SANTIAGO, 14 June, 2021 (TON): As the country has started to cater the pandemic onset, second round of elections for Chile’s regional governors began.

For the first time, the country will choose the governor through a popular vote.

While calling the elections very important and historic, President Sebastian Pinera said, “Today, for the first time, 13 regions of Chile are going to elect their governor."

Health Minister Enrique Paris said that the Ministry of Health has, alongside the Electoral Service of Chile (Servel), ensured that the elections will be carried out "safely, so that our compatriots can exercise their right to express their opinion at the polls" during the pandemic.

Servel reported that all 40,382 polling stations had been installed across the country, staffed by more than 115,000 workers.

On May 16, Chile held historic elections for mayors, councilors, regional governors, and the 155 constituents who will draft the country's new constitution.

However, only three of the 16 regions managed to elect a governor, as a candidate must receive over 40 per cent of the vote to be elected to the position in the first round.

SEOUL, 14 June, 2021 (TON): Ahead of the 21^st anniversary of 15 June 2000 joint declaration, on Monday, the South Korea’s Unification Ministry requested North Korea to respond to Seoul’s dialogue offer.

While addressing the press briefing, the Ministry spokesperson said that the government urges the North to return to the spirit of the declaration and positively respond to the call for dialogue and cooperation between the two Koreas, the media reported.

The government will try the best to take ahead the Korean Peninsula peace process, including the declaration.  

The declaration was announced during the summit in Pyongyang in June 2000 between late South Korean President Kim Dae-jung and late North Korean leader Kim Jong-il.

However, the South Korean government will hold no official event on Tuesday to mark the 21st anniversary of the declaration, but several other gatherings would be reportedly hosted by civilians, municipal governments, and Parliament.

LONDON, 14 June, 2021 (TON): British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab called for "a bit of respect" from the European Union (EU) leaders for talking serially about the Northern Ireland.

The comment came as tensions arose between the two sides on post-Brexit trade.

Rab said, "We have serially seen senior EU figures talk ab out Northern Ireland as if it were somehow a different country from the UK."

According to the media, Raab claimed that the implementation of the Northern Ireland Protocol had been very lopsided and had real life effects on people in Northern Ireland.

Raab said, "What we cannot have is the continuing disruption of trade and effectively try to change the status of Northern Ireland, contrary to the consent and wishes of the people, which is not just contrary to the Northern Ireland Protocol but also to the Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement."

Officials from both sides met in London on Wednesday to hold talks on the Northern Ireland Protocol ahead of the Group of Seven (G7) Summit but produced no breakthroughs.

KATHMANDU, 14 June, 2021 (TON): In order to construct the country’s first liquid oxygen plant, the Nepali PM KP Sharma Oli has virtually laid its foundation stone on Sunday.

Oli said during the virtual inauguration, "As they will be insufficient at the time of a pandemic, the liquid oxygen plant will be important in meeting the deficit in oxygen supplies."

According to the media, Shankar Oxygen Gas Pvt. Ltd, the sole importer of liquid oxygen in Nepal, is setting up its own liquid oxygen plant in the southwestern city of Bhairahawa.

According to the company, the plant will cover an area of 3,716 square meters and will have a production capacity of 60 tons per day.

The excess production could be exported to neighboring countries and used in the industrial sector once the Covid-19 pandemic is over, said Oli.

However, the acknowledgeable step is to be for the best interest of the citizens for some hospitals in Nepal that relied on imported liquid oxygen were forced to resort to bottled oxygen for several days last month after Indian authorities ordered a halt to exports.

LONDON, 14 June, 2021 (TON): On Sunday, China got scolded by the G7 leaders over the human rights in Xinjiang.

G7 called Hong Kong to keep autonomy and also demanded a thorough probe into the origin of the Corona virus in China.

The leaders also issued a highly critical final announcement that examined China’s sensitive issues including Taiwan.

G7 said, "We will promote our values, including by calling on China to respect human rights and fundamental freedoms, especially in relation to Xinjiang and those rights, freedoms and high degree of autonomy for Hong Kong enshrined in the Sino-British Joint Declaration," the G7 said.

"We also call for a timely, transparent, expert-led, and science-based WHO-convened Phase 2 COVID-19 Origins study including, as recommended by the experts’ report, in China," the G7 said.

"We remain seriously concerned about the situation in the East and South China Seas and strongly oppose any unilateral attempts to change the status quo and increase tensions," they said.

