ISTANBUL, 08 December, 2020, (TON): Turkish prosecutors issued on Tuesday detention warrants for 304 military personnel over their alleged links to a network believed to be behind a coup attempt in 2016.

Large-scaled operations were launched by Police in 50 provinces to capture the suspects, including 295 soldiers on active duty, upon the order of the Chief Public Prosecutor's Office in Izmir, the state-run Anadolu agency reported.

It said so far, 198 of them have been detained in simultaneous operations.

All those targeted in operations have alleged connections with the network headed by the U.S.-based Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen, Anadolu added.

On July 15, 2016, a faction within the Turkish military moved to take control of the capital Ankara and Istanbul, leaving several hundred people dead and many more wounded. Mass arrests and purges within the government followed as government blamed Gülen for the coup attempt, in which 250 people were killed and demanded his extradition from the United States. The Gülen movement is designated as a terrorist organization by Turkey.

KABUL, 08 December, 2020, (Media Report): Deaths of Afghan civilians in air raids carried out by the US and its allies “increased dramatically” since 2017 when Washington loosened its criteria and escalated attacks on the Taliban, according to a report released on Monday.

The number of civilians killed annually in US and coalition air attacks soared by 330 percent to some 700 civilians in 2019, said Neta C Crawford, co-director of the Costs of War Project at Brown University.

More civilians died in 2019 than any other year since the beginning of war in 2001, according to the report.

The US pulled back on air raids after striking an agreement with the Taliban in February 2020. But the Afghan Armed Forces stepped up their own as they entered talks with the rebels.

While total deaths from air attacks has fallen, attacks are now coming from Kabul’s forces and have accelerated in recent months.

The Afghan Air Force (AAF), Crawford wrote, is now “harming more Afghan civilians than at any time in its history”.

She said that in the first six months of 2020, 86 Afghan civilians were killed and 103 injured in AAF air raids.

In the three subsequent months, as Afghan-Taliban talks continued in Doha, the toll intensified, with 70 civilians killed and 90 injured.

She urged a negotiated ceasefire while the two sides discuss a deal, to avoid more civilian injuries.

But with the US accelerating the withdrawal of its troops, some worry that the Taliban could take advantage to further pressure Kabul’s forces, sparking reprisals.

“Unless there is a ceasefire, both sides will continue trying to gain a tactical advantage while negotiations are under way. The toll on civilian lives is likely to increase,” Crawford wrote.

According to the UN, at least 32,000 civilians have been killed and another 60,000 wounded in the last decade, when the organisation began compiling the data.

ISLAMABAD, 08 December, 2020, (TON): Pakistani Foreign Secretary Sohail Mahmood has described the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) as a transformational project, adding that there was a complete national consensus on CPEC's indispensability for the country's development efforts.

In the meeting with CPEC Chairman Lt Gen (R) Asim Saleem Bajwa, Foreign Secretary Sohail Mahmood said Pakistan and China are firmly committed to the timely completion of CPEC projects and making it a high-quality demonstration project of the Belt and Road Initiative.

He added that in the post-COVID-19 scenario, through collective efforts of both the countries, China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) will become the hub for the regional trade and connectivity and will deepen people-to-people exchanges at a wider level.

Reviewing the progress of CPEC projects, Mahmood said that CPEC energy and infrastructure projects have created thousands of jobs and had boosted industrial growth and productivity.

"It testified to the fact that CPEC's contribution to strengthen Pakistan's economic landscape has been real and substantial," the official said.

The Foreign Secretary underlined that Pakistan's focus in the next phase of CPEC is on industrialization and socio-economic development, areas that will create vast job and growth opportunities for the common people, adding that the government particularly focuses on strengthening agricultural cooperation between Pakistan and China.

CPEC is an economic route stretching from western China through Pakistan to the Indian Ocean coast, which provides an important opportunity to expand trade, by reducing the costs of land transportation. CPEC is a game changer for the region and will be more effective in stimulating Pakistan-China trade if it is well connected to large markets and production centres in Pakistan.

