DHAKA, 03 January 2022, (TON): Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen, in a letter, requested US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to reconsider the country's decision to impose sanctions on Rapid Action Battalion and seven current and former top officials of the agency, including Benazir Ahmed.

In the letter, Momen also conveyed new year greetings, Bangla daily Prothom Alo reports quoting Bangladesh's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

On December 10, the United States imposed the sanctions.

Benazir, former director general of Rab  (now inspector general of police), and five officials were designated by the Department of the Treasury under the Global Magnitsky sanctions programme in connection with serious human rights abuse.

Besides, the US State Department barred Benazir, and another former official of Rab Lt Col Miftah Uddin Ahmed, from traveling to the United States.

KABUL, 03 January 2022, (TON): Dozens of people in a rally in Kabul called for the release of around $9 billion in the central bank assets blocked by the United States following the fall of the republic government in mid-August.

The rally members also asked Muslim nations and the international community to recognize the Islamic Emirate (IE) and advocate for the release of Afghan assets.

Abubakr Zaland, a protester said “Afghanistan is faced with huge problems amidst a harsh winter. The protesters’ demand is that Afghanistan’s assets are unblocked. The money belongs to the people of Afghanistan.”

Mohammad Nasim Zawak, a protester said “people have protested here for the release of Afghan assets. We urge the world, especially the Organization for Islamic Cooperation (OIC) member states, to recognize the current government.”

The rally members said the international community will be responsible if any crisis happens in the country.

They asked the international community to engage with the Islamic Emirate to avert a humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan.

Hamidullah, a protester said “our today’s protest is to call on the international community to recognize the current government and engage with it.”

The protesters issued a 12-article statement, listing their demands and asking the international community to address their problems.

NEW DELHI, 03 January 2022, (TON): A Muslim organisation has approached the Supreme Court seeking action against hate speeches against the community, saying state authorities had failed to act despite complaints.

The plea by Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind, through its president Maulana Syed Mahmood Asad Madani, said “such speeches go beyond the limits of a permitted critical denial of another’s beliefs, and are certainly likely to incite religious intolerance.”

The plea stated that insulting Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) is akin to attacking the very foundation of Islam.

The petition says “many violent acts have taken place in which many precious lives have been lost mostly of the people belonging to the weaker section of the society, majority of them belonging to the Muslim community.”

The petition filed by Advocate M R Shamshad said that the outfit approached the SC after waiting for a “considerable” amount of time and giving the state authorities time to take appropriate steps for remedial action as well as preventive measures.

NEW DELHI, 03 January 2022, (TON): The Indian government yesterday extended a special law giving armed forces sweeping powers in the north-eastern state of Nagaland, days after a botched army ambush killed 14 people.

The killings triggered protests against the law which gives the armed forces sweeping powers to conduct raids, warrantless searches and open fire, with broad protection from prosecution.

But the six-month extension issued by India's ministry of home affairs said the government believed the state was "in a disturbed and dangerous condition."

The government said "the use of armed forces in aid of the civil power is necessary,"

It justifying the extension of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA).

Earlier this month, the Indian army shot dead six miners returning to their homes in the state's Mon district, near the Myanmar border, believing them to be insurgents. Another eight people were killed by the troops when they were confronted by an angry crowd. A soldier was killed and a military vehicle was set alight.

KABUL, 03 January 2022, (TON): The United Nations Children’s Fun said in a press release “over 28,000 children have been killed in conflicts since 2005 in Afghanistan.”

According to UNICEF, Afghanistan has the highest number of verified child casualties since 2005 “Afghanistan, for example, has the highest number of verified child casualties since 2005, at more than 28,500, accounting for 27 percent of all verified child casualties globally.”

Afghanistan, Yemen, Syria and northern Ethiopia are the places where children have paid a devastating price as armed conflict, inter-communal violence and insecurity continued, UNICEF said.

UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore said “year after year, parties to conflict continue to demonstrate a dreadful disregard for the rights and wellbeing of children.”

“Children are suffering, and children are dying because of this callousness. Every effort should be made to keep these children safe from harm.”

