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Arab News Asia News

Seventy-Three Years Of Deadly Illusions

Smoke billows following an Israeli airstrike on Jala Tower, which housed offices of Al-Jazeera TV and Associated Press as well as residential apartments, in Gaza City. (Photo by Rizek AbdeljawadXinhuaIAN

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict will never be settled through violence. Both sides must wake up and decide whether to chart a new path leading to a mutually gratifying peace or continue a self-consuming conflict that leaves nothing but equally shattered people living in constant horror and fear, writes Dr Alon Ben-Meir

The ongoing, bloody Israeli-Palestinian conflagration offers yet another bitter reminder that there is no escape from a tragic reality that both have created and shaped. This is a reality bursting with hatred, vindictiveness, and venom, as both sides failed to reconcile seventy-three years of enmity despite the inevitability of coexistence. They must choose between peace, security, and progress, or cling to their illusion that they can rid themselves of the other, only to find out the weight of the price and the untold suffering and pain they will endure. It is time to finally face the truth, as the current gory hostilities will offer just another prelude for more to come. Thousands upon thousands of Israelis and Palestinians will die meaningless deaths for no reason but their leaders’ moral decadence and illusions.

An immediate ceasefire must now be brokered, not only for the sake of sparing more destruction and death, but for creating an atmosphere for the resumption of peace talks, to which both sides must commit—and commit now—to seek a peace agreement based on a two-state solution. Otherwise, the current conflagration will only broaden the vicious cycle of wanton violence, further contaminating the festering wounds from which generations have suffered. Both sides failed to right their wrongs, clinging to falsehoods and an alternate reality while their people ending up paying the price.

Israeli leaders on the right have successfully portrayed the Palestinians as irredeemable foes to be suspected, castigated, and contained, as they presumably pose an existential danger. They brainwash the Israeli Jews to believe that only right-of-center policies offer everlasting security, prosperity, and growth and would quell any Palestinian resistance or threats of terror. Instead of seeking an end to the current hostilities and restoring calm, nearly every single leader of the plethora of political parties advocated more forceful counter-attacks to inflict as much damage and loss of human life among the Palestinians. They want to demonstrate their bravado, lest they be accused of being soft on terror, if not traitors, but they are cowards for caving in rather than mustering the courage and daring to speak the truth.

For the past decade, not a single Israeli party, especially Netanyahu and his Likud, has brought the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to the fore in earnest, pretending as if there is no Palestinian problem. The occupation became a normal state of being, and Israelis resigned themselves to a state of no war and no peace as the best suitable solution to prevent the Palestinians from establishing a state of their own.

Suppressing the Palestinians and making their lives miserable was the unspoken motto behind a malicious campaign to force as many Palestinians to leave in order to quench their voracious lust to seize Palestinian land. Forced evictions, night raids, unlawful incarceration, uprooting trees, and house demolitions became routine–commonplace–while they exploited Palestinian resistance to justify their bigoted policy, oblivious that they must coexist with the very people they loathe, despise, reject, and denounce.

Palestinian leaders, moderate or extremist, do not fare any better. They betrayed their people, misleading them to believe that the day of liberation was near. They promised the right of return, knowing it will never be realized, using the refugees as hostages to serve their interest and hunger for power. Plagued with division, fierce rivalry and corruption became the hallmark of the Palestinian leadership. Instead of building a nation in which they can take pride, they squander every opportunity to make peace and end their peoples’ ever-debilitating plight.

They poison their public with cruel falsities, linking their salvation to Israel’s destruction. Seventy-three years later, the refugees continue to languish in despicable camps while Israel became a global power. To this day, Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and their like continue to preach the gospel of Israel’s imminent destruction, when their own ruin is hanging on Israel’s whims.

ALSO READ: India’s concern in Israel-Gaza conflict

I challenge every Palestinian to show me under what circumstance will the right of return come to fruition, when resettlement and/or compensation offers the only solution? I challenge every Israeli to show me how Israel can force the Palestinians to abandon their right to make East Jerusalem the capital of their future state. I challenge every Palestinian to show me how they can force Israel to relinquish most of the settlements in the West Bank. I challenge every Israeli to show me how they can maintain the occupation indefinitely without unending violence and disastrous uprisings.

