ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's foreign ministry summoned the Taliban's deputy head of mission on Wednesday and urged their administration to take action against Afghanistan-based militant groups that Islamabad says attacked a military base this week.
Militants attacked the base in Bannu in northwestern Pakistan on Monday, killing eight Pakistani security force members.
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Pakistan summons Taliban envoy after attack on military base
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Pakistan summons Taliban envoy after attack on military base
Indonesia, Australia bolster defense ties with ‘historic’ cooperation agreement
- Under new pact, Indonesian and Australian militaries can operate from each other’s countries
- Indonesia and Australia to hold their largest-ever bilateral military drills in November
Jakarta: Indonesia and Australia signed a defense agreement on Thursday, cementing closer ties as Prabowo Subianto prepares to take office as Indonesia’s next president in October.
Subianto, who is serving as defense minister under outgoing President Joko Widodo’s administration, signed the Defense Cooperation Agreement with Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles at Indonesia’s National Military Academy in Magelang, Central Java.
The new pact includes provisions allowing Australian and Indonesian defense forces to operate from each other’s countries.
“We have signed this defense cooperation agreement, which is a historic milestone … to increase our cooperation and help each other address various security threats and promote peace and continued stability in the Asia-Pacific region,” Subianto said during a joint press conference.
“This is not a military alliance, but a defense cooperation. This signifies how we want to continue and preserve our strong ties and good friendship. I am determined to make Indonesia-Australia relations even better in the future.”
The signing took place just a little over a week after Subianto’s visit to Canberra, where he and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced the conclusion of negotiations to upgrade their cooperation arrangement to a treaty-level agreement.
In 2022, Indonesia was Albanese’s first visit as prime minister. He vowed to strengthen ties with Jakarta and other Southeast Asian nations in the face of growing tensions with China in the Indo-Pacific region.
Subianto has said he will continue Indonesia’s longstanding policy of non-alignment when he takes office.
Relations between the neighboring countries were “as close as they had ever been” during Widodo’s presidency, Marles said, adding that Australia understood Indonesia’s non-alignment policy.
“It is very much in Australia’s interest to have a non-aligned Indonesia as our closest neighbor,” he said.
“The defense cooperation agreement between our two nations is the deepest, the most significant defense agreement in the history of our bilateral relationship … this is an important piece of international architecture.”
The two countries plan to hold their largest-ever bilateral military exercise in November, he said.
“In Mr. Prabowo, Australia sees a great friend and we really appreciate the work that you’ve done as the minister of defense, and obviously we look forward to your impending presidency.”
Bangladesh’s new leadership seeks continued cooperation with Saudi Arabia
- Muhammad Yunus says Kingdom is a ‘very important friend’ of Bangladesh
- Saudi ambassador sees investment opportunities in renewable energy, logistics
DHAKA: Bangladesh’s new leadership seeks continued cooperation with Saudi Arabia, the head of its interim government Prof. Muhammad Yunus said after his first meeting with the Kingdom’s envoy to Dhaka.
Muhammad Yunus, an 84-year-old economics professor and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, took charge of Bangladesh on Aug. 8, after the longtime Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina quit and fled the country amid violent protests calling for her ouster.
Soon after the appointment, Yunus’ technocrat cabinet manned by renowned lawyers and economists announced a series of judiciary, civil administration, security and economic reforms to restore the country’s macro-economic stability.
Yunus began to interact with foreign envoys in person this week.
After he met with Saudi Ambassador Essa Al-Duhailan, he said in a statement that Saudi Arabia was a “very important friend of Bangladesh” and that his government was “looking forward to continued cooperation” with the Kingdom.
“Bangladesh is also a good friend for Saudi Arabia. We have mutual understanding on many issues, like climate change and also in areas of investment, manpower,” Al-Duhailan told Arab News on Wednesday evening.
“It’s a new area, a new destination, for Saudi investment. And we are willing to invest here in Bangladesh in renewable energy and also in the logistics.”
The ambassador said that Saudi Arabia enjoyed “excellent relations” with Bangladesh both on the official and the people-to-people level and that he had a very “fruitful” meeting with Yunus.
“His excellency focused on how to extend help to Bangladesh, especially at this crucial junction, and also on energy support,” Al-Duhailan said.
