BAGHDAD, 14 July 2021, (TON): Health officials and police said that at least 44 people were killed and over 67 injured in a fire likely caused by an oxygen tank explosion at a hospital in Iraq’s southern city of Nassiriya.

As rescuers combed the smoke-charred building in search of more bodies, Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi held urgent meetings with senior ministers and ordered the suspension and arrest of health and civil defense managers in Nassiriya.

The manager of the hospital was also suspended and ordered to be arrested, the statement added.

Already decimated by war and sanctions, Iraq’s healthcare system has struggled to cope with the coronavirus crisis, which has killed 17,592 people and infected more than 1.4 million.

Health crews carried charred bodies out of the burning hospital while many patients were coughing from the rising smoke.

Health officials at Nassiriya said search operations at the al-Hussain hospital were continuing after the fire was brought under control, but thick smoke was making it difficult to enter some of the burnt wards.

MOSCOW, 14 July 2021, (TON): Russian National Defense Control Center said that the Su-30 was escorted by a US Air Force reconnaissance aircraft near the Russian border over the Black Sea.

The situation developed according to the standard scenario, the radar systems of the Southern Military District noticed an air target approaching the state border, after which a fighter was lifted into the air.

The department added “the crew of the Russian fighter identified the air target as an EP-3E Ares aircraft of the US Air Force and took it for escort.”

They clarified that after the turn of the foreign intelligence agent, the Russian plane returned to the home airfield, and there was no violation of the state border.

ISLAMABAD, 14 July 2021, (TON): The military sources said that “an officer and a soldier of Pakistan Army embraced martyrdom during an intense exchange of fire with terrorists in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa’s Kurram district.”

Military’s media wing, the ISPR, said in a statement “three terrorists were also killed during the ‘area sanitisation operation’ in Zewa area of erstwhile FATA.”

It said “the security forces conducted an area sanitisation operation in Zewa, Kurram district on reported presence of terrorists. Three terrorists were killed during the operation.”

It added “during intense exchange of fire with terrorists, Captain Basit, a 25-year-old resident of Haripur, and Sepoy Hazrat Bilal, a 22 year-old resident of Orakzai embraced shahadat (martyrdom), the Inter-Services Public Relations said. Cordon and search operation was underway to eliminate any other terrorists found in the area.”

Last month, Naik Nazakat Khan, a 32-year-old resident of Attock, embraced martyrdom during a similar operation in North Waziristan district of the province.

NEW DELHI, 14 July 2021, (TON): Lightning has killed at least 38 people across two Indian states over the past 24 hours.

Police said “a majority of the deaths occurred in the western state of Rajasthan, where 11 people died after being struck by lightning near a watchtower at the 12th century Amber Fort.”

Senior police officer Anand Srivastava said “some of the victims were taking selfies near the watchtower when lightning struck late.”

Srivastava said “at least nine more people were killed and nearly 20 others were injured in separate lightning strikes when the state was lashed with thunderstorms and monsoon rains.”

In Uttar Pradesh, 18 people were killed by lightning, said “Manoj Dixit, a government official. Most of those killed were farm laborers working in fields.”

Both state governments announced financial compensation for the families of the victims and those who were injured.

The Indian Meteorological Department has warned of more lightning in the next two days.

Lightning strikes are common during India’s monsoon season, which runs from June to September.

PORT-AU-PRINCE, 14 July 2021, (TON):  The UN Security Council has not yet discussed the request of the Haitian authorities, where President Jovenel Moise was killed as a result of the assassination attempt , to send UN forces to this country, Dmitry Polyansky, the first deputy ambassador of Russia to the international organization.

Polyansky said “we have not discussed this yet. So far, no details.”

When asked whether he considered the sending of UN forces to Haiti to be justified, the diplomat said that it was necessary “to study more details in order to understand.”

Earlier, the office of the UN Secretary General told RIA Novosti that the organization received a letter from the Haitian authorities with a request to send troops to the republic, this document is being studied, but such a decision should be made by the Security Council.

Meanwhile, a source in the Security Council told RIA Novosti that the Council does not yet plan to meet to discuss the situation in Haiti .

The letter from the Haitian Prime Minister’s office to the UN Office in the country is dated 7 July.

DHAKA, 14 July 2021, (TON): which will be held in Tashkent, Uzbekistan “Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen will attend an international conference titled “Central and South Asia: Regional Connectivity - Challenges and Opportunities.”

President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev is hosting the global forum to strengthen regional connectivity in the context of the new open foreign policy strategy of Tashkent.

The idea is aimed at further deepening economic cooperation in Central Asia, with access to South Asia, which has historically been closely linked to this region in economic, social, cultural and civilizational dimensions.

