TRIPOLI, 03 December, 2020, (TON): At least 20,000 foreign fighters and mercenaries are in Libya causing a “serious crisis” as weapons continue pouring into the war-ravaged North African nation, a United Nations official warned on Wednesday.

“That is a shocking violation of Libyan sovereignty, a blatant violation of the arms embargo,” UN acting envoy Stephanie Williams told an online meeting of the Libyan Political Dialogue Forum.

“It is incumbent upon all actors to respect Libyan requests for them to depart the country so that Libyans can come together, so that the ceasefire can actually be implemented, that military forces can withdraw,” Williams later told media.

Her remarks reflect her exasperation over the lack of progress on the departure of foreign fighters and mercenaries from Libya, which was part of a ceasefire deal signed in October.

The ceasefire set a three-month deadline for foreign forces to leave Libya. Thousands, including Russians, Syrians, Sudanese and Chadians – have been brought in by rival sides, according to UN experts.

Williams also slammed unspecified foreign governments for “behaving with complete impunity” and deepening the Libyan conflict with mercenaries and weapons.

UN making its efforts to end the chaos in Libya, which has been gripped by violence since a NATO-backed uprising in 2011 overthrew and killed veteran leader Muammar Gaddafi.

The country has since 2015 been dominated by armed groups and divided between two bitterly opposed administrations: the UN-brokered Government of National Accord (GNA) and a rival administration in the east backed by renegade military commander Khalifa Haftar.

The Libyan Political Dialogue Forum is a comprehensive dialogue held on the basis of the outcome of the Berlin Conference on Libya, which was ratified by the Security Council in Resolution 2510 (2020) and Security Council Resolution 2542(2020).

The 75-member forum is trying to get Libya’s warring sides to agree on a mechanism that would establish a transitional administration to lead the country through presidential and parliamentary elections in December 2021.

CANBERRA, 03 December, 2020, (TON): Australia’s parliament on Thursday passed legislation giving the federal government power to veto any agreement struck with foreign states, a move likely to anger China and intensify a bitter diplomatic spat between the two countries.

The law allows the Commonwealth to block any agreement between Australian states, councils or institutions and a foreign government, such as a controversial 2018 deal between the state of Victoria and China.

“Australia’s policies and plans, the rules that we make for our country are made here in Australia according to our needs and our interests,” Prime Minister Scott Morrison told reporters in Canberra.

Morrison has stressed the law is not aimed at any country, but it is widely seen by analysts as directed at China.

Under the terms of the new law, the foreign minister can veto any agreements with foreign governments if they “adversely affect Australia’s foreign relations” or are “inconsistent with Australian foreign policy”.

One deal expected to come under the spotlight is Victoria’s participation in China’s Belt and Road Initiative, which Morrison said weakens the federal government’s ability to control foreign policy.

China’s foreign policy and the rapid modernisation of its military has long unsettled Australian politicians. A turning point occurred in 2017 when Australia banned foreign political donations, with officials warning of “disturbing reports” of Chinese attempts to influence the political process in Canberra.

The following year, Australia became the first country to ban Chinese tech giant Huawei from its 5G network. It also reportedly went on to block 10 Chinese investment deals.

Relations between Australia and China have been frosty for years, but the situation deteriorated rapidly after Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison in April called for an international inquiry into the origins of the coronavirus pandemic. Beijing has also been angered by Australian criticism of its actions in Hong Kong, Xinjiang, Taiwan and the South China Sea.

DHAKA, 03 December, 2020, (TON): Bangladesh has begun preparations to move thousands of Rohingya refugees to a remote island off its coast, officials said on Wednesday, despite opposition from many refugees and human rights groups who have urged to halt the relocation.

“Bangladesh should halt this hasty relocation process,” said Ismail Wolff, regional director of Fortify Rights. “Not one refugee should be moved until all human rights and humanitarian concerns have been resolved and genuine informed consent is assured.”

More than 300 refugees were brought to the island earlier this year after an attempt to flee Bangladesh for Malaysia by boat failed and they were stranded at sea for months.

Humanitarian and human rights groups have urged a halt to the move, saying the island, which emerged from the sea 20 years ago and has never been inhabited, is flood-prone and vulnerable to frequent cyclones, while the government has not allowed the United Nations to carry out a safety assessment.

“The authorities should immediately halt relocation of more refugees to Bhashan Char …” said Saad Hammadi, Amnesty International’s South Asia Campaigner, in a statement.

“The relocation of so many Rohingya refugees to a remote island, which is still off limits to everyone including rights groups and journalists without prior permission, poses grave concerns about independent human rights monitoring,” he said.

A briefing note by an international humanitarian organisation said hundreds of refugees identified by officials as willing to go to the island were taken to a transit centre on Wednesday, with some offered incentives including cash payments.

