DAMASCUS, 1 March, 2021 (TON): Sunday night Syrian air defenses were seen active in the capital Damascus and its suburbs, repelling the Israeli missile attack, the media reported.

The incident caused no casualties.

Israel has launched hundreds of strikes against Iran-linked military targets in Syria over the years, but rarely acknowledges or discusses such operations.

Most of the Israeli missiles were shot down before reaching their targets near Damascus, a military official stated.

However, the attack resulted after the U.S. launched airstrike in Syria on Thursday.

The attack targeted targeting facilities near the Iraqi border used by the militia groups, while the Pentagon said it was in retaliation for a rocket attack in Iraq earlier February.
Israel views Iranian entrenchment on its northern frontier as a red line, and it has repeatedly struck Iran-linked facilities and weapons convoys destined for the militant group active in Lebanon.

SANAA, 28 February, 2021, (TON): The Saudi-led coalition in Yemen said on Saturday it had intercepted an explosive-laden drone fired by Houthi rebels towards Saudi Arabia. 

"Coalition forces managed to intercept and destroy an unmanned explosive-laden drone launched by the Houthi militia towards Khamis Mushait city” in southern Saudi Arabia, coalition spokesman Col. Turki al-Maliki, said in a statement cited by the Saudi News Agency. 

Al-Maliki said the Houthis targeting of civilian areas amounted to “war crimes”. 

Yemeni rebels regularly announce rocket and drone attacks on Saudi territories, saying they are a reaction to the Saudi-led coalition’s assault on Yemen. 

On Friday, the coalition said it had intercepted two drone and missile attacks by the Houthis on Saudi Arabia. 

There was no comment from the Houthi group on the report. 

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

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. 

The conflict has killed 100,000 people and led to what the United Nations describes as the world's worst humanitarian crisis. 

NEW DELHI, 28 February, 2021, (TON): ISRO successfully launched Brazil’s optical earth observation satellite, Amazonia-1 and 18 co-passenger satellites from India and the U.S.A. successfully from the Satish Dhawan Space, SHAR, at Sriharikota, on Sunday. 

The satellites were carried on board the PSLV-C51, the 53rd flight of India’s workhorse launch vehicle and the first dedicated mission for New Space India Ltd (NSIL), the commercial arm of ISRO. The mission was undertaken under a commercial arrangement with Spaceflight Inc., USA. 

Of the 18 satellites, 13 were from the U.S.A, one of them a technology demonstration satellite and the remaining for 2-way satellite communications and data relay. 

The launch was the first lift-off of the space body for this year. 

“In this mission, India and ISRO, feel extremely proud to launch the first satellite designed, integrated by Brazil,” the space body’s chief K Sivan said.  

“The satellite is in very good health. I congratulate the Brazilian team,” he added.  

The 18 “co-passengers” include four of Indian National Space Promotion and Authorization Centre, or, IN-SPACE and 14 of ISRO’s commercial arm, New Space India. 

DHAKA, 28 February, 2021, (TON): Hundreds of people in Bangladesh took part Saturday in a second day of demonstrations sparked by the death of a prominent writer and government critic in jail at a high security prison in a case that has drawn international concern. 

Police in Bangla­desh baton charged and fired tear gas at hundreds of students demonstrating in the capital.   
Protesters marched at the University of Dhaka chanting slogans condemning the government's treatment of Mushtaq Ahmed as well as other dissident writers, journalist.  

At least 10 people suffered minor injuries in the clashes with police, a witness said, amid growing demands for an independent investigation into the death of Mushtaq Ahmed. 

Witness saw police lashing out with batons and firing tear gas rounds at students calling for “justice” near Dhaka University. 

Demonstrators demanded the scrapping of Bangladesh's hardline Digital Security Act (DSA) under which Ahmed was imprisoned. The law has been used to crack down on dissent since it was enacted in 2018. 

The 53-year-old, Bangladeshi writer died in jail 9 months after his arrest for ‘anti-government’ social media posts. 

Jail authorities said Ahmed died on Thursday after passing out at a high-security jail outside of Dhaka. He had not been suffering from a major illness, according to prison chief Mohammad Ghiasuddin. 

Ahmed’s lawyer demanded an independent inquiry into the death. 

Rights organisations have demanded an inquiry into Mushtaq Ahmed’s death and called for repealing the Digital Security Act, under which he was arrested. 

