KHARTOUM, 01 January 2021, (TON): Sudan’s foreign minister says the army has restored control over all lands along the border that had been taken over by Ethiopian farmers.

“The armed forces have now fully recovered all Sudanese territory,” Minister Omar Qamareddine told a Khartoum news conference on Thursday.

“The borders have already been demarcated, all that’s remaining in our talks … is increasing the border signs,” Qamareddine said.

Tensions have flared between the two countries over the al-Fashqa region of the border, where Ethiopian farmers have been cultivating fertile land which is claimed by Sudan.

Recently, at the start of the previous month, Sudan accused Ethiopia of attacking their troops which resulted in the killing of 4 and wounding of 20. However, Ethiopia denied the accusation and blamed it on terrorists.

Sudan has since deployed troops to the border region and held demarcation talks with its eastern neighbor and now, it has been reported that the army has restored control over the area.

KABUL, 01 January 2021, (TON): Taliban revealed their preparedness for the second round of peace negotiations between them and the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan which will begin on January 5 in Doha, Qatar.

The Taliban’s spokesman Mohammad Naeem told media that the group was fully prepared for the second round of talks.

“We will return to what was agreed, we do not have any problem in this matter,” said Naeem.

Meanwhile, the delegation representing the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan in the talks with the Taliban has also said that the republic’s team has conducted necessary consultations and will return to the talks at the scheduled time.

“The negotiations will begin on the specific date, we hope to have good talks so that peace can prevail,” said Mohammad Natiqi, a member of the peace negotiating team representing the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan in the talks with the Taliban.

The first round of talks between the two sides started on September 12 and went on until December 11.

Earlier, after the successful ending of the first round of peace talks from September 12 to December 11, negotiators in Doha reported on December 12 that both sides had exchanged their lists about the agenda of the peace negotiations and that the next phase of the talks will begin on January 5.

NEW DELHI, 01 January 2021, (TON): Become the fifth state erecting against the contentious laws, the Kerala assembly on Thursday unanimously passed a resolution against the three farm laws demanding its withdrawal.

In a solidarity with farmers, the assembly passed the resolution, demanding the laws citing it as anti-farmers and pro-corporate. The resolution warned if the laws not repealed timely, would push the farmers into deepen crisis.

Chief Minister Pinarayl Vijayal said that that the laws are enacted to help the corporate. The centre had passed the laws at a time when the agricultural sector was in huge crisis, he said.

‘‘The three contentious laws were passed even without sending them to the parliament standing committee of parliament. If this agitation continuous, it will severely affect the karela, which is a consumer state,’’ he said.

Earlier, the four states which had passed resolution condemning the controversial laws are Punjab, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and Delhi, the capital.

ISLAMABAD, 01 January 2021, (TON): Pakistan and China on Thursday decided to deepen their cooperation and work together for peace and stability in the region.

An hour-long telephonic conversation between Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi took place.

The conversation, the Foreign Office said, was arranged to “reaffirm the depth and breadth” of bilateral ‘All-Weather Strategic Cooperative Partnership’ and exchange views on Covid-19, bilateral relations, and regional and international issues of mutual interest.

“Both foreign ministers agreed to maintain strategic communication and consultation, at all levels, to promote mutual goals of peace and stability in the region and beyond, and expressed commitment to further strengthening all-round cooperation and taking the bilateral relationship to a higher level for shared benefit of the two countries,” said the statement.

Foreign Minister Wang hoped that 2021 would witness further deepening of Pakistan-China ties.

“Foreign Minister Wang Yi expressed satisfaction over Pakistan and China’s cooperation on regional and international issues and reaffirmed the vitality of the time-tested All-Weather Strategic Cooperative Partnership which remained unaffected by the vicissitudes of the regional and international developments and continued to move from strength to strength,” the FO said.

Also, the Indian threat was considered and discussed bilaterally.

“FM Qureshi briefed State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi about India’s aggressive posture in the region and how New Delhi’s bellicose and irresponsible policies were imperilling regional peace and stability,” the FO said.

