Category: WORLD

New Delhi, Aug 3 (IANS) Uzbekistan’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Saidov Bakhtiyor Odilovich called on President Droupadi Murmu at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi on Monday.

During the meeting, the two leaders agreed that the visit offers an opportunity to identify new areas of bilateral cooperation and deepen partnership across various sectors.

“Mr Saidov Bakhtiyor Odilovich, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Uzbekistan, called on President Droupadi Murmu at Rashtrapati Bhavan. The President said that both countries share deep historical, cultural, and civilisational ties, rooted in ancient trade routes. The two leaders agreed that this visit provides an opportunity to identify new areas of bilateral cooperation and deepen our mutually beneficial partnership across diverse sectors,” the President’s Secretariat posted on X.

Earlier in the day, Saidov Bakhtiyor Odilovich arrived in New Delhi for an official visit to further strengthen bilateral relations between India and Uzbekistan.

In a post on X, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal stated, “A very warm welcome to Foreign Minister Bakhtiyor Saidov of Uzbekistan on his arrival in New Delhi for an official visit.”

During his visit, Saidov Bakhtiyor is scheduled to hold discussions with External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar.

He will also participate in a business forum in New Delhi, highlighting opportunities for expanding economic and commercial cooperation between the two countries.

The visit comes at a time when India and Uzbekistan are seeking to deepen their strategic partnership across multiple sectors, including trade, investment, technology, energy, education, and connectivity.

Ahead of the visit, EAM Jaishankar held a telephonic conversation with Saidov Bakhtiyor Odilovich on July 20 and discussed deepening bilateral ties.

“A good conversation with Bakhtiyor Saidov of Uzbekistan today. We spoke about deepening our bilateral ties, including in trade, investment and other areas,” EAM Jaishankar wrote on X.

Saidov Bakhtiyor Odilovich noted that he had a substantive phone conversation with EAM Jaishankar and agreed to continue regular dialogue.

He said bilateral relations between Uzbekistan and India, based on a strategic partnership, continue to develop steadily across all areas of cooperation.

He added that both sides also exchanged views on the schedule of upcoming bilateral engagements at the highest and high levels, as well as on further strengthening cooperation within international organisations.

Uzbekistan Foreign Minister emphasised that the two countries agreed to continue close, trust-based, and regular dialogue between their foreign ministries.

–IANS

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Kathmandu, Aug 3 (IANS) Nepal has formally requested India to recognise its National Identity Card (NID) as a valid travel document for cross-border travel, aiming to strengthen identity verification and security while facilitating the movement of people between the two countries, a senior immigration official said.

The NID is similar to India’s Aadhaar card and contains biometric information, including fingerprints, facial images and iris scans. The Nepali government has made the NID mandatory for accessing several public services, including passport applications, land registration, opening bank accounts and other government services, as it seeks to gradually replace the traditional citizenship certificate with digitally readable identity cards.

Nepal also wants India to recognise the NID as a valid document for the cross-border movement of Nepali citizens, as India currently recognises Nepal’s passport and citizenship certificate as official identity documents. Citizens of Nepal and India are not required to carry passports or visas to travel between the two countries.

Ram Chandra Tiwari, director general of the Department of Immigration, told IANS that his office sent a proposal to the Government of India in late June seeking recognition of the NID as a valid travel document for Nepali citizens.

“At present, India recognises mainly Nepal’s passport and citizenship certificate as official identity documents. We have formally proposed that the National Identity Card also be accepted as a valid identification document for air travel and cross-border movement,” Tiwari said.

Following Nepal’s request, officials from the Indian Embassy in Kathmandu recently sought information from Nepal’s immigration authorities about the NID.

“The embassy officials made informal inquiries regarding the card’s technical and security aspects. It was not a formal bilateral meeting but an exchange of information,” Tiwari said.

He said the NID offers stronger security than the traditional citizenship certificate.

“A citizenship certificate is merely a paper document without biometric information, whereas the NID provides a secure and reliable means of identification. Its recognition would enhance security arrangements for both Nepal and India,” he added.

Nepal and India share an open border, allowing citizens of both countries to travel without passports or visas for most forms of cross-border movement. Indian citizens travelling to Nepal by air are currently allowed to use passports, voter identity cards or identity cards issued by India’s federal or state governments.

More than 4.5 million Nepali citizens have already received the National Identity Card, while around 20 million people have enrolled for one, according to the Department of National ID and Civil Registration.

