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 deal had been discussed for years, but the neighbours were only able to finalize it after Israel and the two Gulf Arab states signed a historic agreement last month…Reports Asian Lite News
Israel has inked an aviation agreement with Jordan.The agreement will allow flights from the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain to fly through Israeli airspace, it said on Thursday.Arab News Reports
The deal had been discussed for years, but the neighbours were only able to finalize it after Israel and the two Gulf Arab states signed a historic agreement last month to normalize ties, Israel’s Transportation Ministry said.
Jordanian officials had no immediate comment.
With commercial planes now able to fly through the Israel-Jordan corridor, flight times for some routes between Asia and Europe and North America, including flights from Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates, will be shorter, the Israeli ministry said.
Its statement did not specify any other countries that could benefit from the new arrangement.
US Treasury on Thursday imposed sanctions on Iran’s banking sector, making a signifiant stride aimed at impairing the arch-rival’s economy weeks ahead of US elections.Arab News Reports
The Treasury Department said it was designating 18 major Iranian banks, a step that could largely cut off the nation of 80 million people from the world’s financial system just as it tries to cope with the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Trump administration did not list specific accusations against most of the banks, instead declaring broadly that the entire Iranian financial sector may be used to support the government’s contested nuclear program and its “malign regional influence.”
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said that the action would “stop illicit access to US dollars.”
“Our sanctions programs will continue until Iran stops its support of terrorist activities and ends its nuclear programs,” he said in a statement.
The Treasury Department said it was exempting transactions in humanitarian goods such as food and medicine. But European diplomats say that US sanctions nonetheless have dire humanitarian consequences, with few institutions in other nations willing to take the risks of legal action in the world’s largest economy.
U.S. President Donald Trump. (Photo by Ting Shen/Xinhua/IANS)
Reduction of troops and to pull the country out of “endless wars”, have been a part of Trump’s re-election campaign promises…Reports Asian Lite News
US President Donald Trump has hinted that American troops stationed in Afghanistan should be “home by Christmas”. The Decision came following an announcement last month that Washington would withdraw thousands of military personnel from the war-torn country by November.
Taking to Twitter late Wednesday night, the President said: “We should have the small remaining number of our brave men and women serving in Afghanistan home by Christmas.”
No were no other details available immediate on Trump’s remarks.
General Kenneth F. McKenzie, Jr., Commander, US Central Command.
Last month, Kenneth McKenzie, Commander of the US Central Command, told several media outlets that American troops in Afghanistan would also be decreased to about 4,500 level by early November.
In August, Pentagon chief Mark Esper also confirmed that the troops would be lowered to less than 5,000 by the end of November.
The previous month, the Pentagon had said that Washington maintained its force level in Afghanistan at mid-8,000s, meeting the conditions of the US-Taliban agreement signed in late February.
WASHINGTON, July 16, 2019 (Xinhua) — U.S. Secretary of Defense nominee Mark Esper testifies before the Senate Armed Services Committee during his confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington D.C., the United States, on July 16, 2019. (Xinhua/Ting Shen/IANS)
The agreement had called for a full withdrawal of the US military forces from Afghanistan by May 2021 if the Taliban meets the conditions of the deal, including severing ties with terrorist groups.
Reduction of troops and to pull the country out of “endless wars”, have been a part of Trump’s re-election campaign promises.
The war in Afghanistan, which has caused about 2,400 US military deaths, is the longest one in American history.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian (Xinhua/Zheng Huansong/IANS)
France has stepped up its voice against Turkey as it accused Ankara of “military involvement” on the side of Azerbaijan in its conflict with Armenia over the breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh region, reports Arab News.
The statement made by the French Foreign Minister on this regard has become the latest volley in a war of words between Paris and Ankara.
“The new aspect is that there is military involvement by Turkey which risks fuelling the internationalisation of the conflict,” French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told parliament.
Armenia and Azerbaijan, two former Soviet republics, have for decades been locked in a conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh, an ethnically Armenian area which broke away from Azerbaijan in a 1990s war that cost about 30,000 lives.
Ghani’s trip comes as direct talks between negotiating teams of the Afghan government and the Taliban were yet to begin…Reports Asian Lite News
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani embarked on a two-nation tour to Kuwait and Qatar on Monday, the Presidential Palace announced in a statement.
