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Iran warns to expel IAEA inspectors over US sanctions

Iran will also stop voluntary implementation of the IAEA’s Additional Protocol, Amirabadi Farahani added…reports Asian Lite News

A senior Iranian lawmaker warned that Iran will expel the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors if the US anti-Iran sanctions are not lifted by February 21, semi-official Mehr news agency reported.

“If the sanctions against Iran, particularly in the fields of finance, banking and oil, are not lifted by Feb. 21, we will definitely expel the IAEA inspectors from the country,” Ahmad Amirabadi Farahani, a member of the presidium of Iran’s parliament, was quoted as saying on Saturday, Xinhua news agency reported.

Iran will also stop voluntary implementation of the IAEA’s Additional Protocol, he added.

“This is the law of the Iranian parliament and the government is obliged to implement it,” Amirabadi Farahani noted.

The main goal of the 2015 Iranian nuclear deal was the removal of sanctions against Iran, he said. “If the sanctions are not removed, we will see no reason to fulfill our obligations.”

Iran launched 20-percent uranium enrichment process on Monday as part of its Strategic Action Plan to Counter Sanctions which was approved by the parliament in December 2020.

In response to the US withdrawal from the nuclear deal in 2018 and re-imposition of sanctions against Iran, the Islamic republic stopped implementing parts of its obligations under the deal.

Earlier, the Russian Foreign Ministry said that the US is responsible for Iran’s recent decision of enriching uranium to 20 per cent.

The Iranian move was “a deviation” from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), commonly known as the Iran nuclear deal, but the “root cause” of such deviations is the “systematic gross violations” of international obligations by the US, the ministry said in a statement.

The US, contrary to Article 25 of the UN Charter, does not comply with the UN Security Council Resolution 2231 and deliberately creates obstacles to its implementation for other countries, the ministry said.

According to Moscow, enriching uranium to 20 per cent has nothing to do with Iran’s compliance with the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), the Xinhua news agency reported.

All material enriched up to 20 per cent is under the control of the International Atomic Energy Agency, which does not record its switch to the use for undeclared purposes that go against the NPT, the statement read.

The Atomic Energy Organization of Iran announced late on Monday that the 20-per cent enriched uranium had started at its Fordow facility and had reached the stability level.

In May 2018, US President Donald Trump pulled his country out of the Iranian nuclear deal and reimposed harsh sanctions against Iran. In response, Tehran has gradually dropped some of its JCPOA commitments since May 2019.

Also read:Russia slams US over Iran uranium enrichment

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Indonesian jetliner with 62 passengers crashes into sea

Search and rescue operations underway were hampered by the bad weather. Workers of Indonesia’s National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas) have found debris and cables suspected to be of the ill-fated aircraft…reports Asian Lite News

Indonesia’s Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi has confirmed the crash of a Boeing 737-500 plane of an Indonesian airlines with 62 people on board that lost contact with the air traffic controller.

At a virtual press conference held on Saturday evening, the minister said the Sriwijaya Air flight SJ-182 heading from capital city Jakarta to Pontianak city in West Kalimantan province crashed into the waters off the Seribu District in north of Jakarta, Xinhua news agency reported.

According to him, the plane was believed to have crashed near the district’s Laki Island and Lancang Island, part of the Thousand Islands chain.

The plane departed from the Soekarno-Hatta international airport in Jakarta at 2.36 p.m. local time. According to Sumadi, the last contact with the plane was made by aviation authorities four minutes after its takeoff.

Search and rescue operations underway were hampered by the bad weather. Workers of Indonesia’s National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas) have found debris and cables suspected to be of the ill-fated aircraft.

Boats and aircraft from various Indonesian agencies were involved in the search.

Sumadi said that President Joko Widodo has instructed rescue workers to maximize searching efforts.

Basarnas spokesman Yusuf Latief told Xinhua that about 100 rescue workers were at the location, and his agency has sent its ship equipped with a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) to search for the wreckage of the aircraft at the sea floor.

An investigation into the plane crash was launched by the Transportation Ministry.

Earlier, Captain EKo Surya Hadi, commander of Trisula coast guard ship, told a local TV that human body parts and debris of the plane were discovered.