I challenge every Israeli and Palestinian to show me, is there a way out of coexistence? The interdispersement of Israeli and Palestinian populations in the West Bank, Jerusalem, and Israel proper is not a choice, but an unshakable fact. They must either cooperate and collaborate, and live-in harmony, security, and peace, or continue to kill each other, leaving no winners but losers. Hopelessness, despair, and the next bloody conflagration will await them around the corner.

It’s time for the United States to warn both sides that this endemic conflict must come to an end. President Biden must seize the unfolding tragedy and seek a breakthrough where his predecessors have failed. It must begin with a reconciliation process for a determined period of time with the objective of reaching a lasting peace. The Saudis must be enlisted to entice Israel with normalization, and encourage it to end the occupation. At the same time, the Saudis must persuade the Palestinians that their aspiration for a state depends on their forsaking the use of force.

The solution is there for all to see, provided that both sides negotiate in good faith. US and Saudi mediation will be essential until both sides reach an equitable solution. It is a call that Biden must make, forcing the Israelis and Palestinians to wake up to the only reality and not deprive another generation of living in peace that has tragically eluded three generations before.

(Dr. Alon Ben-Meir is a professor of international relations at the Center for Global Affairs at NYU. He teaches courses on international negotiation and Middle Eastern studies.)

ALSO READ: France, Egypt, Jordan move UNSC for Israel-Gaza ceasefire

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Asia News China Economy

China’s biggest ‘bad bank’ lands in huge debt

Beijing has spent decades bailing out Chinese companies that got in over their heads, Huarong is now testing the limits of that resolve, reports Asian Lite News

Once a sprawling Chinese financial conglomerate that had the trust of foreign investors — Huarong — is now under more than USD 40 million debt to domestic and overseas investors and is even showing signs of stumbling.

Though the Chinese government has stayed quiet about a rescue of the company, it is in the early stages of planning a reorganisation that will require foreign and Chinese bondholders to accept significant losses on their investments, The New York Times reported citing two people familiar with the plans.

Huarong was given the title of ‘bad bank’ as it took some of the ugliest loans off the state-owned banks who needed to get rid of debt to appear more attractive. It became the biggest ‘bad bank’, expanding its empire by financing companies in energy, insurance, property and beyond.

Beijing has spent decades bailing out Chinese companies that got in over their heads, Huarong is now testing the limits of that resolve. Being a central part of China’s financial system, its vulnerable status has left authorities with a difficult choice – either let it default, or bail it out and undermine efforts to tame the ballooning debt threatening the wider economy.

Zhangkai Huang, an associate professor at Tsinghua University in Beijing said that the false sense of security created by government bailouts in China has led to an environment akin to the one in the United States before the 2008 financial crisis, where investors had made huge bets under the assumption that they were safe.

China Huarong Asset Management Co., Ltd.(WIKIPEDIA)

If the government goes ahead with its plan to clean up Huarong, many say that it will be the most dramatic statement yet that in its pursuit of reform as China is willing to sacrifice the investors who lend its companies money, reported The New York Times.

People familiar with the government’s plans have said that the goal is to dissuade people from investing in risky Chinese companies on the assumption that the government will bail them out.

ALSO READ: US, China engaging in N-arms race

Huarong’s appetite for risk was displayed under the leadership of Lai Xiaomin, who was stripped of his Communist Party membership in 2018 and executed in January for corruption and abuse of power. This was a highly unusual punishment that experts maintain was meant to send a message, reported The New York Times.

Lai had confessed to accepting USD 277 million in bribes, telling state television that he had kept USD 30 million cash in safes around his apartment in Beijing, which he referred to as his “supermarket.”

This year alone, Huarong owes $3.4 billion to foreign investors. In Hong Kong, its stock was suspended.

“Huarong has already become too big to fail. It is no longer a fix to the problem, but the problem itself,” said Larry Hu, head of the China economics desk at Macquarie Group.

The government’s latest plan is likely to roil China’s corporate market. A Huarong default could lead some international bondholders to sell their bonds in Chinese state-owned enterprises, and make it more difficult for Chinese companies to borrow from foreign investors, a critical source of funding, reported The New York Times.

The Chinese government is likely to inject some money into whatever reorganised company eventually emerges from Huarong’s difficulties, but it is not prepared to inject enough money to pay off all of the bonds, the two people familiar with the government’s plans said.

