JERUSALEM, 5 February, 2021 (TON): An unarmed Palestinian man was shot and killed in a West Bank settlement after he tried to break into a home and fought with a guard, said the Israeli military on Friday.

The incident was referred to as a terror attack by the military. The spokesperson was unable to explain to jump to the conclusion, given that no weapons were found on the suspect or in his car.

The military said the suspect fought with a guard, who was also unarmed, before being shot and killed by another guard and a third individual.

It said the incident took place in “Sde Efraim farm,” which does not appear on maps and is likely one of several small outposts set up by Jewish settlers in the occupied West Bank.

Radi Abu Fkheideh, the head of the local council in the nearby Palestinian village of Ras Karkar, identified the deceased as Khaled Nofal, 34, the married father of a four-year-old boy.

The army stormed Nofal’s home in the village early Friday and arrested his father, he said.

He had no information about the circumstances of Nofal’s death.

There have been a series of stabbings, shootings and car-ramming attacks against Israelis.

Nearly 500,000 Israeli settlers live in the West Bank, mainly in large, developed settlements. Hard-line settlers have established a number of smaller outposts without official authorization.

On the other hand, the Palestinians view all the settlements as illegal and a hurdle to peace that is supported internationally.

CAIRO, 5 February, 2021 (TON): The 15^th session of the UN Peace-building Commission (PBC) has been chaired by Egypt elected for the first time, says the Egyptian Foreign Ministry.

During an official commission meeting at the UN’S headquarters in New York, the elections took place.

Egypt’s election to chair the session came after the UN African group chose the country to represent Africa, and follows its reelection as a member of the PBC with the highest number of votes in December 2020.

Egypt’s election is the culmination of diplomatic efforts since the commission was founded in 2005, Mohammed Idris, Egypt’s permanent representative to the UN said.

According to the Egyptian Foreign Ministry, Egypt has been elected to chair the 15th session of the UN Peacebuilding Commission (PBC) for the first time, succeeding Canada,

Mohammed Idris, Egypt’s permanent representative to the UN, said that Egypt’s election is the culmination of diplomatic efforts since the commission was founded in 2005.

The election demonstrates the international and African confidence in Egypt’s ability to continue its effective contribution to strengthening the role of the peace-building system at the UN, he added.

Idris said that the meeting had witnessed a review of the priorities of the Egyptian chairing of the PBC, adding that the interventions of the committee members showed appreciation for Egypt’s pioneering role in peace efforts.

It is observed that the country, Egypt is eager to maximize the benefits from the advisory role within the UN system for consistently playing part in building peace.  

ISLAMABAD, 5 February, 2021 (TON): 5 February, Pakistan is observing Kashmir Solidarity Day on Friday with peaceful public rallies across the country, expressing wholehearted support of the Pakistani nation to Kashmiri people’s struggle for self-determination under the UN resolutions.

On the occasion, Pakistan PM Imran Khan to address public gathering in Kotli, Azad Jammu and Kashmir and earlier, President Arif Alvi addressed a session of the AJK Legislative Assembly  in Muzaffarabad and led a solidarity march alongside AJK PM Raja Farooq Haider and AJK President Sardar Masood Khan.  

In several other cities and four provincial capitals solidarity walks were arranged.

Human chains were formed at Kohala and other points that linked Pakistan and Azad Kashmir.

Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi led a rally in the capital along with Information Minister Shibli Faraz, Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani and National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser.

The media's role in raising voice for Kashmiris was becoming more important by the day, Qaiser told while talking to media during the procession.

Addressing the Kashmiris through the media, he assured them of the Pakistani nation' support in their struggle for self-determination.

"We understand that you are suffering from oppression and facing difficulties," Qureshi said. "You will be successful because you are with the truth."

The foreign minister said that India has "always tried to break people's courage but it will fail in its attempts to oppress the Kashmiris.

Rallies and solidarity marches were also held in provinces and federation units, where leaders joined and delivered the message.

NEW DELHI, 5 February, 2021 (TON): In reaction to the “toolkit document” uploaded on the farmers’ protests issue, Police is writing to Google to enquire about the IP address from where the toolkit was uploaded.

The Delhi Police believe the toolkit document uploaded on the social media handle scripted the 26 January violence in the capital.

Reports said that there are around 300 social media handles under scanner, indicating a new ront for the police to tackle while the virtual social media accounts and the probe has gone ‘International’.

“The intention of the creators of the tool kits appears to create disharmony among various social, religious and cultural groups and encourage disaffection and ill-will against the government of India. It also aims at waging social cultural and economic war against India,” Delhi police said in a statement.

The ‘toolkit’ in question appears to have been created by a pro-Khalistani Organisation “Poetic Justice Foundation”, preliminary enquiry revealed.

