Saur 12-1400 Sunday 02 May 2021 INo: 34- Vol: LIX I N T E R N A T I O N A L

IRR 1000 USD 01 GBP 01 INR 1000 PKR 1000 EUR 01 AED 01

AFN 77.62 AFN 106.87 AFN 1064 AFN 499 AFN 93.26 AFN 0.35 AFN 21.17

US says no ‘grand bar- Huge fire Hospital fire kills 18 in India as gain’ as Biden changes breaks out at Israel’s oil 402,000 COVID cases announced approach to N Korea refinery in US President Joe Biden will over its weapons programmes. explore diplomacy but not seek Psaki did not provide details any “grand bargain” with North of what the administration’s next Haifa Korean leader Kim Jong Un as he step might be beyond discussions A huge fire has broken out at embarks on a new approach to with allies. Biden met Japanese an oil refinery in the port city of pressuring Pyongyang to give up Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga Haifa in the occupied territories, its nuclear weapons and ballistic two weeks ago and is to meet with initial media reports citing a missiles, the White House said on South Korean President Moon cyberattack. Friday. Jae-in on May 21 at the White The Israeli media said the in- “Our goal remains the com- House. cident took place in one of the fa- plete denuclearisation of the Ko- The US had consulted with cilities at the BAZAN refinery in rean Peninsula,” Biden’s press South Korea throughout the poli- Haifa late Friday. secretary, Jen Psaki, told report- cy review process and Washing- ers. ton had informed Seoul of its con- The factory's emergency US policy will see “a calibrat- clusions in advance, the South team immediately began working ed, practical approach that is open Korean foreign ministry said. to extinguish the blaze and rescue to and will explore diplomacy” “The two countries will dis- forces were called to the site to with North Korea, she said. cuss the direction of North Korea gain control of the flames. The new approach follows a policy at the scheduled summit Israel's English-language dai- review of North Korea policy by and meeting of foreign ministers ly newspaper Jerusalem Post, cit- the incoming Biden administration in May and continue cooperation ing environment protection min- after three headline-grabbing meet- to have the North Korea-US talks istry, claimed that the fire at the BAZAN refinery had erupted as a result of a “damaged pipe in the CCR system,” and a report by Israel's Channel 12 television net- work said the control valve of one of the installation pipes had bro- ken. The Israeli paper said the fire has been put out and the plant has currently stopped supplying fuel to the oil facility in Haifa. The media outlets have, so far, provided no details about the A fire in a COVID-19 hospi- Television images showed a stuttering. and the emergence of potentially extent of the damage and the num- tal ward in western India killed 18 woman gasping for breath in her The state of Maharashtra said dangerous variants of the coro- ber of possible casualties. patients as the country grappling car while her family looked for a it will not be able to start on Sat- navirus. In an unprecedented incident with the world’s worst outbreak hospital bed on the outskirts of urday. Satyender Jain, the health US President Joe Biden spoke last week, Israel reported a mis- stepped up a vaccination drive for the capital . minister in New Delhi, said earli- Monday with Modi about the ings between Kim and former US resumed shortly.” sile blast near its highly-secretive all adults even though some states The 33-year-old woman could er this week the city does not have growing health crisis and pledged President Donald Trump failed to Last month, Moon urged Dimona nuclear facility. Tel Aviv say they do not have enough jabs. not find room at three hospitals enough doses to vaccinate people to immediately send assistance. make any progress in convincing Biden to engage directly with Kim claimed that the missile had land- India on Saturday set yet an- and died in the car on Friday, The between 18 and 44. This week, the US began deliver- Pyongyang to give up its weap- on denuclearisation, saying he ed in the Israeli-occupied territo- other daily global record with Times of India newspaper report- Australian residents and citi- ing therapeutics, rapid virus tests, ons. favoured “top-down diplomacy”. ries as a result of “errant” Syrian 401,993 new coronavirus cases, ed. The government on Saturday zens who have been in India will and oxygen to India, along with The policy of Barack Obama, Jenny Town, director of 38 anti-aircraft fire. taking its tally to more than 19.1 shifted its faltering vaccination be banned from entering some materials needed for India who