“We found body parts, life jackets, avtur (aviation turbine fuel) and debris of the plane,” he said.

Sumadi said that aboard the Boeing plane were 50 passengers including seven children and three babies, and 12 crew members.

On October 29, 2018, all 189 people aboard were killed after a Boeing 737 Max plane of Indonesia’s Lion Air crashed into the Java Sea shortly after taking off from Jakarta.

In December 2014, an AirAsia plane crashed into sea en route from Indonesia’s second biggest city Surabaya to Singapore, killing all 162 people aboard.

Also read:Indonesia to close borders over new Covid strain

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Asia News India News

Nepal bans importing Indian poultry items

The ban came into effect on Thursday, officials said…reports Asian Lite News

Nepal has stopped importing all kinds of poultry items from India after some states in the neighbouring country recently reported the outbreak of bird flu.

The ban came into effect on Thursday, officials said.

Nepal’s Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development has directed all its offices to halt the import of poultry items from India, which is the primary market for the Himalayan nation’s multi-billion poultry industry.

The Ministry has instructed all local offices and quarantine checkposts to remain vigilant and stop the import of poultry items.

It also urged the local authorities to stop open trading of poultry items close to the Nepal-India border.

There are several other border, as well as entry points between Nepal and India through which besides poultry, other items are also coming freely.



“It is very difficult to check the import and exports of all trading items in this time of urgency between Nepal and India because the countries share a long open border and is not possible to deploy officials to check the malpractices that take place in bordering areas,” a senior Nepal government official told IANS.

Shree Ram Ghimire, spokesperson at the Ministry of Agriculture, confirmed that only certified poultry products are permitted to be imported inside Nepal.

Nepal has set up 16 quarantine centres across the Nepal-India border on the Nepali side and told them to gear up to stop importing poultry products, Ghimire said, adding as of now, no single case has been detected in the Himalayan nation despite a surge in the bird flu cases in India.
Also read:China, Nepal hold talks amid political turmoil

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Pak court orders arrest of JeM chief Azhar

Earlier, a Pakistani anti-terrorism court has sentenced Hafiz Saeed, the leader of the banned Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) who mastermind of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack, to more than 15 years in prison after he was convicted in another case…reports Asian Lite News

A Pakistan anti-terrorism court on Thursday issued an arrest warrant for banned jihadist outfit Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) chief Masood Azhar on the charges of terror financing, according to media reports.

The Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) Gujranwala issued the warrant during a hearing in a terror financing case instituted by the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) of Punjab police against some members of the JeM, the Indian Express reported.

According to reports, Azhar is believed to be hiding in a “safe place” in his native town Bahawalpur.

Earlier, a Pakistani anti-terrorism court has sentenced Hafiz Saeed, the leader of the banned Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) who mastermind of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack, to more than 15 years in prison after he was convicted in another case.

Verdicts of three cases against Saeed, who been behind bars since last year, have already been pronounced, whereas several others against JuD leaders are pending with the ATCs, according to The Express Tribune report.

Besides Saeed, ATC Judge Ijaz Ahmed Buttar also handed down punishments to Hafiz Abdul Salam, Zafar Iqbal, Muhammad Ashraf and Yahya Mujahid to 15 years and six-month imprisonment, whereas a six-month imprisonment was handed down to Hafiz Abdul Rehman Makki, the report quoted details issued by the JuD as saying.

This was after Saeed and three others were convicted by an ATC on November 19 in two separate terror-financing cases.

In the November verdict, the court also forfeited property possessed by Saeed, besides imposing a fine of 110,000 PKR.

In September, the Interior Ministry had informed the Senate that the federal government had frozen a total of 964 properties belonging to the JuD and Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM).

On February 12, Saeed was convicted in the two cases and sent to jail for five-and-a-half years.

Banned by the UN Security Council after the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, Saeed faces 23 terror cases in Pakistan alone.

Pakistan filed charges against him only after Financial Action Task Force (FATF), a global watchdog for terror funding and money laundering put the country under ‘grey list’.

JeM’s foiled attempt

In November, Pakistan’s fresh offensive to sabotage the valley’s first major democratic exercise was exposed through the killing of four heavily-armed terrorists of Jaish-e-Mohammad in an encounter by the Jammu and Kashmir Police and the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), at the Ban Toll Plaza near Nagrota.