“A section of the documents titled “prior action” delineates the following action plan, digital strike through hashtags on or before 26th January, Tweets storm 23rd January onwards physical action on 26th January, Watch-out or join farmers’ march into Delhi and back to borders,” it said.

The police believe that the unfolding of events past few days including the violence of 26th January has revealed copycat execution of the ‘action plan’ detailed in the toolkit.

The police believe ot is an international conspiracy to defame the country.

The department refrained from naming anyone into the registered FIR under the sections 124-A, 153-A, 153 and 120-B IPC and would be investigated by the Cyber Cell.

The pressure on the investigating department is increased now for now additional to handling of the foreign handles, they have to handle the handles within the country for 26 January violence spreading inappropriate information.  

WASHINGTON, 5 February, 2021 (TON): U.S. foreign policy priorities got outlined by President Joe Biden at the State Department promising, America is back.

In his speech on Thursday, he discussed an array of pressing topics, from Myanmar to Moscow, via US military bases in Germany.

President Biden has, for now, halted his predecessor's decision to withdraw troops from Germany.

In his first diplomatic speech since becoming president, Biden signaled a no-nonsense approach to China and Russia, urged Myanmar's military leaders to bring their coup to an end, said the US would no longer support Saudi offensives in Yemen, and halted the withdrawal of US troops in Germany.

US President Joe Biden on Thursday heralded a new era as he reassured the watching world that "America is back."

An open policy regarding refugee admissions was also announced.  

Speaking at the State Department, Biden said: "American leadership must meet this new moment of advancing authoritarianism, including the growing ambitions of China to rival the United States and the determination of Russia to damage and disrupt our democracy."

"Investing in our diplomacy isn't something we do just because it's the right thing to do for the world," he continued. "We do it in order to live in peace, security and prosperity."

U.S. with its new administration is seeking to alter its alliance and support with different countries calling out for prosperity in the country.

BEIJING, 5 February, 2021 (TON): Criticism on the decision to host 2022’s Winter Games in China got rejected by a senior member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

More than 180 organizations called on governments to boycott Beijing 2022 because of reported human rights abuses against ethnic minorities.

The event was described by the World Uyghur Congress as a Genocide Olympics.

The treatment of China toward its own citizens has been the criticized across the world.

The longest serving member of the IOC, Dick Pound of Canada said barring athletes from participating in the event would be a gesture that we know will have no impact whatsoever.

"The Games are not Chinese Games, the Games are the IOC Games," he the media. "The decision on hosting is not made with a view to signaling approval of a government policy”, he added.

A joint open letter has been issued by the groups representing Tibetans, Uighurs,  Hong Kong residents and the coalition of campaigners, for the boycott of the games ensuring they are not used to embolden the Chinese government's appalling rights abuses and crackdowns on dissent.

According to the Human Rights groups, the Chinese government has gradually removed the religious and other freedoms of the Uighurs, living in the province of Xinjiang in the northwestern China in the oppressive system of mass surveillance, detention, indoctrination, and even forced sterilization.

China consistently denied allegations of human rights abuses in Xinjiang, insisting camps were not detention camps, but "vocational educational and training centers".

"It is unfortunate that history is repeating what happened 82 years ago with the Nazi Olympics in 1936" said Dorjee Tseten of Students for a Free Tibet, one of the groups that signed the letter.

"Hosting the Games in Berlin helped legitimize Hitler's genocide against the Jewish people and bolstered the Nazi regime. Governments and the international community must boycott the Beijing 2022 Games and take a stand to uphold the values of democracy, freedom, and human rights."

The critics proposed Beijing 2022 will put competitors in a difficult position.

CONGO, 5 February, 2021 (TON): The soldiers in the Democratic Republic of Congo took part in an operation against rebels in the north-east on Wednesday.

The region of Djugu has been threatened by the armed groups, where 46 people killed in a single attack last month.

The Congolese army said they were probing the January massacre, saying it was still early and difficult to explain what happened and those responsible for the killings as several groups operate in the area.

About 12, 000 people flee from the region because of the violence and sheltered in the Kigonze refugee camp.

"Today we're here, because there is nowhere to go back, our houses were burnt and we lost all what we had. We didn't have time to recover anything. We and the children ran away with the clothes we were wearing that day (of the attack to her village) and then we arrived here in Bunia", said Reheme Rogeline, a displaced woman living in the Kigonze refugee camp.

Indigenes of Djugu live in refugee camps in Bunia.

"If the Congolese government would listen to us, if it is going to listen to us, please let us end with this misery in Ituri so that we can find an opportunity to return home, that's our prayer, because the children are suffering", Machozi Glorieuse, Vice President of the Refugee Group in Kigonze said.

