TEHRAN, 18 June 2021, (TON): Iranians are voting to elect a new president, with all but one of the four candidates to succeed Hassan Rouhani regarded as hardliners.

Opinion polls suggest Ebrahim Raisi, a conservative Shia cleric who heads the judiciary, is the clear favourite.

Moderate former central bank governor Abdolnasser Hemmati is his main rival.

Dissidents and some reformists have called for a boycott, saying the barring of several contenders left Mr Raisi with no serious competition.

Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei cast his vote early on Friday morning in Tehran and encouraged people to go the polls.

There is widespread discontent among Iranians at the economic hardship they have faced since the US abandoned a nuclear deal with Iran three years ago and reinstated crippling sanctions.

A victory for one of the hardliners is not expected to derail talks in Vienna between Iran and world powers that are aimed at reviving the accord, which saw Iran agree to limit its nuclear programme in return for sanctions relief.

NEW DELHI, 18 June 2021, (TON):  India asked Pakistan to take appropriate steps to address the shortcomings in a bill introduced in the country’s national assembly last week providing for the right to appeal to Indian death-row convict Kulbhushan Jadhav.

The Ministry of External Affairs’ official spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said “the bill has a provision for inviting the municipal court to decide whether any prejudice has been caused to Jadhav on account of the failure to provide consular access in accordance with a verdict of the International Court of Justice (ICJ).”

Bagchi said at a media briefing “we call upon Pakistan to take appropriate steps to address the shortcomings in the bill”.

He said the municipal court cannot be the arbiter of whether the State has fulfilled its obligation under international law. Bagchi also called upon the neighbouring country to comply with the judgment of the ICJ in the case relating to Jadhav.

KATHMANDU, 18 June 2021, (TON): Prime Minister of Nepal KP Oli has submitted his written response to the Supreme Court which had earlier sought his clarification on the government's decision to dissolve the House of Representatives.

The Apex Court received PM Oli's response via the Office of the Attorney General. In the response furnished to defend his action, Oli has mentioned that it is not up to judiciary to appoint a Prime Minister as it cannot undertake the legislative and the executive functions of the state.

Oli said “the Court's duty is to interpret the Constitution and the existing laws, it cannot play the role of the legislative or the executive bodies."

He added "appointment of a Prime Minister is absolutely a political and an executive process. The Prime Minister, also defending the involvement of the President in this whole issue, elaborated further that Article 76 of the Constitution grants the sole right to appoint a Prime Minister to the President only.”

He further said that as per Article 76 (5), there is no such provision of a person gaining or losing vote of confidence in House being examined by the legislative or the judiciary.

The PM argued that the HoR was dissolved constitutionally as per the order of the Supreme Court.

ABUJA, 18 June 2021, (TON): Police said “armed attackers have killed a police officer and abducted five teachers and an unknown number of students from a school in the northwestern Nigerian state of Kebbi.

The attack took place on the Federal Government College in the remote town of Birnin Yauri in Kebbi State. It is the third assault by armed gangs on a school or college in Nigeria in less than a month which have been attributed by the authorities to bandits seeking ransom payments.

A spokesman for the police in Kebbi State, Nafiu Abubakar, said “one officer had been shot dead during an exchange of fire between the police and the attackers, and a student had also been shot and was receiving medical treatment.”

Abubakar said “we are still trying to ascertain the number of students kidnapped, but five teachers were kidnapped”.

Abubakar further said “security forces were searching a nearby forest for the abducted students and teachers.”

Atiku Aboki, a local resident who went to the school shortly after the gunfire stopped, he saw a scene of panic and confusion as people searched for their children.

He said “when we got there, we saw students crying, teachers crying, everyone is sympathising with people”.

Everyone was confused. Then my brother called me [to say] that his two children have not been seen and [we] don’t know if they are among the kidnapped.

Heavily armed criminal gangs, known locally as bandits, have long targeted central and northwestern states, raiding villages, stealing cattle and kidnapping for ransom.

But they have increasingly targeted schools, snatching students or schoolchildren and herding them into forest hideouts to negotiate ransom payments.

More than 700 children and students have already been kidnapped by these gangs for ransom since December.

ISLAMABAD, 18 June 2021, (TON): According to a statement issued from the PM Office, Prime Minister Imran Khan said “Electronic voting was the only way to ensure transparency and prevent rigging in the elections.”

PM Imran Khan's statement came during a meeting in Islamabad, where he was briefed on the use of electronic voting machines in the electoral process.

Minister for Science and Technology Shibli Faraz, Leader of the House in the Senate Senator Dr Shehzad Wasim, Minister for Railways Azam Khan Swati, Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Farrukh Habib, and Advisor to the Prime Minister Babar Awan were present during the briefing.

