PAKISTAN
27 Taliban, Haqqani Network suspects handed over to Afghanistan last year: FO: Dawn
31 Jan, 2018
Pakistan handed over 27 individuals suspected of having ties to the Afghan Taliban and Haqqani Network to Afghanistan last year, Foreign Office (FO) spokesman Dr Mohammad Faisal revealed on Tuesday. In a series of tweets, the FO spokesman said Pakistan is continuing to push any suspected Afghan Taliban and Haqqani elements with a view to "prevent them from using our soil for any terrorist activity in Afghanistan". The suspected militants were handed over to Afghanistan in November 2017, he said. The revelation comes as Afghanistan reels from a series of assaults by Afghan Taliban and militant Islamic State (IS) extremists that have put security and intelligence failures in the spotlight. Click here to read...
AFGHANISTAN
Afghan Government losing control over its territory: US report: Dawn
31 Jan, 2018
Historically, the number of districts controlled or influenced by the Afghan government has been declining since 2009 while the number controlled or influenced by the militants has been rising, said an official US report released on Tuesday. “A fact that should cause even more concern [is] about its disappearance from public disclosure and discussion,” says John F. Sopko, Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR), in his report to the US Congress. Mr Sopko’s office, better known by its acronym SIGAR, was set up in 2008, under a congressional mandate, and in 2009, it began sending quarterly reports to Congress on the US involvement in Afghanistan. Click here to read...
Top US Official Holds Talks with Afghan Leaders: Tolo News
30 Jan, 2018
US Deputy Secretary of State John J. Sullivan held meetings in Kabul on Tuesday to reaffirm the United States’ support for Afghanistan at this difficult time, the US Embassy in Kabul said in a statement. The top US official met Afghan officials to discuss joint efforts to achieve the objectives of the US South Asia strategy and set the conditions for a peaceful resolution of the ongoing conflict, the statement said. The Deputy Secretary’s visit underscores the United States’ commitment to working with the government and the Afghan people to bring peace, security, and sustained economic growth to Afghanistan and the region. During his visit, the Deputy Secretary met with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah, Acting Foreign Minister Salahuddin Rabbani, and other government leaders. Click here to read...
NEPAL
Swaraj coming to reset ties, feel pulse: Experts: My Republica
31 Jan, 2018
As Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj prepares to arrive in Kathmandu on Thursday as the emissary of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, there is a cautious optimism in Nepal that the bilateral relations between the two countries would move smoothly even as the leftist parties are poised to form a new government. Foreign affairs experts and political leaders see the visit of Swaraj at India's own initiative as a part of New Delhi's policy to engage the new government, most likely to be led by CPN-UML Chairman K P Sharma Oli - someone New Delhi has not had good terms in the recent past - as an attempt to give a message that New Delhi is ready to work with the government of any party configuration in Nepal. Click here to read...
MYANMAR
Rakhine State Assembly inquiry committee will start work on February 3: Mizzima News
31 Jan, 2018
Rakhine State Legislative Assembly legislator Tun Thar Sein from Mrauk-U constituency said that the ‘Mrauk-U Incident Inquiry Committee’, formed by the assembly to conduct a probe into the Mruak-U riot, will visit Mrauk-U on February 3. “We plan to start our probe into this incident on February 3. Each member of this probe committee is assigned a duty. We will do our inquiry within the legal framework. Our inquiry will be time-bound, and we will have a deadline for submitting our report, but we do not have this deadline at the moment,” he said. This 9-member committee, which consists of legislators and legal advisors, was formed by the assembly at an emergency meeting held on January 29. Click here to read...
BANGLADESH
Khaleda in court: Daily Star
31 Jan, 2018
BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia yesterday claimed that the Zia Charitable Trust graft case was on trial to get her out of politics as the ruling quarter has made a blueprint to disqualify her in the upcoming election. “Activities of the government high-ups, their initiatives and statements in this regard have made it clear. That's why people have serious doubt over getting justice in the cases filed against me,” Khaleda told the Special Judge Court-5 in her defence statement. Anti-Corruption Commission filed the case in August 2011 with the Tejgaon Police Station accusing four people, including the BNP chief, of abusing power to raise funds for the trust from unknown source. Click here to read...
MALDIVES
Top court orders amendments to impeach motion against president: Haveeru
30 Jan, 2018
The opposition revealed on Tuesday that the Supreme Court has ordered them to amend the motion they filed to impeach President Abdulla Yameen. Former presidents Maumoon Abdul Gayoom and Mohamed Nasheed along with Jumhoory Party leader Qasim Ibrahim and Adhaalath Party’s deputy leader Ali Zahir had filed the impeach motion on Sunday. In a tweet, Nasheed stated they are currently working on amending the motion. However, there has been no word from any lawyers working on the case while no additional information has been provided regarding the required amendments. According to the regulations of the Supreme Court, a panel of judges will decide to accept cases after making sure all the required legal documents are submitted. Click here to read...
CHINA
Xi Jinping unanimously elected deputy to 13th NPC: Xinhuanet
30 Jan, 2018
Xi Jinping was elected deputy to the 13th National People's Congress (NPC) by a unanimous vote at the first session of the 13th regional people's congress of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region Tuesday. Xi was nominated by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) as a candidate for deputy to the 13th NPC, which was put to a vote at the regional congress. The announcement of Xi's unanimous election won thunderous applause at the session. Xi was among 58 deputies elected to the new NPC at the regional congress on Tuesday afternoon. Click here to read...
Central Committee, leaders called top authorities by key document: China Daily
31 Jan, 2018
Safeguarding the authority of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and its unified and centralized leadership is "the supreme political principle and the fundamental political rule for the whole Party", an official statement released on Tuesday said. The statement was issued after a meeting of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, which was presided over by Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee. Click here to read...
Chinese foreign minister outlines China's diplomacy in 2018: Xinhuanet
30 Jan, 2018
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi Tuesday outlined China's diplomacy in 2018 at the New Year Reception. Addressing foreign diplomats to China, Wang said China would further promote the Belt and Road construction in the New Year, and implement the consensus reached at the first Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, held in Beijing in May 2017. Click here to read...
China’s white paper on Arctic policy enhances trust, refutes “China threat”: People’s Daily
30 Jan, 2018
China’s white paper on its Arctic policy issued on January 26 will enhance trust between China and international community and promote global Arctic governance, said People’s Daily Overseas Edition in a report on Monday. In addition, the white paper, with an aim of Arctic protection, is also a rebuke to the “China threat” theory, said the article. Click here to read...
China denies bugging African Union headquarters it built in Ethiopia: CNN
30 Jan, 2018
Leaders of China and the African Union have denied a published report that Beijing spied for years on the African Union headquarters through computer systems it helped install. Quoting anonymous sources, the French daily newspaper Le Monde reported Friday that data were transferred over five years from the African Union's Chinese-built headquarters in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, to its servers in Beijing. Click here to read...