refused serious diplomatic North, a Washington-based North A political commentator says million. Another 3,523 people campaign into high gear by saying as of Monday and those who dis- to boost its domestic production engagement with North Korea in Korea monitoring programme, the Syrian missile hit near the top- died in the past 24 hours, raising all adults 18 and over were getting obey will face fines and jail, gov- of COVID-19 vaccines. the absence of any steps by Py- said the broad strokes of the Biden secret Dimona nuclear site point- the overall fatalities to 211,853, their shots. Since January, nearly ernment officials said. The tem- Additionally, a team of pub- ongyang to reduce tensions, also policy sound good so far. ed to the Israeli regime’s vulnera- according to the health ministry. 10 percent of Indians have re- porary emergency determination, lic health experts was expected to made little impact. “Our policy “But the details will matter bility in the face of an asymmetri- Experts believe both figures are ceived one dose, but only 1.5 per- issued late on Friday, is the first be on the ground soon to help In- will not focus on achieving a grand greatly to assessing how success- cal war. an undercount. cent have received both, even time Australia has made it a crim- dian health officials move to slow bargain, nor will it rely on strate- ful the administration might be Analysts, however, cast The fire broke out in a COV- though India is one of the world’s inal offence for its citizens to re- the spread of the virus. gic patience,” Psaki said. North with this ‘new approach’. doubt on the regime’s account of ID-19 ward on the ground floor biggest producers of vaccines. turn home. The US, meanwhile, Other nations have also sent Korea, so far, has refused diplo- Not sure there’s much to say the incident and said the missile and was extinguished within an Some states already said they joined the growing list of coun- assistance, and the Indian air force matic entreaties from the Biden until we see more,” she said. had likely been fired towards the hour, police said. The cause was do not have enough doses for ev- tries restricting travel from India, airlifted oxygen containers from administration. Pyongyang wants There are ongoing concerns occupied territories by resistance being investigated. eryone. Even the ongoing effort the White House said, citing a dev- Singapore, Dubai and Thailand. the United States and its allies to that North Korea might return to groups in the region. It started around midnight in to inoculate people above 45 is astating rise in COVID-19 cases aljazeera lift economic sanctions imposed testing nuclear devices. presstv the intensive care ward of the Pa- tel Welfare Hospital, a designated COVID-19 facility, in Bharuch city, 185km (115 miles) north of President Putin: Russia hopes for full Covid: could state’s main commercial city, Ahmedabad. “Sixteen patients and two face jail or fines if they staff members have died in the fire. restoration of Iran deal in original format Twelve of them died due to fire and smoke,” said RV Chudasama, Russian President Vladimir condition. return from India a superintendent of police in Putin has expressed hope for the The Vienna negotiations, revitalization of the 2015 multi- which began in early April, has Bharuch. “Preliminary investiga- Australian citizens returning home from India could face up to five lateral agreement on Iran’s nucle- focused on the dispute between tion shows the fire was caused years in jail and fines after the government made the journey temporari- ar program within its original for- because of a short circuit.” Tehran and Washington, with the ly illegal. mat, amid a diplomatic process in Local news channels showed participants making efforts to end The health ministry said the ruling had been made "based on the footage of a hospital ward com- Vienna, Austria, aimed at having the row and keep the deal alive. proportion of people in quarantine who have acquired a Covid-19 in- pletely destroyed by the blaze. the United States rejoin the ac- Among the signatories, Rus- fection in India". Prime Minister Narendra cord. sia and China have been standing Earlier this week, Australia banned all flights from India. Modi said in a tweet he was Addressing a UN Security by Tehran’s argument that Wash- There are an estimated 9,000 Australians in India, 600 of whom are “pained by the loss of lives due Council session on Friday about ington should take the first step classed as vulnerable. to a fire at a hospital in Bharuch”. the developments in the Caspian back toward the deal by removing This will be the first time