BEIRUT, 15 June, 2021 (TON): On Monday, Lebanese President Michel Aoun stated considering the maritime border demarcation, Lebanon hopes to continue indirect U.S. mediated talks with Israel.

His remarks came when he met the head of the U.S. delegation John Desrocher in Beirut.

Desrocher called on to push fair and impartial talks, noting that the new Israeli government may hold the negotiations for some time.   

However, the negotiations between the two are over the disputed area of about 860 sq.km, whereas, the Lebanese have recently claimed additional area as its territory.

ADDIS ABABA, 14 June, 2021 (TON): The government wants a peaceful democratic election, said the Ethiopian PM Abiy Ahmed.

During the inauguration of the rebuilt of the Meskel Square, the PM called on for unity Meskel Square ahead of the country's approaching election.

PM said, "We are facing an election that will develop or destroy our country, build it or demolish it. We, Ethiopians, firmly know that the division that has been borne out of conflict is not a better option. I want to call again for an agreement and for the protection and prosperity of our country."

Ethiopia's elections are going ahead after two delays.

However, election authorities last year pushed back polls due to the pandemic, and due to the logistical concerns delayed the vote from 5 June.

BEIRUT, 14 June, 2021 (TON): On Sunday, the International Rescue Committee condemned the shelling on Syrian city Afrin.

The shelling put a hospital out of service and killed civilians and medical staff.

According to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor, the attack took the lives of at least 21 people.

“We utterly condemn this deadly attack on Al-Shifaa Hospital, one of the largest medical facilities in northern Syria,” said IRC’s Syria director Wolfgang Gressmann.

“This is the 11th attack on healthcare that has been recorded so far this year, and brings the total number of verified attacks on healthcare since January 2019 to 124.”
Of the 21 killed, 17 were civilians, including at least 4 hospital staff members, and 23 people were also wounded, said the Observatory.

However, the Afrin region, like all areas held by pro-Turkish rebels, regularly witnesses targeted killings, bombings and shootings.

Moreover, the conflict in Syria has killed nearly 500,000 people since it started in 2011 with the brutal repression of peaceful demonstrations.

PARIS, 14 June, 2021 (TON): On Sunday, the French Presidency stated that France’s chief of staff of the armed forces is retiring and General Thierry Bukhard will take his place.
Burkhard was up to now army’s chief of land staff.

However, Lecointre’s retirement was widely expected.

ATHENS, 14 June, 2021(TON): On Sunday, the Greek coast guard said that one of Greek’s patrol vessels got harassed by a Turkish patrol boat.

The coast guard claimed that the boat caused minor damage to the vessel.

The coast guard said in a statement, there were no injuries in the incident, which occurred east of the Aegean island of Lesbos.

The statement said, “A patrol vessel of the Turkish coast guard harassed a patrol boat of the Lesbos coast guard, causing minor damage.”

However, incidents like these are common in the Aegean Sea during patrols for boats carrying migrants from Turkey to Greece.

ALGIERS, 14 June, 2021 (TON): On Sunday, Algeria’s main moderate the Movement of Society for Peace (MSP) in the country’s claimed victory in the early legislative elections.

The party also issued a warning against any attempts to tamper with the election outcome whose first results are still pending publication.

The party insisted, "We call on the President of the Republic (Abdelmadjid Tebboune) to respect the popular will."

However, the Independent National Authority for Elections -- without explicitly naming the MSP, has refuted the party’s perceived "unfounded" statements and might not reveal provisional results for several days after postponing the initial announcement on Saturday due to a complicated vote count.

However, MSP’s win confirmed, it will not be a surprise as some analysts already predicted a relative majority for the party.

NAYPYITAW, 14 June, 2021 (TON): Amid efforts to cater crisis in Myanmar, protestors burnt ASEAN flag while protesting against the dictatorship.

In Yangon's Tamwe township, around 100 demonstrators marched briefly chanting, “let’s end military dictatorship” and “let’s root out the fascist army”.

The demonstrations are the consequence of the trial of ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi that will hear its first testimony in a junta court Monday, more than four months after February's military coup.

However, ASEAN has led diplomatic efforts to resolve the crisis in Myanmar, but observers have questioned how effective it can influence events in the country.

PARIS/CAIRO, 14 June, 2021 (TON): On Sunday, the French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire made agreements with Egypt to invest $4.6 Billion in its public transport and renewable energy sectors.

With the billions in financing, Egypt has become "a strategic economic partner of France... It is the top country in terms of loans from the Treasury," said the visiting French minister.

The first tranche will be for transport giant Alstom to supply 55 underground trains for Cairo Metro's Line 1, for a total of $969 million financed by a loan from the Treasury.

Nine other projects are included in the intergovernmental agreement.

They will be financed by the French Development Agency (AFD) to the tune of one billion euros between 2021 and 2025.

The Minister told the media that cooperation has been expanded to cover renewable energy, water purification and public transport as well funding for universities and social safety nets.

ISLAMABAD, 14 June, 2021 (TON): The Supreme Court of Pakistan leased out a Hindu dharamshala in Karachi to an individual, imprisoned the Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB) from demolishing it.

A three-judge bench issued the order in the case related to the implementation of a 2014 judgment on minorities rights.

The property located in Saddar Karachi, measuring about 716 sq. yards was a dharamshala, said, Ramesh Kumar, the co-opt member of the one-man commission on minorities.

Kumar also submitted photographs of the building and told the Supreme Court that the ETPB had leased the property to the individual for the demolition and allowed construction of a commercial plaza.

Supreme Court’s ordered, "The very photograph apparently shows that the building is of a dharamshala constructed in the year 1932, which can be read from the marble slab affixed on the building and must be protected heritage building."

The order added, "In the meantime, no demolition activity of the said building shall be conducted by anyone and possession of the building and the land shall be taken over by the Commissioner Karachi, who shall manage the same and not allow any person to enter upon it."

"In the meantime, no demolition activity of the said building shall be conducted by anyone and possession of the building and the land shall be taken over by the Commissioner Karachi, who shall manage the same and not allow any person to enter upon it," the order added.

However, the court issued a notice to the Sindh provincial secretary heritage, asking for a report on the building and barred authorities from demolishing it.

SEOUL, 14 June, 2021 (TON): On Monday, the government and the military sources said that a defense drill will be conducted by the South Korean’s military in and around its islets of Dokdo this week.

On Tuesday, the maritime exercise, called the East Sea Territory Protection Exercise will be staged.

The exercise, which has been held usually twice a year since 1986, would reportedly mobilize naval and coast guard vessels, fighter jets and maritime patrol aircraft.

Due to the pandemic, no landing drill will be carried out.

However, Tokyo has protested against the exercise as it laid territorial claims to the islets lying halfway between South Korea and Japan.