ISLAMABAD, 21 June 2021, (TON): Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said that Pakistan was not responsible for Afghanistan's internal problems and was blamed and made out to be a scapegoat by Afghanistan whenever its affairs didn't appear to be moving in the right direction.

Unfortunately when things aren't moving in the right direction, you're (Afghanistan) looking for scapegoats and the favourite scapegoat you have is Pakistan. When there's failure within (Afghanistan) you blame Pakistan for that.

FM Qureshi said "Pakistan is not responsible for the failure within, for the squabbling going on in Afghanistan, if the Afghan leadership can't sit and work out a peace deal.”

The foreign minister said that the bulk of the Taliban leadership was not in Pakistan but Afghanistan and the former was only engaging with them to facilitate the peace process and try to be helpful and constructive.

Many have started recognising that internationally but some in Afghanistan still have that mental blockade of accepting the fact that Pakistan is being genuine, constructive and sincere because Pakistan feels it is in our enlightened interest that there is peace and stability in Afghanistan.

Pressed again on whether the Taliban were funded in Pakistan, the foreign minister responded: "You're stuck in the old groove. Please get out of that groove. If you remain stuck in this then believe me you will not be able to travel far and we want you to travel far."

Qureshi stressed that Pakistan wanted Afghanistan to be peaceful and stable because that would yield mutual dividends and benefits such as regional connectivity, adding that economic security and promotion of regional bilateral trade could only be achieved through peace.

WASHINGTON, 21 June 2021, (TON): Sung Kim, the United States’s special envoy on North Korea, has offered to meet officials from Pyongyang “anywhere, anytime” amid a continued impasse in negotiations between the two.

In the meantime, the US will continue to enforce United Nations Security Council sanctions on North Korea over its nuclear weapons programme and urge other countries to do the same, Kim said.

He said, referring to North Korea by its official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea “we continue to hope that the DPRK will respond positively to our outreach, and our offer to meet anywhere anytime without preconditions.”

Kim, whose appointment was announced at last month’s summit between US president Joe Biden and his South Korean counterpart Moon Jae-in, arrived in Seoul for a five-day visit.

The Biden administration has previously promised a “practical, calibrated approach” to North Korea, including diplomatic efforts, to persuade the country to give up its banned nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programmes.

In his first response to the Biden policy review, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said “last week that Pyongyang must prepare for both dialogue and confrontation.”

TEHRAN, 21 June 2021, (TON): Official says temporary shutdown for repairs started and could last up to four days, possibly causing power outages.

Iranian state TV has said “Iran’s sole nuclear power plant has been temporarily shutdown for a technical overhaul.

An official from the state electric energy company, Gholamali Rakhshanimehr, said on a talk show that the Bushehr plant shutdown began on Saturday and would last for three to four days.

He added that power outages could result. He did not elaborate further, but this is the first time Iran has reported an emergency shutdown of the plant, located in the southern port city of Bushehr.

It went online in 2011 with help from Russia. Iran is required to send spent fuel rods from the reactor back to Russia as a nuclear nonproliferation measure.

In March, nuclear official Mahmoud Jafari said “the plant could stop working since Iran cannot procure parts and equipment for it from Russia due to banking sanctions imposed by the United States in 2018.”

Bushehr is fuelled by uranium produced in Russia, not Iran, and is monitored by the United Nations’ International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

The UN agency did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the reported shutdown.

Abas Aslani, a senior researcher at the Tehran-based Center for Middle East Strategic Studies, told media that the shutdown could be a blow to an Iranian power supply already strained by cryptocurrency mining.

Aslani said “this [shutdown] is more important in terms of the power outage, than the nuclear aspect of the facility.”

KATHMANDU, 21 June 2021, (TON): Nepal received 982 units of 10-litre oxygen concentrators, financed by the World Bank today. The concentrators are part of a long-term solution for augmenting Nepal's capacity to supply therapeutic oxygen to public health facilities thereby providing a stronger response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Minister of Health and Population, Sher Bahadur Tamang said "I am very pleased that we have been able to quickly bring in the oxygen concentrators, which will be dispatched to health facilities across the country."

The government is working hard to strengthen availability of medical oxygen in all public health facilities so that every Nepali citizen requiring oxygen is able to access it.

The oxygen concentrators were procured through UNOPS under the World Bank-financed COVID-19 Emergency Response and Health Systems Preparedness Project, which also financed seven oxygen generation plants, one for each province in Nepal.

These plants will be brought in, installed and operationalised by UNOPS in a phased manner in seven provincial hospitals, in the next six to 15 weeks.

The COVID-19 Emergency Response and Health Systems Preparedness Project is supporting the purchase and deployment of COVID-19 vaccines for prioritised Nepali citizens, health system strengthening towards a robust public health response to the pandemic, community engagement and risk communication, and strengthening existing digital technology-based pandemic data, surveillance and monitoring systems.

DHAKA, 21 June 2021, (TON): With the theme ‘Together We Heal, Learn and Shine,’ different donors, development organizations held programs marking the day.

World Refugee Day was observed in the country Sunday to raise awareness on the rights of refugees.

Designed to celebrate and honour refugees from around the world, Refugee Day is an occasion to build empathy and understanding for the plight of refugees and recognize their resilience in rebuilding their lives.

With the theme "Together We Heal, Learn and Shine," different donors and development organizations held programs marking the day. 

