Lebanon is going through its worst economic and financial crisis in its history…Reports Asian Lite News
Tens of thousands of people took to the streets of Beirut to mark the first anniversary of the protests against the Lebanese government and the current ruling class.
On Saturday, the participants waved the Lebanese flag and chanted slogans against the ruling political class which, according to the demonstrators, adopted policies that led to the economic collapse and an alarming public debt of over $90 billion, reports Xinhua news agency.
The protesters demanded the overhaul of the country’s entire political system and the formation of an independent government capable of implementing structural reforms to save the country from further deterioration.
Lebanon is going through its worst economic and financial crisis in its history.
Moreover, the Covid-19 pandemic and the August 4 Port of Beirut explosions have exacerbated the economic situation, driving thousands of companies out of business while leaving thousands of people unemployed.
Figures released by the World Bank showed that over 50 per cent of the Lebanese people have become “poor”.
Iynoting that most of the citizens were being paid with the Lebanese pound which has weakened by 80 per cent at least.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani. (Photo by Ahmad Halabisaz/Xinhua/IANS)
The Iranian Foreign Ministry on Sunday announced that the UN Security Councils (UNSC) arms embargo against Tehran has been terminated in line with the 2015 landmark nuclear deal.
“As of today, all restrictions on the transfer of arms, related activities and financial services to and from the Islamic Republic of Iran, and all prohibitions regarding the entry into or transit through territories of the UN Member States previously imposed on a number of Iranian citizens and military officials, are all automatically terminated,” Press tv quoted a Ministry statement as saying.
The longstanding UN ban on the sale of arms from/to Iran is terminated under the terms of the UNSC Resolution 2231.
“As of today, the Islamic Republic may procure any necessary arms and equipment from any source without any legal restrictions, and solely based on its defensive needs, and may also export defensive armaments based on its own policies,” the statement said.
The Ministry also made it clear that “the lifting of arms restrictions and the travel ban were designed to be automatic with no other action required”.
On August 14, US President Donald Trump’s administration failed to renew the Iranian arms embargo through a resolution at the UNSC, Press TV reported.
Russia and China voted against the motion and the remaining 11 council members, including France, Germany and the UK, abstained.
Shortly after the announcement, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif tweeted that the international community had “protected” the nuclear deal and October 18 marked the “normalization of Iran’s cooperation with the world”,
“Today’s normalization of Iran’s defence cooperation with the world is a win for the cause of multilateralism and peace and security in our region,” he added.
“Total amount of natural gas reserves in the Tuna-1 well in Sakarya Gas Field reached 405 billion cubic meters”Erdogan said…Reports Asian Lite News
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced that Turkey found more gas reserves in the Black Sea.
“As a result of testing, analysis, and detailed engineering work, another 85 billion cubic meters were added to the reserves we had discovered,” Erdogan said onboard the Fatih drillship in the Black Sea on Saturday, Xinhua news agency reported.
“Total amount of natural gas reserves in the Tuna-1 well in Sakarya Gas Field reached 405 billion cubic meters,” he added after his inspections at the ship.
In August, the drilling ship discovered 320 billion cubic meters of natural gas reserves.
The Fatih vessel started its drilling activities in late July in an exploration zone known as Tuna-1 off the northern Zonguldak province in the Black Sea region.
Jerusalem, Sept. 13, 2020 (Xinhua) -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gives a briefing on COVID-19 pandemic in Israel at his office in Jerusalem, on Sept. 13, 2020. Israel will reimpose a nationwide lockdown for three weeks, beginning on Friday, to slow a rapid resurgence of coronavirus infections, the government decided on Sunday. (Yoav Dudkevitch/JINI via Xinhua/IANS)
The first phase of the exit plan will begin on Sunday amidst declining numbers of new infections…Reports Asian Lite News
Israel’s special cabinet for handling the COVID-19 decided to partially lift a month-long lockdown on Sunday, by easing some of the restrictions.
The first phase of the exit plan will begin on Sunday amidst declining numbers of new infections, the Prime Minister’s Office and the Health Ministry said in a joint statement on Thursday, Xinhua news agency reported.