“The foreign minister also emphasised that Pakistan and China must continue to closely coordinate efforts to advance the shared objectives of peace, stability and economic development in Afghanistan,” it added.

Mr Qureshi described the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor as a “transformational project”, and hoped that BRI and CPEC would become “the hub of trade and economic activity, sustainable development and greater people-to-people exchanges”.

JAMMU AND KASHMIR, 01 January 2021, (TON): Protesting families of two teenage boys and a young man, killed in Indian-occupied Kashmir on Wednesday by government forces during an alleged firefight, have denied they were fighters.

Police said the trio were killed in a 20-hour gun battle on the outskirts of the region's main city of Srinagar after they were cornered inside a home on Tuesday.

“Repeated announcements were made to the hiding terrorists to lay down their illegal weapons and surrender,” police said in a statement.

“Instead, the hiding terrorists fired continuously upon the searching party.”

But relatives of the trio disputed the story and protested outside a police building in Srinagar where the bodies were being kept.

“Yesterday at 10 in the morning, he had tea with me,” Bashir Ahmad Ganai, the grandfather of one of the slain youths, Aijaz Maqbool, told reporters.

“We don't know where he was picked up from and later killed. What is going on in Kashmir?” Ganai said.

The families of the other two — high school student Athar Mushtaq and carpenter Zubair — also insisted they were innocent.

Parents of the students said they had been on their way to receive private tutoring in Srinagar. But police insisted two of them were “hardcore associates of terrorists” and the third might have recently joined fighter ranks. Even then, Kashmir Inspector General of Police Vijay Kumar admitted the names of the trio killed in the 'encounter' were not in the "list of terrorists", according to The Indian Express.

The case bears similarities to a July incident in which three labourers were killed, sparking an outcry in the region.

The army had claimed that those three men were killed in a gun battle in the village of Amshipora, and that weapons were found on them. But on Sunday, an Indian army officer and two associates were charged with planting weapons on the bodies to make it look as though they were militants.

Pakistan strongly condemned the heinous killings in yet another fake encounter.

"Pakistan reiterates its call for independent inquiry under international scrutiny to investigate the unabated extra-judicial killings of Kashmiris by Indian occupation forces and to bring the perpetrators of these heinous crimes to justice," a statement issued by the Foreign Office said.

Referring to the July killings of labourers, it said the recent revelations of planting weapons on the bodies of the victims killed in Shopian by Indian troops to make it look as though they were armed fighters "are deeply disconcerting and an affront to the collective conscience of humanity".

Since January, at least 180 Kashmiris have been killed by government forces, a report says.

The FO meanwhile said Indian forces killed more than 300 innocent Kashmiris, including women and children, in 2020 in fake encounters and staged 'cordon-and-search' operations. It said 750 people were left critically injured.

KABUL, 01 January 2020, (TON): According to a government official, an assistant to Afghan President Ashraf Ghani was “critically injured” during an IED explosion in Kabul on Thursday, while his driver was killed.

The blast occurred around 08.10 when the IED exploded and targeted a Corolla model car in Chehel Sutoon area in PD7 of Kabulstad.

The injured person was identified as Jawid Wali, deputy for coordinating matters of advisers.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the blast.

Reportedly, 23 people were killed and 70 others injured during security incidents in Kabul in the past two weeks. Kabul has witnessed 15 security incidents in the past ten days, including suicide bombings, car bombings, magnetic explosions by IEDs and targeted killings.

LONDON, 01 January 2020, (TON): Britain and the European Union (EU) begin with a new chapter in their relationship as the Brexit transition period ended at 11:00 GMT Thursday.

In an earlier message, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson express his views saying, "The destiny of this great country now resides firmly in our hands. We take on this duty with a sense of purpose and with the interests of the British public at the heart of everything we do," he said.

"11 p.m. (2300 GMT) on 31 December marks a new beginning in our country's history and a new relationship with the EU as their biggest ally. This moment is finally upon us and now is the time to seize it," he urged the Britain.