NEW YORK, 08 December, 2020, (TON): The United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism (UNOCT), in partnership with the State of Qatar, launched the International Hub on Behavioural Insights to Counter Terrorism on Monday.

The hub, established in partnership with Qatar, will be a UNOCT program office to perform three core functions, which include conducting research in behavioral sciences to analyze the motives of extremism and terrorism, providing capacity-building assistance to member states, regional organizations and civil society partners, and promoting communication, partnerships

UNOCT Under-Secretary-General for Counter-Terrorism, Vladimir Voronkov, hailed the launch saying “today marks a major milestone in the strategic partnership between his office and Qatar.

"Thanks to the strong political and financial support of Qatar, UNOCT is able to provide significant assistance to member states and other actors that are tackling the scourge of terrorism," he told a virtual event for the launch.

Earlier in September, UNOCT signed an agreement with Qatar on the latter's financial contribution of 5 million U.S. dollars to be used over a period of three years for the establishment of the hub and the implementation of its work.

NEW DELHI, 08 December, 2020, (TON): Farmer unions in India have called for a general strike over new agricultural laws that are aimed at liberalizing the industry. The nationwide shutdown comes a day before talks with the government.

Indian farmers called for a one-day nationwide strike on Tuesday after days of blockading New Delhi in a bid to force the government to repeal its new market-friendly farm laws.

Tuesday's strike, called Bharat Bandh, will see tens of thousands of farmers blocking key roads and rail lines across the country for several hours, affecting transport services and offices.

Farmer’s union leader Rakesh Tikait told reporters that "Our protest is peaceful, and we'll continue that way. Bharat Bandh is a symbolic protest to register our opposition. It is to show that we don't support some of the policies of the government.”

The strike comes after failed five rounds of talks between farmers' unions and the Indian government. The sixth round of talks is scheduled for Wednesday.

Farmers have received support from railway workers, truck drivers and other unions, who will be joining them in the strike.

The farmers have emphasized that the strike will be a peaceful protest, and they will ensure that emergency services such as ambulances and fire brigades aren't affected.

Tens of thousands of farmers have camped near the border of New Delhi since November 27 to protest the new laws, blocking most of the entry points to the national capital.

The farmers have said they will not return home until the laws are repealed.

The Indian government issued an advisory to all states and union territories to boost security. Thousands of extra police personnel have been deployed in Delhi and neighboring states where farmers have been protesting for nearly two weeks.

More than 15 opposition parties and many non-BJP-ruled state governments have backed the strikes. The farmers have also received support internationally.

WASHINGTON, 08 December, 2020, (TON): The US has included Nigeria on a blacklist of nations for religious freedom violations for the first time.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the West African nation, an ally of the US, was among "countries of concern under the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998."

"The US is unwavering in its commitment to religious freedom. No country or entity should be allowed to persecute people with impunity because of their beliefs," Pompeo said in a tweet. "These annual designations show that when religious freedom is attacked, we will act."

The US State Department found that eight out of 10 people around the world face restrictions on religious freedom.

"Religious freedom is our 'first freedom,'" Pompeo said on Monday at a dinner gala in Washington. "When we, each of us, can worship freely and openly discuss the eternal questions of the soul, we can understand how we ought to live our lives – both individually and as a society," he said.

Notably absent from the list was India, where the religious freedom has seen a sharp decline since Prime Minister Narendra Modi swept to power in 2014.

Religious freedom in India under the Hindu nationalist government of PM Modi has taken "a drastic turn downward," according to the U.S. government commission that monitors conditions around the world.

Earlier, the commission called on the Trump administration to impose sanctions on "Indian government agencies and officials responsible for severe violations of religious freedom," given its treatment of religious minorities, including Christians as well as Muslims but Trump administration keep on ignoring violations in India.

Washington has continuously ignored the issue of declining religious freedom in India during the tenure of Trump.