Under the cabinet decision, the restriction limiting residents to a 1,000-meter radius of their homes will be lifted.
Kindergartens and businesses that do not attend clients will be reopened, but schools and other businesses would still be closed. Restaurants would be allowed to take only take-away orders.
Gatherings of more than 20 will still be prohibited and local lockdowns in “red” cities with high morbidity rates might be imposed, the government said.
“The lockdown has been a major success,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at the start of the meeting, citing “a decline in all data”.
He said that the exit needs to be “gradual, responsible, careful and controlled” to avoid “an additional lockdown in two or three weeks”.
Israel imposed a second nationwide lockdown on September 18 to curb the rapid resurgence of the pandemic.
Netanyahu’s government has been facing growing public anger over its handling of the coronavirus outbreak and the ensuing economic crisis.
US peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad has urged the Taliban to remain committed to the implementation of the agreement between the two, warning that the rising level of violence in the country, especially in Helmand province, was threatening peace.
“Following several meetings General Miller and I had with the Taliban, we agreed to re-set actions by strictly adhering to implementation of all elements of the US-Taliban Agreement and all commitments made,” TOLO News quoted the envoy as saying in a series of tweets on Thursday.
“This means reduced numbers of operations. At present too many Afghans are dying. With the re-set, we expect that number to drop significantly.
“Attacks have been on the rise in recent weeks – threatening the peace process and alarming the Afghan people and their regional and international supporters,
“We will do our part and will monitor implementation actively. All parties must deliver on their responsibilities. We thank our international partners for their assistance and support,” he added.
Khalilzad’s remarks came as clashes between government forces and the Taliban in Lashkargah, the capital of Helmand, and surrounding areas continued for a sixth consecutive day on Thursday.
According to UN statistics, so far 35,000 people in Helmand have been displaced due to the latest conflict which broke out last weekend.
Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan. (File Photo: IANS)
Until now, Pakistan enjoyed an additional cushion as China, an ally, was holding the presidency of Financial Action Task Force (FATF). With the baton passing on to Germany, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan is a worried man…reports MAHUA VENKATESH
Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan. (File Photo: IANS)
With Germanys Marcus Pleyer as president of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the going for Pakistan, which is already placed in the grey list, may just get tougher.
Islamabad will now face a tougher scrutiny, sources said, even as reports suggested that the country will remain in the grey list for some time as an on-site visit by the FATF team will not be possible before next year.
Pleyer took over the presidency on July 1 this year from Xiangmin Liu, director general, legal department, at the People’s Bank of China. With the baton passing on to Germany, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan is a worried man.
Pakistan, which missed as many as 13 targets out of 27, got a four-month breather in February to complete its goals. In case Pakistan fails to achieve those targets, it may get blacklisted. Iran and North Korea are the only two countries which are currently blacklisted by the FATF.
Until now, Pakistan enjoyed an additional cushion as China, an ally, was holding the presidency.
Financial Action Task Force (FATF) Plenary meeting in Paris (Photo: Twitter/@FATFNews)
Khan has repeatedly highlighted the grave consequences the country would face in case it is blacklisted.
The country’s economy is already in battered with slowing economic growth.
Pakistan is already finding it difficult to get financial aid from the multilateral agencies including the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, and Asian Development Bank, due to its grey list status.
But once a country is placed on the blacklist, the challenges multiply significantly. In an interview in August, Khan said that Pakistan would suffer huge challenges, much like Iran, in case it was blacklisted.
“People talk about inflation now. If we are placed on the blacklist, we will experience inflation that would ruin our economy,” he said.
According to the World Bank, the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth was about 5.83 per cent in 2018. It was down to less than 1 per cent in 2019�a decline of over 4.8 per cent from 2018, leading to rise in unemployment and unrest within the country.
Pakistan until now has been enjoying support from China, and was given two extensions since October 2019 to achieve the targets.
The US has been pushing to blacklist Pakistan. India has also underlined the need to do the same.
