RAMALLAH, 28 February, 2021, (TON): On Saturday Palestine lashed out at the U.S. position towards the Israel-Palestine conflict, calling it a "foggy" position. 

"The U.S. foggy position encourages the Israeli government to escalate its settlement policy," the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) said in a statement. 

"The Israeli government exploits the U.S. position to implement what had been already agreed upon between the former U.S. administration and the Israeli government concerning settlement," the statement said, referring to the settlement of Ma'ale Adumim in the West Bank overlooking the E1 area. 

"The current administration is not putting the issue of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict on the top of its priorities," the PLO statement said. 

It said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last week instructed the start of implementing the settlement project in E1 area "to establish a new status quo on the ground." 

"The settlement project in E1 area is part of the actual Israeli annexation plan of large parts of the West Bank and will undermine the vision of the two-state solution," it added. 

For the past twenty years, Israel has endeavored to build racially-discriminatory (Jews only) settlements at E1 area to the east of Abu Dis. The E1 area is an area of the West Bank within the municipal boundary of the Israeli settlement of Ma'ale Adumim. These would join Jerusalem to the illegal settlements built from the 1970s on, and create further difficulties for the Palestinian population by effectively cutting the West Bank in half. 

Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Ishtaye last week urged the international community and the United States to intervene to prevent the implementation of the settlement project in E1 area. 

Jewish settlements in the West Bank is one of the thorny issues that caused the stalemate of the peace negotiations, which were sponsored by the United States and stopped in 2014. 

The Jordan Valley is home to approximately 60,000 Palestinians, according to the UN, but nearly 90 percent of the land is part of what is known as Area C, the three-fifths of the West Bank that is under complete Zionist regime occupation. 

BIHAR, 26 February, 2021 (TON): In compliance with the protests against the continuous surge in the price of Petrol and Diesel Leader of Opposition Tejashwi Yadav was seen riding a bicycle from his home to the Bihar State assembly.

The opposition attacked Nitish Kumar-led NDA government over the increased prices of petroleum products across the country as the budget session of the Bihar State Assembly started on 18 February.

Tejashwi tweeted in Hindi, "In order to protest against the rising prices of oil, I rode the cycle to the assembly. The beloved government of the rich has looted the poor and left the common man to die by increasing the prices of petrol, diesel, and gas. The double-engine government is openly looting the poor and batting for the capitalists".

On 22 February, Tejashwi Yadav drove a tractor to reach the Bihar assembly, in an expression of solidarity with those opposing the farm laws and protest against rising prices of petrol, diesel, and cooking gas (LPG).

On 19 February, RJD MLA Akhtarul Islam Shaheen and Mukesh Raushan (from the Mahua constituency) reached the assembly on their bicycles.

The Indian country is under protests every now and then as the country is reaching closer to the elections.

DHAKA, 26 February, 2021 (TON): As Bangladesh marks the golden jubilee of its independence it is set to receive the final recommendation on its graduation from the least developed country status.

On Saturday, at 4 pm the PM Sheikh Hasina will speak on the achievements in a virtual media briefing, said her Press Secretary Ihsanul Karim.

Bangladesh has been on the United Nation's Least Developed Countries list since 1975.

Since Bangladesh had been on the UN’s least developed countries’ list, it fulfilled all the criteria necessary for its elevation to a developing country in 2018.

In line with the UN rules, a country will get recommended for graduation if it can fulfill the criteria in two tri-annual reviews in a row.

The tri-annual review meeting of the UN Committee for Development Policy or CDP began on 22 February. It is hoped that the final decision will be made on Friday night after the second round of review.

The CDP focuses on three indices while reviewing the prospects of a country's rise to a developing nation. Bangladesh has met the criteria in all three indices.

According to the UN, a country is eligible to graduate from the LDC category if it has a gross national income (GNI) per capita of $1,230 or above for three years, a Human Assets Index (HAI) of 66 or above, and an Economic Vulnerability Index (EVI) of 32 or below.

Bangladesh has continued to fulfill the three conditions remarkably.

The South Asian nation's GNI per capita was $ 1,827 in 2020. The HAI is 75.3, while the EVI is 25.2.

According to the CDP provisions, a country can get between three and five years to make preparations after the recommendation for graduation is made.

Fortunately, once it receives the final recommendation, Bangladesh will formally graduate to the developing nation bracket in 2026.

NEW DELHI, 26 February, 2021 (TON): On Friday, Yuva Kisan Divas (Young Farmer Day) was organized by the Samyukta Kisan Morcha at the Ghazipur border in an attempt to keep the farmers’ movement going.

As the farmers’ agitation is reaching more than 90 days, newer strategies are being adopted, one such strategy by the Samyukta Kisan Morcha was organizing the Yuva Kisan Divas (Young Farmer Day).

It was held as recognition of the youth’s contribution to the farmers’ movement. The youth appeared quite enthusiastic even on their 93rd day on the border.

As well as this, the strategy was discussed to make the most of the Mahapanchayats being organized in the next few weeks. Youngsters addressed the gathering from the stage and expressed their opposition against the three farm laws.

Addressing the gathering, Bihar’s Kabir Rajput said, “The government has modified the Essential Commodities Act according to its own convenience. By bringing in these farm laws, the government has worked only in the interests of capitalists and in the direction of oppressing the section of society comprising farmers and workers.”

Speaking on the farmer laws Gaurav Tikait, the young farmer leader from Bharatiya Kisan Union, said, “By spreading myths, the government is trying to prove that the farm laws that it has brought in are correct.”

Several youngsters from Bareilly expressed their solidarity with the movement.