–IANS

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New Delhi, Aug 3 (IANS) Users in Pakistan have taken to social media platforms to express outrage over what they describe as the blocking of access to one of the international media outlets in the country following its coverage of recent developments in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).

Several users reported difficulties accessing Al Jazeera, which calls itself the first independent news channel in the Arab world, and raised concerns over press freedom, internet restrictions, and the public’s right to access independent information.

The reported restriction comes amid growing tensions in PoK, where protests and unrest have intensified over the past several days. The claims regarding the website’s inaccessibility have sparked a debate online, with users questioning whether the move was linked to Al Jazeera’s reporting on the ongoing situation in the region.

The controversy follows criticism from Pakistani authorities over international media’s coverage of sensitive issues related to the country. Officials have previously accused the international news organisation of biased reporting, while the outlet has maintained its role as an independent media organisation.

Some social media users also claimed that the reported restriction on the international news website came after sections within Pakistan’s military establishment were displeased with the channel’s coverage of developments in PoK.

Meanwhile, unrest in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir continues to escalate, with reports claiming that more than 50 people have been killed and hundreds injured over the past four days during clashes between protesters and security forces. The actual number is anticipated to be much higher.

Taking to social media platform X on Saturday, Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC) member Sardar Umar Nazir Kashmiri alleged that security forces had carried out a violent crackdown, stating that “more than 50 of our people” had been killed and hundreds injured in recent days.

In another statement, the JAAC said that late-night protests continued across the Muzaffarabad region, with demonstrators remaining on the streets while demanding protection of their fundamental rights and implementation of commitments made by local authorities.

The developments have also drawn international attention. The US-based Human Rights Foundation (HRF) condemned reports of the use of force against protesters in PoK and called on Pakistani authorities to halt the crackdown, restore communication services, and ensure accountability for any unlawful use of force.

The organisation, citing local civil society groups, said that the Pakistani security forces allegedly opened fire on thousands of peaceful protesters during demonstrations in the region. Authorities in Pakistan have not confirmed the reported death toll or allegations in the same terms.

The reported restrictions on international media websites, along with concerns over internet access and media coverage during the unrest, have intensified discussions about transparency, press freedom, and the flow of independent information during periods of political instability.

–IANS

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Seoul, Aug 3 (IANS) South Korea and the United States on Monday launched a joint underwater excavation project in waters off the country’s eastern coast to find wreckage of US aircraft that went down during the 1950-53 Korean War, Seoul’s defence ministry said.

The project, which is scheduled to run through August 28, will take place in Gangneung and Yangyang in Gangwon Province, involving the ministry’s Agency for KIA Recovery & Identification and the US Defence POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA).

Some 40 people will be deployed for the project, including personnel from the South Korean Navy’s First Fleet and the Air Force’s 18th Fighter Wing, as well as US underwater planners and divers, according to the ministry.

The search will begin in waters off Yangyang County, about 215 kilometres east of Seoul, to find the wreckage of a US F4U Corsair fighter aircraft. The fighter jet crashed while conducting an escort mission of another damaged US attack aircraft in February 1952, leaving one pilot dead, records showed.

The research team will then focus on retrieving the wreckage of US military transport aircraft, known as the Curtiss C-46 Commando, which went down in the Gangneung area, about 170 kilometres east of Seoul, in October and November 1952, on two separate occasions, reports Xinhua news agency.

The incident left a total of 17 people missing from the plane crash in the first case, whereas two people were found dead and seven others missing in the November plane crash.

The joint survey team plans to conduct the search using underwater detector equipment and maritime unmanned systems, and deploy divers or remote sensing devices to inspect the scene upon finding the remains.

Seoul and Washington have made joint efforts to find the remains of US soldiers killed during the conflict after signing an agreement to conduct such excavations in 2011.

–IANS

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Cairo, Aug 3 (IANS) A magnitude 5.5 earthquake struck northeast of Sharm el-Sheikh early Monday, Egypt’s National Research Institute of Astronomy and Geophysics said.

The earthquake occurred at around 3:00 a.m. local time (0000 GMT) at a depth of 10 km, with its epicentre located at 30.19 degrees north latitude and 32.61 degrees east longitude, according to the institute.

The institute said it had received reports that the tremor was felt by residents, “without any loss of life or property.” Xinhua correspondents also felt noticeable tremors in Cairo, the Egyptian capital.