“Pakistan has often blamed India on this front but the FATF is a serious platform with many members. It is not possible for one country to charge another if there was no substantial reason,” an analyst who did not wish to be identified told IndiaNarrative.com.
The Paris-headquartered FATF is a global intergovernmental watchman for anti-money laundering and anti-terror financing. It crafts out policies to address money laundering and other illegal activities.
QUETTA (PAKISTAN), May 5, 2018 (Xinhua) -- Workers sit outside a collapsed coal mine in Pir Ismail, Marwar area near Quetta, the provincial capital of Balochistan, southwestern Pakistan, on May 5, 2018. At least 18 people were killed, 13 others injured and about a dozen went missing as two coal mines collapsed in different areas of Pakistan's southwest province of Balochistan on Saturday, local media reported. (Xinhua/Stringer/IANS)
For China, reaching out to the Taliban has many strategic advantages. For one it will be able to extend its sphere of influence in South Asia and the Middle East. Secondly, and equally important, it will ensure that the teeming Islamic terror organizations in the region do not make efforts to reach out to Xinjiang and breed terror or an independence movement there…writes RAHUL KUMAR
Ughurs in Chinese detention camps. (Image Courtesy: @ETAwakening/Twitter)
The magic of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is such that even the Taliban, which carries on with jihad to protect Islam, has turned its face away from the Uyghur genocide and the ethnic cleansing of Muslims by China.
The Chinese influence, which is now extending into Afghanistan through iron-brother Pakistan, has ensured that even die-hard terror groups like the Taliban keep quiet on the Chinese campaign to culturally, ethnically and ideologically change the Uyghurs-the people of East Turkistan province, renamed Xinjiang by China.
With the Americans under President Donald Trump clear about withdrawing from Afghanistan, possibly by year-end itself, China has sensed opportunity to fill up the vacuum. The Doha agreement between the Americans and the Taliban, minus the Afghan government, was a catalyst for China to jump into the Af-Pak region.
Workers sit outside a collapsed coal mine in Pir Ismail, Marwar area near Quetta, the provincial capital of Balochistan. (Xinhua/Stringer/IANS)
For China, reaching out to the Taliban has many strategic advantages. For one it will be able to extend its sphere of influence in South Asia and the Middle East. Secondly, and equally important, it will ensure that the teeming Islamic terror organizations in the region do not make efforts to reach out to Xinjiang and breed terror or an independence movement there.
To ensure that the Taliban takes the Chinese offer seriously, it made an offer to the group through Pakistan to extend the super-sized China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC)-the marquee project of the BRI-to Afghanistan. The Chinese offer to the Taliban is to make highways and connect all Afghan cities to each other. Other offers include energy projects to develop Afghanistan while the Taliban has to promise peace in return.
China is also eyeing Afghanistan’s considerable mineral riches. Chinese companies had won contracts to mine copper and explore oil but could not do so due to the internal strife in the country. China would be keenly looking at re-working on the contracts.
Afghanistan’s geographical location as a connecting point between South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East too is tempting for China to step in.
With so much to gain, thanks to the Pakistani influence, China has not overlooked its relations with the Afghan government. Besides talking to the Taliban, it has been engaging with the Afghan government as well. China has been able to persuade the government over a border agreement to allow Chinese troops to patrol the border in the Wakhan region with a view to ensuring that no cross-border movement takes place between the independence-seeking Uyghurs and the militants that flourish on Afghan soil.
Sporadic news reports have come out over China trying to set up a military base in the northern parts of Afghanistan, again with a view to keeping a check on Xinjiang.
The US presence in Afghanistan was a military one-to keep terrorism at bay, and also nurture democratic forces in the country and society. With China, democracy is not going to be a bother. Its interest will be confined to keeping militancy out of Xinjiang and getting away with the ethnic cleaning of Muslims while demolishing their religion and culture. The other interests will be to extend CPEC into Afghanistan, open up trade routes to Central Asia and the Middle East and lastly, get space for its boots on Afghan ground.
Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan with Chinese Preisident Xi Jinping
All of this is possible once the Americans bid adieu. To ensure this, Pakistan is pulling out all stops to bring the Taliban and China to the negotiating table. A few months back, China had invited Afghanistan to join the BRI, and partake in its benefits just as Pakistan and Nepal had done.
