MALE, 18 June 2021, (TON): Transport Ministry of Maldives said that it has not authorized any Israeli airline to operate flights to Maldives, after an Israeli newspaper carried report of plans to launch direct flights between Maldives and Israel.

In a statement in response to the media report, Transport Ministry said that talk to plans to establish air travel between Maldives and Israel are false.

Transport Ministry that it has not engaged in any discussions regarding establishing air travel between Maldives and Israel, nor signed any agreement to that effect, nor authorized any Israeli airline to operate flights to Maldives.

Transport Ministry said that the Maldivian government has no plans of authorizing any Israeli airline to travel to Maldives, nor sign any air travel agreement.

ISLAMABAD, 18 June 2021, (TON): According to a statement from the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) “a Pakistan Army soldier was martyred in a terrorist attack near Turbat airport.

The military’s media wing said that terrorists using small arms attacked the troops near Turbat airport, as a result of which a brave soldier, Naik Aqeel Abbas, embraced shahadat (martyrdom).

Following the attack, Frontier Corps personnel launched a large-scale operation in the area to hunt the attackers.

In its statement, the ISPR said that such cowardly acts by inimical elements, backed by anti-state forces could not sabotage the hard-earned peace and prosperity in the province.

Earlier this week, four Frontier Corps soldiers were martyred in an improvised explosive device (IED) explosion on the Margat-Quetta road in Balochistan.

ISPR had said that terrorists targeted Frontier Corps troops employed for [the] security of Margat Mines using an IED.

BRUSSELS, 18 June 2021, (TON): A US official said that US President Joe Biden and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan agreed when they met in Brussels this week that Turkey would take a lead role in securing the Kabul airport as the United States withdraws troops from Afghanistan.

Official said “but the two leaders were not able to resolve a longstanding dispute that has strained ties between Washington and Ankara about Turkey’s purchase of the Russian-made S-400 surface-to-air missile system.”

US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters that Biden and Erdoğan, in their meeting on June 14 at the NATO summit had discussed the Afghanistan airport security issue.

Sullivan said that Erdoğan had asked for US support to help secure the airport and Biden committed to providing that support.

He further said that the clear commitment from the leaders was established that Turkey would play a lead role in securing Hamid Karzai International Airport and we are now working through how to execute to get to that.

Sullivan’s remarks offer the first details from the US side of the meeting between Biden and Erdoğan who told the US president Ankara will not change its stance on the Russian S-400 missile system.

NEW DELHI, 18 June 2021, (TON): A statement issued by the ATS said the arrests were made after it was established that they were living in India on forged documents. Two men, who allegedly belonged to the Rohingya community and were illegally living in India, were arrested by the Uttar Pradesh ATS from Aligarh district.

A statement issued by the ATS said the arrests were made after it was established that they were living in India on forged documents. The ATS team recovered United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees cards and Aadhaar cards from their possession.

It added that the two arrested persons have been identified as Mohammad Rafiq and Mohammad Aameen. They were arrested from Makdoomnagar area under the Kotwali police station of Aligarh.

According to an official, Rafiq and Aameen were arrested after they had received information from two other Rohingya men arrested from Ghaziabad last week.

JERUSALEM, 17June, 2021 (TON): On Thursday, the state-owned company Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) announced to manufacture and deliver 69 tactical mobile radar systems in 36 million euros to the German Land Forces.

IAI said, the systems IAI’s WatchGuard, fifth generation of motion-detection tactical ground surveillance radars.

It added, employing both staring and electronic-steering search techniques, the systems are expected to replace the aging legacy systems in the German army.

The systems feature a high update rate; enable high probability of target detection and tracking to support complex missions.

Adapting and optimizing the radar operation for any scenario can be achieved via the combination of staring and scanning.

Moreover, besides all-weather and day-night capability, these systems can undertake long-term reconnaissance and surveillance in large areas while occupying a small force footprint.