The incident has taken place just a few days ahead of the District Development Councils (DDCs) elections in Jammu and Kashmir.

Director General of the J&K Police Dilbag Singh has observed that the group of the JeM terrorists, wiped out on the Jammu-Srinagar highway on Thursday, had been given the task of disrupting the DDC elections.

Masood Azhar’s three nephews, each carrying a US-made M4 sniper, have been killed in three different encounters in Kashmir in the last three years.

A number of US-made M4 sniper rifles, used by Nato forces to fight terrorism in the Afghanistan-Pakistan region, have fallen in the hands of Azhar’s guerrilla group, JEM, in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K). Released by India in exchange for the IC-814 hostages at Kandahar in December 1999, Azhar has been designated as an international terrorist by the UNSC in May 2019, after years of sustained resistance by China.

India in UN against terrorism

India’s Permanent Representative T.S. Tirumurti said that New Delhi will be the voice against terrorism at the UN Security Council, but will also act a healer and a bridge-builder within the polarised body.

Tirumurti said that India will be raising our voice against the enemies of humanity, particularly terrorism.”

On the terrorism front, India will be able as a Council member to participate in the discussions about terrorism and terrorists, where China has given Pakistan cover in the past.

For example, Beijing for several years protected Masood Azhar, the Pakistan-based terrorist leader of the Jaish-e-Mohammed, who was behind several terrorist attacks – the most recent one in Pulwama in 2019 that killed 40 Indian security personnel.

The Council is scheduled to take up international terrorism on January 12.

Tunisia’s Permanent Representative Tarek Ladeb, who is the Council President for this month said at a news conference on Monday evening that because of the grave threat from terrorism, he was organising the session as “a signature event”.

“We believe that this challenge cannot be addressed individually. It can only be addressed only within the framework of the strong international cooperation and coordination and, of course, within the implementation of all the relevant Security Council resolutions,” he said.

Also read:Pak welcomes resumption of Afghan talks

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-Top News Bangladesh

Bangladesh seeks official apology from Pakistan

Bangladesh has sought an official apology from Pakistan for the genocide committed against the people of the country during the Liberation War of 1971, along with completing the repatriation of Pakistanis stranded in Bangladesh and settling the issue of the division of assets, said State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shahriar Alam on Thursday.

“In line with that spirit, we look forward to engage with Pakistan,” Alam told the High Commissioner of Pakistan Imran Ahmed Siddiqui when he paid a courtesy call on the Minister at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Welcoming the Pakistani High Commissioner, the Minister emphasised that enhancing ties with all the neighbouring countries is a part of the Bangladesh government’s foreign policy priority.

Alam reiterated the importance of resolving outstanding bilateral issues with Pakistan.

He urged Pakistan to grant access to more Bangladeshi products by utilising the existing SAFTA provisions, while relaxing the negative list and removing trade barriers.

Siddiqui assured of giving due diligence to advancing bilateral relations in every possible area.

Both sides agreed on the need to hold the long-pending Foreign Office Consultations, which were last held in 2010.

Alam said that he will extend all kinds of cooperation and assistance to the Pakistani High Commissioner during his tenure in Dhaka.

BSF joins B’desh victory

To commemorate the 50th anniversary of the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War victory, the BSF as part of its year-long programme would organise a 70-day long cycle rally covering 3,266 km frontiers of five Indian states from January 10, an official said on Thursday.

Tripura frontier Inspector General (IG) Susanta Kumar Nath said that the 70-day long cycle rally would start from West Bengal on January 10 and would culminate on March 17 in Mizoram covering the 3,266 km distance, mostly along the frontiers of West Bengal, Assam, Tripura, Meghalaya and Mizoram.

To mark the 50th anniversary of the Bangladesh Liberation War victory, the BSF had organised a wreath laying ceremony at the Liberation War Memorial at the Bharat-Bangladesh Maitri Uddyan Park, Chottakhola, in south Tripura on December 16.

War veterans were felicitated at the function, where hundreds of school children sang patriotic songs. Songs were also played by the BSF brass band and a short movie on the role of the ‘Mukti Vahini in 1971 War’ was screened on the occasion.