WELLINGTON, 08 December, 2020, (TON): New Zealand has released an almost 800-page report into the March 2019 Christchurch attack, killing of 51 Muslim worshippers at two mosques and concluded that authorities could not have been alerted of an imminent attack.

“No single aspect of it could have alerted public sector agencies to an impending terrorist attack,” the Royal Commission report said on Tuesday.

The report, however, took issue with Christchurch authorities for deploying “an inappropriate concentration of resources” in probing religious violence in the country, distracting them from other possible threats such as that of white supremacists, the commission also concluded.

The Royal Commission of Inquiry was formed to look into the response of the authorities and to determine whether the attack could have been prevented.

“The commission made no findings that these issues would have stopped the attack. But these were both failings and for that I apologise,” Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said after the report was released.

“Ultimately, this roughly 800-page report can be distilled into one simple premise: Muslim New Zealanders should be safe. Anyone who cause New Zealand harm regardless of race, religion, sexual orientation, gender, should be safe,” PM Ardern added.

“New Zealanders deserve a system that does its best to keep you safe, and that’s what we are committed to building” she said.

Brenton Tarrant carried out the attack in 2019 and live-streamed the killing on social media.

Tarrant was sentenced to life in prison without parole in August for the attack, which left dozens injured. He had expressed white supremacist and anti-Muslim views before the killings.

New Zealand’s prime minister receives worldwide praise for her response to the mosque shootings and for swiftly banning the sale of the high-capacity semi-automatic weapons Tarrant used. She also launched a global movement against online extremism.

However, authorities were criticised for ignoring repeated warnings from the Muslim community that hate crimes against them were escalating.

LONDON, 08 December, 2020, (TON): British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Monday that the conditions for finalizing a trade agreement "are not there due to the remaining significant differences" between the UK and the EU.

The leaders issued a joint statement after a phone call, the second in 48 hours, which ended with no major breakthrough.

The two leaders said statement issued on Monday that "As agreed on Saturday, we took stock today of the ongoing negotiations."

"We agreed that the conditions for finalizing an agreement are not there due to the remaining significant differences on three critical issues: level playing field, governance and fisheries," the statement said.

"We asked our Chief Negotiators and their teams to prepare an overview of the remaining differences to be discussed in a physical meeting in Brussels in the coming days," it added.

According to a BBC, Johnson is expected to travel to Brussels for the next crucial phase of the trade talks.

A previous phone call between the two leaders took place on Saturday as both sides' chief negotiators paused negotiations over major differences on the core issues.

Also on Monday, a spokesman for the prime minister said Britain is prepared to negotiate a trade deal for as long as it takes, but rejected any extension of a Brexit transition period or further talks past this year.

The trade negotiations are at a crucial stage as time is running out for both sides to secure a deal before the Brexit transition period expires on 31 December, 2020. The UK left the European Union on 31 January but leaders needed time to negotiate a deal for life afterwards - they got 11 months.

Failure to reach a free trade agreement means bilateral trade will fall back on World Trade Organization (WTO) rules in 2021.

RIYADH, 7 December 2020, (TON): Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has organized a fundraising campaign to support the Gambia case filed to readdress and prevent Rohingya genocide. The lawsuit filed in the International Court of Justice, and the fund rose amounted to USD 1.2 million.

OIC consist of 57 Muslim countries. According to the General Secretariat of OIC, Bangladesh was disclosed as the largest contributor to the fund to support Gambia's lawsuit against Rohingya. Bangladesh officially notified at the OIC's foreign ministers conference (CFM) that it has donated USD 500,000 to the OIC fund to finance the Gambian case in ICJ. At the same time, Saudi Arabia deposited USD 300,000, Turkey, Nigeria, and Malaysia each donated USD 100,000. A special fund founded by OIC, Islamic Solidarity Fund, contributed USD 100,000.

The Gambia immediately needed five million US dollars to pay the lawyers of the Foley Hoag Legal Firm of Washington DC. Gambian legal experts headed by Gambia's Justice Minister Dawba A Jallow are also assisting the international lawyers. The Gambia was under severe pressure to pay the Washington-based law firm to prosecute the ICJ case.

