DHAKA, 17 November 2021, (TON): Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will address a press conference today afternoon to brief the media about her recently-concluded visit to the United Kingdom and France.

Prime Minister's Press Secretary, Ihsanul Karim, told media “the press meet will begin at 4pm today at her official Gono Bhaban residence.”

The Prime Minister paid an official visit to Glasgow, London and Paris from October 31 to November 13 to attend the COP26, Bangladesh Investment Summit 2021, and prize giving ceremony of the Unesco-Bangladesh Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman International Prize for the Creative Economy at Unesco headquarters, 41st General Conference of Unesco, Paris Peace Forum, 75th anniversary of the Unesco and other high level events.

NAYPYITAW, 17 November 2021, (TON): According to residents “three youths were found dead in Sagaing Region’s Kyunhla Township last week following the occupation of a local village by regime forces.”

The bodies of the youths were discovered last Tuesday near the village of Aye Chan Thar, where some 200 troops had been stationed since November 6. Village residents said they were forced to stay in the local monastery until the soldiers left.

One of the bodies was identified as that of Soe Lin Aung, a 21-year-old member of a local armed resistance group. His body, which had two bullet wounds in the left side of his chest, was discovered in Pyaung Thwe, a stream about 1km from Aye Chan Thar.

The other two victims were found closer to the village, according to a local man who said that their names were Naing Maw and Than Soe.

The man said “the ones who found him said that Than Soe’s hands were tied. He was going to meet his wife and child in the monastery when he ran into a military patrol.”

Local sources told media The occupation began after regime forces clashed with the Kyunhla People’s Defence Force (PDF) near Pyaung Thwe, Aye Chan Thar and Inhla on the morning of November 6.”

The troops that took over Aye Chan Thar seized the phones of residents and destroyed their SIM cards, according to a woman who was in the village at the time.

The soldiers retreated in military helicopters three days later, the woman said.

NAYPYITAW, 17 November 2021, (TON): State media reported “Myanmar's junta has charged ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi with committing electoral fraud during the 2020 polls.”

Myanmar has been in turmoil since a military coup in February sparked nationwide protests and a deadly crackdown on dissent.

Detained since the putsch, Suu Kyi, 76, faces a raft of charges including illegally importing walkie talkies, sedition and corruption, and faces decades in jail if convicted.

The latest charges entail "election fraud and lawless actions", state-run newspaper Global New Light of Myanmar reported, without giving details on when court proceedings would begin.

The report added “Fifteen other officials, including former president Win Myint and the former chairman of the election commission, face the same charge.”

Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party (NLD) saw its support increase in the 2020 vote compared to the 2015 election, trouncing a military-aligned party.

But the junta has cited fraud during the poll as its reason for seizing power and ending Myanmar's democratic interlude.

DHAKA, 17 November 2021, (TON): Bangladesh took over the responsibilities of the chair of the Indian Ocean Rim Association from the United Arab Emirates for two years.

According to an announcement of the foreign ministry “the UAE assistant minister for economic and trade affairs, Abdul Nasser Alshaali, handed over the chairmanship to the Bangladesh foreign secretary, Masud Bin Momen, on the second day of the 23rd meeting of the senior officials of the organisation in Dhaka.”

Bangladesh will discharge the responsibilities of the IORA chair till 2023.

The IORA held the two-day meeting of the senior officials on November 15 and 16 in Dhaka to set the next course of the intergovernmental organisation of the 23 countries of the Indian Ocean region.

The 21st meeting of the IORA council of the ministers will be held in Dhaka.

Twelve ministers and about 80 senior officials of the member countries are set to join the in-person meeting, with the representatives unable to travel due to the Covid pandemic availing themselves of scopes to join the meeting virtually.

According to officials “Foreign minister AK Abdul Momen will lead the Bangladesh delegation in the ministerial segment.”

The member countries are expected to adopt a Dhaka declaration and an IORA action plan in the areas of trade, investment, education and cooperation in science and technology for implementing in the next five years.

DHAKA, 17 November 2021, (TON): Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon, British state minister for Foreign Affairs for South Asia, the Commonwealth, and the UN, met with Bangladesh Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen. 

Lord Ahmad assures standing by Rohingyas to help find a durable solution to the crisis they face.

During the meeting, he discussed his aspirations for the growing Bangladesh-UK friendship, including opportunities for increased trade and investment, closer security cooperation, cyber security, and UK support for critical climate projects and quality education for girls.

Lord Ahmad congratulated Bangladesh on assuming the chair of the Indian Ocean Rim Association.

Foreign Minister Momen thanked the UK government for removing travel restrictions imposed on Bangladesh in the wake of the Delta variant.

The Bangladesh minister commended the role of the UK presidency during COP26 held in Glasgow earlier this month. Lord Ahmad acknowledged Bangladesh’s proactive role as the chair of the Climate Vulnerability Forum and recalled his conversations with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in Glasgow.