DHAKA, 28 February, 2021, (TON): Bangladesh is under "no obligation" to shelter 81 Rohingya Muslim refugees adrift for almost two weeks on the Andaman Sea and being assisted by neighboring India, said Bangladesh foreign minister A.K. Abdul Momen. 

India`s coast guard found the 81 survivors and eight dead crammed onto a crippled fishing boat and were trying to arrange for Bangladesh to take them, Indian officials said on Friday.  

Momen said to a news agency that Bangladesh expects India, the closest country, or Myanmar, the Rohingyas` country of origin, to accept them. However, Indian foreign ministry officials did not respond to requests for comment. 

External Affairs Ministry spokesman Anurag Srivastava said on Thursday that India was "in discussions with the Government of Bangladesh to ensure their safe and secure repatriation." 

The Rohingya people have faced decades of systematic discrimination, statelessness and targeted violence in Rakhine State, Myanmar. 

More than 1 million Rohingya refugees from predominantly Buddhist Myanmar are living in teeming camps in Muslim-majority Bangladesh. 

In August 2017, a deadly crackdown by Myanmar's army on Rohingya Muslims sent hundreds of thousands fleeing across the border into Bangladesh. 

NAYPYITAW, 28 February, 2021, (TON): At least one woman was shot and wounded, and hundreds of people were arrested as police launched crackdown in three weeks of protests against military rule on Saturday in towns and cities across Myanmar. 

It is still not clear whether the woman shot in the central town of Monwya had died or not.  

The violence came after Myanmar's UN envoy, saying he was speaking for the ousted civilian government, urged the United Nations to use "any means necessary" to reverse the February 1 coup. 

Supporters of Myanmar's military have tussled with anti-coup protesters, as turmoil over the ousting of the country's elected government spills onto the streets. 

The coup, which stalled Myanmar's progress toward democracy, has brought hundreds of thousands of protesters onto the streets and drawn condemnation from Western countries, with some imposing limited sanctions. 

Myanmar's military has seized power after detaining Aung San Suu Kyi and other democratically elected leaders. 

Troops are patrolling the streets and a night-time curfew is in force, with a one-year state of emergency declared. 

Confrontations developed as more people came out despite the police operation. 

The coup, which stalled Myanmar's progress toward democracy, has brought hundreds of thousands of protesters onto the streets and drawn condemnation from Western countries, with some imposing limited sanctions. 

NEW DELHI, 28 February, 2021, (TON): An eight-phase election starting from March 27 to April 29, are intensifying the slogan war in West Bengal. Ruling Trinamul Congress and the Opposition BJP are now emphasizing on who is the “real daughter” of the state.  

After TMC countered the BJP’s assertion that only a “son of Bengal” will be the next chief minister once it comes to power, with the slogan of “Bangla nijer meyekei chay (Bengal wants its own daughter)” on posters that had chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s photo, the BJP has now come out with the slogan “Bangla nijer meyeke chai, Pishi nai (Bengal wants its own daughter, not pishi (paternal aunt).” 

The BJP’s poster carrying this slogan has nine women leaders of the state, including Rupa Ganguly, Deboshree Chaudhary, Locket Chatterjee, Bharti Ghosh, Agnimitra Paul and Mafuja Khatun among others.  

Giving a tough challenge to the ruling TMC, the BJP has been labelled as “bahirgatas (outsiders)” by the TMC.  

Poll strategist Prashant Kishor, whose company I-PAC is assisting Ms Banerjee in her bid to stop the BJP, said on Saturday that one of the key battles for democracy in the country will be fought in West Bengal, referring to the Assembly elections. 

The BJP is going to the polls under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership as the state unit faces a leadership crisis to take on Ms Banerjee. 

The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Friday announced an unprecedented eight-phase election schedule for the 294-seat West Bengal Assembly starting from March 27 and going on till April 29. About 7,32,94,980 electors will exercise their franchise across 1,01,916 polling booths. 

Polling in West Bengal will be held on March 27, April 1, April 6, April 10, April 17, April 22, April 26 and April 29. The entire electoral process, from the date of announcement till the date of counting, will be completed in 66 days. 

CHENNAI, 28 February, 2021, (TON):  The Election Commission of India’s on Friday announced the schedule of assembly polls for Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Assam, West Bengal, and Kerala which triggered hectic discussions on seat sharing between the various parties in the two major alliances led by the Dravidian majors, DMK and AIADMK, on Saturday. 

Single phase elections to the 234-member assembly in Tamil Nadu will be held on April 6. 