According to the calculation of Jallow, the total cost to run the Rohingya genocide case and getting into an international solution can be over ten million US dollars.

The CFM was held last week in Niger, where the Gambia successfully highlighted the payment issue’s concern. Both Bangladesh and the Gambia made a strong appeal to convince the member states to open a specialized fund to run the ICJ Rohingya Genocide case. Bangladesh Foreign Ministry planned to take additional initiatives to raise fund for the Gambia to run the legal battle against the Rohingya cleansing operations and their displacement. Foreign Minister of Bangladesh,  Dr. AK Abdul Momen, to introduce numerous global multilateral platforms to create ‘Friends of Gambia group' in order to make the responsible persons accountable in the suit.

In November 2019, Gambia opened a case at the ICJ to prevent ethnic cleansing of Myanmar. In October 2020 Gambia submitted a file of over 500 pages Memorial, which also encompasses more than 5000 pages of material. The attached material is the evidence and explanation of how the Government of Myanmar is responsible for genocide against Rohingya.

DHAKA, 7 December2020, (TON): Bangladesh has signed the first preferential trade agreement (PTA) with its neighboring country Bhutan on 6 December 2020. This new journey for both countries will strengthen their bilateral relations. On this date in 1971, Bhutan was the first to recognize Bangladesh as an independent and sovereign state, and both countries have made this day historic and memorable by signing the PTA.

Bangladeshi Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi and Bhutanese Economic Affairs Minister Lyonpo Loknath Sharma signed the deal on the side of their government respectively. Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her Bhutanese fellow Lotay Tshering virtually joined this singing ceremony from their official residences in Dhaka and Thimphu individually.

Besides, both of them have jointly unveiled a logo and cut cakes for the celebration of the signing of the PTA and the 50 years of diplomatic relations. Under the agreement, Bangladesh will get tax free access to Bhutan on 100 Bangladeshi products and Bhutan will get tax free benefit on 34 products in Bangladesh. There is the possibility to be added items gradually in this regard. In the course of the signing ceremony, both countries' primer delivered their perspectives on the deal and emotional attachment between the two countries.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina mentioned the Bangladeshi people will get more fresh apples and oranges and the Bhutanese will get a wide variety of apparel from Bangladesh through this duty-free PTA. She also said the Bangladeshi construction project will be benefited more from boulder stones from Bhutan and Bhutan will get benefit from Bangladeshi pharmaceuticals for their health sector.

The primer of Bangladesh recalled Bhutan's support to Bangladeshi in the Liberation War of 1971 and said Bangladeshi people remain a special position for Bhutan which will lie everlasting in the history of Bangladesh.

She also added both countries are in the line of sharing ancient linkages, common cultural values, traditions, and geopolitical realities and have the ongoing engagement of the cooperative areas including trade, tourism, hydropower, climate change impacts, health, bio-diversity, agro-processing agriculture, ICT, education, water resource management, etc.

Mentioning the brotherly relationship with Bhutan, Sheikh Hasina said Bhutan can use the land route and waterway of Bangladesh. It can use any of our seaports including Chattogram, Mongla, and Payra, and can use the Saidpur Airport also.

The Bhutanese PM Tshering felicitated Bangladeshi primer for her successful economic growth during the pandemic and the materialization of her father's vision and legacy in independent Bangladesh. He also expressed his feelings that is happy to be a part of the upcoming historic occasion in which Bangladesh is celebrating the birth of the centenary of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and 50 years of Bangladesh's independence to be celebrated next year. Tshering mentioned Bangladesh is his second home as he spent his 10-year student life in Bangladesh.

According to the commerce minister of Bangladesh, Bangladesh will sign such type of agreement with 11 countries including Nepal, Japan, and Indonesia by June next year. A Preferential Trade Agreement is under the WTO (World Trade Organization) principle. It is the medium to give preferential access to certain products by reducing tariffs. Under this Agreement the countries are benefited from the expansion of trade.