The UN in a statement has said: “Any relocations to Bhasan Char should be preceded by comprehensive technical protection assessments.”

The island of Bhasan Char, located 60km (37 miles) off the coast of Bangladesh, emerged less than 20 years ago from the sea. For the past three years, the authorities have been building a new town to relocate more than 100,000 refugees in order to ease tensions within the camps.

The Rohingya people have faced decades of systematic discrimination, statelessness and targeted violence in Rakhine State, Myanmar.

WASHINGTON, 03 December 2020, (TON): Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, told the Brookings Institution’s Michael O’Hanlon on Wednesday morning that “We believe that now after 20 years, two decades of consistent effort there, we’ve achieved a modicum of success.”

“We went to Afghanistan to ensure that Afghanistan never again became a platform for terrorists to strike the United States,” he said.

However, he declined to provide many details about the US withdrawal plans for Afghanistan, citing security concerns.

Donald Trump ordered the Pentagon to accelerate a drawdown of U.S. troops in Afghanistan, the moves will leave about 2,500 troops in Afghanistan. Trump works to deliver on his long-time pledge to exit from “endless wars” before he leaves office in January.

The US media recently reported that American troops will shut down some bases that it has maintained across the country, reducing its footprint to “a couple of larger bases with several satellite bases that provide the capability to continue our train, advise and assist mission and our counterterrorism mission,” Milley said.

“What comes after that will be up to a new administration, we’ll find that out on the 20th of January and beyond.” Milley added.

The US longest ever war in Afghanistan is seen as more collateral damage than a reasonable success,  which is sending wavers to Washington as is realized by Miller and others that the war must stop. The drawdown call followed by a breakthrough in intra-Afghan peace talks is surely a generative of US-Taliban Peace Agreement late in February.

DOHA, 03 December, 2020, (TON): Qatar and Saudi Arabia are close to striking a preliminary agreement to end a dispute that has caused uneven relationship among Gulf neighbours for more than three years, aljazeera reported.

The expected deal comes after the US President Donald Trump’s adviser Jared Kushner arrived in the Gulf region to resolve the Gulf crisis, before the Trump administration leaves office in January.

Kushner’s tour included meetings with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Riyadh earlier this week after that he met the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, in Doha on Wednesday.  

The current crisis between Qatar and the Gulf states could end "within 24 hours", Saudi Arabia's permanent representative to the United Nations, Abdullah Bin Yahya Al-Mouallimi, said yesterday.

On Wednesday, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) quoted US officials as saying that the main focus of the talks would be to resolve a dispute over allowing Qatari planes to fly through the airspace of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt cut diplomatic, transport and trade links with Qatar in June 2017, accusing Doha of sponsoring terrorism. Qatar has repeatedly denied the accusations saying as baseless while highlighting its readiness for dialogue.

NEW DELHI, 03 December, 2020, (TON): Twitter has labelled a tweet by the IT head of India's ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) as "manipulated media".

In the tweet in question, Malviya responding to a post by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. Gandhi had tweeted a photograph showing a policeman wielding his baton against a protesting elderly farmer.

In response, Malviya on November 28 posted a "propaganda vs reality" video purporting to show that the farmer was, in fact, not hit by the police baton, The Hindu reported. In the accompanying caption, he said "Rahul Gandhi must be the most discredited opposition leader India has seen in a long long time."

But fact-check websites contradicted the BJP leader's claim, saying he had posted a cropped video. Alt News shared a longer version of the video which showed two policemen swinging their batons at the farmer one after the other. Malviya’s video showed only the second cop whose baton missed the farmer.

"Amit Malviya shared a few seconds of a clipped video to suggest that the elderly farmer wasn’t hit. This was an attempt to water down the force used by police against the protesters. It must be pointed out that whether the baton touched the farmer or not is irrelevant. The video was shot at a time when large numbers of protesters had broken police barricades and the cops were retaliating with lathi-charge and tear gas," the news outlet said in a report.

Twitter subsequently labelled the tweet as "manipulated media", saying the video shared by Malviya was edited, according to fact-check websites.

Earlier this year, Twitter had announced it would begin enforcing a policy against manipulated content, including from politicians, starting March 5.

DOHA, 03 December 2020, (TON): Afghan government and Taliban representatives reached a preliminary deal on Wednesday to pursue Peace talks. This is the first written agreement in 19 years of Afghan war and welcomed by the United Nations and Washington.

The agreement lays out the way forward for discussion but is considered a breakthrough because it will allow negotiators to move on to more substantive issues, including talks on a ceasefire, even as violence in Afghanistan has been on rise in recent times.

Nader Nadery, a member of the Afghan government’s negotiating team said “The procedure including its preamble of the negotiation has been finalised and from now on, the negotiation will begin on the agenda,”

The Taliban spokesman confirmed the agreement on Twitter.