According to the statement, Ghani is being accompanied by First Vice President Amrullah Saleh, acting Foreign Minister Mohammad Hanif Atmar, National Security Advisor Hamdullah Mohib, lower house and upper house members and several other high-ranking government officials, TOLO News reported.
Heads of prominent Afghan media are also accompanying the President.
In Kuwait, Ghani will pay tribute to the late Emir Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, said Sediq Sediqqi, presidential spokesperson.
Ghani’s trip comes as direct talks between negotiating teams of the Afghan government and the Taliban were yet to begin.
It has been 22 days since the opening of the intra-Afghan talks.
The negotiating teams have held seven contact group meetings, but could not agree on two disputed points.
Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan. (File Photo: IANS)
Imran Khan
A virtual meeting of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) plenary scheduled for October 21-23 will decide if Pakistan should be excluded from its ‘grey list, based on a review of Islamabads actions against money laundering and terror financing, it was reported on Monday.
The FATF plenary was initially slated to take place, but the global watchdog against financial crimes temporarily postponed all mutual evaluations and follow-up deadlines in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, Dawn news said in a reported.
The Paris-based agency also put a general pause in the review process, thus giving Pakistan an additional four months to meet the requirements.
In February, the FATF had given Pakistan a four-month grace period to complete its 27-point action plan after it noted that Islamabad had delivered on 14 points but missed 13 other targets.
Financial Action Task Force (FATF) Plenary meeting in Paris. (Photo: Twitter/@FATFNews)
On July 28, the government reported to Parliament compliance with 14 points of the 27-point action plan and with 10 of the 40 recommendations of the FATF.
By September 16, however, the joint session of the parliament amended about 15 laws to upgrade its legal system matching international standards as required by the FATF.
The government has already submitted its report to the FATF and its affiliated review groups and responded to their comments, detailing compliance with the 13 outstanding action points, the Dawn news report added.
The plenary had formally placed Pakistan in the grey list in June 2018 due to ‘strategic deficiencies’.
This is the sixth time the President has issued such a decree since March 5, when the first coronavirus cases were confirmed in Bethlehem…Reports Asian Lite News
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has extended a state of emergency for 30 days in an effort to curb the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic, state-media report.
The report by the state-run WAFA news agency, Abbas on Friday evening issued a presidential decree extending the state of emergency for another month throughout the occupied Palestinian territories starting from Saturday.
This is the sixth time the President has issued such a decree since March 5, when the first coronavirus cases were confirmed in Bethlehem.
On Friday, Health Minister Mai al-Kaileh confirmed 545 new cases, three deaths and 435 recoveries.
According to the latest coronavirus data, the confirmed cases in the territories of West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and Gaza, has reached 51,607.
Out of the 51,607 cases, 37,582 are recorded in the West Bank, 3,184 in the Gaza Strip and 10,841 in East Jerusalem.
Recoveries have totalled 42,544, including 9,600 in Jerusalem, and the death toll reached 379, leaving a total of 8,684 active cases
AMMAN, May 25, 2019 (Xinhua) -- Jordan's King Abdullah II (C) reviews the Royal Guard of Honor during the ceremony of the 73rd anniversary of the Independence of Jordan in Amman, Jordan, May 25, 2019. (Xinhua/Mohammad Abu Ghosh/IANS)
The King asked him to continue as a caretaker premier until a successor was named following the November 10 general elections…Reports Asian Lite News
Jordan’s King Abdullah has accepted the resignation of Prime Minister Omar Razzazs Cabinet, but asked him to continue as a caretaker premier until a successor was named following the November 10 general elections, according to a Royal Court statement.
Replying to Razzaz’s resignation, the monarch in a letter on Saturday thanked the outgoing premier and his ministerial team for “undertaking your duties and diligently assuming your responsibilities throughout your tenure, especially during the extraordinary circumstances imposed by the Covid-19 pandemic”, The Jordan Times reported.
“Despite the Cabinet’s efforts in setting plans and programmes and implementing priorities, it is important to learn from the mistakes that marked aspects of the response to Covid-19, a challenge unlike the world has seen in decades, with methods to address it being refined day by day, based on the latest developments.
