Iran’s President-elect, Masoud Pezeshkian, has reaffirmed Tehran’s support for Syria during a phone call with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

During the call on Tuesday, the two sides discussed the future development of bilateral ties, according to the Iranian Students’ News Agency.

Pezeshkian highlighted the necessity to strengthen bilateral ties and implement the previously signed agreements between the two countries in line with their people’s interests, the report said.

Assad, for his part, said that the importance of the Syria-Iran ties, based on “mutual faithfulness and certain principles,” lies in the resistance against the colonial hegemony in a “tumultuous” region, Xinhua news agency reported.

Pezeshkian was announced as Iran’s next president last Saturday following his victory in a runoff against Saeed Jalili, a former chief nuclear negotiator. AGENCIES

 Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla will be leading an Indian Parliamentary Delegation (IPD) to the two-day 10th BRICS Parliamentary Forum meeting which begins in Russia’s St Petersburg on Thursday.

The forum is being held with the theme of ‘Role of Parliaments in Strengthening Multilateralism for Just Global Development and Security’.

The Indian delegation also includes Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman Harivansh, Rajya Sabha MP Shambhu Sharan Patel, Lok Sabha Secretary General Utpal Kumar Singh and Rajya Sabha Secretary General PC Modi, among other officials.

“Leading an IPD to the 10th BRICS Parliamentary Forum in St. Petersburg, Russia. Looking forward to strengthening inter-parliamentary cooperation with BRICS and the invitee countries. Eager to meet and connect with the vibrant Indian diaspora during this visit,” Birla posted on X.

The Lok Sabha Speaker is scheduled to hold bilateral meetings with Parliament Speakers of other countries at the sidelines of the event. He will also present India’s stance on relevant issues and meet Indian expatriates in Moscow.

Birla will present his views on two sub-topics during the plenary session- ‘BRICS Parliamentary Dimension- Possibilities of Strengthening Inter-Parliamentary Cooperation’ and ‘Role of Parliaments in Overcoming Threats Related to Fragmentation of the Multilateral Trading System and the Consequences of Global Crises’.

Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman Harivansh will also address the forum on two sub-topics during the plenary session – ‘Role of Parliaments in Increasing the Efficiency of the System of International Relations and Ensuring Its Democratisation’ and ‘Inter-Parliamentary Cooperation in Humanitarian and Cultural Fields’.

A joint statement will be passed at the conclusion of the summit.

Apart from the BRICS countries, which include four new members (Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates) since January, Speakers and Parliament Members from the other invited countries, including Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan with the Chairperson of the Inter-Parliamentary Union, Tulia Aksen will participate in the meetings of the BRICS Parliamentary Forum. AGENCIES

New Zealand Reserve Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee agreed to maintain the Official Cash Rate (OCR) at 5.5 per cent on Wednesday.

The Monetary Policy Committee expected New Zealand’s headline inflation to return to within the 1 to 3 per cent target range in the second half of this year, reports Xinhua news agency.

The restrictive monetary policy has significantly reduced consumer price inflation, the committee said in a statement.

The committee agreed that monetary policy will need to remain restrictive, the extent of which will be tempered over time consistent with the expected decline in inflation pressures.

The OCR influences the price of borrowing money in New Zealand, and the level of economic activity and inflation, it said.

The decline in inflation reflects receding domestic pricing pressures, as well as lower inflation for goods and services imported into New Zealand, the statement said.

Labour market pressures have eased, reflecting cautious hiring decisions by firms and an increased supply of labour. The level of economic activity, including business and consumer investment spending and investment intentions, is consistent with the restrictive monetary stance, it said.

Current and expected government spending will restrain overall spending in the economy. However, the positive impact of the pending tax cuts on private spending is less certain, it said. AGENCIES

Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar has reiterated the ruling government’s willingness to mend ties with its neighbours, including India.

Highlighting it as one of the priorities of his government’s foreign policy, Dar mentioned about the consistent stance on improving ties with its neighbours during a briefing to the Senate Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs.

“Pakistan cannot change its neighbours. Therefore, it would be better to improve relations with the existing ones,” said the Foreign Minister.

Talking about relations with Afghanistan, Dar said that while Pakistan wishes to have better bilateral relations, it cannot ignore the fact that the recent attack on Chinese citizens in Pakistan was planned from across the border.

“Pakistan seeks positive relations with Afghanistan. The attack on the Chinese was not just a terrorist attack.. It was an attempt to damage Pakistan-China relations. Two incidents have damaged Pakistan and Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) was involved in both incidents. We demand that Afghanistan expel the TTP,” he mentioned.

