DHAKA, 05 July 2021, (TON): As the pandemic continues to put people in misery the world over, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is sending sweet mangoes to India and several South Asian and Middle Eastern countries recognised to be friends.

The mangoes being sent currently are Haribhanga, a variety farmed in the northern districts of Rangpur, Nilphamari, Dinajpur and Thakurgaon. The ones from Rangpur are the sweetest.

A foreign Minister official said "we are sending 2,600 kg of Haribhanga mangoes for Indian President Ram Nath Kovind, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee."

The mangoes were sent to Kolkata in trucks through Benapole Port yesterday. After leaving some for the West Bengal chief minister, the rest will be taken from Kolkata to Delhi by Rajdhani Express.

A diplomat from the Bangladesh High Commission in Delhi said "we are expecting the mangoes to arrive in Delhi on Monday. Then we will deliver Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's gift to the Indian president and prime minister."

NAYPYITAW, 05 July 2021, (TON): Myanmar security forces killed at least 25 people in a confrontation with opponents of the military junta at a town in the centre of the Southeast Asian nation.

A spokesman for the military did not respond to calls requesting comment on the violence at Depayin in the Sagaing region, about 300 km (200 miles) north of the capital, Naypyitaw.

The state-run Global New Light of Myanmar said armed terrorists had ambushed security forces patrolling there, killing one of them and wounding six.

It said the attackers retreated after retaliation by the security forces.

Myanmar has been plunged into chaos by the Feb. 1 coup against elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi, with violence flaring in many parts of the country of more than 53 million people.

KABUL, 05 July 2021, (TON): Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby said that US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin has approved a plan to transfer authority from Army General Scott Miller to Marine Corps General Frank McKenzie.

Miller is the commander of U.S. Forces-Afghanistan and the Resolute Support Mission. McKenzie is the commander of U.S. Central Command.

According to Kirby, this is all part of the safe and orderly retrograde that will have all U.S. troops out of Afghanistan by the end of August well within President Joe Biden’s order.

Kirby said “we expect that transfer to be effective later this month.”

“General Miller will remain in theater (Afghanistan) in coming weeks to prepare for and to complete the turnover of these duties and responsibilities to General McKenzie.”

Kirby emphasized that McKenzie will retain all existing authorities that Miller currently possesses and commander of U.S. Forces, Afghanistan. He will continue to exercise authority over the conduct of any and all counterterrorism operations needed to protect the homeland from threats emanating out of Afghanistan, and he will lead U.S. efforts to develop options for the logistical, financial and technical support to Afghan forces once our drawdown is complete.

This process will allow the United States to maintain a diplomatic presence within Afghanistan, as U.S. and Afghan leaders decide on the new bilateral relationship between the nations.

TUNIS, 04 July 2021, (TON): Tunisian Red Crescent says that forty-three migrants have drowned after their boat sank off Tunisia.

The migrants had set off from the Libyan port of Zuwara and were attempting to cross the Mediterranean to reach Europe.

A further 84 were rescued by the Tunisian navy, said the head of Tunisia's Red Crescent head Mongi Slim.

Summer weather has seen an increase in migrants trying to reach Europe from north Africa.

The boat, was carrying people from Egypt, Sudan, Eritrea and Bangladesh, the Red Crescent said. The vessel capsized after its engine broke down.

According to Tunisia's defence ministry “those rescued, off the Tunisian fishing port of Zarzis, were aged between three and 40.”

DAMASCUS, 04 July (TON): A war monitor said and a rescue group said “at least eight civilians, including six children, were killed in shelling and artillery fire by Russian-backed Syrian government forces in Idlib.

The UK-based Syria Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said “the attacks also wounded 16 people in several locations of the Jabal al-Zawiya area in the south of the stronghold.”

It said “it killed five members of the same family in the village of Iblin, two children in Balyun village and another child in Balshun village.”

Syria’s Civil Defence, a volunteer search and rescue group also known as the White Helmets and operating in rebel-held parts of Syria, confirmed the deaths.

The group said on twitter “a horrific massacre committed by Russia & regime forces this morning in Idlib countryside, where 8 civilians were killed.”

In Iblin, the bodies of the family arrive at a health dispensary, wrapped in woollen and cotton blankets.

Nurses and other people prepared the bodies for burial, cleaning the bloodied corpse of a young boy before swaddling it in gauze, he said.

