Biden to name Indian-American as Slovakia envoy
US President Joe Biden is set to nominate career diplomat Gautam Rana as the new US Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Slovakia, the latest Indian-American to be named for a key position. In a statement, the White House announced the president’s intent to send Rana’s nomination for further ratification. A career member of the Senior Foreign Service, US – with rank of Counselor, Rana is currently Deputy Chief of Mission of the US embassy in Algeria and was the Charg d’Affaires ad interim there from August 2020 to February 2022. Earlier, Rana served as the Deputy Chief of Mission and Charg d’Affaires ad interim at the US Embassy in Ljubljana, Slovenia.
Indian peacekeepers attacked in Congo
An armed group launched an unprovoked attack on the MONUSCO (United Nations Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo) and the FARDC (Congolese Army) positions in Congo on May 22. MONUSCO has the Indian Army troops deployed in the country as part of a multilateral United Nations peacekeeping force. The Indian Army and troops of other nationalities under the UN flag fended off the attack by carrying out a coordinated resistance with the FARDC. The UNSC released a statement condemning the attack and called it a “deliberate attack targeting peacekeepers”. It added that such attacks may constitute war crimes under international law. The Indian Army troops have been contributing to the stabilisation of the strife-torn region in accordance with a UN mandate.
Blasts kill 14 people in Afghanistan
At least 14 people were killed and 32 others injured in four separate explosions that rocked Afghanistan’s capital Kabul and the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif, authorities said. Five people were killed and 17 others injured after a blast ripped through a mosque during prayers in Kabul’s Kolola Pushta locality, reports Xinhua news agency. The blast occurred when people were offering prayers in Hazrat-e-Zekria Mosque, police spokesman Khalid Zadran said in a tweet.
Taliban sign deal with UAE co to run Af airports
The Taliban announced a deal allowing an Emirati company to manage three airports in Afghanistan after the fall of the country’s US-backed government. But, UAE did not immediately acknowledge the deal. Under the deal, the Abu Dhabi-based firm GAAC Solutions would manage the airports in Herat, Kabul and Kandahar, Taliban said. They signed the deal with a person they identified as an MD for GAAC. Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, Taliban-appointed deputy PM described the arrangement as renewing an airport ground handling deal with UAE.
Af women demand work, education
About two dozen Afghan women chanting “bread, work, freedom” protested in the capital against the Taliban’s harsh restrictions on their rights. Since seizing power in August, the Taliban have rolled back the marginal gains made by women during the two decades of US intervention in Afghanistan. “Education is my right! Reopen schools!” chanted the protesters, many of them wearing face-covering veils, as they gathered in front of the ministry of education. Demonstrators marched for a few hundred metres before ending the rally as authorities deployed Taliban fighters in plain clothes. We wanted to read out a declaration but the Taliban didn't allow it. They took the phones of some girls,” said protester Zholia Parsi.
