TEHRAN, 29 December, 2020, (TON): Tehran said on Monday that it will defend itself, warning the United States and Israel against setting out on any “adventures” during the Trump administration’s final days in office, and as regional tensions simmer.

The US Navy said a week ago a nuclear submarine was being deployed to the Gulf, and Israeli media later reported that an Israeli submarine had crossed the Suez Canal and was headed for the Gulf.

The report of Israeli deployment has not been confirmed officially, but Tehran on Monday reminded all players in the region that it has laid down limits for encroachment on its national security.

“Everybody knows what the Persian Gulf means to Iran, and what policy Iran pursues about its national interests and security,” Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh told reporters. “They are aware of the risks of crossing Iran’s red lines.”

Khatibzadeh then directly warned the United States, which has also deployed naval assets to the Gulf.

“We have sent messages to the US government and our friends in the region (warning) the current US regime not to embark on a new adventure in its final days at the White House,” he said. He further called for “rational people in Washington” to refrain from any operations against Iran.

The spokesman accused the US administration of changing neighboring countries into “bases of insecurity” against Iran. The latest exchange of terse remarks and accusations come just weeks before the first anniversary of the killing of top Iranian commander Qassem Soleimani in a US drone strike in January 2020.

For years, the international community and Iran are at loggerheads over the country's nuclear activities, amid suspicions that it was trying to develop nuclear weapons. Iran has always denied this, asserting that its programme was solely peaceful.

AYODHYA, 29 December 2020, (TON):  Six students of Saket College who were chanting slogans, 'Azaadi', were booked for sedition under Section 124A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). Charges were levelled on them that they chanted anti-national slogans during a protest to demand students’ union election but police did not find any evidence against these students. Later, Police freed after dropping of sedition charges against them. However, the police said that investigation into other charges against the students will continue.

In a statement issued by Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), Ayodhya, R.K. Rai, he said: "Police had registered a case of sedition against students on the basis of the complaint filed by college principal. However, we did not find any evidence against the students and decided to drop sedition charges against all the six accused. Other charges against the students will remain and investigations are underway."

As per the details, on 26 December, Principal of Saket College, N.D. Pandey lodged complaint against his students for chanting anti-national slogans during their protest last week. Police filed cases against students including Sumit Tiwari, Shesh Narayan Pandey, Imran Hashmi, Satvik Pandey, Mohit Yadav and Manoj Mishra, had been booked under Sections 124A (sedition), 147 (rioting) 188 (disobedience of order), 332 (causing hurt to deter public servant from duty), 342 (wrongful confinement), 353 (assault on public servant), 427 (causing damage to property), 435 (mischief by fire or explosive substance) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code.

Meanwhile, Abhas Krishna Yadav, the former president of Saket College students' union, said that students were raising 'Azaadi' slogans against corrupt principal, N.D. Pandey and anti-student system of the college.

CAIRO, 29 December, 2020, (TON): The Arab League (AL) on Monday expressed concerns over the escalated financial crisis of the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), the Cairo-based pan-Arab body said in a statement.

"The crisis has taken a dangerous turn in the past weeks when the UNRWA was unable to pay the salaries of its employees for December," said Saeed Abu Ali, AL assistant secretary-general for Palestine affairs and occupied Arab territories.

He warned against the inability of the agency to keep providing services for more than 5.5 million Palestinian refugees in the fields of education, health, food support and other interventions for rescuing life will cause more deterioration to the communities of Palestinian refugees in Arab countries.

The Arab countries contribute 7.73 percent of the agency's budget, according to the official.

He added that the funding of the UNRWA will be consumed in January 2021, calling on donors and the United Nations to fulfil their obligations and financial contributions to enable the UNRWA to carry out its duties towards the Palestinians until a just solution to their case is reached in accordance with international legitimate resolutions.

UNRWA provides its services to about 5.3 million Palestinian refugees and is suffering from a stifling financial crisis since the United States in January froze all its support for the agency claiming that it is not satisfied with the way the agency works which is being criticized by Israel.

MOSCOW, 28 December, 2020, (TON): A Russian-flagged fishing trawler sank in the northern Barents Sea leaving at least 17 people missing, Russian news agencies reported on Monday citing emergency services.

Five rescue vessels are currently searching for survivors. The missing crew are feared dead, said news agency.