Humanitarian Crisis Management Program (HCMP) of Brac hosted programs at the Rohingya camps in Cox's Bazar.

Young boys and girls took part in the events.

Community Group members of Community-Based Protection of Brac arranged a drawing competition and a henna (mehendi) festival at Camp 4 Extension of Rohingya Shelter Centre in Cox's Bazar’s Ukhiya.

WASHINGTON, 21 June 2021, (TON):  Tropical Depr­ession Claudette clai­med 12 lives in Alabama as the storm swept across the southeastern US, causing flash flooding and spurring tornadoes that destroyed dozens of homes.

Ten people were killed in a 15-vehicle crash about 35 miles (55 kilometers) south of Montgomery on Interstate 65.

Vehicles likely hydroplaned on wet roads, with eight children, ages 4 to 17, killed in a van belonging to a youth ranch operated by the Alabama Sheriffs Association for abused or neglected children. Two people died in separate vehicle, Garlock told local news outlets 29-year-old Cody Fox and 9-month-old Ariana Fox, both of Marion County, Tennessee. Multiple people were also injured.

Meanwhile, a 24-year-old man and a 3-year-old boy were killed when a tree fell on their house just outside the Tuscaloosa city limits.

The deaths occurred as drenching rains pelted northern Alabama and Georgia late. As much as 12 inches (30 centimeters) of rain was reported earlier from Claudette along the Mississippi Gulf Coast.

Flash flood watches were posted on Sunday for northern Georgia, most of South Carolina, the North Carolina coast, parts of southeast Alabama and the Florida Panhandle. A tropical storm warning was in effect in North Carolina from the Little River Inlet to the town of Duck on the Outer Banks. A tropical storm watch was issued from South Santee River, South Carolina, to the Little River Inlet, forecasters said.

WASHINGTON, 21 June 2021, (TON): US President Joe Biden looks forward to welcoming Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and Dr Abdullah Abdullah, Chairman of the High Council for National Reconciliation, to the White House on June 25, the White House announced.

White House said “the visit will highlight the enduring partnership between the United States and Afghanistan as the military drawdown continues”.

The United States will remain deeply engaged with the government of Afghanistan to ensure the country never again becomes a safe haven for terrorist groups who pose a threat to the US.”

The White House also assured Afghanistan that the United States was committed to supporting the Afghan people by providing diplomatic, economic, and humanitarian assistance to the Afghan people, including Afghan women, girls and minorities.

The statement also said “the United States continues to fully support the ongoing peace process and encourages all Afghan parties to participate meaningfully in negotiations to bring an end to the conflict.”

NEW DELHI, 21 June 2021, (TON): Hectic political consultations were on in Jammu and Kashmir within mainstream regional parties including the National Conference (NC) and the PDP over an all-party meeting to be chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on June 24, while the Congress raised the pitch for immediate restoration of statehood to J-K.

The deliberations came ahead of a joint meeting of People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD), an amalgam of six political parties including the NC, PDP, CPM, Awami National Conference, CPI and JK People’s Movement, to be held on Tuesday to discuss their stand on the Centre’s invite.

As the day began, a two-hour-long political affairs committee meeting of Mehbooba Mufti’s PDP was held.

PDP chief spokesperson Syed Suhail Bukhari told “The party unanimously authorised the party president to take a final decision on the matter."

Bukhari said a meeting of the PAGD will take place on Tuesday where the member parties will discuss the issue and then a final decision will be taken on whether to participate or not in the meeting called by the prime minister.

He said “After two days, the PAGD is meeting, this issue will be discussed. The members of the alliance will give their suggestions and a decision on the way forward will be taken there and afterwards, a decision will be taken over the participation of the meeting."

COLOMBO, 21 June 2021, (TON): Sri Lanka's military launched an investigation after social media posts showed soldiers forcing minority Muslims to kneel on the streets as a punishment for flouting lockdown rules.

Armed troops ordered Muslim civilians to raise their hands in the air while kneeling on a road in the town of Eravur, about 300 kilometres (190 miles) east of the capital Colombo.

Local residents said that they considered the order to be degrading and humiliating, while officials acknowledged that troops had no power to mete out such punishments.

The army said in a statement "An initial Military Police investigation has already commenced after certain photos went viral depicting an alleged harassment in the Eravur area,".

It said “the officer in charge had been removed and the soldiers involved ordered to leave the town.”

"The army will adopt the strictest disciplinary action against all errant army personnel," the military added, in a rare display of willingness to investigate its own.

KABUL, 21 June 2021, (TON): Top diplomats from Afghanistan, Turkey and Iran are set to meet in the Turkish city of Antalya on Sunday.

The three-way foreign ministerial meeting in the city on the Mediterranean coast is part of the Antalya Diplomacy Forum.

In Ankara, a statement from the foreign ministry said “the ministers would discuss recent developments in the Afghan peace process.”

The statement added “Cooperation in the fields of security, energy, connectivity and irregular migration will (also) be discussed”.

Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif has already arrived in Turkey to take part in the forum.

Foreign Minister Hanif Atmar praised Iran for sending humanitarian and medical aid, including oxygen, to Afghanistan to deal with the coronavirus pandemic.

At a meeting, Atmar briefed his Iranian counterpart on the latest security situation in Afghanistan.

He said his country was willing to cooperate with Iran, especially on the security situation in border areas and holding the Iran-Afghanistan Economic Commission as soon as possible.