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Posts published in August 2017

Pak: former envoy in a letter war

Letter criticising envoy ‘comes at a difficult time’: by Anwar Iqbal in Dawn, August 30th, 2017 WASHINGTON: A scathing letter allegedly written by a former Pakistani envoy to the country’s ambassador in Washington comes at a time when the embassy is busy countering a slew of statements, articles and TV talks targeting the country. “Discrediting [Paki­stan’s] Ambassador [to the United States] Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry at a time when he is dealing with a very difficult…

B’desh: NHRC worried over enforced disappearances: report in The daily star, Aug 30, 2017

The National Human Rights Commission yesterday expressed concern over the recent incidents of enforced disappearance and abduction and asked the government to find the victims and return them to their families immediately. It also urged the authorities concerned to take necessary steps in this regard so that repetition of such incidents could be prevented, said a press release of the NHRC. The rights body yesterday held a discussion on some incidents of reported enforced disappearance…

Myanmar Steps Up Claims Muslim Militants Trying to Form an Islamic State

By Myo Myo and James Hookway in The Wall St Journal, Aug 30, 2017 YANGON, Myanmar—Myanmar security forces Tuesday stepped up their claims that Muslim militants were hoping to take advantage of the turmoil in the West of the country by establishing an Islamic state there, and alleged that international aid groups were assisting them. The country has come under widespread criticism for its heavy-handed response to a series of attacks on Friday, when a…

China and India Agree to Ease Tensions in Border Dispute: The New York Times, Aug 29, 2017

By JEFFREY GETTLEMAN and JAVIER C. HERNÁNDEZ NEW DELHI — India and China agreed on Monday to back away from their confrontation over a tiny slice of territory high in the Himalayas, easing tensions between the world’s two most populous countries. For weeks, worries had been growing of a major conflict between the two nuclear powers, in what had developed into one of the worst border disputes between the countries in 30 years — punctuated…

China halted road building to end India border standoff, say analysts

by Sarah Zheng, Liu Zhen & Kristin Huang in South China Morning Post, Aug 29, 2017 China has put on hold building work in a disputed area of its border with India as part of an agreement to end the two-month military stand-off with its neighbour, but will maintain patrols in the area, according to Chinese diplomatic analysts. The two nations have agreed to withdraw troops from an area on the Doklam plateau at the…

Green gold: how China quietly grew into a cannabis superpower

by Stephen Chen in South China Morning Post, 27 August, 2017, 11:03pm Every year in April, Jiang Xingquan sets aside part of his farm in northern China to grow cannabis. The size of the plot varies with market demand but over the last few years it has been about 600 hectares. Like every other hemp farmer in Hexin in Heilongjiang province near the Russian border, Jiang is growing the plant legally. The growers sell the…

Former lottery officials expelled from CPC, public office

Xinhua report in Global Times Aug 28, 2017 Two former officials of the welfare lottery distribution and management center under the Ministry of Civil Affairs were expelled from the Communist Party of China (CPC) and dismissed from public office for corruption and violating the Party’s code of conduct. The center’s former director Bao Xuequan acted against the Party’s eight-point frugality code by using an office that was bigger than the standard, according a statement by…

Appointment of new chief to raise militar

y’s combat ability: expert By Liu Caiyu in Global Times Published: 2017/8/27 23:03:39 The promotion of Li Zuocheng as the new military chief of staff demonstrates China’s determination to improve the military’s combat capability, experts said on Sunday. According to the Ministry of National Defense, Li Zuocheng has been promoted to the post of chief of the Joint Staff Department of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), replacing Fang Fenghui. The ministry didn’t directly announce Li…

B’desh: Suspected militant killed in Mymensingh bomb blast

Report in Prothom Alo, Aug 27, 2017 at 21:39 hrs A suspected militant was killed in a bomb explosion at a house in Kashor of Bhaluka upazila in Mymensingh on Sunday evening, reports news agency UNB. The deceased could not be identified yet. Officer-in-charge of Bhaluka police station Mamunur Rashid said the bomb went off at the house around 6:00pm. The deceased ‘militant’ along with his wife and a child rented the house only three…

B’desh: Not serious but threat is there from Neo JMB

 by Shariful Islam and Mohammad Jamil Khan in The Daily Star, Aug 27, 2017 Militant group “Neo JMB” is still posing a security threat as its members are making efforts to carry out suicide attacks individually, said counterterrorism officials. Law enforcers are worried about possible militant attacks on public gatherings with the militant group shifting its target from non-Muslims, foreigners and law enforcers. The “Neo JMB”, an ultra-radical offshoot of Jama’atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), lost…

B’desh: Suspected militant killed in ‘gunfight’: report in The Daily Star, Aug 26, 2017

Kushtia: A suspected “Neo JMB” operative was killed in a “gunfight” with police in Boalia village of Kushtia’s Daulatpur upazila early yesterday. The deceased is Arman Ali, 42, of Thakurpur village under Bheramara upazila. Shah Dara Khan, officer-in-charge of Daulatpur Police Station, said two police teams, led by him, raided Boalia around 3:30am, acting on information that a secret meeting of “Neo JMB”, an offshoot of banned militant outfit Jama’atul Mujahideen Bangladesh, was going on…