In a welcome decision towards better inter-Korean ties, North Korea went forward in time by 30 minutes on Saturday (May 05), to match its clocks with those of the South Korea.

The “symbolic move” followed last week’s inter-Korean summit.

According to media reports, the time-resetting is the first practical step taken after the historic third north-south summit meeting to speed up the process for the North and the South to become one.

It may be recalled that Kim Jong Un had promised the move during the meeting at Panmunjom in the Demilitarized Zone that divides the peninsula, when he and the South’s President Moon Jae-in pledged to pursue denuclearisation and a peace treaty.

Hindusthan Samachar/Shri Ram Shaw

The leaders of Pakistan’s Shia Hazara community on Wednesday agreed to call off their protest over a recent spate of targeted killings in Quetta city following a meeting with Chief of the Army Staff Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa.

Bajwa arrived in the city late Tuesday night and held a meeting with representatives of the Hazara community that has been hit badly by the incidents of targeted killing, reports Dawn news.

According to the Inter-Serv�ices Public Relations, the meeting was also attended by Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal.

Iqbal had reached Quetta on Monday to persuade the community leaders to call off the�ir protest but they refused unless Gen Bajwa held a meeting with them.

Earlier, the Majlis Wahdatul Muslimeen (MWM) wrote a letter to Gen Bajwa, asking him to intervene to halt the killings, reports Dawn news.

The letter said the organised sectarian cleansing of Hazara people was going on in Balochistan and there was an immediate need to stop it without further delay.

Christians and members of other minority communities in the province were also becoming targets of terrorist attacks, it added.

He alleged that terrorists openly claimed that they were involved in the killing of Hazaras, but no action was not being taken.

According to the Human Rights Watch (HRW), there were four attack against the Hazaras in April.

At least 509 members of the Hazara community have been killed and 627 injured in militant attacks in Quetta over the last five years, according to a March report by Pakistan’s National Commission on Human Rights.

The roughly half million Hazara living in Balochistan were particularly vulnerable, because of their distinctive East Asian ethnic features as well as Shia religious affiliation, the HRW said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping have reached a ‘broad consensus’ during their informal summit in Wuhan, the Chinese Foreign Ministry has said in a statement released early on Monday morning.

The statement, which seemed to be a reproduction of a report in the state-owned news agency Xinhua, said the two leaders had agreed to maintain “strategic communication” at various levels and that they had the “maturity” to “properly manage and control” their differences. The informal summit between Modi and Xi has been seen as a thaw in relations between the Asian giants since the Doklam standoff.

For China, the meeting held another significance. Beijing has, in peak irony for international relations, emerged as the loudest proponent of globalisation and open trade. This unlikely thing has happened due to the rising protectionism in the West combined with the fact that these countries are the top markets for China. The Modi-Xi meet was expected to help affirm that India stands by China in its newfound role as the defender of free markets.

Here is the text of the statement put out on the Modi-Xi meeting by China’s Foreign Ministry:

“Both sides share the view that the international landscape is undergoing profound changes, the relative power of countries is heading towards greater balance, and peace and development represent an irreversible trend. One the other hand, the world is faced with rising instability and uncertainty. China and India, as celebrated civilizations, the two biggest developing countries and two emerging economies each with a population of over one billion, are important countries with strategic autonomy. A peaceful, stable and balanced relationship between China and India is an important positive factor for the stability of the world. The two countries will work together to enhance stable and balanced development of major-country relations, advance stability, development and prosperity of Asia in the 21st century, promote the rejuvenation of the oriental civilization and make a positive contribution to global peace and development.

Both sides take the view that China and India are neighbors, friends and partners. The development of both China and India is a prevailing trend of history and offers important opportunities to each other. Both China and India stand for an independent policy of peaceful development. Both sides agree that the two countries will continuously enhance mutual trust, carry forward the fine norms enshrined in the Five Principles of Peaceful Co-existence, a stellar example of joint initiatives by the two countries, and blaze a broad path of friendly cooperation between two great neighboring countries, a path that can best meet the needs of the times.