ISLAMABAD, 04 July (TON): Minister for Interior Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said that 40 per cent work on fencing along the Pakistan-Iran border had been completed.

Addressing a public meeting outside his secretariat, Lal Haveli, in connection with Azad Jammu and Kashmir elections, the minister said “peace and progress in Pakistan were linked with stability in Afghanistan.”

He said that 88pc work on fencing along the border with Afghanistan had been completed and Pakistan wanted to give a message to the Afghan foreign minister that it wanted peace in the region.

He said “Pakistan would not allow using its land against any country and Prime Minister Imran Khan had already announced that he would not give its airbases to the United States.

He added “Imran Khan wanted to make the country stronger and bring it out of all crises.”

Says FATF retained Pakistan on grey list because it’s a nuclear state.

He further said “despite implementing all recommendations of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), except one, it has decided to keep Pakistan on its grey list because Pakistan is a nuclear state.”

RAMALLAH, 04 July 2021, (TON): Hundreds of Palestinians have gathered in the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah to demonstrate against President Mahmoud Abbas, hoping to inject new momentum into a protest movement sparked by the death of an outspoken critic in the custody of security forces.

Palestinian security forces and groups of men in plainclothes violently dispersed a similar protest a week ago, drawing expressions of concern from the United States and the United Nations human rights chief. There were no immediate reports of violence at Saturday’s demonstration.

The Palestinian Authority (PA) was established as part of the peace process in the 1990s and governs parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

It has grown increasingly domineering and unpopular, and Abbas cancelled the first elections in 15 years in April when it looked like his fractured Fatah party would lose.

During an escalation in violence in May between Hamas, the Palestinian group which governs the besieged Gaza Strip, and Israel, Abbas was largely sidelined amid an outpouring of support for Hamas.

Palestinian demonstrators lift placards during a rally in Ramallah city in the occupied West Bank denouncing the Palestinian Authority [Abbas Momani/AFP].

Saturday’s demonstration began with a few hundred protesters gathering in al-Manara Square in central Ramallah, the PA headquarters.

MOSCOW, 04 July 2021, (TON): The military from some foreign countries are training to disable facilities of Russia’s critical information infrastructure , says the updated National Security Strategy of the country, approved by Russian President Putin .

“The armed forces of such states are practicing actions to disable critical information infrastructure of the Russian Federation,” RIA Novosti quotes an excerpt from the text of the strategy.

The document says that foreign special services have stepped up intelligence and other destructive activities in the Russian information space.

NEW DELHI, 04 July (TON): Indian Army chief General MM Naravane will embark on an official visit to the United Kingdom (UK) and Italy between July 5 and July 8, during which he will be meeting his counterparts and the senior military leadership of these countries.

The highlight of the visit will be Gen Naravane’s inauguration of the Indian Army Memorial in the famous town of Cassino, Italy.

In the Battle of Monte Cassino during World War II, over 5,000 Indian soldiers laid down their lives while fighting to save Italy from fascist forces. Nearly 50,000 Indians were enlisted for Italy’s liberation between September 1943 and April 1945.

Officials said “both the UK and Italy are important partners for India in the fields of defence, healthcare, aerospace, education, clean technology, renewable energy and information and communication technology among others.”

The visit to the United Kingdom is scheduled for two days, July 5 and 6, during which the chief will interact with the British Chief of Defence Staff, Chief of General Staff, the Minister of State for Defence and other dignitaries.

Officials said “during the second leg of his tour, the Army Chief will be holding important discussions with the Chief of Defence Staff and Chief of Staff of the Italian Army on July 7 and 8.

Officials said that, the COAS will also inaugurate the Indian Army Memorial and will be briefed at the Italian Army’s Counter IED Centre of Excellence at Cecchingola, Rome.

KABUL, 04 July (TON): Russia believes that the Taliban has already become part of Afghanistan’s political landscape and that this should be taken into consideration.

According to Russia’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations Vassily Nebenzia, the issue of peace needs to be addressed as quickly as possible.

Speaking at a press briefing on Wednesday, Nebenzia said “Moscow is actively participating in all the efforts for establishing peace in Afghanistan.”

It is necessary to address this issue as quickly as possible because the Taliban itself claims that it is controlling 80% of the territory of Afghanistan.

Nebenzya said “I do not know how accurate these figures are, and cannot comment on them. But a solution cannot be found without taking into account the fact that the Taliban has become a part of the political landscape of Afghanistan.”