Following the earthquake, Egypt’s Minister of Health and Population Khaled Abdel-Ghaffar ordered the immediate activation of the country’s health emergency plan and the convening of the ministry’s central crisis and emergency operations room.

The ministry raised the alert level to the highest at emergency and critical-care departments in hospitals nationwide and confirmed the readiness of ambulances and rapid-response teams.

It said the health situation remained stable, and no earthquake-related injuries had been reported.

Meanwhile, the Egyptian Red Crescent activated emergency plans in cities where the earthquake was felt and said it had received no reports of casualties or property damage.

Egypt lies close to active tectonic zones around the Gulf of Suez, the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aqaba, making the country susceptible to occasional moderate earthquakes, although most result in little to no damage.

Located in the Mediterranean Sea, where the African Plate slides beneath the Eurasian Plate, causing moderate to strong seismic activity felt in northern Egypt.

–IANS

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Seoul, Aug 3 (IANS) South Korea’s Navy said on Monday it carried out its first mine-sweeping trial using artificial intelligence (AI) technology and unmanned vessels, as it seeks to advance its future maritime operational capabilities.

The trial, jointly led by South Korean defence company Hanwha Systems, took place at a naval base in the southeastern port city of Busan, involving its 730-ton Ongjin minesweeper and spy drones, as well as two unmanned surface vehicles (USVs) and one autonomous underwater vehicle developed by Hanwha, the Navy said.

The hypothetical exercise began under the scenario that the Busan port was blockaded by enemy mines, reports Yonhap news agency.

Hanwha’s USVs are not equipped for minesweeping purposes, but they acted as if they were during this trial, as the vessels are expected to be upgraded with mine-clearing capabilities in the future, the Navy said.

The trial mission was directed by an “AI staff officer” system, which analysed weather and sea current conditions to guide the human commander on the Ongjin vessel and the two unmanned vessels.

Based on the report from the AI staff officer, the Ongjin and the unmanned ships set up search zones to locate simulated sea mines, while the spy drones simultaneously assessed the operational environment around the port.

The combat trial proved that combining AI-supported missions with manned and unmanned crew operations will be effective for future naval operations, the Navy said.

In a separate development, earlier in July, South Korea’s state arms procurement agency officially concluded a deal with Hanwha Ocean Co. to kick-start the development of a next-generation Navy destroyer, with the aim of delivering the lead ship to the Navy by 2032.

The Defence Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) said it inked the deal with Hanwha Ocean on detailed planning and construction of the lead ship for the Korea Destroyer Next Generation (KDDX) program.

–IANS

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Havana, Aug 3 (IANS) Cuba was hit by another nationwide blackout, the National Electric Union said.

The union said in a statement on social media that the country’s national power system experienced a total disconnection at 22:43 local time (0243 GMT) on Sunday.

A partial collapse of Cuba’s National Electric System left western provinces without electricity on Saturday, reports Xinhua news agency

Cuba has struggled to import fuel and repair its ageing power plants due to the impact of US sanctions, the statement said.

Since October 2024, Cuba has suffered several nationwide blackouts due to power facility failures, hurricanes and other factors.

Earlier on August 1, the National Electric Union said that the country was hit by a partial collapse of its national electric system affecting provinces from Matanzas to Pinar del Rio.

The union said in a statement that the incident occurred at 18:07 p.m. local time on Saturday, triggered by the tripping of transmission lines.

Additionally, a partial collapse of Cuba’s National Electric System left western provinces without electricity on Saturday.

In a brief statement on social media, the union said the failure occurred between the provinces of Matanzas and Pinar del Rio at 6:07 p.m. local time (2207 GMT) and was caused by transmission line trips.

Earlier in July, a 100-page report by the US State Department accused the Cuban government of playing a leading role in shaping “America’s most famous and influential extremist movements,” and of operating espionage and subversion networks on US soil.

Cuba rejected the report, saying it promotes a false narrative aimed at justifying Washington’s longstanding policy of aggression against the island country.

Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel said in a post on social media platform X that the report was promoted by “one of the most corrupt officials in the current administration, with proven ties to drug traffickers and terrorists in Florida.”

Diaz-Canel said the decades-long US embargo and the recent fuel ban were part of a policy intended to turn Cubans against their revolutionary government.