RIYADH, 03 January 2022, (TON): Saudi Press Agency reported “Algerian President Abdelmajid Tebboune held talks with Saudi Minister of Interior Prince Abdulaziz bin Saud bin Naif during his official visit to the capital Algiers.”

During the meeting, which was held at the presidential palace, Prince Abdulaziz conveyed greetings from King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and their wishes for continued progress and prosperity for the Algerian government and people.

The statement said “they reviewed bilateral relations and the existing security cooperation between the two countries.”

KHARTOUM, 03 January 2022, (TON): Sudan’s civilian Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok resigned Sunday, more than two months after a coup and following another deadly crackdown on protesters, with the military now firmly in control.

Sudan had been undergoing a fragile journey toward civilian rule since the 2019 ouster of autocrat Omar Al-Bashir, but was plunged into turmoil when military leader General Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan launched his coup on Oct. 25 and detained Hamdok.

Hamdok was reinstated him on November 21 under a deal promising elections for July 2023, but local media had reported he had been absent from his office for days, with rumors swirling over his possible resignation.

Hamdok said Sunday evening “I have tried my best to stop the country from sliding toward disaster.”

He said “Sudan is crossing a dangerous turning point that threatens its whole survival.”

Hamdok was the civilian face of the country’s fragile transition, while Burhan has been the country’s de facto leader following Bashir’s ouster.

BAGHDAD, 03 January 2022, (TON): Thousands of supporters of Iraq’s Hashed al-Shaabi alliance of armed groups marked the second anniversary of the killing of a revered Iranian commander and his Iraqi lieutenant in a US drone strike.

Chanting “Death to America”, they filled a Baghdad square to honour Iran’s General Qasem Soleimani, who headed the Quds Force, the foreign operations arm of the elite Revolutionary Guards, until his death on Jan 3, 2020.

“US terrorism has to end” read one sign at the rally by backers of the pro-Iranian Hashed, a former paramilitary alliance that has been integrated into Iraq’s state security apparatus.

Former US president Donald Trump ordered the strike that killed Soleimani near Baghdad’s airport along with his Iraqi lieutenant Abu Hamdi al-Muhandis, Hashed’s deputy.

Trump said “at the time that the assassination came in response to a wave of attacks on US interests in Iraq.”

The killing of Soleimani, the architect of Iran’s Middle Eastern military strategy, sent shock waves across the region and sparked fears of a direct military confrontation between decades-old arch enemies Washington and Tehran.

WASHINGTON, 03 January 2022, (TON): US President Joe Biden and his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky are due to speak by phone amid growing fears that a Russian military buildup near the border with its pro-Western neighbour heralds an invasion.

The show of US support for Ukraine comes days after Biden warned Russian President Vladimir Putin of severe consequences if Moscow invades the former Soviet country.

Using some of his most direct language yet, Biden said “I'm not going to negotiate here in public, but we made it clear he cannot, I'll emphasise, cannot invade Ukraine.”

The US leader added, in remarks to reporters during a holiday stay in Delaware, that he had “made it clear to President Putin that we will have severe sanctions, we will increase our presence in Europe, with Nato allies” if Russia invades Ukraine.

The White House said that in Sunday's call with Zelensky, Biden will “reaffirm US support for Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity, discuss Russia's military build-up on Ukraine's borders, and review preparations for upcoming diplomatic engagements to help de-escalate the situation in the region”.

Zelensky tweeted “look forward to talking again with POTUS this Sunday to coordinate our steps for the sake of peace in Ukraine and security in Europe.”

Washington and its European allies accuse Russia of threatening Ukraine with a new invasion. Some 100,000 Russian troops are massed near the border of the country, where Putin already seized the Crimea region in 2014 and is accused of fomenting a pro-Russian separatist war which erupted that same year in the east.

MOSCOW, 03 January 2022, (TON): The rearmament of the Bologovsky missile formation, located in the Tver region, to a mobile ground missile system (PGRK “Yars”) will begin in 2022.

This is reported by the Department of Information and Mass Communications of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation.

Currently, the Bologovsky missile formation 7th Guards Red Banner Rezhitskaya missile division is armed with Topol mobile missile systems.

In 2022, new PGRK “Yars” will begin to arrive, which was developed by the Russian defense industry enterprise in both mobile and stationary, mine-based versions.