in September.