While Dar refrained from mentioning India, he has been calling for improvement of relations with the neighbouring country. His indirect hint towards willingness to de-escalate and normalise relations with India during the latest briefing is not the first time such an intent has been shared publicly.

After becoming the Foreign Minister of Pakistan, Dar had called on India to reopen business and trade relations through confidence-building measures and table talks.

Dar’s statements on better relations with India were reiterated on various occasions, highlighting the ruling government’s optimism towards paving the way to restart channels of engagement with India.

He again highlighted the importance of better relations with the neighbours, including India and Afghanistan, during the briefing of the new committee, citing it as a part of Pakistan’s prioritised aspects of foreign policy which will lay emphasis on high-level engagements with strategic, traditional and regional partners and neighbours.

Experts say that Dar’s stance on relations with India and Afghanistan indicates a softer position of the democratic coalition government of Shehbaz Sharif towards the neighbouring countries. However, the government’s foreign policy stance may not get approval from the powerful military establishment.

“Pakistan’s relations with India are nowhere because of two reasons. First, India has clearly refused to revoke and reverse the Article 370 decision on Kashmir. And, secondly, Narendra Modi, during his recent election campaign, had made it clear that he has shut down the chapter on relations with Pakistan. In this scenario, I do not see much happening in the near future,” said senior political analyst Javed Siddique.

He stated that Pakistan’s current political setup is duty-bound to take the country’s military establishment into confidence before taking any step forward. Siddique added that the military is on the offensive against TTP and is threatening to even take out terrorists in Afghanistan.

“On the other hand, it (military) has no intent to engage with India if the Kashmir dispute is not settled. Therefore, the current government’s wish to engage with India and Afghanistan may not get a positive signal from the military establishment,” said Siddique. AGENCIES

Sewage samples collected from three previously infected districts in Pakistan have tested positive again for wild poliovirus type 1, said the Pakistan Health Ministry.

The environmental samples collected between June 11-13 from Karachi South and Karachi Korangi districts in the southern Sindh province and the Dera Bugti district in southwest Balochistan province contained the virus, the ministry said in a statement.

All positive samples are genetically linked to the YB3A genetic cluster of type 1, which has been detected in all positive cases and sewage samples reported this year, Xinhua news agency said, citing the statement.

The Pakistan Polio Programme conducted a polio campaign last week from July 1-7 in 41 districts, during which more than 8.4 million children under the age of five were vaccinated, said the ministry, adding that this was the sixth polio campaign of the year.

So far this year, eight patients have been infected in South Asian countries, and the virus has been reported in environmental samples of 49 districts. AGENCIES

Three Pakistani soldiers were killed in a clash with terrorists in the country’s northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, the country’s military said in a statement.

The incident happened in the South Waziristan district of the province on Tuesday when the terrorists engaged the troops in a gun battle, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the media wing of the Pakistani army said, reports Xinhua news agency.

A clearance operation is being carried out to eliminate any terrorists found in the area, the statement added.

It was the second attack on the security forces in the province on Tuesday. In the earlier attack, a military officer was killed in a clash with terrorists in the neighbouring North Waziristan district.

Investigations are underway. Further details are awaited. AGENCIES

Prime Minister Narendra Modi was on Wednesday accorded a ceremonial welcome at the Federal Chancery as he began his landmark visit to Austria, the first by an Indian Prime Minister to the country in 41 years.

Scripting a new chapter in bilateral relations, PM Modi was warmly received by Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer who had last week called the Indian Prime Minister’s visit to Vienna as a “special honour”.

The Austrian Chancellor hosted PM Modi for a private engagement as the Indian PM arrived from Moscow on Tuesday evening. This was the first meeting between the two leaders and comes at a time when the two countries are marking 75 years of diplomatic relations.

He said that discussions on realising the “full potential” of bilateral partnership lie ahead.

Prime Minister Modi thanked Chancellor Nehammer for the “warm welcome” and said that he was looking forward to the discussions on Wednesday as both nations continue working together to further global good.

Besides holding talks with Chancellor Nehammer, PM Modi is also scheduled to call on Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen, address business leaders from India and Austria and interact with members of the Indian community in Vienna.

Last week, Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra called Austria an “important central European country” which offers excellent opportunities for bilateral cooperation in infrastructure, renewable energy, high technology areas, start-up sectors, media and entertainment.

He also highlighted the growing India-Austria trade and investment linkages, including the recent launch of an India-Austria start-up bridge in February 2024 that has made a “very promising” start.

“The visit, we are confident, will allow us to discuss various areas of importance in bilateral engagement, as also issues of regional and global importance of mutual interest, and help broaden the scope of our partnership,” said Foreign Secretary Kwatra.