West to Afghanistan lies Iran, which is developing closer relations with China due to the unending American pressure over its support for terrorism and nuclear issues. With a depleting economy and much financial strife, Iran signed a massive deal with China for oil, after which it also invited the Chinese to invest in rail networks linking the Chabahar port-which ironically India had built.
For China, netting Afghanistan will mean a large swathe of contiguous area in the form of Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran with access to many ports in Pakistan and Iran, allowing it to bypass South East Asia for its oil supplies.
For India, Chinese presence in Afghanistan will be an added headache considering that the duo of Pakistan and China have not left any table unturned-terrorism, cross-border infiltration, shelling, supporting terror networks in various regions, salami-slicing and even creating a war-like situation-to marginalize India. For most part, it has been effective as well.
The implications for India are enormous. Looking at this complex matrix, it slowly opened up to talks with the Taliban. The group’s spokesperson, Suhail Shaheen, invited Indian participation in the intra-Afghan peace talks during a web-session with an Indian think tank. Significantly, Shaheen added that the group will not interfere in India’s internal issues including Kashmir. Experts interpret this as realization among the Taliban that India’s presence in Afghanistan has been benign and based entirely on development and reconstruction; therefore, India cannot be kept out of the talks. In fact, Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar even addressed the first face-to-face intra-Afghan talks that eventually took place in Doha last month, stressing upon all parties to find an all-Afghan solution.
Afghanistan has remained an unpredictable place. It is a quagmire. Once the Americans move out, things will change rapidly-something which the common Afghan fears. Despite the intra-Afghan peace talks, violence and bloodshed have continued unabated violating the spirit of the talks.
At another level, all Afghan governments in the last two decades have maintained positive relations with India. Despite the overtures by China in Afghanistan, it would not be easy to dislodge India from the landlocked country. With the current low in the relations between the two Asian giants, India has to look at China in the eye and take it on. Or, be read to accept irrelevance in the South Asian region, and consequently the world.
MOSCOW, March 5, 2020 (Xinhua) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) meets with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Moscow, Russia, on March 5, 2020. Russia and Turkey agreed Thursday on a ceasefire in the de-escalation zone in Syria's northwestern province of Idlib, after talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan which lasted for about six hours. (Sputnik/Handout via Xinhua/IANS)
The Russian President expressed serious concern over the participation of militants from the Middle East region in the hostilities…Reports Asian Lite News
Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan have stressed on the importance of observing the ceasefire in the conflict-ridden Nagorno-Karabakh region, the Kremlin said in a statement.
During a call on Wednesday, the two leaders addressed the conflict and reaffirmed the importance of observing the humanitarian truce agreed upon during a trilateral meeting between Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia on October 10 in Moscow, reports Xinhua news agency.
They spoke in favour of stepping up the political process, in particular, based on the developments of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Minsk Group, according to the statement.
(160405) — NAGORNO-KARABAKH, April 5, 2016 (Xinhua) — Houses damaged in recent conflicts are seen in Azerbaijan’s Gapanli village bordering Nagorno-Karabakh region, on April 5, 2016.
The Armenian and Azerbaijani Defense Ministries both confirmed Tuesday that a ceasefire agreement in the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region is currently being prepared. (Xinhua/Tofik Babayev)(dh)
“The Russian President expressed serious concern over the participation of militants from the Middle East region in the hostilities.
“The urgent need for mutual efforts aimed at an immediate cessation of the bloodshed and a transition to a peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh problem was stressed,” it said.
Russia expressed the hope that Turkey would contribute in a constructive manner to the de-escalation of the conflict, considering Ankara’s membership in the OSCE.
The development comes after Azerbaijan, which is openly backed by Turkey, accused Armenia of violating the ceasefire, just two days after it was imposed, by attacking its second largest city of Ganja and inflicting civilian casualties.
However, the Armenian Defence Ministry denied the allegation, saying that it was false information.