NEW DELHI, 18 June 2021, (TON): Jawaharlal Nehru University Student activist Natasha Narwal said they had received tremendous support inside Tihar Jail in Delhi and would continue their struggle.

Narwal, along with Devangana Kalita and Asif Iqbal Tanha, walked out of Tihar, hours after a court here ordered their immediate release in the northeast Delhi riots conspiracy case.

JNU students Narwal and Kalita thanked their friends and well-wishers, many of whom gathered outside the jail, for supporting them during their year-long stay behind bars.

Narwal told reporters "we have received tremendous support inside jail and we will continue our struggle.”

Welcoming the Delhi High Court order granting them bail, Narwal, an activist of women collective Pinjra Tod, said that when they were arrested, it took them many months to believe that they were in jail under such stringent charges.

Hitting out at the government, Kalita said “people are in jail for raising their voice.”

She said that they are trying to suppress the voice of people and dissent. We got a lot of support from people which helped us survive inside (jail).

KABUL, 18 June 2021, (TON): Since the beginning of NATO's official troop withdrawal from Afghanistan on May 1, Taliban has taken over at least 27 districts from Afghan forces, and the number is rapidly increasing.

The Taliban are intensifying attacks across Afghanistan to gain more territory ahead of NATO's troop withdrawal in September. The militant group now controls vast swaths of land.

Heavy fighting in many districts in recent weeks has inflicted heavy losses on both Taliban and government forces.

On Wednesday, more than 20 Afghan commandos were killed in the northern Faryab province as they tried to regain control of Dawlat Abad district, which Taliban had seized 10 days ago.

The group's attempts to take over district capitals have also resulted in civilian casualties. Many locals in these areas are fleeing for their lives to safe havens.

Shirin Agha Azizi, 32, told media "there was an explosion in front of my pharmacy. It destroyed everything. I had to leave the area due to heavy fighting. I am left with nothing now".

Many other residents of the district are suffering due to the ongoing fighting between the Taliban and Afghan forces.

ABUJA, 17 June, 2021 (TON): Nigeria’s Major General Farouk Yahaya visited main base in Maiduguri, Borno state Hadin Kai.

As new military head, General Farouk Yahaya will now in addition to the decade-long insurgency in Nigeria, also have to have to contend with the rampant kidnappings in the country's northwest.

President Muhammadu Buhari appointed Yahaya on 27 May.

However, this position is yet to be officially confirmed by the national assembly, the general takes over from Lieutenant General Ibrahim Attahiru.

SEOUL, 17 June, 2021 (TON): Noh Kyu-duk, South Korea's special representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs will talk bilaterally on 21 June with Sung Kim, new U.S. special representative for North Korean policy, said the Foreign Ministry on Thursday.

The talks will focus on the issues of the Korean Peninsula.  

The US envoy will embark on a five-day trip to Seoul which will last until 23 June for the first since he took office on 21 May.

Noh will hold bilateral talks in Seoul with Takehiro Funakoshi, the director-general for Asian and Oceanian affairs of the Japanese Foreign Ministry, as well as the trilateral talks with the U.S. and Japanese diplomats.

However, it would come after the US administration recently completed the review of its policy towards North Korea.

LISBON, 17 June, 2021 (TON): Ursula von der Leyen, President European Commission (EC) announced approval of Portuguese Recovery and Resilience Plan ((PRR) that intends to transform the economic situation in the country.

After meeting with the PM Antonio Costa on Wednesday, von der Leyen said, "Today I am very happy to announce that the EC has decided to give the 'green light' to the Portuguese recovery plan, after excellent cooperation with the Portuguese authorities."

According to the media, the Portuguese recovery plan was the first to be approved among the 27 member states of the European Union (EU), foreseeing projects worth 16 billion euros ($19 billion).

"The planned reforms and investments will make Portugal come out of this crisis stronger and more resilient," she said.

However, as per the requirements of the EC, the Portuguese plan clearly meets the demanding criteria, the President stressed.