The fishing boat, the Onega, sank near the Novoya Zemlya archipelago with 19 people on board. Two people, a sailor and a navigator have been rescued, local news outlets reported, citing the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations.

The ministry attributed the incident to the formation of too much ice on the vessel.

A search and rescue operation is underway, but aircraft has yet to be sent due to bad weather conditions. Maritime accidents are fairly common in Russia.

The Barents Sea lies on the edge of the Arctic Ocean, bordering the countries Norway and Russia. The sea is the world's largest global cod fishery, according to the EU Fish Processors and Traders Association.

LONDON, 28 December, 2020, (Media Report): Oil rose towards $52 a barrel on Monday after U.S. President Donald Trump’s signing of a coronavirus aid package and the start of a European vaccination campaign outweighed concern about weak near-term demand, Reuters reported.

Brent crude rose 41 cents, or 0.8%, to $51.70 a barrel at 0926 GMT, reversing an earlier decline. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude added 44 cents, or 0.9%, to $48.67.

“The signing of the U.S. stimulus bill, with the possibility of an increased size, should put a floor under oil prices in a shortened week,” said Jeffrey Halley, analyst at broker OANDA.

Trump, whose presidency is set to end next month, had earlier threatened to block the $2.3 trillion aid and spending package.

Oil has recovered from historic lows reached in the spring as the emerging pandemic hammered demand. And in a further sign of progress against COVID-19, Europe launched a mass vaccination drive on Sunday.

But, the emergence of a new variant of the virus, first seen in Britain and now detected in other countries, has led to movement restrictions being reimposed, hitting near-term demand and weighing on prices. And Brent is still below the $52.48 level reached on Dec. 18, which was its strongest since March.

Oil remains vulnerable to any further setbacks in efforts to control the virus, said Stephen Innes, chief global market strategist at Axi, in a note.

Also coming into focus will be a 4^th January meeting of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies, a group known as OPEC+. The group is slowly tapering record oil output cuts made this year to support the market.

OPEC+ is set to boost output by 500,000 barrels per day in January.

BEIJING, 28 December, 2020, (TON): The Chinese foreign ministry on Monday said it firmly rejected new U.S. legislation on Tibet signed into law by President Donald Trump over the weekend.

Tibet-related issues are domestic affairs, Zhao Lijian, a ministry spokesman, said at a regular media briefing.

The Tibetan Policy and Support Act (TPSA) was passed by the House and Senate on 22 December, 2020 as an amendment to the $1.4 trillion government-spending bill and the $900 billion coronavirus relief package. The bill was backed by both Democrats and Republicans.

The Tibetan Policy and Support Act of 2020 calls for the establishment of a U.S. consulate in Lhasa and the absolute right of Tibetans to choose a successor to the Dalai Lama. This is the most significant amendment that the TSPA makes it US policy to oppose attempts by Beijing to install its own Dalai Lama.

Relations between China and the US have deteriorated to their worst in decades over a range of issues, including trade, Taiwan, human rights, Hong Kong, the South China Sea and the coronavirus. The Tibet Policy and Support Act, passed by the US Senate bookends a turbulent year in US-China relations.

DHAKA, 28 December, 2020, (TON): Bangladesh is set to move a second batch of Rohingya refugees from neighbouring Myanmar to the remote island of Bhasan Char in the Bay of Bengal this month, officials said on Sunday, despite calls by rights groups not to carry out further relocations.

More than 1,600 of the Muslim minority from Myanmar were taken to Bhashan Char earlier this month, and Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen said just under 1,000 are in the latest group heading for what he called a “beautiful resort”. "They will be moved to Chittagong first and then to Bhasan Char, depending on the high tide," one of the officials said. The officials declined to be named as the issue had not been made public.

Mohammed Shamsud Douza, the deputy Bangladesh government official in charge of refugees, said the relocation was voluntary. "They will not be sent against their will."

He said a 12 km long embankment had been built to protect the island from floods along with housing for 100,000 people. “No one is forced to go there,” he said, adding that people can live a better life there with greater access to healthcare and education.

The United Nations has said it has not been allowed to carry out a technical and safety assessment of Bhasan Char, a flood-prone island in the Bay of Bengal, and was not involved in the transfer of refugees there.

Bangladesh says the move will ease chronic overcrowding in camps that are home to more than 1 million Rohingya.

But refugees and humanitarian workers say some of the Rohingya have been coerced into going to the island, which emerged from the sea 20 years ago.

