VIF Neighborhood News Digest: February 20, 2020

PAKISTAN

Number of suspects seeking relief in graft cases jumps to 100: Dawn
February 20, 2020

In less than 60 days, the number of graft suspects seeking relief under the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Amendment Ordinance 2019 has jumped to 100, it emerged on Wednesday. A number of former bureaucrats and key politicians have sought disposal of their cases, including some known corruption cases, under the ordinance, reveals an official document, a copy of which is available with Dawn. Click here to read... [2]

AFGHANISTAN

EU Congratulates Ghani on Election Outcome: Tolo
February 20, 2020

The European Union’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy/Vice-President of the European Commission, Josep Borrell, on Wednesday called Afghanistan’s president Ashraf Ghani to congratulate him on the outcome of the electoral process, a press release issued from the EU in Brussels said on Wednesday. “EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy/Vice-President of the European Commission, Josep Borrell, called the President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, Ashraf Ghani, today to congratulate him on the outcome of the electoral process,” the press release read. Click here to read... [3]

BANGLADESH

PM Sheikh Hasina offers airport, seaport facilities to Nepal: Dhaka Tribune
February 20, 2020

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Wednesday offered Bangladesh’s airport and seaport facilities to Nepal as part of Dhaka’s commitment for regional connectivity for shared prosperity as Nepal's visiting Foreign Minister Pradip Kumar Gyawali called on her at the Prime Minister's Office. "Bangladesh has always been giving priority to neighbouring states in terms of cooperation,” premier’s press secretary Ihsanul Karim quoted her as saying in a media briefing after the call on. Click here to read... [4]

MYANMAR

China keen to invest in Dawei SEZ: Myanmar Times
February 20, 2020

A state-owned Chinese firm has expressed interest to invest in the planned Dawei Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Tanintharyi Region, U Myint San, vice chair of Dawei SEZ Management Committee, told The Myanmar Times. The Myanmar government has yet to respond to the Chinese, given that talks to develop the SEZ with Italian-Thai Development Company Ltd (ITD) as well as the Thai and Japanese governments are at advanced stages. However, analysts aren’t ruling out the possibility. Click here to read... [5]

NEPAL

Majority of human rights violations in past year involved women, report says: The Kathmandu Post
February 20, 2020

Women continue to suffer disproportionately from human rights violations in Nepal, according to an annual report released by the Informal Sector Service Centre, a human rights organisation. Nepal Human Rights Year Report 2020 shows that around 80 percent of victims of human rights violations last year by both state and non-state actors were women. Cases of rights violations also jumped 23 percent in just a year, from 5,11o in 2018 to 6,642. Click here to read... [6]

BHUTAN

Two Houses at loggerheads over unnatural sex provisions: Kuenselonline
February 20, 2020

National Assembly (NA) rejected the National Council’s (NC) recommendation on section 213 and 214 that criminalise unnatural sex and its grading in the Penal Code while re-deliberating the Penal Code Amendment Bill yesterday. Home Minister Sherub Gyeltshen alone was in support of the recommendations. In what seemed to be a stern move, most of the MPs said that NC’s recommendation was unclear and baseless, citing that one way or the other, the sections criminalised lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and the queer community. Click here to read... [7]

Sri Lanka

Not an offence to earn a living by prostitution: Fort Magistrate: Daily Mirror
February 20, 2020

Fort Magistrate Ranga Dissanayake acquitting a woman arrested in a brothel on charges of prostitution said it was not considered an offence in Sri Lanka for a woman to earn a living through prostitution but however it was an offence to operate a brothel. Click here to read... [8]

CHINA

Chinese state councilor meets ASEAN secretary-general, Philippine, Singapore FMs on coronavirus fight: Xinhuanet
February 20, 2020

Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi met ASEAN Secretary-General, Philippine and Singaporean foreign ministers here on Wednesday night to discuss the joint combat against the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) epidemic. Click here to read... [9]

Global health experts condemn virus conspiracy against Chinese scientists: People's Daily
February 20, 2020

In an open letter published in the British medical journal Lancet on Tuesday, a group of health experts from across the world condemned conspiracy theories surrounding the contagious novel coronavirus, which broke out in Central China's Wuhan, and voiced support for Chinese health workers. Click here to read... [10]