Bitcoin tumbles

The price of bitcoin tumbled below $40,000 for the first time in months and other cryptocurrencies were pressured on Wednesday, after the People’s Bank of China apparently warned against using digital coins as payment, MarketWatch reported.

Bitcoin was last down 12 per cent to $38,180, setting a fresh low for the past 24 hours of $36,219 in a month that has left the No 1 cryptocurrency 31 per cent lower. Bitcoin hasn’t traded below the $40,000 level since early February and is roughly 40 per cent below a mid-April record high of $64,829, the report said.

Ether dropped 17 per cent to $2,848, a level not touched since early May, just before the cryptocurrency soared to a record high above $4,000. Ripple dropped around 11 per cent to $1.41.

“Late yesterday in Asia, the PBOC issued a warning about a rebound in speculation in virtual currencies. China announced that financial and payment institutions are banned from pricing or conducting business in virtual currencies. The story did not get much traction overnight but seems to be picking up steam this morning,” said Jeffrey Halley, senior market analyst at Oanda, in a note to clients, as per the report.

The People’s Bank of China also reportedly said virtual currencies can’t be used as a form of payment because they aren’t real currencies. Financial institutions in China cannot facilitate bitcoin transactions, and exchange and platforms were banned in 2017 amid a crackdown. Many miners, once a huge presence in China, were forced abroad. That is as China has been making moves to create its own digital yuan. (ANI/IANS)

ALSO READ: How China exploits social media to amplify its propaganda?

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-Top News Arab News Asia News

Netanyahu stands firm on continuing war

Israeli-Prime-Minister-Benjamin-Netanyahu-gives-a-statement-during-a-televised-press-conference-at-the-Knesset-Yonatan-SindelJINI-via-Xinhua

“I am determined to continue this operation until its objective is achieved: to restore quiet and security to you, citizens of Israel.” said Netanyahu…reports Asian Lite News

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the country was determined to continue its fight against the Palestinian Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip after US President Joe Biden called for “a significant de-escalation”.

The White House said in a statement that Biden told Netanyahu on Wednesday “that he expected a significant de-escalation today on the path to a ceasefire” in the deadly violence, reports Xinhua news agency.

Netanyahu later in the day issued a video statement on Twitter, saying: “I am determined to continue this operation until its objective is achieved: to restore quiet and security to you, citizens of Israel.”

The two leaders have held three previous talks over the phone since Israel launched its “Guardian of the Walls” offensive in Gaza on May 10.

Palestinian Territories, Gaza City: Rockets are fired by the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas from Gaza City towards Israel, amid the escalating flare-up of Israeli-Palestinian violence. Photo: Mohammed Talatene/dpa/IANS

According to the latest data by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), 219 Palestinians, including 63 children, were killed in Gaza.

In the West Bank, 25 Palestinian deaths were tallied, including four children.

Israeli sources reported 12 people killed, including two children and a soldier.

Thousands of people are injured, mainly in the West Bank and in Gaza

Militant groups fired barrages of rockets from the Gaza Strip at Israel, while Israeli fighter jets kept carrying out intensive airstrikes on buildings and infrastructure in the besieged enclave.

ALSO READ: France, Egypt, Jordan move UNSC for Israel-Gaza ceasefire

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-Top News Arab News Asia News

France, Egypt, Jordan move UNSC for Israel-Gaza ceasefire

France, which has been calling for a rapid ceasefire for several days, said it supports mediation led by Egypt, reports Asian Lite News

France has proposed a resolution with the UN Security Council, in coordination with Egypt and Jordan, calling for a ceasefire in the Israel-Gaza conflict, the president’s office said late Tuesday.

French President Emmanuel Macron and his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who is in Paris for summits on Africa, agreed on the resolution in a video conference with Jordan’s King Abdullah II, the statement said.

“The three countries agreed on three simple elements: The shooting must stop, the time has come for a ceasefire and the UN Security Council must take up the issue,” the Elysee Palace said.

France, which has been calling for a rapid ceasefire for several days, said it supports mediation led by Egypt.

Thick-smoke-rises-above-buildings-in-Gaza-City-following-several-Israeli-airstrikes-amid-the-escalating-flare-up-of-Israeli-Palestinian-violence.-Photo-Mohammed-TalatenedpaIANS

Macron had on Monday underlined the importance of Egyptian mediation after talks in Paris with Sisi, a key ally and defence client of France despite activists’ concerns over Cairo’s rights record.