The UK state minister informed the Bangladesh minister about the UK’s funding support of £120 Million for climate action in Bangladesh, with a focus on addressing the vulnerability of women and girls.

NEW DELHI, 16 November 2021, (TON): Two female Indian journalists who were arrested in the northeastern state of Assam for their coverage of anti-Muslim violence in the neighbouring Tripura state have been granted bail.

The arrest of Samriddi Sakunia and Swarna Jha drew concerns from media watchdogs, activists and politicians, who called it a “violation of press freedom”.

Sujit Nair, co-founder and managing editor of HW News Network, said that the Chief Judicial Magistrate of Tripura’s Gomati district granted bail to the channel’s journalists – Sakunia and Jha.

He tweeted “our gratitude to our lawyers and each and everyone who supported us.”

Sakunia and Jha were arrested on charges of publishing false news aimed at disrupting communal harmony.

The young journalists, in their early 20s, have been reporting from Tripura, which saw large-scale anti-Muslim violence late last month, during which more than a dozen mosques saw arson attacks.

The Tripura police earlier filed cases against 102 people, including journalists, for social media posts about the violence under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act or UAPA. The police have accused the users of spreading fake news.

SANAA, 16 November 2021, (TON): Officials told media “at least 11 Houthis, including a field military leader, were killed during the last three days in heavy fighting with government forces in flashpoints in Yemen’s western city of Hodeidah.”

Inspired by their opponents’ sudden withdrawal from a large swath of land in Hodeidah, the Houthis, commanded by Ali Nasser Jahaf, the chief security officer of Hodeidah’s Zabid district, mounted an assault on the Joint Forces in Al-Haima, the loyalists’ last bastion in the province.

Local officials said that the Houthis faced stiff resistance on the ground from the Tehama Resistance and the Giants Brigades and came under heavy aerial bombardment by Arab coalition warplanes.

Jahaf was killed in the fighting that subsided on Monday after the Houthis halted their assault.

The Joint Forces announced that dozens of Houthis had been killed or wounded and that several armed vehicles and tanks were destroyed in the fighting north of Al-Haima in Khokha district.

Yemen’s officials hailed the role of the coalition’s warplanes in stopping Houthi advances in Hodeidah.

A local official, who requested anonymity, told media “there is great air support from the coalition’s warplanes. Without it, the Houthis would have seized control of Al-Haima.”

KHARTOUM, 16 November 2021, (TON): A doctors union said “two more Sudanese protesters died in the hospital from wounds after being shot during mass protests against last month’s military coup.”

The Sudan Doctors Committee said “that raises the death toll from Saturday’s protests to seven, all but one from gunshots.”

The committee said “more than 200 others were wounded when security forces used live ammunition and tear gas to disperse protesters in the capital city of Khartoum and its twin city of Omdurman.”

Sudanese police denied using live ammunition, saying its forces only resorted to tear gas to disperse demonstrators allegedly attacking police stations and vehicles.

They said “at least 39 policemen were wounded in Saturday’s clashes.”

Thousands of protesters took to the streets across Sudan on Saturday to rally against the military’s takeover last month.

The Oct. 25 takeover upended a fragile planned transition to democratic rule, more than two years after a popular uprising forced the removal of Omar Bashir and his government.

ROME, 16 November 2021, (TON): Italian President Sergio Mattarella criticized “incoherence” in Europe over the reception of Afghan refugees into the EU, and expressed “dismay” at the situation at the border between Belarus and Poland, where around 2,000 people are trying to enter the bloc.

During a speech given in Siena at a ceremony for the opening of the local university’s 781st academic year, Mattarella praised the institution’s “significant” decision to take in a number of Afghan students.

He contrasted it with what he called a strange misalignment, incoherence and contradiction in many parts of Europe with respect to the principles of the EU, between proclamations of solidarity (for Afghans) and a refusal to receive them, referring to the standoff playing out between Warsaw and Minsk.

Mattarella said “What is happening at the EU border is disconcerting.”

He added that it “contrasts the intentions of the founders of the EU” and shows “a huge and surprising gap with the founding principles of the EU.”

Mattarella’s remarks follow repeated criticism by the Italian government of the EU’s attitude towards migrants.

CAIRO, 16 November 2021, (TON): Heavy rain and flooding in southern Egypt has left three people dead and more than 500 others hospitalized from scorpion stings, state-run media reported.

Aswan Governor Major General Ashraf Attia said “downpours, hail and thunder in the province of Aswan over the weekend forced local authorities to suspend school classes.”

Attia added “the storms forced scorpions from their hiding places into many houses across the province.”

He said “at least 503 people were hospitalized after suffering scorpion stings but all of them were discharged after they were given anti-venom doses.”