“A joint working committee was tasked to prepare the draft topics for the agenda (of peace talks),” a joint statement from both sides said.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo congratulated the two sides on “perseverance and willingness to find common ground.”

U.S. Special Representative for Afghan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad said on Twitter that the two sides had agreed on a “three-page agreement codifying rules and procedures for their negotiations on a political roadmap and a comprehensive ceasefire.”

Key players including Qatar, who is hosting the talks, and neighbouring Pakistan, whose government and military have helped put pressure on the Taliban to bring them to the negotiating table, also welcomed the agreement which Doha called a “milestone”.

The Taliban were ousted from power in 2001 by U.S.-led forces for refusing to hand over Osama bin Laden. A U.S.-backed government has held power in Afghanistan since then, although the Taliban have control over wide areas of the country.

Under a February deal, foreign forces are to leave Afghanistan by May 2021 in exchange for counter-terrorism guarantees from the Taliban.

The agreement comes after months of talks in Doha, the capital of Qatar. Recently, security incidents were on increase as Intra-Afghan Peace talks are ongoing. A ceasefire remains the most urgent demand of international capitals and Kabul.

BEIJING, 3 December 2020, (TON): China has started importing Indian rice after a gap of two years and placed orders for shipment of about 5,000 tonnes of non-basmati rice due to highly attractive prices offered by India compared to other nations.  All India Rice Exporters Association (AIREA) has confirmed having placed order by China, official said.

India is the world’s major exporter of rice, while China is the biggest importer to support its noodles and wine industry.

In 2006, China was given market access for Indian rice but it slowed down amid border tensions between the two nations.

The rice import by China from India could not even touch 150 tonnes of basmati rice till October 2020-21 fiscal. In last two months, China has placed orders for shipment of about 5,000 tonnes of non-basmati rice called broken rice from South India, AIREA Executive Director Vinod Kaul said.

The resumption of trade between China and India is being positively viewed, especially in neighbouring Pakistan as it is important for the peace in the region.

JAMMU AND KASHMIR, 02 December 2020, (Media Report): As the world observes international day for abolition of slavery, India continues to treat the people of Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir as slaves. 

A report released as saying, the UN Day for the Abolition of Slavery being observed today is aimed to end slavery in the world. However, it said, millions of Kashmiris are subjected to forced slavery under Indian occupation. 

The report said that practice of human slavery was witnessed in its worst form in IIOJK and sexual exploitation of Kashmiri women was also a part of slavery in the occupied territory. 

“Indian tactics of subjugating the Kashmiri people are going to fail sooner or later as Kashmiris are determined to break the shackles of Indian slavery. Kashmiris will prefer death over becoming slaves of Hindu fanatics,” it added. 

The report maintained that the people of IIOJK are destined to get freedom from Indian subjugation. “It is time for UN to come forward to rescue Kashmiris from the Indian slavery. UN should stand with just cause of Kashmir and play role in resolving the lingering Kashmir dispute according to will of Kashmiri people,” it maintained. 

NEW DELHI, 02 December, 2020, (TON): In a strong rebuttal to the way protesters from the farming community in New Delhi are being treated by police, Canada PM Justin Trudeau has expressed his concern. 

Trudeau made the remarks while participating in a Facebook video interaction organized by Canadian MP Bardish Chagger to mark the 551st birth anniversary of Guru Nanak, the founder of the Sikh religion.  

During his address, he said: “I would be remiss if I didn’t start also by recognizing the news coming out of India about the protest by farmers. The situation is concerning and we’re all very worried about family and friends.” 

“I know that’s a reality for many of you. Let me remind you, Canada will always be there to defend the right of peaceful protest. We believe in the importance of dialogue and that’s why we’ve reached out through multiple means directly to the Indian authorities to highlight our concerns” he added. 

Hours later, external affairs ministry spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said in a brief statement: “We have seen some ill-informed comments by Canadian leaders relating to farmers in India. Such comments are unwarranted, especially when pertaining to the internal affairs of a democratic country.” 

All the participants have expressed their outrage on social media over the police repression of farmers. 

This is the first time that Trudeau has made a strong public statement against state violence that has grown under the current Modi nationalist government in India. However, attacks on religious minorities and political dissidents have increased in India ever since Narendra Modi became PM in 2014.  

Police in New Delhi have been harassing Punjab farmers who are camping in the city along with farmers from other Indian states to register their peaceful protest against recent controversial bills introduced by the government. 

These measures are aimed at rolling back subsidies given to the farmers. The bills were pushed through without due consultations, causing anxiety in the farming community.   

There were not only attempts to prevent Punjab farmers from entering the capital, but they were brutally assaulted by Delhi police.