Dr Momen will hold a meeting with the president of Uzbekistan during his stay there. “I’ll thank the President of Uzbekistan on behalf of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina."

The foreign minister will also hold a number of bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the conference, including meetings with Indian External Affairs Minister Dr Jaishankar, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

KABUL, 14 July 2021, (TON): The UK Chief of the Defense Staff General Sir Nick Carter said in an interview with the BBC that the Taliban have got every reason to return to the talks and that a majority of the people in Afghanistan do not want the group to govern, while reiterating a call for unity among political leaders in the country.

“The Taliban have got every reason to come to the table because 60% of Afghanistan are other ethnicities than Pashtuns and they don’t want the Taliban there so there has got to be a negotiated settlement ultimately if the country is going to be governed as a whole country” says Carter.

He added “the key political players in Kabul at the moment have got to show unity because if they show unity, and if the government continues to hold on to the provincial capitals and particularly Kabul as I described then that’s going to bring the Taliban to the table.”

He said that it is too early to say what will happen once the withdrawal of foreign forces are completed. However, he added that there are three scenarios at the moment “the current government couldn’t fight on as it’s doing at the moment without support from NATO troops. Secondly, there is a risk that the state could fracture and you could end up with different ethnicities breaking the country up as they did in the 1990s and the third more helpful scenario is that you are going to press for compromise and of course the longer the Afghan government retains the provincial capitals that it is still retaining, the more likely that scenario is to play out.”

He commended the Afghan government’s current strategy to keep provincial centers.

KATHMANDU, 14 July 2021, (TON): Sher Bahadur Deuba was sworn in as prime minister of Nepal, after hours of delay following controversy over the statement from the Office of the President on the appointment of the Nepali Congress leader.

Earlier in the day, President Bidya Devi Bhandari had appointed Deuba as prime minister, in line with Supreme Court verdict.

The oath ceremony was initially scheduled for 6pm, but it was delayed after the Congress party took exception to the Office of the President’s statement that did not mention the constitutional provision under which Deuba was appointed the prime minister.

A statement from the President Office said “President Bidya Devi Bhandari has appointed Nepali Congress Parliamentary Party leader and member of the House of Representative, Sher Bahadur Deuba, as prime minister as per the July 12, 2021 verdict of the Constitutional Bench of the Supreme Court.”

Passing a verdict on Oli’s House dissolution on May 21 and President Bhandari’s rejection of Deuba’s claim the same day to the post of prime minister, the Constitutional Bench ordered restoration of the Parliament and Deuba’s appointment as prime minister as per Article 76 (5) of the Constitution of Nepal.

ADDIS ABABA, 13 July 2021, (TON): Forces from Ethiopia’s northern restive Tigray region said that they were pushing south and had recaptured a town from government forces, underscoring their determination to keep fighting until the region’s prewar borders are restored.

News agencies was unable to independently confirm the claim because communication links to the region are down. Conflict erupted in Tigray eight months ago after Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed sent government forces to quell a rebellion by a powerful ethnic faction, the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF).

Prime Minister Ahmed’s Prosperity Party won the recently held parliamentary elections in a landslide, tightening his grip on power.

The government declared victory three weeks later when it took the regional capital Mekelle, but the fighting continued, leaving thousands of people dead and nearly two million forced from their homes.

TPLF spokesperson Getachew Reda told Reuters on Monday that Tigrayan forces controlled Korem, a town 170 kilometres (105 miles) south of Mekelle, and were pushing to seize control of the major town of Alamata, 20km (12 miles) further south.

A former resident of Korem now living in the capital Addis Ababa told Reuters that a family member fleeing their home had reached an area with cell service and confirmed fighting.

Ethiopian military spokesman Colonel Getnet Adane did not comment on who was in control of the town but said in a text message, “we had declared a ceasefire,” referring to a unilateral ceasefire declared by the Ethiopian government after its troops pulled out of Mekelle. The TPLF has called the ceasefire “a joke”.

DHAKA, 13 July 2021 (TON): According to a ministry of public administration circular on Monday “the government has appointed poet Mohammad Nurul Huda as the new Director General (DG) of Bangla Academy.”

Nurul Huda will serve in the position for a period of three years from the date of joining on the condition he resigns from other organizations.

The post fell vacant after its DG Habibullah Sirajee died of cancer on May 24. Since then,  AHM Lokman, secretary of the academy, has been in charge as the acting director general.

Nurul Huda earlier served as the executive director of Nazrul Institute.

He is currently the member secretary of the Nazrul Birth Centenary Celebration Committee at the national level.