Both sides agree to advance all-round cooperation and strengthen the China-India Closer Developmental Partnership in an equal-footed, mutually beneficial and sustainable manner to support their national modernization. Guided by the leaders of the two countries, they will strengthen dialogue in political, security and other areas to have full and timely communication on major issues of mutual interest to enhance understanding and expand consensus so that the China-India relationship will always keep to the right direction. They will tap into the full potential of business and investment cooperation, set new targets, harness positive forces, and explore new ways of cooperation to achieve win-win results. Building on the profound cultures of the two great oriental civilizations and harnessing the rich human resources of their combined population of 2.6 billion, the two sides will work to create a new boom in cultural exchanges by promoting people-to-people links and unleashing the vitality of the two emerging economies. For this to happen, the two sides agree to establish a high-level cultural and people-to-people exchange mechanism.

Both sides agree to properly manage and control their differences. Both sides have the maturity and wisdom to handle their differences through peaceful discussion and by respecting each other’s concerns and aspirations. They agree to use the Special Representatives’ Meeting on the Boundary Question to seek a fair, reasonable and mutually acceptable settlement. The two militaries will strengthen confidence-building measures and enhance communication and cooperation to uphold border peace and tranquility.

Both sides agree to promote more active regional and international cooperation. They agree to join hands in offering innovative and sustainable solutions to global challenges such as epidemics, natural disasters, climate change and terrorism. As two major countries in Asia, China and India will use their political influence and economic power to reinvigorate regional economic development. The two countries will work together to make international relations more democratic, increase the representation and say of developing countries and emerging markets, support the multilateral trading regime, oppose protectionism and work for an open, inclusive, balanced and win-win economic globalization that benefits all.

Both sides agree to instruct their competent departments to work out specific plans and measures to implement the above consensus, and, building on the informal summit, endeavor to open new prospects in China-India relations.

Both sides agree that the leaders of the two countries will continue to maintain strategic communication in various forms.”

US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) repelled a Syrian government attack on a string of villages along the Euphrates River in the eastern Deir Az Zor province.

A statement by the Kurdish-led SDF said on Sunday its fighters mounted a counter-offensive against troops loyal to President Bashar al-Assad, adding they were driven “far away” from the villages they had momentarily captured earlier in the day.

Syria’s official announced on Sunday that Syrian government forces seized four villages east of the Euphrates River.

A US army statement sent to Reuters news agency confirmed the attack on SDF forces by what it called “pro-regime forces” near Deir Az Zor city, and said the “coalition used established de-confliction channels to de-escalate the situation”, without elaborating.

“The coalition remains committed to our SDF partners in the campaign to defeat Daesh [Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant] in eastern Syria,” the statement said.

US air support?
The SDF statement, however, did not specify if the US coalition partook in the military operation. US forces have established a strong presence in eastern Syria, where much of the country’s oil and gas reserves are located.

A Western diplomatic source told Reuters that US coalition fighter jets participated in the counter-offensive against the Syrian troops, which included Iran-backed militias operating in the area. This was later confirmed by an SDF source.

The SDF, led by the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), have assumed control of much of the territory east of the Euphrates since its recapture from ISIL.

The two sides have rarely clashed with one another as much of the attention had been directed at defeating ISIL, which dominated much of the area since it declared its caliphate in 2014.

Avoiding confrontation
The Russian-backed Syrian army has avoided direct confrontation with SDF forces in its campaign against ISIL and kept away from their areas east of the Euphrates, focusing on regaining territory from ISIL fighters west of the river.

Syrian civil war map: Who’s in control where
Earlier in February, US air strikes resulted in the death and injury of hundreds of pro-government forces, including Russian defence contractors who were advancing towards one of the largest SDF-controlled gas fields in the city of Deir Az Zor.

SDF forces accuse the Syrian government of attempting to disrupt US attempts to resume an imminent offensive against ISIL in several areas along the Euphrates River that are still under the group’s control.

US Defence Secretary Jim Mattis said on Thursday his country was looking to “re-energise” efforts against ISIL fighters in eastern Syria in the coming days.

Washington has said in recent days SDF soldiers were returning to the area to launch new operations aimed at defeating the armed group.

Meanwhile, SANA reported on Sunday that a deal had been reached for the evacuation of the Palestinian refugee camp of Yarmouk, where ISIL fighters have been holed up in southern Damascus.

The transfer of “terrorist groups” to rebel-held areas of northwestern Syria would begin on Monday, said SANA, without naming ISIL. There was no confirmation from armed groups in the area.

