Former Speaker of the House
The United States and other world powers as well as the United Nations have called for “de-escalation” of deadly confrontation between the Israeli military and Palestinian forces in a bid to avoid a “full-scale war” between the two nations.
As of this writing, there seemed to be no let-up in the exchanges of Israeli airstrikes and Hamas rocket bombardments which have killed and injured hundreds of people, including women and children, and destroyed properties on both sides.
Intensifying the predicament are the violent riots and bloody assaults between Arab and Jewish citizens in several cities in Israel.
Ayjaz Wani
On 20 December, Pakistan’s Minister for Defence Production Zubaida Jalal officially opened another border crossing point with Iran to facilitate trade and travel between the two historically-linked countries. The minister also inaugurated an immigration office at the new Gwadar-Ramdhan entry point, about 130 km from the strategic Chabahar port in Iran, being built by India. The crossing is suitably located for bilateral import and export of fruits, construction material, livestock and petroleum products.
The opening of this crossing was finalised during the visit of Iranian Foreign Minister Dr Javad Zarifto Pakistan on 12 November. As per the agreement, more border crossing points will be opened in the near future. Speaking on the occasion, the minister said that the opening of another international border crossing-point underlines the strengthening bilateral ties and increasing economic activities.
Trouble in Nepal
Sri Lanka Guardian
December 30, 2020
Prime Minister KP Oli and contender Prachanda indulge in a power tussle as China has aimed its salvage operation at maintaining unity in the NCP
by Ashok K Mehta
The vertical split in the Nepal Communist Party (NCP) was inevitable. After all, it was an artificial alliance of two ideological variants of Marxist-Leninist ideology and bitter rivalry between two unrelenting leaders Prachanda, who led the Maoists in the civil war and set the stage for transformation in Nepal, and Prime Minister KP Oli (United Marxist-Leninist) who created the tsunami of nationalism to sweep the polls on a largely anti-India sentiment. The merger of the two parties and power-sharing on the basis of votes won was at the root of the “two-and-a-half years each” agreement between Oli and Prachanda becoming untenable. The attempt at gluing fractures following multiple crises was also bound to fail.
Former Speaker of the House
News reports have it that the question/debate surrounding the actual height of Mount Everest, the world’s highest peak, has finally been resolved. It is 8,848.86 meters or 29,032 feet, the Nepali government announced a few days ago.
We remember undertaking a flight tour of Mount Everest a few years ago when we addressed a conference in Kathmandu hosted by the current Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli, who, for several years, was our colleague in the Standing Committee of our International Conference of Asian Political Parties (ICAPP).
Climbing the world’s tallest mountain is a death-defying adventure. We remember the Filipino people rejoicing and honoring our First Philippine Mount Everest Expedition (FPMEE) which made history in 2006 by reaching Mount Everest’s summit.