VIF Information Alerts - 8th October 2018

Taliban vow to attack Afghan security forces during elections

Published: The Asian Age
08 Oct 2018

The Taliban on Monday vowed to target government security forces in upcoming parliamentary elections, as US peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad met with Afghan leaders to discuss ways to end the 17-year war. Describing the polls as a "malicious American conspiracy", Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said the militants would pull no punches to disrupt the long-delayed ballot scheduled for October 20.Click here to read.... [2]

Review of CPEC projects underway: Imran Khan

Published: The Economic Times
07 Oct 2018

Pakistan is reviewing the projects under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor to safeguard the interest of the people in Balochistan province, Prime Minister Imran Khan has said. Khan's remarks about the CPEC projects came as he chaired a Balochistan cabinet meeting on Saturday in Quetta during his first visit to the province as the prime minister.Click here to read.... [3]

Myanmar partially amended new map after Bangladesh protests: official

Published: The Daily Star
07 Oct 2018

BSS, Dhaka - The foreign ministry today said Myanmar overnight amended partially its newly drawn map tending to show Bangladesh’s St. Martin’s Island as part of their territory. “They kept the map colours unchanged but removed the population related information about our St Martin’s island that they were showing there alongside the demographic data of their Rakhine state,” foreign ministry’s maritime unit secretary Rear Admiral (retd) M Khurshed Alam told BSS.Click here to read.... [4]

Maldives president-elect invited to visit China

Published: Maldives Independent
07 Oct 2018

President-elect Ibrahim Mohamed Solih has been invited to make a state visit to China once he is sworn into office on November 17. The invitation was extended by Chinese ambassador Zhang Lizhong during a courtesy call on Saturday. The pair “discussed how China can continue to assist the Maldives with its development, in particular in housing, water and sewerage, and tourism,” according to Solih’s office.Click here to read.... [5]

We have 12 years to limit climate change catastrophe, warns UN

Published: The Guardian
08 Oct 2018

The world’s leading climate scientists have warned there is only a dozen years for global warming to be kept to a maximum of 1.5C, beyond which even half a degree will significantly worsen the risks of drought, floods, extreme heat and poverty for hundreds of millions of people.

The authors of the landmark report by the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released on Monday say urgent and unprecedented changes are needed to reach the target, which they say is affordable and feasible although it lies at the most ambitious end of the Paris agreement pledge to keep temperatures between 1.5C and 2C.Click here to read.... [6]