“I asked his excellency to accelerate the procedures and waive all the obstacles in front of Saudi investments and also to attract Saudi capital because I believe that Bangladesh is a green field for investors in general and for Saudi investors in particular.”
Some 3 million Bangladeshis live and work in Saudi Arabia. They are the largest expat group in the Kingdom and also the biggest Bangladeshi community outside Bangladesh.
Official and business exchanges between the countries have been on the rise since March last year when a delegation led by Saudi Commerce Minister Majid bin Abdullah Al-Qasabi visited Dhaka.
With several investment agreements signed during the visit, Saudi Arabia entered Bangladesh’s energy, seaport and agriculture industries, while the two nations’ chambers of commerce established the Saudi-Bangladesh Business Council to navigate bilateral commerce ties.
UK seeks to speed up migrant returns
- Advert says the ministry is seeking “to identify appropriate reintegration delivery providers” to help migrants return from the UK to 11 different countries
- Countries are Albania, Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Ghana, India, Iraq, Jamaica, Nigeria, Pakistan, Vietnam and Zimbabwe
LONDON: Britain’s Labour government is planning “a major surge” in returns of irregular migrants to countries including Iraq, an official said Thursday, as it tries to clear an asylum backlog.
The interior ministry has posted a contract seeking commercial partners to support the “reintegration” of people with no right to live in the UK in their home countries.
The contract, worth £15 million ($19.7 million) over three years, was published last week and first reported by the Financial Times on Thursday.
The advert says the ministry is seeking “to identify appropriate reintegration delivery providers” to help migrants return from the UK to 11 different countries.
The countries are Albania, Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Ghana, India, Iraq, Jamaica, Nigeria, Pakistan, Vietnam and Zimbabwe.
Contractors will help with provision of food packs, assist the tracing of family members and provide support with accessing job markets among other things, according to the bid notice.
Interior minister Yvette Cooper announced last week that the government aims over the next six months to achieve the highest rate of deportations of failed asylum seekers in five years.
The goal is to remove more than 14,000 people by the end of the year, according to UK media reports.
“The government is planning to deliver a major surge in immigration enforcement and returns activity to remove people with no right to be in the UK and ensure the rules are respected and enforced,” a ministry spokesperson said in a statement.
“Continued international cooperation with partner nations plays a critical role in this, and we will be working closely with a number of countries across the globe as part of the mission to end irregular migration.”
Prime Minister Keir Starmer, elected to office early last month, has also pledged to “smash the gangs” of people smugglers bringing irregular migrants to Britain on small boats sailing across the Channel.
More than 20,000 migrants have arrived in the UK after crossing from France on rudimentary vessels so far this year, according to the latest figures.
That is marginally up on last year’s data for the same period, but down on 2022.
Refugee charities have urged the government to create more safe routes to deter people from making the perilous journey.
Official figures released last week showed that almost 119,000 people were waiting for a decision on their asylum application at the end of June 2024.
France’s Macron hosts Starmer as UK seeks to reset Europe ties
- Macron strode out to meet Starmer for a demonstrative hug, slapping the recently-elected leader’s back and shaking his hand
- French presidents usually wait beside Republican Guards standing to attention at the top of the steps in the presidential palace’s courtyard when welcoming visitors
PARIS: UK premier Keir Starmer was welcomed warmly Thursday in Paris by French leader Emmanuel Macron, as the new center-left British government seeks to relaunch post-Brexit ties with Europe.
Paris is the second leg of Starmer’s trip to key EU capitals, after the prime minister visited Berlin and announced treaty talks alongside Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
Macron strode out to meet Starmer for a demonstrative hug, slapping the recently-elected leader’s back and shaking his hand.
French presidents usually wait beside uniformed Republican Guards standing rigidly to attention at the top of the steps in the presidential palace’s courtyard when welcoming visitors.
The pair have plenty to discuss.
Like Germany, France is a key security partner for Britain — Paris and London hold permanent seats on the UN Security Council and are Western Europe’s only nuclear-armed powers.
The two countries share strong support for Ukraine in its fight against Russian invasion since 2022.
More fraught is the issue of migrants crossing the Channel to the UK on boats, which the two countries’ security forces have cooperated for years to try to contain.