The Tripura government has developed a big memorial and park at the border village of Chottakhola — 132 km south of Agartala — in memory of the Indian soldiers and Bangladeshi freedom fighters who sacrificed their lives during the 1971 war.

Nath said that the BSF is always maintaining good relations with its counterpart — Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) — at every level of hierarchy.

“The BSF-BGB Border Co-ordination Conference was held at Tripura frontier headquarters at Shalbagan near Agartala in November and both the border guarding forces resolved to strengthen their ties by addressing various border issues.

The issues include trans-border crimes including smuggling of narcotics and other contraband items, and carrying forward the pending developmental works in order to achieve the common goal of establishing peace and tranquillity along the international border.

The commemoration of the 50th anniversary year of 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War victory was decided at the five-day long 51st Director General level talks held in Guwahati on December 22-26.

During the yearlong commemoration, ex-BSF officers and personnel, Bangladeshi Mukti Yoddha (freedom fighters) and important personalities would be felicitated and the celebrations would culminate on December 16 this year.

Also Read-Etihad , Israir ink deals

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Egypt, Israel step up efforts to resume Palestinian peace talks

Bilateral coordination is taking place as well with the Palestinian side within the framework of the necessary arrangements for the quartet meeting, the statement said….reports Asian Lite News

Egyptian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sameh Shoukry and his Israeli counterpart Gabi Ashkenazi discussed efforts to resume the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.

During the phone conversation on Wednesday, the two Ministers discussed the ongoing preparations for the meeting of the quartet group comprising Egypt, Jordan, France and Germany, which is supposed to take place in the coming days, Xinhua news agency quoted the Egyptian Foreign Ministry as saying in a statement.

Bilateral coordination is taking place as well with the Palestinian side within the framework of the necessary arrangements for the quartet meeting, the statement said.

Shoukry held another phone call with Palestinian counterpart Riyad al-Maliki, in light of the Egyptian efforts aimed at reaching a just and viable solution to the Palestinian cause, the statement added.

The quartet meeting comes after the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco officially signed US-sponsored peace agreements with Israel last year.



Before that, Egypt and Jordan were the only two Arab countries that had signed peace treaties with Israel.

The Israeli-Palestinian peace process has stalled since 2014, after rounds of US-sponsored talks failed to produce a breakthrough.

Palestine has severed ties with the US government under President Donald Trump, who recognised the disputed holy city of Jerusalem as Israeli capital in later 2017, and relocated the American embassy in Israel to the city in May 2018.

Also read:Hamas agrees to hold elections in Palestine

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Asia News

Pak welcomes resumption of Afghan talks

The statement said Pakistan hopes that the two negotiating teams would continue to engage with open-mind and will observe patience, prudence and perseverance to seize this historic opportunity for peace…reports Asian Lite News

Pakistan has welcomed the resumption of the second round of the Afghan peace talks in Qatar between representatives of the Kabul government and the Taliban, which commenced after a three-week break.

In a statement, the Pakistan Foreign Ministry said that the two teams have made significant progress by finalising the rules and procedures last month and have now reconvened to negotiate on substantive issues, reports Xinhua news agency.

“We are hopeful that the two sides will prioritize working out a roadmap for reduction in violence and ceasefire in the negotiations,” the statement said.

The Ministry further said the year 2020 witnessed substantial progress towards peace in Afghanistan, with a number of positive developments including conclusion of the US-Taliban peace agreement and the start of intra-Afghan negotiations.

“We remain hopeful that the year 2021 will witness the dawn of a peaceful and stable Afghanistan,” it added.

The statement said Pakistan hopes that the two negotiating teams would continue to engage with open-mind and will observe patience, prudence and perseverance to seize this historic opportunity for peace.

“We call upon both sides to remain constructively engaged and show flexibility in the negotiations for reaching an inclusive, broad-based and comprehensive political settlement which would lead to lasting peace and stability in Afghanistan,” it added.

The second round of the talks, which began on Wednesday, will focus on a ceasefire and reduction in violence in Afghanistan.