The prime minister was given a detailed briefing on the progress made so far in the use of the electronic voting machine and legislation in this regard.

PM Imran Khan reiterated his commitment to ensure transparency in the use of electronic voting machines in the electoral process and fulfill all constitutional requirements.

PM said that the incumbent government was committed to ensuring transparency in the electoral process of the country.

He further said "Overseas Pakistanis are an asset of the country, they must be involved in the election process.

NEW YORK, 18 June 2021, (TON): Diplomats said “the UN General Assembly will vote on a non-binding resolution condemning the military regime in Myanmar and calling on member states to curb the “flow of arms” into the violence-wracked country.

The vote will come on the same day that the Security Council holds informal talks on the situation in the country, where the military overthrew elected civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi and seized power on February 1.

 The draft General Assembly resolution, which was obtained by the media, was weeks in the making, and follows talks between western countries and members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which is acting as a mediator in the crisis.

The two sides will look to see the resolution adopted by consensus, not a vote, one diplomat told media.

The position of China, Myanmar’s main ally, remains unknown. Any country can ask that a vote be held, at which point Beijing could abstain, diplomats said.

DHAKA, 18 June 2021, (TON): Several activists of Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal locked into a clash with police in front of BNP’s Nayapaltan central office on Thursday over foiling a discussion program of the student body in Mymensingh.

Several activists of the BNP student wing injured, arrested.

At least 14 people, including four police members, were injured in the clash while five JCD activists were arrested.

Witnesses said that a group of JCD activists brought out a procession around 5pm in front of the BNP office protesting a reported attack on their discussion program in Mymensingh.

As the procession was marching towards Nightingale crossing, police obstructed it, triggering a clash between the law enforcers and the JCD activists.

At one stage, police charged batons on the JCD men who also retaliated with brickbats and sticks, leaving an unspecified number of people injured.

Contacted, Abdul Ahad, deputy commissioner (Motijheel division) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP), said that the JCD activists attacked police from a procession in front of the BNP office, leaving four of them injured.

He said police also charged batons and brought the situation under control.

KABUL, 18 June 2021, (TON): More than 100 people at the US Embassy in Kabul have Covid-19, one person has died, and several have been medically evacuated as a wave of the deadly pandemic hits Afghanistan and the US military withdrawal from the country continues.

According to an Embassy management “the surge in cases has prompted a lockdown at the diplomatic mission and the creation of temporary, on-compound COVID-19 wards to care for oxygen-dependent patients because military hospital ICU resources are at full capacity.”

It noticed that 95% of our cases are individuals who are unvaccinated or not fully vaccinated.

Eric Rubin, the President of the American Foreign Service Association, said “his understanding was that the outbreak at the embassy was primarily among American embassy employees and contractors.”

Amid the outbreak, all personnel at the embassy's compound are confined to quarters, except to get food from the DFACs, a military term for dining facilities, or to exercise or relax outdoors, alone, the notice said, outlining a series of restrictions on activities and work.

JERUSALEM, 18 June 2021, (TON): Israeli fighter jets have launched a series of air raids on the Gaza Strip for the second time since a shaky ceasefire ended last month’s 11-day war.

Palestinian sources on the ground said Israeli missiles hit several sites belonging to armed groups northwest of Gaza City and north of Beit Lahia in the besieged territory.

A civil administration building east of Jabaliya in the north was also targeted, in addition to an agricultural field east of the southern town of Khan Younis. No casualties were reported.

Following the air attacks, Fawzi Barhoum, spokesman for Hamas, the group running the Strip, said in a statement that the occupation’s bombing of the resistance sites is a demonstrative show by the new Israeli government”, referring to the administration that was approved on Sunday by Israel’s parliament, with right-wing nationalist Naftali Bennett sworn in as prime minister.

KABUL, 18 June 2021, (TON): A bipartisan bill introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday would speed up the processing of special immigration visas (SIVs) for Afghans at risk of Taliban retribution because they worked for the U.S. government.

 The bill also would raise from 11,000 to 19,000 the number of SIVs available for qualifying Afghans.

President Joe Biden is under pressure from lawmakers of both parties and advocacy groups to aid Afghans employed by the U.S. government amid fears that the U.S. troop pullout and stalled peace talks have put Afghanistan on a path to full-scale civil war that could return the Taliban to power.

The Taliban say that U.S.-affiliated Afghans are not in danger, but should show remorse. Experts say the insurgents have killed hundreds of interpreters and family members waiting for visas.

The 12-year-old SIV program has been plagued by processing delays caused by personnel shortages, a COVID-19 outbreak at the U.S. embassy in Kabul and other problems.

The Biden administration says it is taking steps to speed up the processing of an 18,000-application backlog.

The new bill, sponsored by Crow and 24 other lawmakers, some of them military veterans, would eliminate requirements seen as impeding the application process.