Several attempts to kickstart repatriation of Rohingya to Myanmar have failed after refugees said they were too fearful of further violence to return.

Over a million Rohingya refugees have fled violence in Myanmar in successive waves of displacement since the early 1990s.

BEIJING, 28 December, 2020, (TON): China sent a new remote sensing satellite into space from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center at 11:44 p.m. (Beijing Time) in northwest China on Sunday.

A Long March-4C rocket carrying Yaogan-33 satellite blasts off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China on December 27, 2020.

The satellite, Yaogan-33, entered the planned orbit successfully. The mission also sent a micro and nano technology experiment satellite into orbit.

The satellite, Yaogan-33, was launched aboard a Long March-4C rocket and entered the planned orbit successfully. It was the 357th flight mission of the Long March carrier rocket series.

The two satellites will be used as a new remote sensing bird that will be used mainly for scientific experiment research, marine and land resource surveys, and other tasks.

Earleir, another Yaogan Weixing-33 failed to reach orbit on 22 May 2019. It was lost on a Long March-4C launch, failure that occurred a few minutes after launch from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center.

ISLAMABAD, 28 December, 2020, (TON): Pakistan on Sunday expressed concern about the spike in violence in Afghanistan and reiterates its commitment for lasting peace and stability in Afghanistan

The foreign ministry of Pakistan said “the Afghan peace process is making encouraging progress towards a political solution of the conflict,” and “we are concerned about some negative comments which continue to emanate from certain official as well as unofficial Afghan circles.”

The foreign ministry said Pakistan continued to "express its deep concern at the increasing level of violence" in Afghanistan during the current year and Prime Minister Imran Khan, on several occasions, has reiterated his calls for reduction in violence leading to a cease-fire.

"It is important to underline the need for Afghan government to take proactive measures to fulfill its responsibility for internal security, law and order and protection of Afghan lives," a foreign ministry statement said.

The statement said Pakistan stands ready to expand all possible cooperation in the area of security and effective border management through effective institutional collaboration.

The statement said “as the negotiations enter an important and critical phase from 5 January 2021, the negotiators will be focusing on the substantive issues relating to a comprehensive future political settlement.”

“In this delicate phase of the Intra-Afghan Negotiations, it is important for the negotiating parties to avoid accusations and to demonstrate wisdom, sagacity and vision for the larger objective of lasting peace and stability in Afghanistan,” it added.

The statement recalled that Pakistan has continued to emphasize that there is no military solution to the Afghan conflict, and solution of the conflict through a political process is the only way forward. "Towards this end, Pakistan has been engaged in serious efforts to facilitate an Afghan-led, Afghan-owned peace process," the statement said.

Pakistan needs to continue its role as a facilitator by adopting a concrete foreign policy in Afghanistan and continues to monitor the socio-economic and political landscape to mitigate the effects of the challenges in Afghan-led and Afghan-owned Peace Process.

TEHRAN, 28 December, 2020, (TON): Iran has expanded the list of Americans suspected of involvement in the assassination of its senior commander Qassem Soleimani to include 48 names, official news agency IRNA reported on Sunday.

"The number of the main accused in the assassination of Soleimani has increased from 45 to 48," said Hossein Amir Abdollahian, spokesman for the Popular Committee for the Celebration of the Anniversary of the Martyrdom of General Soleimani.

Speaking at a press briefing about judicial measures regarding the case, Abdollahian voiced hope to see a court ruling "in the near future."

Six countries have been given warrants from Iran for the arrest of the culprits, the spokesman said.

A "harsh revenge" for the killing of the high-ranking Iranian commander is still on the agenda of the Iranian authorities, Abdollahian noted.

Iran's most powerful military commander of the Quds Force of Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps, as well as Iraqi militia commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, Gen Qasem Soleimani was killed by a US air strike in Iraq on January 3. He was killed at Baghdad airport, along with other Iran-backed militia figures, early on Friday in a strike ordered by US President Donald Trump.

On June 29, Tehran Prosecutor General Ali Qasi Mehr announced that a case had been filed with the Interpol to arrest a number of U.S. political and military officials "involved in the assassination."

The killing marks a dramatic escalation in the brewing standoff between Iran and the U.S. that’s been building since the U.S. withdrew from the Iranian nuclear deal in 2018 and has intensified in the last year with attacks on commercial tankers and oil facilities widely blamed on Iran.