The UN Security Council has failed to adopt a simple declaration on the conflict, with the United States, a staunch Israel ally, having rejected three prior statement drafts proposed by China, Norway and Tunisia which called for an end to the fighting.

China’s UN ambassador Zhang Jun said that during a closed-door meeting, members “heard the proposal made by our French colleague in the Council and for China, definitely, we are supportive to all effort facilitating the ending of the crisis and the coming back of peace in the Middle East.”

Israel says it has no timeframe

Meanwhile, Israel said it was not setting a timeframe for an end to hostilities with Gaza as its military pounded the Palestinian enclave with air strikes and Hamas unleashed new cross-border rocket attacks.

Palestinian medical officials said 219 people had now been killed in 10 days of aerial bombardments which have destroyed roads, buildings and other infrastructure, and worsened the already dire humanitarian situation in Gaza.

Israeli authorities put the death toll at 12 in Israel, where repeated rocket attacks have caused panic and sent people rushing into shelters. Regional and U.S.-led diplomatic efforts to secure a ceasefire have intensified but so far failed.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made no mention of any halt to the fighting in public remarks at a briefing to foreign ambassadors to Israel, saying his country was engaged in “forceful deterrence” to prevent future conflict with Hamas.

In remarks reported by Israeli media from a closed question-and-answer session, he was quoted as saying: “We’re not standing with a stopwatch. We want to achieve the goals of the operation. Previous operations lasted a long time so it is not possible to set a timeframe.”

In a 25-minute attack overnight, Israel bombarded targets including what its military said were tunnels in the southern Gaza Strip used by Hamas, the Islamist group that governs Gaza.

Some 50 rockets were fired from the enclave, the Israeli military said, with sirens sounding in the coastal city of Ashdod, south of Tel Aviv, and in areas closer to the Gaza border. There were no reports of injuries or damage overnight but days of rocket fire have unsettled many Israelis.

ALSO READ: Israel-Gaza conflict could further spiral into ‘full-scale war’
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-Top News Asia News India News

India’s concern in Israel-Gaza conflict

India’s May 16 statement on the current conflict at the UN Security Council was exceptionally nuanced and well- crafted to evade all the diplomatic minefields that can come in the way of its dual engagement of Israel and the Arabs, reports Atul Aneja

A web of high stakes in its ties with both Israel and the Arab world, especially the oil rich Gulf countries, is pushing India to join the global effort for an early ceasefire in the ongoing conflict between the Israelis and Palestinians in Gaza.

India’s ties with Israel are deep, multi-layered and strategic. New Delhi relies on Israel not only for critical military hardware, but also for high quality intelligence. The two share common concerns about international terrorism, which were reinforced during the Mumbai 26/11 terror strikes. The duo also has an excellent people-to-people relationship, evident from the arrival in droves of Israeli backpackers, especially those who want to chill-out in a safe haven, following their arduous compulsory military service back home. Because of these multiple factors which have spawned an exceptional relationship, India cannot afford to antagonise Israel in the international fora on the Israel-Palestine issue.

Yet, India has a historic relationship with the Arabs as well. India has traditionally supported the Palestinian cause – a position that has echoed warmly in the Arab street and generated enormous goodwill for the Indian people, and industry, in the region. But real, pragmatic reasons have also emerged in recent years which have reinforced India’s bonds with the Arabs.

More specifically, India has to be careful to respect the sensitivities of its friends in the Gulf countries. India depends critically on the Gulf countries for its energy security. Second, the Gulf monarchies employ millions of Indian guest workers, who remit billions of dollars to India’s coffers. The people-to-people warmth between the two could not be better, after the Gulf nations became formidable providers of liquid medical oxygen when Indians needed it most during the Covid-19 second wave.

India, therefore cannot go overboard in its support of Israel during a conflict, in deference to the mainstream sentiment in the Gulf street. Finally, India is mindful that its position towards the Arab world in the past, has echoed domestically, including in Kashmir, which it cannot afford to ignore.

Unsurprisingly, India’s May 16 statement on the current conflict at the UN Security Council was exceptionally nuanced and well- crafted to evade all the diplomatic minefields that can come in the way of its dual engagement of Israel and the Arabs.