Governor of Ituri province says it is a complex situation. Jean Bamanisa said peace in the region is difficult to achieve due to the presence of different armed groups.

''The problem is very complex. All the weapons that were brought into this region when there were foreign forces and that were not 'mobilized,' we did not disarm everyone, and there are many weapons circulating", he said.

According to a report released by the International Organization for Migration this month, armed conflicts, disasters related to natural hazards and epidemics in the DR Congo, have created one of the world's most complex and long-standing crises.

The report said since the beginning of 2020, the humanitarian situation in the country has deteriorated due to violence in some regions. This it added has again fueled the humanitarian crisis in the country this year.

There is a need to find a solution and peace to the situation as the situation is unstable and requires the facilitation of security for the trafficking of weapons between the groups.

THE HAGUE, 5 February, 2021 (TON): Case brought by Qatar got rejected by the United Nations top court accusing the UAE of discrimination during a blockade of Doha that has since been lifted.

In 2018, Qatar filed the case, a year after Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain, and Egypt cut transport links and claimed that the gas-rich nation backed the extremists and was closer to Iran.

Alongside, Doha said the UAE’s actions had breached the 1965 International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD), a UN treaty.

International Court of Justice (ICJ) said that it “upholds the first preliminary objection raised by the UAE” that racial discrimination did not include nationality in this case.

“The court finds that it has no jurisdiction to entertain the application filed by the state of Qatar”, ICJ President Abdulqawi Ahmed Yusuf said in The Hague.

Consequently, at a summit in January earlier, the rivals of Qatar agreed to lift restrictions and the UAE reopened its borders to Qatar.

It did not seem that the strong critic of Qatar, the UAE and its leadership as almost unreachable part to the rapprochement became the first to reopen its borders to Qatar and alter Saudi Arab and Egypt did.   

NEW DELHI, 5 February, 2021 (TON): U.S. embassy in New Delhi urged the government to resume talks with the farmers agitated over agricultural reforms.

Largely restricted to the outskirts of New Delhi, the mostly peaceful protests were marred by violence on 26 January, when some protesters entered the heart of the capital city after the Republic Day military parade and clashed with police.

“We encourage that any differences between the parties be resolved through dialogue,” a US embassy spokesperson said in a statement that also proffered general support to government measures to “improve the efficiency of India’s markets and attract greater private sector investment.”

The government has several times negotiated with the representatives of farmers camped on the outskirts of the capital since late 2020, however, after the Republic Day’s violence there has been no word on when the talks would be resumed.

The farmers, who enjoy most support in northern India’s breadbasket states, argue that three new farm laws will hurt their interests while benefiting large firms.

The government stands firm that the reforms will bring much needed investment to the farm sector accounts for nearly 15% of India’s $2.9 trillion economy but employs about half its workforce.

The Indian Diasporas in Australia, Britain, Canada and the United States have also supported for the farmers’ cause.

In late November, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau raised India hackles by speaking about the protests in a video message, saying he was concerned for the farmers.

The farmers’ rebuke for the farm laws is gaining significant importance around the globe with each passing move, however, the country might not accept interference in the internal affairs.

DHAKA, 5 February, 2021 (TON): The government has declared the six sectors, including tannery, ceramic, glass, ship re-cycling and export-oriented leather, silk and footwear free from child labor, in an announcement made during a press conference held at the Shrama Bhaban in Dhaka on Thursday.

Bangladesh State Minister for Labor, Monnujan Sufian made the announcement.

.She said, a large number of children, however, are still working at undervest factories in Keraniganj.

The ministry will ask the district administration to take initiative to stop child labor there, the state minister said.

“Child labor must be stopped in Keraniganj,” she said.

In October last year, the government gave tasks to ten ministries and departments identifying nine key strategic fields to end the child labor. 

A National Monitoring Core Committee was formed to declare some sectors free from child labor in order to get rid of the menace gradually, following the decisions taken at the seventh meeting of the National Council for Child Labour Welfare on 29 January, 2019 and considering the recommendation of the Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishments, The owners of six sectors then claimed they do not use child labor.

The National Monitoring Core Committee while visiting the factories of these sectors in November and December last year found the owners’ claim to be true, said Monnujan.

The Labor Act states that no one below the age of 14 can be employed as a factory worker, but children aged between 14 and 18 can do light work that is not risky.

Around 1.28 million children are engaged in risky labor, according to the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics.

Committees were also formed at national, divisional, district and Upazila levels, and also the Child Labor Policy made by the government in 2010 ensured their proper growth by bringing them under educational programs and social safety net.

Two years later, it took a national work-plan to eradicate child labor and after another year, it published a list of jobs risky for children.

Considering the ongoing efforts of the team, it is likely to say that the country may be able to be free from child labor by 2025 in line with the sustainable developmental goals.