BJP leaders in Tamil Nadu, including G. Kishan Reddy, L. Murugan and C.T. Ravi, too held talks with AIADMK leaders and demanded at least 25 seats for their party. It was indeed a big climb down as the BJP was initially asking for 40 seats. 

According to an unidentified official, the Pattali Makkal Katchi had demanded around 30 seats. 

The PMK, an ally of the AIADMK, was the only party that finalized its alliance by agreeing for 23 seats, which would be identified later on, and thanking the ruling party for bringing in the 10.5 per cent reservation for the Vanniyar community. 

Meanwhile, the Bharatiya Janata Party and the AIADMK also held discussions on sharing seats for the polls. Several BJP leaders, including state president L Murugan and Minister of State for Home Affairs G Kishan Reddy, met Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami and his deputy O Panneerselvam. Union Home Minister Amit Shah is scheduled to visit the state on Sunday. 

According to an unidentified official, AIADMK has offered about 15 seats to the BJP. 

The Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which is making an all-out bid to make inroads into the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, will contest the upcoming state assembly elections with its traditional ally, the All-India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK). 

The BJP helms India’s federal government and runs governments in 17 of India’s 31 states and union territories, either on its own or in alliance with other parties. But in Tamil Nadu, it has negligible presence. 

KABUL, 28 February, 2021, (TON): Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani said on Saturday that the international community has kept the country's citizens away from their fundamental rights of peace during the last four decades, reiterating that the people now want permanent and dignified peace. 

Addressing a ceremony on Armed Forces Day, Ghani said Afghan security forces have played a prominent role in fighting international terrorism and that they can protect the values the country has achieved over the last 20 years. 

Referring to his recent address to the UN Security Council, Ghani said: "My main sentence was that for the last 40 years, the international community has kept a massive nation away from their fundamental right which is peace and this is unacceptable." 

"We want peace and we want dignified peace and a peace that is ensured by the power of our security and defense forces and with the will of the people. This peace will come," he said. 

Ghani said the violence must end and that there should be no more bloodshed and no one should remain deprived of education anymore. 

"The people of Afghanistan have elected their government and president and they will elect the next president of Afghanistan," Ghani added. 

"It is the right of the nation and the security and defense forces will prove that change will be legal and based on the nation's will; otherwise, the tenure of the Republic is clear." 

He said that the Afghan security and defense forces are conducting over 90 per cent of counterterrorism operations. 

"Today's Afghanistan is not the one it was in the past, the one that was protected by others. Today, you are safeguarding it. We are very close to self-reliance," he said. 

Afghanistan has been in long conflict for almost thirty-five years, which has seriously hampered poverty reduction and development, strained the fabric of society and depleted its coping mechanisms. Internal conflict and the Soviet invasion in Afghanistan started waves of migration. Most Afghans fled to the neighboring nations of Pakistan and Iran. The invasion also caused massive internal migration within the country's own borders.

RIYADH, 28 February, 2021, (TON): The government of Saudi Arabia rejected the findings of the U.S. intelligence report regarding the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, saying the report contained "inaccurate information and conclusions." 

The kingdom's Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Friday evening that it has been following the report submitted to the U.S. Congress on the murder of Khashoggi, noting that Saudi Arabia "completely rejects the negative, false and unacceptable assessment in the report pertaining to the Kingdom's leadership." 

"The ministry reiterates what was previously announced by the relevant authorities in the Kingdom, that this was an abhorrent crime and a flagrant violation of the Kingdom's laws and values," the statement said. 

The statement said that Saudi authorities took all possible measures to ensure that individuals connected with the case were properly investigated, and to ensure that justice was served. 

The individuals concerned were convicted and sentenced in Saudi courts and these sentences were welcomed by the family of Jamal Khashoggi, the statement said. 

"The Kingdom rejects any measure that infringes upon its leadership, sovereignty, and the independence of its judicial system," it added. 

Arab League (AL) also backed Saudi Arabia's rejection of U.S. report on Khashoggi killing. AL Secretary General Ahmed Aboul-Gheit said in a statement, "Saudi judicial authorities are the only ones in charge of holding those involved in Khashoggi case accountable."   

The U.S. Office of the Director of National Intelligence released a report on Friday, assessed that Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud approved an operation to "capture or kill" Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018. 

Khashoggi was murdered inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in October 2018, and a number of top Saudi officials were arrested in connection with the case. 

Saudi Arabia's Public Prosecution last September issued the final verdicts against eight convicts in Khashoggi's killing, five of whom were sentenced to 20 years in jail, and three sentenced to seven to 10 years in jail.