Syrian government forces continue to launch air strikes on ISIL-held pockets in Hajar al-Aswad, one of the neighbourhoods of the besieged Palestinian refugee camp.

ALJAZEERA

At least 21 people, including six journalists, have been killed and dozens wounded after two explosions hit Kabul, according to Afghan health officials.

The blasts went off during rush hour on Monday morning in the Shash Darak area of the Afghan capital.

In the first explosion, a suicide bomber detonated himself close to the National Directorate of Security (NDS), the main Afghan intelligence agency, TOLO News quoted an interior ministry spokesman as saying.

In another explosion that followed 20 minutes later, a second suicide bomber targeted emergency medical workers and journalists who had arrived at the scene, Al Jazeera’s Jennifer Glasse, reporting from Kabul, said.

Glasse said six journalists who rushed to cover the aftermath of the first explosion were killed in the second blast.

A spokesperson for the Afghan health ministry said the attacks killed at least 21 people and wounded 27 others.

AFP news agency reported that its chief photographer in Kabul, Shah Marai, was among the fatalities.

An Al Jazeera photographer was also injured in the incident.
TOLO News also reported that two other journalists were wounded in the second blast.

There were fears that the death toll could rise.

“It’s a very grim morning here,” Al Jazeera’s Glasse said describing the situation in the Afghan capital.

She added that there are many fortified streets near the site of the attack.

“There’s a lot of security in that area – it’s not far from NATO headquarters – and security has been beefed up around the Afghan capital, but clearly they haven’t been able to stop these kind of attacks.”

The explosions on Monday come just a week after a blast hit a voter registration centre in Kabul, killing at least 57 people and wounding more than a hundred others.

Attacks have multiplied in recent days in advance of the long-delayed parliamentary and district council elections scheduled for October 20 this year.

“The series of attacks here in Kabul have made the Afghan capital most dangerous place in Afghanistan to be,” Al Jazeera’s Glasse said.

ALJAZEERA

Vow to work hard to resolve Rohingya crisis

After concluding their three-day visit to Bangladesh, delegation of UN Security Council diplomats, comprising representatives from the five permanent Security Council members and 10 non-permanent member states, will now leave for Myanmar soon.

They have promised to work hard to resolve a crisis involving hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims who have fled to the country to escape military-led violence in neighboring Myanmar.

The diplomats, who visited the sprawling camps and border points in Bangladesh on Sunday where about 700,000 Rohingya have taken shelter, said their visit is an opportunity to see the situation first hand. Though they warned that there are no simple solutions to the crisis, talked to some 120 refugees, including rape victims.

Hindusthan Samachar/Shri Ram Shaw

Kim Jong-un makes history by crossing into South Korea for landmark inter-Korean summit. Follow the latest updates.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un made history on Friday as he crossed into South Korea to hold talks with President Moon Jae-in.

It is the first time a North Korean leader has set foot in its southern neighbour since the end of the Korean War.

The two are holding talks in the demilitarised zone as part of the first inter-Korea summit in more than a decade. The meeting is expected to centre on the denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula and a permanent peace deal between the two countries.
Russia, Japan respond to inter-Korea summit
The Kremlin has hailed the meeting between Kim and Moon. “This is very positive news,” President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said he expected North Korea to take concrete steps towards carrying out its promises. He added Japan was “absolutely not” being left out of the denuclearization process and that he would stay in close contact with the US and South Korea.
Kim says Koreas are ‘one nation’ in joint statement
“There is no reason why we should fight each other – we are one nation,” North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said in a joint statement with his South Korean counterpart Moon Jae-in.
After delivering their statement, the leaders met their wives Ri Sol-ju and Kim Jung-sook for a banquet.
Moon, Kim pledge to sign peace treaty this year
Moon Jae-in and Kim Jong-un signed a three-part declaration in the Peace House, pledging to sign a peace treaty to formally end the war between North and South Korea this year.
The declaration says the countries will work towards the “complete denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula,” but does not provide any specific measures.
By May 1, loudspeaker broadcasts and distribution of propaganda leaflets will be stopped, the declaration says.
North and South Korea will also pursue talks which will include the United States and potentially China.
The declaration states that the Koreas will work towards reunification and establish a communications post in Kaesong, North Korea. The countries will also organise a family reunion to be held on August 15.
Moon will visit North Korea in autumn.
For more measures the leaders agreed on, go here for a summary published by South Korean news agency Yonhap.