As the re-emergence of China as a leading global power, is considered to be one of the most significant geopolitical events of recent times.

Alongside, before the criticism of the G7, China warned the leaders that the days are gone when the small countries used to rule the world.

JERUSALEM, 14 June, 2021 (TON): After an uninterrupted 12 years of the rule, the Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu ousted as Naftali Bennet sworn in as the new Israeli PM.

Bennet of the right-wing Yamina party, took office after the Parliament (Knesset) elected him as 13^th PM of Israel.

Bennet got elected by a 60-59 vote in the 120 member house. However, one lawmaker abstained from voting.

His government has 27 ministers, nine of them women.

Mickey Levy of Yesh Atid party was elected as the speaker of Parliament with the support of 67 lawmakers.

Amid incessant heckling from rival bloc's lawmakers, Bennett said that he is proud "of the ability to sit with people of different opinions".

"At the decisive moment we took responsibility," he said. "The alternative to this government was more elections, more hate, which would have broken up the country."

"It is time for responsible leaders from different parts of the nation to stop this madness, he asserted.

However, during his speech, the agitated Likud, ultra-orthodox and ultra-nationalist lawmakers constantly jeered at Bennett speech calling him a criminal and a liar.

LONDON, 14 June, 2021 (TON): As the U.S. President Joe Biden met the British PM Boris Johnson for the first in-person meeting; the President gifted a custom-made, hand-built bicycle to the PM.

The two are regular cyclists, as Johnson is often pictured cycling on the streets of London and Biden was also revealed to be a fan of indoor cycling.

The bike gifted by Biden was made by Bilenky Cycle Works, a business with a staff of four who usually take up to 18 months to make a machine.

Bilenky was quoted saying, "It is a very modern version of an upright British roadster with a custom paint scheme with the Union Jack flag and a matching helmet."

It says the budget was just USD 1,500, a third of the minimum price the firm charges.

TRIPOLI, 14 June, 2021 (TON): On Saturday, the Libyan President of the Presidency Council Mohamed Menfi and a senior Turkish delegation met and discussed security cooperation between the two countries.

The Turkish delegation included the Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu and Defense Minister Hulusi Akar.

According to the statement, the historical relations between the tw countries were made into focus during the meeting.

Besides, the significance of cooperation and development of the bilateral relations between the two sides was also highlighted.

The Turkish delegation stressed the continuation of cooperation in training security and police institutions, demining, and combating illegal immigration and organized crime, it added.

Moreover, the meeting also covered the upcoming Berlin conference on Libya, support of the political track in Libya, and uniting regional efforts for an international consensus that supports the stability, security and unity of Libya.

However, Turkey has deep rooted relations with the Libyan people. Due to its historical and cultural bonds, Turkey attaches utmost importance to the security and welfare of the Libyan people.

MOGADISHU, 14 June, 2021 (TON): Somalia, UNICEF and the International Labor Organization (ILO) agreed to enhance efforts in minimizing child labor in the country.

On Saturday, on the occasion of World Day against Child Labor, in a joint statement they said, ending child labor can only happen through a collective systematic approach with a strong understanding of the root causes and a legal framework that prohibits children from entering the workforce at an early age.

Minister of Labor and Social Affairs Abdiwahab Ugas Khalif "Even more concerning, children who are recruited by militias or groups are forced into dangerous life-threatening roles such as soldiers, cooks, and cleaners."

Although, Somali is successful in reducing the rate of child labor in the country, however, could not eradicate it completely.

Keeping in view, Khalif called for a well-developed national policy against the child labor.  

The UNICEF and ILO said even though there are different reasons behind child labor in Somalia, the government is working hard in close partnership with the international community to identify and eliminate child labor from Somalia.

TEXAS, 14 June 2020, (TON):  At least one person was killed and 15 people were injured following a shooting Saturday morning in downtown Austin in US.

The Austin-Travis County EMS said in a series of tweets that at least 12 patients had received treatment or been transported to local hospitals. Tweet did not say anything about suspected terrorists but claimed one arrest.

Authorities have arrested one person in connection with the shooting early Saturday morning, Mayor Steve Adler's office said earlier.

Austin Interim Police Chief Joseph Chacon declined to admit that it was act of terrorism and said was authorities had identified two male suspects, and it appeared this was an isolated incident between the two parties.