The issue was the first aim singled out by Starmer in a statement released ahead of the France visit, alongside stoking economic growth.
Migrant arrivals in Britain reached a record high in the first six months of the year, according to London, adding 18 percent year-on-year to reach 13,500 people.
Since the beginning of the year, 25 people have died in often dangerously-overcrowded craft, twice as many as in the whole of 2023.
Reaching a new level of cooperation with the EU as a whole may be more elusive than the treaty Starmer hopes to strike with Germany by year’s end.
He has made a classic choice of interlocutors in Scholz and Macron as the heads of the EU’s traditional Franco-German power couple.
But both are in a weakened state that may limit their influence on cross-Channel dealmaking.
Scholz heads a shaky three-party coalition set for a drubbing in three regional elections next month and unlikely to survive next year’s national ballot.
Macron is struggling to come up with a candidate for prime minister after a July snap election produced a hopelessly hung parliament — a stark contrast to Starmer’s unassailable majority.
Wasn't polio wiped out? Why it is still a problem in some countries like Pakistan
- Afghanistan and Pakistan are the only countries where the spread of polio has never been stopped
- Recent polio infection in Gaza is first time disease has been reported there in over 25 years
LONDON: Polio was eliminated from most parts of the world as part of a decadeslong effort by the World Health Organization and partners to wipe out the disease. But polio is one of the world’s most infectious diseases and is still spreading in a small number of countries. The WHO and its partners want to eradicate polio in the next few years.
Until it is gone from the planet, the virus will continue to trigger outbreaks anywhere children are not fully vaccinated. The recent polio infection in an unvaccinated baby in Gaza is the first time the disease has been reported in the territory in more than 25 years.
What is polio?
Polio is an infection caused by a virus that mostly affects children under 5. Most people infected with polio don’t have any symptoms, but it can cause fever, headaches, vomiting and stiffness of the spine. In severe cases, polio can invade the nervous system and cause paralysis within hours, according to the WHO. The UN agency estimates that 1 in 200 polio cases results in permanent paralysis, usually of the legs. Among children who are paralyzed, up to 10 percent die when their breathing muscles are paralyzed.
The virus spreads from person to person, entering the body though the mouth. It is most often spread by contact with waste from an infected person or, less frequently, through contaminated water or food.
Just how bad was polio in the past?
Very bad. Polio has existed for centuries; ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics show children walking with canes, with the wasted limbs characteristic of polio victims.
Before the first vaccine was developed in the 1950s, polio was among the most feared diseases. An explosive 1916 outbreak in New York killed more than 2,000 people and the worst recorded US outbreak in 1952 killed more than 3,000. Many people who survived polio suffered lifelong consequences, including paralysis and deformed limbs. Some people whose breathing muscles were paralyzed required “iron lung” chambers to help them breathe.
When did the eradication campaign begin?
WHO passed a resolution to eradicate polio in 1988, spurred on by the success of eliminating smallpox eight years earlier. Their original target was to wipe out polio by 2000. The WHO — along with partners including the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, UNICEF and Rotary International — boosted the production of an oral vaccine and rolled out widespread immunization campaigns. Polio cases dropped by more than 99 percent.
Afghanistan and Pakistan are the only countries where the spread of polio has never been stopped. There are also outbreaks in more than a dozen other countries, mostly in Africa. WHO and partners now aim to wipe out polio by 2026.
Why has it taken so long?
It’s extraordinarily difficult. Stopping polio outbreaks means vaccinating at least 95 percent of the population everywhere, including in conflict-ridden countries and poor regions with broken health systems and other priorities.
The oral vaccine is cheap, easy to use and is better at preventing entire populations from becoming infected. But it contains weakened, live polio virus and in very rare cases can spread and cause polio in unvaccinated people. In even rarer instances, the live virus from the vaccine can mutate into a new form capable of starting new outbreaks.
Health authorities have become more successful in reducing the number of cases caused by the wild polio virus. Vaccine-related cases now cause the majority of infections worldwide.
“The problem with trying to eradicate polio is that the need for perfection is so great and there are so many weak links,” said Scott Barrett, a Columbia University professor who has studied polio eradication. “The technical feasibility is there, but we live in a vastly imperfect world.”
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