MALI, 31 March, 2021 (TON): On Tuesday, the UN investigators contradicted France’s account on French January air strike at a wedding in remote desert of central Mali.

According to UN, the French air strike killed 19 civilians and three armed men contradicting France's account that only Islamist militants were hit.

The human rights division of the United Nations mission in Mali (MINUSMA) said it had visited the place and analyzed satellite images and interviewed more than 400 people, including at least 115 in face-to-face, individual sessions.

"MINUSMA is able to confirm that a wedding celebration was held that brought together about 100 civilians at the site of the strike," the report said.

The report said, 19 people, including 16 civilians and three armed men who were attending the wedding, were killed immediately in the air attack, while three more civilians died while being transferred to medical care.

The French defence ministry rejected the report's findings, saying, "The only concrete sources on which this report is based are local testimonies. They are never transcribed, the identity of the witnesses is never specified, nor the conditions in which the testimonies were gathered."

Although, France has been embroiled in an eight-year conflict in Mali, a former French colony, the local officials in northern Mali accused France's military last week of killing six civilians in another air strike. French forces said they had again hit Islamist militants.

THIMPHU, 31 March, 2021 (TON): The Wangsel Institute for the Deaf will have its first cohort for classes 11 and 12 this year, after two decades of its establishment.

The Deaf education, which started as a small unit under Drukgyel Lower Secondary school in 2003, was upgraded to class 12 last year.

Education ministry’s deputy chief program officer for Special Education Needs, Pema Chhogyel, said Bhutanese Sign language (BSL) was in the developing stage and Deaf education new in the country.

“It would be very difficult to have fast or instant progress. Muenselling Institute in Khaling for the blind was established in 1973 and studying into class 11 happened only in 1996 with two students.” it was said.

He said the education for students with deafness had to be upgraded progressively to facilitate the learning of the students with deafness whose learning needs and approach differed considerably.

The ministry will also look forward to follow up on the proposals to RCSC for interpreters for students with deafness and teacher assistants for inclusive schools.

However, before taking the initiative, the future scope, resource and capacity of the school were assessed.

ABUJA, 31 March, 2021 (TON): The government’s announcement on President Muhammadu Buhari travel to London on Tuesday for a routine medical check-up infuriated the Nigerians.

A statement from the presidential spokesperson Femi Adesina did not reveal Buhari’s condition but assured Nigerians that the president will return home in the second week of April.

Many Nigerians expressed their dismay following Buhari’s trips to the UK to seek medical care.

Some have called it a waste of taxpayers’ money while some criticized the government’s failure to build world-class hospitals in Nigeria.

A human rights activist, Omoyele Sowore, has advised Nigerians in the United Kingdom to occupy the London hospital where Buhari plans to have a medical checkup.

Buhari has visited London for medical reasons since he was first inaugurated President on 29 May, 2015, later in 2016 where he spent 104 days in 2017 after a long medical visit in London.

RIYADH, 31 March, 2021 (TON): On Tuesday, the Royal Saudi Air Force (RSAF) and their U.S. and Pakistani counterparts started a joint military exercise at Mushaf Air Base Sargodha, the Saudi Defense Ministry confirmed.

The Aces Meet 2021 maneuvers were launched on Monday in the presence of Major General Awad Al-Zahrani, the Saudi Military Attached in Pakistan, and Chief of Air Staff (Operations) Vice Marshal Waqas Sulehri, the media reported.

Together with their air, technical and support crews, a number of RSAF Tornado combat aircraft are taking part in the exercise.

Lt. Col. Hamad Al-Hajjri, the commanding operations officer of the participating RSAF forces said, it includes the planning and implementation of training sorties and counter operations and defensive and offensive training in a number of war scenarios.

He added that it also includes training for air operations in environments that differ from that of the Kingdom.

The exercise, which continues until 10 April, also aims to provide an exchange of experiences and expertise in the field of planning, and in combat and support air operations.

MANDALUYONG, 31 March, 2021 (TON): On Tuesday, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) approved a $300 million loan to finance the construction of a 300-MW hydropower plant in Pakistan.

The plant will increase the clean energy share and improve the energy security in Pakistan.