ALSO READ: Gaza violence escalates as Israel intensifies crackdown

In its statement, India rejected Hamas rocket firings into Israel, which has killed an Indian caregiver, Soumya Santhosh. It described the use of formidable force by Israel as “retaliatory strikes” to the Hamas’ “indiscriminatory” rocket attacks, pushing the Israeli action into the grey-zone of self-defence. India’s position is in tune with its rejection of cross-border rocket attacks, in view of Pakistan’s bid to push terrorists across of the Line of Control (LoC).

But simultaneously, India has stuck to the standard UN-backed “two-state” formulation, as the basis for ending the Israel-Palestine conflict. “Immediate de-escalation is the need of the hour, so as to arrest any further slide towards the brink. We urge both sides to show extreme restraint, desist from actions that exacerbate tensions, and refrain from attempts to unilaterally change the existing status quo, including in East Jerusalem and its neighbourhood,” the Indian statement said.

Given the tug-of-war on its position on the conflict, it is in India’s interest that the warring between Israel and the Palestinians in Gaza ends quickly. In seeking peace, India would be inevitably joined by its partners in the Gulf countries, who would sincerely want the violence to end, to preserve their recent position of recognising the state of Israel.

52K displaced

A UN report said on Tuesday that 52,000 Palestinians took refuge at schools run by the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) in the Gaza Strip, as a round of probably heaviest fighting between Israel and Gaza since 2014 has lasted nine days, the Palestinian news agency WAFA reported.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in a press statement that Israeli fighter jets destroyed, either totally or partially, 448 constructions in the Palestinian coastal enclave since May 10, Xinhua reported.

Jens Laerke, a spokesman for OCHA, said in the statement that 132 buildings were completely destroyed and 316 partially destroyed, including six hospitals and nine healthcare centres.

Meanwhile, the government press office in Gaza said Israeli fighter jets carried out at least 1,615 airstrikes on the Gaza Strip in the last nine days, targeting homes, buildings, government establishments and infrastructure.

An Israeli military statement said 60 fighter jets were sent to bomb underground tunnels belonging to Hamas in Gaza while more than 100 missiles were fired in 35 minutes early on Tuesday morning.

Meanwhile, militant groups led by Hamas fired over 100 rockets from Gaza at Israeli towns and cities, but 70 of them were intercepted, the statement added.

According to a statement by the health ministry in Gaza, a total of 213 Palestinians, including 61 children and 36 women, were killed and 1,442 others injured in the recent Israeli air attacks on the besieged Palestinian enclave.

Calls for immediate cessation

Josep Borrell, the European Union’s (EU) foreign policy chief, called on Tuesday for the “immediate cessation of all violence and implementation of a ceasefire” between Israel and Palestine.

At a press briefing after the EU foreign ministers’ video conference on the Middle East situation on Tuesday afternoon, Borrell cited a statement backed by 26 member states but blocked by Hungary’s veto as Budapest supports Israel, Xinhua reported.

The EU has thus been prevented from taking a common position on the escalating Middle East conflict.

“The purpose (of the call for a ceasefire) is to protect civilians and to give full humanitarian access in Gaza,” Borrell said. He added that the violence in the past few days has led to a high number of civilian casualties, including children and women.

“We condemn the rocket attacks by Hamas and other terrorist groups on the Israeli territory, and we fully support Israel’s right to defense, but we have also considered and stated that this has to be done in a proportionate manner and respecting international humanitarian law,” Borrell said.

He said that the security of Israel and Palestine requires a true political solution because only that could bring peace.

He called for reopening the political process, exploring reengagement between the conflicting parties, developing confidence-building measures and improving the living standard of the people in order to open a path towards a potential launching of the peace process, which has been in a stalemate for too long.

ALSO READ: Israel-Gaza conflict could further spiral into ‘full-scale war’
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-Top News Asia News Bangladesh

Hasina vows to build a ‘Golden Bangladesh’

Hasina, undoubtedly, has focused on the right things – taming terror and extremist outfits on one hand and on the other focusing on economic growth, reports Mahua Venkatesh

May 17 marked 40 years of Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s homecoming after being in exile for about five years. After her father Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, also known as the Father of the Nation in Bangladesh, was brutally murdered along with his wife and sons on August 15, 1971, Hasina was provided diplomatic asylum in India.