India and Austria had also signed a Comprehensive Migration and Mobility Agreement in May last year and continue to work closely to expand and explore new areas of bilateral partnership.

“We’re also looking at what we can do in terms of technology. There are over, I think, 30 to 40 large Austrian companies already present in India in a range of areas from infrastructure, tunnelling, and track laying. We’ve got a fair amount of investments from India already in Austria. But we want to see how we can take these forward. We want to look at other key areas, clean technologies, and renewables. We want to look at different areas where we can try and work together,” said Pavan Kapoor, Secretary (West) at the Ministry of External Affairs. AGENCIES

Three people were found dead, and other damages were reported, as heavy rain battered South Korea’s southern regions overnight, the interior ministry said on Wednesday.

The body of a man was retrieved from an inundated elevator of the studio apartment building in Nonsan City, South Chungcheong province at about 3.00 a.m. local time (1800 GMT Tuesday), according to the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, reports Xinhua news agency.

A man in his 70s was found in cardiac arrest inside a collapsed house, caused by a landslide, in Seocheon County, South Chungcheong province at around 3.57 a.m. The man was moved to a hospital but confirmed dead later.

Over 100 mm of downpour pounded the Seocheon county for about an hour until 3.16 a.m.

Another person was found dead in Daegu City, North Gyeongsang province on Wednesday morning for an unidentified reason. The person was estimated to have been swept into a swollen stream.

The death toll was expected to rise as a missing person was reported in North Chungcheong province.

Accumulated precipitation in South Chungcheong and North Jeolla provinces ranged from 118.5 mm to 255.0 mm between midnight and 5 a.m.

A total of 195 rain damages, including flooded roads and dikes, were reported in public facilities, while 92 damages to private facilities were reported including flooded houses and cars.

The drenching rainfall led to the evacuation of 3,072 people, among whom 1,404 people were allowed to go back home. AGENCIES

Japan’s weather agency on Wednesday warned of torrential downpours in the Tohoku region and eastern Japan through Thursday and in western Japan through Friday.

The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) said atmospheric conditions are expected to be unstable in wide areas from the Tohoku region to western Japan due to warm, damp air flowing toward a seasonal rain front stretching from the Sea of Japan to northern Japan, reports Xinhua news agency.

These areas are expected to be intermittently hit by downpours accompanied by thunder, the JMA said.

Rainfall in the 24 hours through Thursday morning is expected to reach up to 150 millimetres in the Tohoku, Tokai and Chugoku regions.

During the 24 hour period through Friday morning, up to 100 millimetres of rain is expected in northern Kyushu, 80 millimetres in the Hokuriku and Chugoku regions and 50 millimetres in the Tohoku region, according to the agency.

Weather officials called for caution against flooding in low-lying areas, landslides, swollen rivers, as well as lightning, gusting wind and hail. AGENCIES

 Introduction of the “sugar tax” in the UK led to a significant reduction of daily sugar intake by around 5 g in children and by around 11 g in adults, revealed a study on Wednesday. 

More than 50 countries have introduced a sugar tax on soft drinks to persuade manufacturers to reformulate their products. In the UK, the sugar tax, also known as the soft drinks industry levy, was announced in March 2016 and came into effect in April 2018.

Researchers from the universities of Cambridge, Bath, and Oxford analysed 11 years of data involving 7,999 adults and 7,656 children from the UK National Diet and Nutrition Survey.

The results, published online in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, showed that one year after the UK sugar tax had come into force, children further reduced their free sugar intake from food and drink combined by around 5 g per day (relative reduction of 10 per cent) and adults by around 11 g per day (a relative reduction of 20 per cent).

Over half of this total was from soft drinks alone — accounting for around 3 g per day (relative reduction of 23.5 per cent) in children and around 5 g per day (relative reduction of just under 40.5 per cent) in adults.

Protein intake remained stable throughout in children and adults.

“In children, a daily reduction of 4.8 g sugar equates to approximately 19.2 kilocalories out of an approximate daily intake of 2,000 kilocalories, which is equivalent to approximately 1 per cent reduction in energy intake,” pointed out the researchers.

There is ample evidence to suggest that consumption of sugar-sweetened drinks — a major source of dietary free sugars, particularly among children — results in a heightened risk of weight gain, type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease, and premature death.

However, the overall daily energy intake from free sugar levels was still higher than the updated recommendation from the World Health Organization (WHO) of 5 per cent — equivalent to 30 g/day for adults, 24 g for 7-10-year-olds, and 19 g for 4-6-year-olds, said the researchers. AGENCIES