Also on Thursday, Britain's Queen Elizabeth II gave Royal assent to a new law spelling out Britain's future relationship with the EU, after the bill was approved in both the House of Commons (lower house of the British Parliament) and the House of Lords (upper house).

However, some major changes are still taking place from 2300 GMT regarding rules on travel, immigration, commerce and security, among others.

The free movement of people between Britain and the EU countries has ended, replaced in Britain by a "points-based" immigration system. Britons who want to stay in most of the EU for more than 90 days in any 180-day period will need a visa. British police have lost instant access to EU-wide databases on criminal records, fingerprints and wanted persons.

Meanwhile, concerns remain over disruptions in ports like Dover due to border checks and new customs rules.

PARIS, 31 December 2020, (TON): More journalists are being killed outside of war zones, and the overwhelming majority of this year’s grim total of at least 50 dead were deliberately targeted, many of them murdered while investigating organized crime, corruption and environmental degradation, Reporters Without Borders said Tuesday.

Its tally of journalists and media workers killed in connection with their work by mid-December was just slightly lower than in 2019, when the press freedom group counted 53 dead, even though many journalists reported less from the field in 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The group said 68% were killed outside of war zones this year. That confirms a trend noted by the group since 2016, when only four out of 10 deaths were in countries not at war.

Targeted killings of journalists surged in 2020, accounting for 84% of deaths, sharply up from 63% in 2019, the group said.

It again listed Mexico as the deadliest country for media workers, counting at least eight journalists killed there in connection with their work in 2020. Among them was Julio Valdivia, a newspaper reporter whose decapitated body was found in September in an area ridden with organised crime.

SANAA, 31 December, 2020, (TON): Yemen's Houthi militia said on Thursday that the Saudi-led coalition launched multiple airstrikes on Houthi military sites around the Yemeni capital Sanaa.

Houthi-run al-Masirah TV said the airstrikes on Thursday morning targeted the military sites in the districts of Sanhan and Bani Hushaish.

The coalition has made no comment yet.

The airstrikes came a day after the coalition and the Yemeni government blamed the Houthi militia for the attack on the international airport in the Yemeni southern port city of Aden, which the Houthis denied.

Yemen’s civil war began in 2014 when Shiite rebels “Houthi” with links to Iran took control of Yemen’s capital Sana.

The Saudi-led Arab coalition intervened in the Yemeni conflict in 2015 to support Hadi's government. The Saudi-led coalition has continued to wage its campaign against Iranian-backed Houthi rebels, resulting in heavy civilian casualties.

DAMASCUS, 31 December, 2020, (TON): The Syrian Foreign Ministry on Wednesday urged the United Nations Security Council to take firm and immediate measures to stop Israeli aggression on Syria.

Israeli attacks are the result of the "unlimited" support by the United States and some UN Security Council members, the ministry statement said.

The ministry said the Syrian government condemns the attack that was carried out by Israel on Syrian military bases at dawn on Wednesday.

"Syria again demands the UN Security Council to shoulder its responsibility in the framework of the UN Charter and most importantly the preserving international peace and security," the statement read.

Earlier on Wednesday, one soldier was killed and three others were wounded by a fresh Israeli missile attack against a military base carried out from outside the Syrian airspace at dawn and targeted an air defense unit in the Zabadani suburb west of Damascus, state news agency SANA reported.

The Syrian air defenses intercepted some of the missiles, it added.

Meanwhile, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the Israeli attack targeted a base run by the Shiite Lebanese Hezbollah in Zabadani.

According to the Britain-based watchdog, the targeted base had been used by Hezbollah to transport weapons.

Israel has carried out hundreds of air and missile attacks on Syria since a civil war broke out in 2011, targeting Iranian and Lebanese Hezbollah forces as well as government troops. Syria has experienced foreign-backed militancy.

Western intelligence sources say the increase in Israeli raids on Syria this year is part of a shadow war approved by Washington in a bid to check Iran’s military reach.