Author: Himalaya Post

KABUL, Aug – Over 20,000 Afghan refugees had returned or been deported from neighboring Pakistan and Iran during the period of July 29-Aug. 4, the UN Migration Agency IOM reported Tuesday. A total of 19.513 Afghans have reportedly arrived in their homeland over the period from Iran, 5 percent less than the previous week, said IOM in a statement. Meanwhile, 954 Afghans have returned from Pakistan back home over the period. “This number marks a 700-percent increase compared to the previous week (137),” the statement noted. The IOM has provided post-arrival humanitarian assistance, including food and non-food items to the returnees. More than 463,000 Afghan refugees have returned to the poverty-stricken country from the two neighboring states since Jan. 1 this year, the statement said.  ...

WASHINGTON – The United States re-imposed a wave of tough, unilateral sanctions against Iran on Tuesday, bringing back into effect harsh penalties that had been lifted under a historic, multi-party nuclear agreement that President Donald Trump abandoned in May. The first of two rounds of US sanctions kicked in at 12:01 am (0431 GMT), targeting Iran’s access to US banknotes and key industries, including cars and carpets. Iranians are already seeing the effects of the sanctions, with Iran’s rial currency losing around half its value since Trump announced the US would withdraw from the 2015 nuclear accord. Trump’s contempt for the nuclear deal dates back to his time as presidential candidate and on May 8, he made good on a pledge to pull America out of the international agreement. He blasted the agreement yet again Monday, calling it a “horrible, one-sided deal (that) failed to achieve the fundamental objective of blocking all paths to an Iranian nuclear bomb.” The unilateral withdrawal came despite other parties to the agreement — Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the EU — pleading with Trump not to abandon the pact aimed at blocking Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon, and highlights the US leader’s go-it-alone style and his distaste for multilateral agreements. In an executive order Monday, Trump said the sanctions seek to pile financial pressure on Tehran to force a “comprehensive and...

CLEARLAKE OAKS, United States – Two blazes mercilessly charring northern California have grown so rapidly that they became the US state’s largest in recorded history Monday, authorities said. Collectively dubbed the Mendocino Complex, the wildfires have burned through 283,800 acres (114,850 hectares) — an area nearly the size of the sprawling city of Los Angeles — and are just 30 percent contained, according to state fire authority CalFire. Two people have died in the inferno. “Today a higher pressure system brought warmer weather, drying, and strong winds to the region,” CalFire said in an evening update. “Tonight fire crews will try to take advantage of the lower temperatures to increase suppression and hold current containment lines.” It was the second fire to break records in the fire-prone, most populous US state in as many years, following the Thomas Fire in December 2017, which stood at 281,893 acres. Further north in the state, the deadly Carr Fire has scorched more than 164,400 acres of land since July 23, and killed another seven people along the way. Its intensity was so great at one point, that it generated a tornado-like whirl of fire — as well as its own weather system. Authorities say it was triggered by the “mechanical failure of a vehicle” that caused sparks to fly in tinderbox-dry conditions. The fire has razed more than 1,600 buildings, including some...

SEOUL – South Korea is expected to resume a government-led humanitarian assistance program for North Korea, spurred by new related U.N. guidelines, an official said Tuesday. A year earlier, the government decided to provide the impoverished neighbor with $8 million worth of aid materials, such as nutritional products and vaccines through the World Food Program and UNICEF. But the move came to a halt amid increased tensions attributable to the North’s continued provocations. The budgets remain unused. The U.N. Security Council, however, approved a U.S. proposal on facilitating humanitarian assistance for the North reported to be suffering from a drop in food production and a hike in the number of malnourished people. Under the guidelines, endorsed by the panel in New York on Monday (local time), UN and other aid groups will be quickly granted a waiver of exemptions for operations in the North by the council committee that oversees the implementation of sanctions on the regime. “The provision of $8 million is what our government has promised,” the government official said, requesting anonymity. “It’s expected to pick up speed going forward.” The U.N.’s measure will also likely widen the room for Seoul to seek additional humanitarian aid for...

MINSK – Belarusian authorities on Tuesday detained at least three journalists during searches of the offices of two independent news websites over “unauthorised” access to the services of the country’s state news agency. The editors of Tut.by, Maria Zolotova and Anna Kaltygina, as well as BelaPAN journalist Tatiana Korovenkova were detained, the Belarusian Investigative Committee said in a statement. They are accused of “unauthorised access to computer information for reasons of personal gain,” it added. The statement said a criminal case was opened after state news agency BelTA complained of their failure to pay subscription fees. If found guilty, they face up to two years in prison. Tut.by said the editor of its “Society” section Ulyana Boboyed was also detained and added that “several other” employees were interrogated. Authorities said the websites made more than 15,000 “unauthorised connections” to BelTa, without the state news outlet’s “knowledge or consent.” “As a result of the committed crimes, BelTa suffered significant harm” and its “business reputation was harmed,” the Investigative Committee said. In July a Minsk court sentenced independent journalist Dzmitry Halko to four years in prison for allegedly assaulting a police officer. Belarus is ranked 155th out of 180 in this year’s Reporters Without Borders world press freedom index. President Alexander Lukashenko has ruled the ex-Soviet country, which shares borders with three EU member states, with an iron fist since...