Australians have been criminalised for Thirty-one other patients at Sea region, Putin referred to the all the anti-Iran sanctions. returning to their country, Australian media report. the Welfare Hospital were rescued Vienna negotiations between Te- In an interview with France’s One doctor told ABC that the government's move was dispropor- by hospital workers and firefight- hran and the P4+1 group of signa- Le Monde daily, published on tionate to the threat posed by those returning from India. ers and their condition was sta- tories to the deal — France, Brit- Friday, Mikhail Ulyanov, the Rus- "Our families are quite literally dying in India overseas... to have ble, said police officer BM Par- ain, Russia, China plus Germany sian ambassador to Vienna-based absolutely no way of getting them out - this is abandonment," GP and — and said “many issues related including those in the Caspian re- tion mechanism stipulated in Ar- mar. international organizations, re- health commentator Dr Vyom Sharmer said. to the Iran nuclear program are gion,” Putin told the Council via ticle 36 of the deal, which allows On April 23, a fire in an inten- newed the call for the United From Monday, anyone who has been in India within 14 days of currently being addressed.” video link. a party to suspend parts of its their intended arrival date in Australia will be banned from entering the sive care unit killed 13 COVID- States to take the first step since 19 patients in the Virar area on The Russian leader described The JCPOA has been in dis- commitments in case of non-com- country. Iran as a neighbor in the Caspian array since May 2018, when the pliance by others. it was the Americans that created Failing to comply with the new ruling could result in a five-year jail the outskirts of . problems by their departure. Faced with an unprecedented Sea region, saying that the revival US under ex-President Donald With the election of new US sentence, an A$66,000 (£37,000) fine, or both. The decision will be of the nuclear deal — formally Trump unilaterally pulled out and President Joe Biden, the White Ulyanov criticized Washing- reviewed on 15 May, the health ministry said. surge in cases that has filled hos- ton for freezing Iranian assets pitals and crematoriums, Modi’s called the Joint Comprehensive imposed rounds of the “toughest House has criticized Trump’s Iran "The government does not make these decisions lightly," Health abroad as an “unlawful measure,” Minister Greg Hunt said in the statement. government described the pandem- Plan of Action (JCPOA) — will ever” sanctions on Iran, including policy and claimed it wants to saying it is time for the Biden ad- "However, it is critical the integrity of the Australian public health ic as a “once-in-a-century crisis”. help Moscow broaden its rela- the bans lifted by the deal and walk back Washington’s with- ministration to free Iran’s assets and quarantine systems is protected and the number of Covid-19 cases Modi held a cabinet meeting tions with Iran among the other those placed on the country un- drawal from the JCPOA. blocked in South Korea and Ja- in quarantine facilities is reduced to a manageable level." on Friday that discussed steps to Caspian Sea littoral countries. der new labels. Iran, however, says the US pan as a “good will” gesture. There's an inscription inside the front jacket of every Australian save the country’s crumbling “I hope that everything re- Washington also successfully must first remove all the Trump- The senior Russian diplomat passport. It calls for protection and assistance for citizens when they're health system by adding hospital lated to the JCPOA will be re- pressured the European trio in the era sanctions unconditionally and also expressed hope for a “diplo- in strife abroad. beds, resolving issues in vaccine stored to its initial state and we JCPOA not to help Iran neutral- verifiably in order to regain the will be able to build relations with ize the US sanctions as per their right to come back to the agree- matic success” in efforts to end "The Commonwealth of Australia… requests all those whom it production, storage and transport may concern to allow the bearer, an Australian citizen, to pass freely of oxygen, and tackling the short- all participants of the Caspian contractual obligations, prompt- ment. The Biden administration the stalemate over the Iran deal in club and implement all our plans, ing Tehran to resort to a retalia- has so far refused to meet that the weeks to come. without let or hindrance and to afford him or her every assistance and age of essential medicines. protection of which he or she may stand in need." bbc