Hasina along with her sister Sheikh Rehana, escaped since they were away from the country.

She returned to Bangladesh via Kolkata only in 1981 by an Indian Airlines aircraft. On Monday, an emotional Hasina thanked members of her party– Awami League, who elected her as president in February 1981 despite her absence.

Hasina, who has steered her country into becoming a developing nation, promised to build a “Golden Bangladesh.”

“We’ve got established ourselves as a developing country. We’ve reached here overcoming so many hurdles both from home and abroad,” she said while addressing her cabinet virtually.

“Bangladesh is now independent, and it’ll remain independent. We’ll build it as Golden Bangladesh of the Father of the Nation,” Dhaka Tribune quoted her as saying.

During her stay in Delhi, Hasina was under the watch of former President Pranab Mukherjee.

In fact, Hasina shared a close bond with Mukherjee and his family until his death last year. “The relationship between the two leaders was beyond any political framework. They exchanged notes as any other members of the family would do. For example, Hasina would regularly send Hilsa to Mukherjee and other leaders in India. This cannot be described as any political gesture. It has always been much more than that,” a close aide of Mukherjee told India Narrative.

Modi meets Hasina(ians)
India, Bangladesh ties

“India and Bangladesh do share a special bond which has been emphasised by the Prime Ministers of both countries. It is practically not possible for India to flourish and develop if Bangladesh or for that matter other neighbouring countries are lagging behind. There has to be a holistic development of the region and all countries must be able to reap benefits,” Shakti Sinha, former bureaucrat and director at Atal Bihari Vajpayee Institute of Policy Research and International said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who visited Dhaka in March to participated in the celebrations commemorating 50 years of independence of the South Asian nation described Bangladesh as a “soho jatri” or a co-traveller in the development of the region.

India and Bangladesh share a 4,096-km long border– the fifth-longest land border in the world. Several states including West Bengal, Assam Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram have international borders with Bangladesh.

Hasina’s focus on the right things

Hasina, undoubtedly, has focused on the right things – taming terror and extremist outfits on one hand and on the other focusing on economic growth.

“Propelled by a robust manufacturing sector and an enormous boom in infrastructure, Bangladesh has set a target of becoming a developed nation by 2041 to coincide with the platinum jubilee of its independence. Many commentators have called the goal ambitious, but even the government’s staunchest critics would think twice before questioning its plausibility. There has been a sea change in attitude from 2006 when our surpassing of Pakistan’s growth rate was dismissed as a fluke,” Salman Fazlur Rahman, Private industry and investment adviser, Prime Minister of Bangladesh’s office in an article published in 2019 by the India Economic Summit and later World Economic Forum said.

Pakistan based Dawn noted that Bangladesh invested in human development and economic growth. “Goal posts are set at increasing exports, reducing unemployment, improving health, reducing dependence upon loans and aid, and further extending micro credit,” it said while for Pakistan, human development comes a distant second.

“The bulk of national energies remain focused upon check-mating India. Relations with Afghanistan and Iran are therefore troubled; Pakistan accuses both of being excessively close to India. But the most expensive consequence of the security state mindset was the nurturing of extra state actors in the 1990s,” the Dawn article said.

(This content is being carried under an arrangement with indianarrative.com)

ALSO READ: Bangladesh industrialist booked for abetting suicide

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-Top News Afghanistan USA

US drawdown from Afghanistan 20% complete: CENTCOM

Taliban terrorists have intensified activities since the formal start of the US-led forces pull out from Afghanistan, which will be completed by September 11…Reports Asian Lite News

The United States’ military withdrawal from Afghanistan is up to 20 percent complete, US Central Command (CENTCOM) said on Monday.

“US Central Command estimates that we have completed between 13-20 per cent of the entire retrograde process. We expect to be able to provide weekly updates on the progress of the retrograde,” the combatant command responsible for the Middle East and parts of Central Asia said in a statement.

The US military has removed the equivalent of 115 C-17 military transport planes of material out of the war-torn country and has designated over 5,000 pieces of equipment for demolition, CENTCOM added.

The US has also handed over control of five military facilities to Afghan counterparts, the statement said.

Taliban terrorists have intensified activities since the formal start of the US-led forces pull out from Afghanistan, which will be completed by September 11.