Kim and Moon embrace each other after signing the “Panmunjom Declaration” [Korea Summit Press Pool via The Associated Press]
Rallies in Paju
Anti-North Korea protests have been taking place in Paju, South Korea, with demonstrators demanding Moon cancels the summit.
There’s also been a rally in support of the summit with a large crowd watching the meeting unfold and waving flags with a map of a unified Korean Peninsula on it.

South Koreans shout slogans during a rally opposing the summit in Paju, South Korea [Lee Jin-man/AP]
‘Peace and prosperity’ tree
Kim’s limousine, once again flanked by jogging bodyguards in suits, returned to a site close to the military demarcation line at 4:30pm (7:30 GMT).
He met Moon for a ceremony in which both leaders scooped soil from both from Mount Hallasan in South Korea and Mount Paektu in the North on a commemorative pine tree.
The pair unveiled a stone marker which reads “Planting peace and prosperity” as well as the leaders’ names and official titles.
Moon and Kim are slated to have a second session in which they will try and iron out a final declaration, to be announced later today before their joint banquet.
Reporting from Paju, South Korea, Al Jazeera’s James Bays said “Particularly those in Washington, DC want to see that there’s real progress and a real willingness from the North Korean side to engage on all issues and of course the most important one for the US … is a North Korean willingness to give up their nuclear weapons and their long-range missiles.”

Kim and Moon scooped soil from both sides of the border on a ‘peace and prosperity’ pine tree [Korea Summit Press Pool/AP]

After the tree-planting ceremony, Moon and Kim talked one-on-one [Korea Summit Press Pool via Reuters]
‘Serious, frank’ talks
Moon and Kim had “serious, frank” discussions on denuclearising the Korean Peninsula and attaining permanent peace, a South Korean official told a briefing.
The official, Yoon Young-chan, said the leaders are writing a joint statement which will be announced when it is finished.
He added Kim’s wife Ri Sol-ju would join the leaders for dinner.
Seoul said Kim told Moon: “We won’t interrupt your sleep any more,” referring to missile tests.
First meeting ends
Moon and Kim concluded their first meeting at 12:00pm (3:00 GMT), with Kim returning to the North in a black limousine surrounded by jogging bodyguards to have lunch.
The leaders will return to the negotiating table in the afternoon after planting a memorial tree at the demarcation line. The tree will be planted with soil from both the North and the South, and watered with water from the North’s Taedong River and the South’s Han River.

Bodyguards jog alongside Kim Jong-un’s limousine as he returns north for lunch [Korea Summit Press Pool via The Associated Press]
Talks start in the Peace House
Moon and Kim started their first round of talks at 10:20am (1:20 GMT) in the Peace House. In a guest book entry, Kim wrote “A new history begins now”.
In his opening remarks, Kim said he hoped for talks that are “honest, frank and with intent”. “I hope that there is new history written with regards to peaceful prosperity and I will approach this with the feeling of a brand new start,” the North Korean leader said.
Moon noted there is “immense expectation” for the meeting. “Let’s approach this discussion boldly and wishing for peace. I would like to give something very big to the people watching us. We have all day to talk and let’s do so and make up for the 10 years that we have let pass,” he said.

Sitting to the left of Kim Jong-un is his sister Kim Yo-jong, who visited South Korea during the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics in February [ Korea Summit Press Pool via Anadolu]
Kim Jong-un crosses military demarcation line
In the first summit between the two countries since 2007, Kim crossed the military demarcation line at 9:30am (0:30 GMT) on Friday for a meeting in Panmunjom’s Peace House.
Moon briefly stepped into the North as well, in an unscripted moment and at the invitation of Kim.
It is only the third time leaders of the two Koreas have met since an armistice agreement ended the Korean War in 1953, and the first time a summit has taken place in the South.
The truce is still in force and Kim and Moon were expected to discuss a more permanent peace treaty on Friday.
In their first encounter, the leaders seemed relaxed and were smiling. But, said Al Jazeera’s James Bays, an historic handshake does not necessarily lead to peace: “We have not seen anything actually change in terms of any of the policies, in terms of the agreement … It doesn’t necessarily mean we have a breakthrough.”