Also read:Khalilzad visits Pak ahead of Afghan peace talks

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Asia News

Tokyo enters state of emergency to tackle pandemic

The state of emergency will come into effect on Friday until February 7…reports Asian Lite News

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga on Thursday declared a state of emergency in the Tokyo metropolitan area, which also included the Saitama, Chiba and Kanagawa prefectures, authorising tougher measures to fight a recent Covid-19 resurgence.

The state of emergency will come into effect on Friday until February 7, Xinhua news agency reported.

The measures will include restaurants and bars having to stop serving alcohol by 7 p.m. and close by 8 p.m.

Gyms, department stores and entertainment facilities will also be subject to shorter operational hours.

As the government has set the goal of reducing the number of people in the office by 70 per cent, it also urged companies to have employees work from home or stagger their shifts.

Meanwhile, events will be capped at 5,000 people or 50 per cent of venue capacity.

A state of emergency was first declared in Tokyo and six other prefectures on April 7, 2020.

It was later expanded to cover the whole country before being lifted in late May.

The new emergency declaration came as Tokyo reported a record 2,447 new Covid-19 cases on Thursday, breaking the previous record of 1,591 infections.

The measures are more relaxed compared to those under the previous state of emergency and there will be no punishment for those that fail to comply.

Since the onset of the pandemic earlier last year, Japan has so far registered more than 260,000 coronavirus cases and 3,609 deaths.

Also read:Japan mulls emergency declaration in Tokyo

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UN envoy meets Yemeni President in Riyadh

During the meeting on Wednesday, they discussed a UN-brokered plan to push forward peace in Yemen…reports Asian Lite News

UN Special Envoy for Yemen Martin Griffiths met with President Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi in the Saudi capital of Riyadh, state media reported here.

During the meeting on Wednesday, they discussed a UN-brokered plan to push forward peace in Yemen, Xinhua news agency quoted the state media report as saying.

Griffiths would fly to Yemen’s southern port city of Aden in the coming days for meetings with Hadi’s government, it added.

The UN envoy recently proposed an agreement between the Yemeni government and the Houthi rebels to enable resumption of political talks to end civil war.

Yemen has been mired in a civil war since late 2014, when the Iran-backed Houthi rebels seized control of several northern provinces and forced the internationally-recognized government of Hadi out of the capital Sanaa.

The six-year-old war has killed tens of thousands of people, displaced 4 million and pushed Yemen to the brink of starvation.

Also read:GCC Leaders Pin Hopes on Yemen Power Share Deal

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Asia News

Kabul to step up surveillance measures

“The space will become narrower for terrorists and thieves, not wider,” said Saleh…reports Asian Lite News

In an effort to reduce security incidents and crimes in Kabul city, Afghanistan Vice President Amrullah Saleh on Wednesday announced that the city will be covered by security cameras with modern technology.

Saleh said that it will cost over $100 million and will be supported by NATO’s Resolute Support Mission, TOLO news reported.

“The space will become narrower for terrorists and thieves, not wider,” Saleh said.

He also mentioned that “due to fears of surprise operations by the security forces, the terrorists have thrown the explosive devices in the garbage in two parts of Kabul city–the National Directorate of Security (NDS) found 40 kg of explosives in Rahman Baba area of Kabul.”

“The second one was found in the Bagrami area of Kabul,” he added.

Ten days ago, Saleh also said that the Presidential Palace will double the number of police in the city.



He said that a study showed that Kabul has a low number of police for a city with such a large population.

He also mentioned that Kabul mountain’s security outposts will be handed over from the police to the army.

Along with rising crime cases, Kabul has also witnessed seven explosions over the last week in which four people were killed.

Saleh’s announcement came hours after a security forces vehicle was hit by a magnetic IED blast in Kabul’s Kolola Poshta area, police confirmed, adding that that there were no casualties.

No group has immediately claimed responsibility for the blast.

TOLOnews findings show that 23 people have been killed and 70 others have been wounded in security incidents in Kabul over the last 10 days.

Kabul has witnessed 15 security incidents in the past 10 days, including suicide attacks, car bomb attacks, magnetic IED blasts and targeted killings.

Four blasts occurred in Kabul on December 26.

Most of the magnetic IED blasts targeted security vehicles and were near police headquarters buildings in various areas of the city.

Also read:Afghan negotiators leave for Qatar as peace talks resume