–IANS

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Seoul, Aug 3 (IANS) South Korea’s President Lee Jae Myung returned home on Monday from an 11-day overseas tour that included meetings with the heads of leading US tech firms and summits with the presidents of three South American nations.

The trip first took Lee to San Francisco, where he met with Nvidia Chief Executive Officer Jensen Huang and the heads of three other leading US tech companies to promote bilateral cooperation on artificial intelligence, reports Yonhap news agency.

During subsequent visits to Brazil, Chile and Argentina, Lee held summits with their presidents and agreed to strengthen bilateral cooperation in areas ranging from critical and strategic minerals to crude oil imports.

At his final stop in Frankfurt, he briefly met with members of the Korean community in Germany.

Back in Seoul, the president was scheduled to resume receiving policy briefings from government ministries and agencies, beginning with the trade, environment and labour ministries on Tuesday, followed by the foreign, defence and unification ministries the next day.

Additionally, the president was set to hold a special meeting with his aides later in the day to discuss recent issues related to the housing market and sharp fluctuations in the local stock market, according to the presidential office.

The closed-door meeting at Cheong Wa Dae will bring together Prime Minister Han Seong-sook, Finance Minister Koo Yun-cheol and other relevant ministers to discuss pressing issues in the real estate and stock markets.

The government has sought to revise the property tax system, tackle supply and demand issues in the housing market, and introduce measures related to single-stock leveraged exchange-traded funds, which have been blamed for heightened volatility in the stock market.

–IANS

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London, Aug 3 (IANS) A tanker reported hearing an explosion in close proximity to the vessel near the eastern entrance to the Strait of Hormuz, though both the vessel and its crew were reported safe, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said.

According to a UKMTO advisory on Sunday, the agency received the report from the vessel’s master at 20:37 GMT on Sunday. The master said the explosion was heard while the vessel was about 20 nautical miles northeast of Khasab, Oman.

The UKMTO advised vessels transiting the area to exercise caution and report any suspicious activity to the agency.

As tensions between the United States and Iran have escalated again, the UKMTO has reported a series of maritime security incidents in recent days, most of them occurring off Oman’s coast near the Strait of Hormuz, reports Xinhua news agency.

Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump said on Sunday (Washington time) that negotiations with Iran will begin Monday afternoon, noting that Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Qatar had asked the United States to call off planned strikes because “they think there’s a deal.”

“There’s a deal on (the Strait of) Hormuz, and then there will be a deal on the nuclear, or you might call it the denuclearisation of Iran,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One en route to Joint Base Andrews.

Claiming that Iran had also asked the United States to pull back the planned strikes, Trump said that “now what we’re doing is we’re talking to them in the form of a negotiation.”

Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud spoke on the phone with Trump on Saturday and “expressed concern and asked for clarity” about the proposed plan of action against Iran, a US official told news outlet Axios.

Pakistan, Qatar, the UAE, Türkiye and other countries have also called on the United States and Iran to de-escalate tensions and avoid further conflict.

–IANS

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Seoul, Aug 3 (IANS) South Korea’s main opposition People Power Party (PPP) on Monday called on President Lee Jae Myung to veto a recently passed bill aimed at abolishing the prosecution’s direct investigative powers.

PPP lawmakers made the appeal as they held a meeting of the party’s Supreme Council outside Cheong Wa Dae, slamming the bill as a measure that would only benefit criminals and undermine the rule of law.

“When the passage of the amendment to the Criminal Procedure Act abolishing the supplementary investigative authority was declared, the rule of law in South Korea was handed a death sentence,” PPP leader Jang Dong-hyeok said.

“This is a bill that only benefits criminals, including President Lee,” he added, noting that Lee’s own criminal trials are currently suspended.

Rep. Jang warned that public calls for Lee’s impeachment would grow stronger if he refuses to veto the bill, stressing that the legislation is opposed by a majority of the public, legal experts and even some ruling party lawmakers amid concerns it could weaken protection for victims.

Under the bill, the prosecution will be stripped of its authority to conduct direct investigations, including supplementary investigations. Prosecutors will instead be allowed to request judicial police officers to carry out supplementary investigations, reports Yonhap news agency.

The bill passed a plenary session last week in a 175-2 vote, despite protests from the PPP.

The revision is part of the ruling party’s broader prosecution reform drive aimed at dismantling the prosecution and creating two new agencies, tasked with handling investigations and indictments, respectively.

–IANS

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