Author: Himalaya Post

KABUL – At least 45 Afghan security force members were killed after Taliban militants stormed a joint military camp in northern Baghlan province overnight, reported local media Tolo News TV on Wednesday. The brazen attack occurred at midnight after hundreds of Taliban militants attacked Allahuddin Base in Baghlan-e-Markazi district of the province, 160 km north of Kabul, triggering heavy clashes lasting for hours, the report quoted a provincial security source as saying. Those among the killed were 35 army soldiers and 10 Afghan Local police personnel, the report said.At least five soldiers were injured and eight local policemen went missing after the fighting. The Taliban seized several military vehicles, weapons and ammunition after the seizure of the camp. This is the second attack against Afghan security forces this week. On Monday, 17 Afghan army soldiers were killed, 15 injured and five others were captured by Taliban after the militants overran a military base in northern Faryab province. Fighting has escalated in Afghanistan as the Taliban insurgency spreads from its traditional strongholds in the south and east to the once peaceful region in the north, where Taliban have been recruiting from among the...

SEOUL –  Russian President Vladimir Putin is ready to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un “at an early date”, the North’s state media reported Wednesday, amid a rapid diplomatic thaw on the peninsula. Putin invited Kim and the South’s President Moon Jae-in in June to an economic forum in Vladivostok next month although it is not known whether the North Korean leader responded to the invitation. In a message to Kim on the North’s National Liberation Day — marking the end of Japanese rule over Korea at the end of the Second World War — Putin reiterated his intention for a summit. “I affirm that I am ready to meet you at an early date to discuss urgent issues of bilateral relations and important matters of the region,” Putin said in a message carried by the North’s official Korean Central News Agency. The message did not offer a specific date for the meeting.Putin expressed hopes to further develop “reciprocal cooperation including the realisation of the tripartite project” that would also involve South Korea. Kim also sent a message to Putin, KCNA reported, noting the “valuable tradition” of their joint wartime struggle against Japan was the “strong roots” of their bilateral relations.The message gave no response to Putin’s invitation, although KCNA did not make it clear if Kim’s message came before or after the letter from Moscow. The...

BEIJING – China has blasted US tariffs on solar panel imports, filing a complaint at the World Trade Organization in the latest salvo of the trade battle between the world’s two economic giants. US President Donald Trump approved steep tariffs on solar panel imports in January to protect US producers, triggering an outcry from China, South Korea and even protests from the US solar industry. China’s commerce ministry accused Washington of erecting trade barriers while subsidising its domestic industry. “While taking protectionist measures against imported photovoltaic products, the US provided subsidies to domestically produced photovoltaics and other renewable energy products,” the ministry said in a statement. China lodged its challenge at the WTO on Tuesday, the statement said. The US subsidies have given an unfair advantage to domestic companies and “damaged the legitimate rights and interests of China’s renewable energy companies,” it said. Beijing said the US measures are suspected of violating trade rules and that it would turn to the WTO’s dispute resolution mechanism to protect its interests. Trump’s tariffs were not popular with the US solar industry, which claimed the rising cost of imports would cause the loss of thousands of jobs.Imports of cheap Chinese panels helped triple US annual solar electricity generation between 2012 and 2016. But they also drove prices down by 60 percent, causing most US producers to stop production or declare bankruptcy, the...

VIENNA – Austria has rejected the asylum application of an Afghan claiming to be gay because he did not “act” or “dress” like a homosexual, according to a media report. An official in Lower Austria state found no grounds for fear of persecution based on the sexual orientation of the 18-year-old, the Falter weekly newspaper reported. “The way you walk, act or dress does not show even in the slightest that you could be homosexual,” the official reportedly wrote in his assessment rejecting the claim. The official also found “potential for aggression” which “wouldn’t be expected from a homosexual”, because the man fought with others in the charity accommodation that houses them.The Afghan reportedly had few friends and liked spending time alone or in small groups, leading the official to question in his report: “Aren’t homosexuals rather social?” The official rejected the statement that the Afghan had kissed straight men, saying he would have been beaten if he had done so, the Falter reported. The Afghan had said he became aware of his sexuality when he was 12 years old, but the official found that was “rather early” and so not likely, particularly in a society like Afghanistan “where there is no public sexual stimulation through fashion and advertisement”. The Afghan, who came to Austria alone as a minor, is appealing the decision, the Falter said.Austria’s interior ministry said...

HARARE –  Zimbabwe’s ruling ZANU-PF party on Wednesday filed a counter-petition challenging the opposition’s court bid to overturn election results that gave a narrow victory to incumbant Emmerson Mnangagwa. ZANU-PF submitted its papers to the Constitutional Court, which is considering an appeal by the opposition MDC party alleging that the election was rigged in favour of Mnangagwa, Robert Mugabe’s former vice president. The Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) has accused ZANU-PF and the election commission of ballot fraud in the July 30 vote, Zimbabwe’s first poll since the ousting of Mugabe in November. “We have filed our papers opposing the petition filed by the MDC,” Paul Mangwana, a ZANU-PF spokesman and member of the legal team, told AFP. “It’s now up to the court to decide.”Mnangagwa narrowly won the presidential race with 50.8 percent of the vote — just enough to avoid a run-off against the MDC’s Nelson Chamisa, who scored 44.3 percent. Mnangagwa’s inauguration – which has been planned for last Sunday — was postponed until the court makes its ruling. Mnangagwa had vowed the elections would be free and fair, and would turn a page on Mugabe’s repressive 37-year rule.The election was marred by the army opening fire on protesters, killing six, allegations of vote-rigging and a crackdown on opposition activists. Analysts say that MDC’s legal challenge has little chance of success given the courts’ historic tilt...