As per details, the hydropower plant will add 1,143 GW-hours of clean energy annually to the country’s energy mix, enhancing the energy sector’s reliability and sustainability.

The plant, which will incorporate seismic strengthening and climate-proofing measures, will be built on the Kunhar River near Balakot City in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province and commissioned by 2027.

ADB Principal Energy Specialist Adnan Tareen said, “Pakistan is highly vulnerable to climate change, with water resources and energy particularly at risk from floods, droughts, high temperatures, and other extreme weather events.”

“In line with Pakistan’s climate change adaptation and mitigation priorities, this climate-resilient hydropower plant will boost the country’s clean energy generation while effectively utilizing its vast water resources,” he added.

The government will invest $175 million in the project. It has also requested a $280 million loan in project co-financing from the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank that will substantially increase the revenue of the state-owned Pakhtunkhwa Energy Development Organization.

COLOMBO, 31 March, 2021 (TON): On Tuesday, the newly appointed Ambassador of Vietnam Ho Thi Thanh Truc and the Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa exchanged views on the current bilateral relations and the future advancements in development cooperation.

The Ambassador of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam presented her credentials to President Gotabaya Rajapaksa at the President’s House.

Vietnam has given top priority to Sri Lankan-Vietnamese relations, said the Ms. Thee Thane Truck while congratulating to the President.

The Ambassador commended Sri Lanka for its support during the difficult period her country faced. The Ambassador said during her tenure, she would do everything possible to further strengthen cooperation and friendship between the two countries.

Appreciating the long standing friendship between Vietnam and Sri Lanka, the President briefed the Ambassador on his government’s socio-economic vision.

“Agro-economy development, poverty alleviation and raising the income of the rural people are some of our priorities,” he said.

“We do not look at development from a racial point of view. We consider the people as a whole,” the President said.

Meanwhile, the two sides exchanged cooperation on investment, however, the ambassador assured that she would give high priority to encouraging Vietnamese businessmen to invest in Sri Lanka and to develop trade and tourism.

JALALABAD, 31 March, 2021 (TON): On Tuesday, three female polio vaccination health workers killed by some gunmen in the eastern Afghan city Jalalabad, officials said.

The officials said that a blast had also rocked the provincial health department headquarters but left no casualties.

the explosion took place at the entrance to the health department for the province of Nangarhar late on Tuesday morning, Ghulam Dastagir Nazari, head of the immunization program at Afghanistan's Health Ministry told the media.

He added, two female volunteers and a supervisor in the polio immunization program also gunshot, at the same time in the Jalalabad.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility. Zabihullah Mujahid, spokesman for the main insurgent movement, the Taliban, said they had no role in the attacks.

As it is noted that a wave of assassinations has hit urban centres since peace talks began between the Taliban and the Afghan government last year in Doha, many of them targeting professional women as well as government employees, media and civil society members.

COX’S BAZAR, 31 March, 2021 (TON): Sixth batch of 2,555 Rohingya being carried on about 44 buses have set off for Chatttogram from the Cox’s Bazar refugee camps.

The move has been made for refugee relocation to the Bhasan Char Island.

On Tuesday afternoon, Shamsu Douza additional commissioner of refugee, relief and repatriation said, they departed the Ukhiya Degree College premises in three groups.

Over 4,000 refugees expressed interest in moving to the remote island housing project in Noakhali in this phase, according to him.

The law enforcers tightened security from Ghumdhum transit camp to Ukhiya Degree College ground due to the relocation.

In the first five phases, around 14,200 Rohingya refugees were shifted to Bhasan Char from Cox’s Bazar.

However, as per the reports, the government will send around 2,000 more Rohingya refugees to Chattogram from where they will be shipped to the island.

JIUQUAN, 31 March, 2021 (TON): On Wednesday, China sent a new Earth observation satellite into space.

Around 6 in the morning, the satellite was sent from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China.

The satellite named Gaofen-12 02, was launched aboard a Long March-4C rocket that successfully entered the planned orbit.

According to the reports, the satellite used in 364^th flight mission of the Long March carrier rocket now would provide the satellite to be used in land surveys, urban planning, road network design, crop yield estimation and disaster relief.