The US entered Afghanistan ostensibly to destroy the al-Qaeda terror group under its “war on terror” military campaign. However, the effort morphed into an extended attempt to establish democracy on Afghan soil, Sputnik reported.

a piece of broken glass of a vehicle at the site of a bomb attack in Kabul, Afghanistan. (Photo by Rahmatullah Alizadah/Xinhua)
ALSO READ: Qureshi reaffirms Pak support for Afghan peace process

During the intervening years, the Taliban regrouped and gained control of large parts of the nation in what has become America’s longest war that lasted over two decades and led to cost up to USD 1 trillion.

Meanwhile, at least 12 Taliban militants were killed as Afghan fighter planes struck a hideout of the militant group in Logar province, the military said in a statement on Tuesday.

Acting on a tip off, the planes targeted the hideout in Kozachatrakai area of the restive Azra district late Monday night, killing 12 armed militants on the spot and injuring three others, Xinhua news agency quoted the statement as saying.

Seven motorbikes and a number of arms and ammunitions were also destroyed during the airstrikes, the statement added.

Taliban militants have intensified activities since the formal start of the U.-led forces pull out from Afghanistan on May 1 and are active in parts of Logar province. (ANI)

ALSO READ: Truce still a fragile dream in Afghanistan

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-Top News Afghanistan Asia News

Ready to fight Taliban after US withdrawal: Ghani

The United States’ military withdrawal from Afghanistan is up to 20 percent complete, US Central Command (CENTCOM) said on Monday…reports Asian Lite News

The Afghan government is ready to fight against the Taliban after the full withdrawal of foreign troops from the country, said President Ashraf Ghani as the US announced the completion of up to 20 per cent troops from the war-torn country.

“The threat of terrorism has changed. It has not disappeared. We are all agreed on this,” Ghani said in an interview with American public broadcasting service PBS on May 17.

“The US is committed to support things, providing support. This is financial, in the security area, in the economic area, in the humanitarian area, because the US, fortunately, shares the values of supporting the gains of the last 20 years. And our discussion is enormously productive.”

The United States’ military withdrawal from Afghanistan is up to 20 percent complete, US Central Command (CENTCOM) said on Monday.

“US Central Command estimates that we have completed between 13-20 per cent of the entire retrograde process. We expect to be able to provide weekly updates on the progress of the retrograde,” the combatant command responsible for the Middle East and parts of Central Asia said in a statement.

ALSO READ: Pak-Taliban fight forces residents to live in caves

Taliban terrorists have intensified activities since the formal start of the US-led forces pull out from Afghanistan on May 1. The US aims to complete the withdrawal by September 11.

Taliban

Ghani has recently held talks with influential political leaders, including the reconciliation council chief Abdullah Abdullah and former president Hamid Karzai, to build a consensus around peace and form a high-level state council.

The US entered Afghanistan ostensibly to eliminate and destroy the Al-Qaeda terror group under its “war on terror” military campaign. However, the effort morphed into an extended attempt to establish democracy on Afghan soil, Sputnik reported.

During the intervening years, the Taliban regrouped and gained control of large parts of the nation in what has become America’s longest war that lasted over two decades and led to cost up to USD 1 trillion. (ANI)

ALSO READ: Taliban ready for Istanbul summit but wants end talks in Doha

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ASEAN News Asia News Nepal

Top court refuses to issue order on Oli’s controversial oath

Chief Justice Cholendra Shumsher Rana led single-bench did not issue any interim order on a writ petition seeking scrapping of the May 14 oath of Prime Minister Oli…reports Asian Lite News

The Supreme Court of Nepal on Tuesday refused to issue an interim order on writ petitions, seeking scrapping of the May 14 oath of Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli.

Chief Justice Cholendra Shumsher Rana led single-bench did not issue any interim order on a writ petition seeking scrapping of the May 14 oath of Prime Minister Oli, reported The Himalayan Times.

The writ petitions were filed on Sunday by senior advocate Dr Chandra Kanta Gyawali and advocates Keshar Jung KC and Lokendra Oli on reasoning that the process was erroneous, it further reported.

The apex court has told the Office of the President and the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers to come up with written responses within 15 days regarding the oath taken by PM Oli.

“On the oath of the prime minister and ministers, the final decision will be taken after the written response of the defendants so there is no need to issue an interim order now as demanded by the petitioners,” stated the order of the Supreme Court after its preliminary hearing on Tuesday, as per The Kathmandu Post.