“As I hereby accept your resignation, I entrust you and the Cabinet to continue as caretaker government, until a new Prime Minister is selected and a new Cabinet is formed, and I stress the importance of working diligently during this period, because dealing with Covid-19 requires focused and persistent action, with ongoing measures being taken without delay,” he added in the letter.
In his resignation letter, Razzaz outlined his Cabinet’s achievements since he became the Prime Minister in 2018.
He also said that the pandemic had impact on his cabinet’s priorities for this year, with safeguarding public health and well-being becoming the main goal.
The development came almost after a week the country’s Parliament was dissolved ahead of the November elections.
The House of Representatives or the lower House comprises 130 seats, of which 115 members are elected by an open list proportional representation from 23 constituencies of between three and nine seats in size and 15 seats reserved for women.
Nine of the 115 proportional representation seats are reserved for the Christian minority, with another three reserved for the Chechen and Circassian minorities.
State institutions and places of worship would close, but health centers and delivery services would be exempted…Reports Asian Lite News
Lebanon is to announce lockdown in 111 villages and towns for a week after a series of record novel coronavirus daily infection rates, the interior ministry said Friday.Arab News Reports
The move came after widespread objections to a nationwide lockdown in August, as the country faces its worst economic crisis in decades.
From early Sunday and for eight days in the villages listed, residents were to “remain at home,” and “wear a mask covering their mouth and nose if forced to go out,” the ministry said in a statement.
State institutions and places of worship would close, but health centers and delivery services would be exempted, it added.
The head of a major Beirut public hospital battling Covid-19, Firass Abiad, welcomed the new district-by-district approach. “This will help identify hotspots and (implement) a more focused approach to restrictive measures. This can be a good alternative to the unpopular total lockdown,” he said on Twitter.
Cases have spiked in the aftermath of a massive explosion at the Beirut port on August 4 that killed more than 190 people and overwhelmed the capital’s health services, with thousands of wounded.
The country has recorded 40,868 Covid-19 cases since February, including 374 deaths.Authorities fear that a major spike would overwhelm the country’s fragile health sector.
“We expect that Turkey from now on abstains from unilateral actions. In case of such renewed actions by Ankara the EU will use all its instruments and options available” said Ursula von der Leyen…Reports Asian Lite News
The European Union (EU) has said it could impose sanctions on Turkey over “provocations and pressures” in a row with Greece over energy resources and maritime borders.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called on Ankara to “abstain from unilateral actions” in the eastern Mediterranean. She spoke early on Friday during a meeting of EU leaders in Brussels.
Earlier, Turkey and Greece set up a military hotline to try to reduce the risk of clashes in the region.
Tensions rose earlier this year when Turkey sent a ship into a disputed area to search for potentially rich oil and gas deposits.
Von der Leyen told reporters that the EU wanted “a positive and constructive relationship with Turkey and this would be also be very much in Ankara’s interest”.
“But it will only work if the provocations and pressures stop,” she said. “We therefore expect that Turkey from now on abstains from unilateral actions. In case of such renewed actions by Ankara the EU will use all its instruments and options available. We have a toolbox that we can apply immediately.”
After their late-night meeting, EU members agreed to review Turkey’s behaviour in December and impose sanctions if “provocations” had not stopped.
Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, posting on Twitter after the meeting, said: “The EU issues a clear threat of sanctions against Turkey should it continue to violate international law.”
European Council President Charles Michel said the EU was offering Turkey closer relations on trade and other areas but holding out the threat of sanctions if tensions in the Mediterranean did not de-escalate.
The European Union and Turkey have long held a fragile relationship.
Turkey has been a long-term candidate for membership of the EU but efforts have stalled. EU leaders have criticised Turkey’s record on human rights and the rule of law, in particular in the wake of the 2016 failed military coup.
Despite the strains, Turkey remains an important partner for the EU. Turkey hosts millions of migrants and struck a deal with the EU that limited the numbers arriving in Greece.
Greece and Turkey are both Nato members, but have a history of border disputes and competing claims over maritime rights.
Tensions flared in August when Ankara sent the research ship into an area south of the Greek island of Kastellorizo which is claimed by Greece, Turkey and Cyprus.