UN rights chief decries Israel’s excessive use of force in Gaza
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein has condemned Israel’s use of “excessive force” against Palestinian protesters, saying its security forces must be held to account for the many deaths and injuries sustained by Palestinians in the past month.

“The loss of life is deplorable, and the staggering number of injuries caused by live ammunition only confirms the sense that excessive force has been used against demonstrators – not once, not twice, but repeatedly,” Zeid said.

In the past four weeks, 42 Palestinians had been killed and over 5,500 injured along the fence in Gaza, with no reports of Israeli casualties.

Four Palestinians killed by Israeli forces
Palestinian officials say the death toll on Friday has risen to four, with Mohammed Ibrahim Ayyoub, a 15-year-old from Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip, joining the growing list of fatalities.

Ashraf al-Qidra, spokesperson for Gaza’s health ministry, added that at least 729 Palestinians, including 45 children, had been wounded by Israeli forces.

The other three victims were identified as Ahmed Rashad, 24, Ahmed Abu Aqil, 25, and Saad Abdul Majid Abdul-Aal Abu Taha, 29.
Yahya Sinwar makes rare public appearance at protest site
Yahya Sinwar, the leader of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, has made a rare public appearance at a protest near Gaza City.

Freed in a 2011 prisoner swap with Israel after more than 20 years in jail, Sinwar told the crowd of protesters that they would “march on Jerusalem.”

The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) members will leave for Bangladesh $@$# Myanmar from New York late today (Friday, April 27) for a first-hand look at the plight of about seven lakhs Rohingya Muslims.

They will see the situation on the ground in a very desperate case of alleged human rights violations and abuses and crimes against humanity.
They have scheduled to arrival at Cox’s Bazaar in southern Bangladesh on Saturday (April 28), where the Rohingya who fled a military crackdown in Myanmar are now living in camps.
They also will visit the Bangladesh capital, Dhaka and Myanmar’s capital, Naypyitaw, for talks with government officials before travelling to Rakhine on Tuesday. Several hundred thousand remain in the country’s northern Rakhine State.

Hindusthan Samachar/Shri Ram Shaw

US president says wealthy Middle East countries must foot the bill for US presence in Syria and deploy their own troops.

US President Donald Trump has said that some “immensely wealthy” countries in the Middle East have to pay for American protection and deploy their own troops in Syria.

Speaking at a news conference with French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday, Trump said these countries “wouldn’t last a week” without US support.

“Countries that are in the area, some of which are immensely wealthy, would not be there except for the United States, and to a lesser extent France,” Trump said.

“They wouldn’t be there except for the United States. They wouldn’t last a week. We are protecting them. They have to now step up and pay for what is happening.”

Trump did not name the countries but stressed that “they will pay” before adding that “they will also put soldiers on the ground”.

Trump seemed to backtrack on an earlier decision to withdraw US forces from Syria, when he stressed on Tuesday that it was important not to allow Iran grow its influence in the region.

“As far as Syria is concerned, I would love to get out. I’d love to bring our incredible warriors back home. They’ve done a great job …”

“With that being said, Emmanuel and myself have discussed the fact that we don’t want to give Iran open season, especially since we really control it.”

Saudi Arabia: ‘Qatar has to pay’
In response to Trump’s remarks, Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubair said Qatar should pay for US presence in Syria.

“Qatar has to pay for US military presence in Syria and send its military forces there, before the US president cancels US protection of Qatar, which hosts a [US[ military base on its lands,” al-Jubeir said in a statement carried by the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA) on Thursday.

Al-Jubai said the “[Qatari] regime would fall there in less than a week” if the US pulls its troops out of Qatar.

There are currently more than 9,000 US soldiers, most of them from the Air Force, and 100 military aircrafts at Al Udeid airbase, which lies about 30km west of Doha.

It is the main air operations centre for the US Central Command, with cargo aircrafts, strategic bombers, and aircraft refuellers.

Earlier in April, Trump said Saudi Arabia had to pay if it wanted US troops to remain in Syria.

“We’ve almost completed the task [of defeating ISIS] and will be making a decision very quickly in coordination with others in the area, as to what we will do,” Trump said at the time.

“Saudi Arabia is very interested in our decision and I said: ‘Well you know, you want us to stay? Maybe you are going to have to pay.'”

AL JAZEERA NEWS