K P Sharma Oli.

Four writ petitions have been filed in Nepal’s Supreme Court demanding that PM Oli take oath of office again.

The petitioners have sought directions that Oli should take the oath of office and secrecy again for not uttering the word “I affirm” after being reappointed as Prime Minister last Friday. When President Bidhya Devi Bhandari repeated “I affirm” during the ceremony, the Prime Minister replied “it is not necessary”. The petitions claimed this was “humiliation” of the President.

ALSO READ: Oli regime reinstated in Nepal

The petitions also call for immediate enactment of a federal law on the format of oath to be taken by prime minister and ministers.

The petitioners have also sought dismissal of seven ministers, who they said were reappointed “against the constitution”.

Stating that when a minister is reappointed, the person needs to be a member of federal parliament, the pleas stated that the reappointment “was in violation of the constitution”.

“The Prime Minister has violated Articles 78 (2) and (3) and Article 76 (9) of the Constitution of Nepal by re-appointing them as a minister for the second time as the constitution prohibits it,” the writ petitioners claimed.

A total of seven ministers, who are not members of the federal parliament, had taken the oath of office and secrecy for the second time on Friday against the existing constitutional provisions.

The pleas has also demanded that the Prime Minister should not take any action without taking oath again and not even allow the ministers to take action until the final decision of this writ petition is taken. (ANI)

ALSO READ: Nepal confirms new Covid-19 variant
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Nepal confirms new Covid-19 variant

Nepal

Nepal’s health authorities confirmed that three variants of the virus have been detected so far…reports Asian Lite News

After confirming two variants of coronavirus, Nepal on Tuesday confirmed that there were cases of third variant B.1.617.2 in the country.

Nepal’s Ministry of Health and Population said three variants of the virus have been detected.

“B.1.617.2 is the new variant seen in India while B.1.617.1 is the one seen in the UK. Earlier last year, Nepal reported the variant arising from China. With this, three variants of virus have been detected,” Dr. Sameer Kumar Adhikari, Assistant Spokesperson for ministry stated in release.

“According to result of gene sequencing of samples collected from the patients of 35 districts across the country, B.1.617.2 variant was detected in 97 per cent samples while the B.1.617.1 variant was reported from other three per cent samples,” Adhikari added.

The sequencing was carried out at CSIR Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology in India, a WHO-recognized center of excellence in genomic sequencing, the release stated.

A health worker is seen at an isolation ward of a hospital in Kathmandu, Nepal,

The ministry also urged people to strictly abide by the public health protocols as the new variant is more infectious than the older ones and even deadlier for the people of all age groups.

Nepal on Tuesday recorded as many as 8,203 new cases of COVID-19 along with 6,891 recoveries and 196 deaths.

A total of 20,979 samples were tested till Tuesday afternoon and 8,203 tested positive for COVID-19.

Nepal’s total count of COVID-19 cases stands at 372,354 including 352,414 recoveries and 5,411 deaths.

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There are 107,082 COVID-19 patients in home isolation, 7,447 in institutional isolations, 1,590 in ICUs and 390 on ventilators as of Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Nepal received a second shipment of China-donated oxygen cylinders as the Himalayan country is continuing to face an acute shortage of medical oxygen supply for a growing number of Covid-19 patients.

A Nepal Airlines plane landed at the Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu at 2.30 p.m. on Sunday with the oxygen cylinders and concentrators from China, Dim Prasad Poudel, managing director of the airline, told Xinhua news agency.

The first batch had arrived on May 10.

Nepal

According to Nepal’s Ministry of Finance, there is an agreement with China for the delivery of oxygen cylinders on a grant basis, and some of them will be brought by air while the rest will be sent through the land route with Tibet.

Poudel said the Nepal Airlines will send planes to get back the remaining oxygen cylinders from China.

“We are trying to communicate with the Chinese side to know when the cylinders would arrive at the border point,” said Narad Gautam from the bordering Tatopani Customs Office in the Sindhupalchowk district.

Jageshwor Gautam, spokesperson at the Nepali Health Ministry, told Xinhua last week that China-donated oxygen cylinders would be distributed to large government-run hospitals in the Kathmandu Valley, and a few would be sent to the crisis-hit provinces. (ANI/IANS)

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