The current fighting is the worst seen since the ceasefire and the two former Soviet republics have been blaming each other
Nablus (Palestine): A Palestinian protester throws stones at Israeli soldiers during a protest against the expanding of Jewish settlements in Kufr Qadoom village near the West Bank city of Nablus on December 5, 2014.(Xinhua/Ayman Nobani/IANS)
According to the Palestinian Basic Law, any citizen whose rights are violated has the right to file a lawsuit at the Palestinian courts….Reports Asian Lite News
In a first, Palestinian courts will start within days to consider cases related to violations committed by Israeli settlers against Palestinian citizens, a Minister said.
Speaking to the state-run WAFA news agency on Wednesday, Justice Minister Mohammed al-Shalaldeh said that his Ministry in cooperation with other government agencies and civil society institutions, will facilitate the task of victims of Israeli settlers to take legal actions against the settlers.
According to the Palestinian Basic Law, any citizen whose rights are violated has the right to file a lawsuit at the Palestinian courts.
He indicated that work is underway to collect criminal evidence and affidavits to file the first lawsuit against known settlers for committing crimes and violations against the Palestinians citizens of the old town of Hebron and in Burin village, south of Nablus.
The Minister said that the Palestinian cabinet has decided “to form a national team to hold accountable and prosecute settlers who commit crimes against the Palestinian people before the Palestinian courts following the decision by President Mahmoud Abbas to forgo the Israeli and American agreements and understandings”.
The Minister said that “according to the national legislation in Palestine, and based on the Code of Civil and Commercial Procedure, there are provisions for the prosecution of a foreigner, which applies to the settler who resides within the Palestinian territorial jurisdiction over the occupied land”.
“Therefore we have the right to sue him based on the notion that settlement is a war crime, punishable by law in accordance with the Fourth Geneva Convention, and based on the statute of the International Criminal Court,” he told WAFA news.
Israeli media reported that it would be the first time since the Palestinian Authority was established in 1994 that Palestinian courts look into cases against Israeli citizens.
(171124) -- BISHKEK, Nov. 24, 2017 (Xinhua) -- Kyrgyz new President Sooronbai Jeenbekov delivers a speech during his inauguration ceremony in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, Nov. 24, 2017. (Xinhua/Information office/Kyrgyz Presidential Palace) (lx)
“Sooronbai Jeenbekov once again stressed that now he has no right to leave the presidency, as this will lead to an unpredictable scenario of the development of events to the detriment of the state…Reports Asian Lite News
(171124) — BISHKEK, Nov. 24, 2017 (Xinhua) — Kyrgyz new President Sooronbai Jeenbekov delivers a speech during his inauguration ceremony in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, Nov. 24, 2017. (Xinhua/Information office/Kyrgyz Presidential Palace) (lx)
Kyrgyz President Sooronbai Jeenbekov said that he will resign after the new parliamentary elections and the announcement of his successor.
“Today, President Sooronbai Jeenbekov met with Sadyr Zhaparov after the parliament approved him as the prime minister of the country,” Press Secretary Tolgonai Stamalieva told the media on Wednesday.
At the meeting, Zhaparov voiced his demand that the President should step down, Xinhua news agency quoted Stamalieva as saying.
“Sooronbai Jeenbekov once again stressed that now he has no right to leave the presidency, as this will lead to an unpredictable scenario of the development of events to the detriment of the state.
“He recalled that he adheres to the same position that he voiced on October 9 – he will resign after he returns the country to the legal field – after the parliamentary elections, the announcement of the election of a new president of the country,” the Press Secretary added.
Kyrgyzstan has been gripped by unrest sparked by allegations of vote buying and impropriety in the October 4 elections, in which 16 political parties participated.
Preliminary results showed that four parties crossed the 7 per cent threshold to enter the parliament.
Some parties which failed to meet the threshold organized nationwide protests the next day, demanding the annulment of the elections and claiming gross violations.
The protests led to clashes between the police and protesters.
Kyrgyzstan’s Central Election Commission (CEC) later annulled the results of the elections.
Last week, the CEC said that it will set a time for new parliamentary elections by November 6.