Thousands of farmers from across the country have been camping at the national Capital’s borders against the three farm laws, since November 26 last year. Eleven rounds of talks between farmers and the government so far have not made any headway.

MOSCOW, 26 February, 2021 (TON): On Friday the Kremlin stated, Armenia should comply with agreements reached with Azerbaijan after last year’s Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, despite the political upheaval in Armenia, with the army on Thursday demanding Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan quit.

War erupted between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the region of Nagorno-Karabakh, leaving roughly thirty thousand casualties and hundreds of thousands of refugees. By 1993, Armenia controlled Nagorno-Karabakh and occupied 20 percent of the surrounding Azerbaijani territory. In 1994, Russia brokered a cease-fire which has remained in place since.

Nagorno-Karabakh has been a frozen conflict for more than a decade involving artillery shelling and minor skirmishes between Armenian and Azerbaijani troops that have caused hundreds of deaths.

Many protests and calls have been carried away calling Pashinyan to resign after what his critics say was the disastrous handling of a six-week conflict between Azerbaijan and ethnic Armenian forces over the region of Nagorno-Karabakh last year.

However, thousands rallied behind Pashinyan after the army’s written demand plunged the impoverished country into a new political crisis in what the PM said was an attempted coup.

STRASBOURG, 26 February, 2021 (TON): South Africa’s Caster Semenya, two-time Olympic champion is going to the European Court of Human Rights, said the athlete’s lawyers on Thursday.

The event is set to open on 23 July and could be Semenya's last shot at the games.

The lawsuit is to challenge perceived discriminatory World Athletics’ regulations that prohibit her from competing in certain women’s track events unless she medically lowers her naturally high testosterone levels.

World Athletics says that Semenya’s levels of testosterone are much higher than that of a perceived typical female range, concluding that this gives her and other athletes like her an unfair advantage over other female runners.

Semenya is not the only athlete contending with this issue, two other Olympic medalists from Africa, Francine Niyonsaba of Burundi and Margaret Wambui of Kenya, have stated that are bound by the same rules, adding that they would refuse to undergo medical intervention to reduce their testosterone levels.

The 800 meters dash winning-athlete has already lost two legal appeals but her lawyers say that there has been a violation of her rights and want the human rights court to examine the rules ideally in time for the delayed Tokyo Olympics.

KANO, 26 February, 2021 (TON): On Friday, in the latest mass kidnapping the teacher from the school hostel said that suspected armed bandits have taken away girls, from the Government Girls Secondary School in northwest Nigeria.

In recent years, heavily-armed criminal gangs in northwest and central Nigeria have stepped up attacks, kidnapping for ransom, raping, and pillaging.

"More than 300 girls are unaccounted for after a headcount of remaining students," a teacher said.

"I'm on my way to Jangebe. I received a call that the school was invaded by bandits who took away schoolgirls. I have two daughters in the school," said Sadi Kawaye.

Police have not yet confirmed the incident.

Many such incidents have been happening in Nigeria that has triggered global outrage yet this one adds to the list.

MAZAR-I-SHARIF, 26 February, 2021 (TON): The German Defense Minister, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer on an unannounced visit to Mazar-i-Sharif said on Friday, that Germany is committed to the peace process in Afghanistan.

Mazar-i-Sharif is the Afghan region where the majority of German troops in the country are deployed.

Germany’s military mission extension in the Afghan area has been given a green signal by the cabinet on Wednesday yet it still got be approved by the parliament.

 “Afghanistan urgently needs a settlement between the opposing groups of its society,” Kramp-Karrenbauer said according to a statement, adding that Berlin’s goal remained an orderly withdrawal of troops.

Kramp-Karrenbauer has warned that a premature withdrawal of NATO troops could jeopardize peace talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban and said NATO troops needed to prepare for Taliban violence should they stay beyond the end of April.

Although, the current parliamentary mandate for the German operation with up to 1,300 troops expires at the end of March while the new U.S. government is reviewing a 2020 agreement with the Taliban which called for foreign troops to withdraw by 1 May, 2021.

GOMA, 26 February, 2021 (TON): On Thursday, the Congolese investigators arrived at Goma in an attempt to clarify the circumstances that took the lives of the Italian ambassador, his guard, and the driver earlier this week.

The authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo also sent a delegation to the region to meet with members of the United Nations and other NGOs acting in the east of the country where the attack against the UN convoy took place.

Christian Bushiri, Senior Advisor of the DRC presidency told, "The purpose of today's meeting with the humanitarian workers based in Goma was to plan what to do next."

"It's necessary to have a close collaboration between humanitarians and officials, between the State and NGOs," he said.

The government has requested the NGOs share more information about their daily management, their field trips, and their movements in general, according to Bushiri.

"We demand this close collaboration that can help us to contribute to defeating the terrorism that is rampant in the east of the country," he said.

Diego Zorrilla, UN Deputy Humanitarian Coordinator in DRC, said the attack was a reminder of the difficult working conditions of the humanitarian workers and the insecurity that still prevails in North Kivu and other areas.

However, Italy has had formally asked the U.N. for an inquiry into what happened amid questions about whether the U.N. security arrangements were sufficient for the mission.

MOSCOW, 26 February, 2021 (TON): On Friday, a Boeing 777 airliner made an emergency landing in Moscow with engine problems, the operating airline said.

The incident has occurred days after another model rained down engine debris over the United States.

State-owned Rossiya airline said the crew had registered the incorrect operation of the engine control sensor on a cargo flight from Hong Kong to Madrid and that they decided to make an emergency landing in Moscow and no one was injured.

However, after a delay of several hours the aircraft will continue its onward journey to Madrid.