DHAKA, 13 November 2021, (TON): Two Bangladeshi cattle traders were shot dead and another one injured this morning by the Indian Border Security Force (BSF) near the border pillar-917 at the Burirhat Malgara border area of Gorol union at Kaliganj upazila under Lalmonirhat.

The deceased were identified as Idris Ali (30) and Bhasani Mia (32), both from Malgara village of the upazila. The injured, Shafiqul Islam (28) of the same village, went missing after being shot, confirmed Gorol Union Parishad Chairman Mahmudul Islam, reports our correspondent.

He said "15 Lalmonirhat Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) Battalion was informed about the shooting and they would take steps to bring back the bodies.”

According to locals, the incident happened as members of the Bhandaria Camp-7 under 75 BSF Battalion in Cooch Behar district, opened fire on a group of eight to 10 cattle traders.

BSF in a statement issued today said the Bangladeshis ventured into Indian Territory and tried to smuggle cattle heads at about 2:30 am today, reports our New Delhi correspondent.

DHAKA, 13 November 2021, (TON): Twelve US Senators have written to Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen, assuring to help attain sufficient international support for the Rohingyas, encourage third party resettlement and holding Myanmar accountable.

In the letter dated November 5, they said as elected representatives, they will continue to urge the international community, including their own country, to respond strongly to the coup in Myanmar.

They said “they were particularly concerned over the environment in the Rohingya camps in Cox's Bazar, especially after the murder of Rohingya community leader Mohib Ullah.”

They urged the government to work in a transparent manner to bring the perpetrators of the crime to justice and redouble efforts to ensure that criminal groups are not able to operate with impunity in the camps.

The letter said "moreover, we call upon the government of Bangladesh to allow consistent, unimpeded access to the camps for humanitarian actors and volunteers and full resumption of protection activities.”

NAYPYITAW, 12 November 2021, (TON): The Chinland Defence Force (CDF) chapter in Mindat Township has claimed that over a period of 10 days, they repeatedly ambushed a Myanmar army convoy traveling from Matupi, killing nearly 60 soldiers.

There were reportedly two armoured vehicles and more than 70 trucks in the military convoy, which was struck some 13 times by the anti-junta resistance group as they travelled along the 100-mile Mindat-Matupi road in southern Chin State.

Spokesperson for the CDF-Mindat Yaw Mahn said that they most recently clashed with the military once on Wednesday and twice.

Yaw Mahn explained “they have a lot of vehicles but not too much manpower. We were using explosives and also carrying out ambushes. We literally hunted them down all the way from Milestone 48 to Milestone 14.”

Media sources was unable to independently verify the number of junta casualties reported by the CDF.

The military council has not released a statement on the clashes.

Three CDF members were reportedly injured by military shells fired during the fighting, and a 73-year-old member named Neih Ki Yaw was killed.

The convoy in question was travelling from Pakokku Township in Magway Region and spent one night in Mindat before heading towards Matupi on October 14. They reached the town at the end of the month, then moved forward on foot for two weeks, clearing explosives planted by the CDF.

On the convoy’s initial trip to Matupi, the Mindat CDF was held back by heavy rains and was only able to carry out two ambushes.

SEOUL, 12 November 2021, (TON): The top U.S. diplomat for East Asia met with South Korean officials to discuss North Korea, the bilateral alliance and joint efforts to build resilient global supply chains.

Daniel Kritenbrink, the U.S. assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, arrived in Seoul on Wednesday for his first trip to the nation since taking office in September.

His trip drew keen attention as the two countries have been in talks on ways to resume dialogue with Pyongyang and a proposed declaration of a formal end to the 1950-53 Korean War.

Also, Washington has been rallying its allies and partners to build global supply chains that are less dependent on China in chips, batteries and other key industries.

The foreign ministry said in a statement “On the second day of his three-day trip, Kritenbrink met with his South Korean counterpart Yeo Seung-bae, deputy minister for political affairs at the foreign ministry. “The two sides reaffirmed the robust S. Korea-U.S. alliance is the linchpin of the peace, stability and peace in the Northeast Asia and the Indo-Pacific region.”

It said “they also agreed to expand the bilateral cooperation to resolve pending global issues, including climate change and supply chains.”

MOSCOW, 12 November 2021, (TON): Two strategic bomber-missile carriers Tu-160 carried out patrols over Belarus, accompanied by Su-30SM fighters of the Belarusian Air Force. This was reported to reporters on Wednesday at the Russian Ministry of Defense.

The development of joint activities of the Air Force and Air Defense of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus continues.

Today, on November 11, two strategic missile carriers Tu-160 of the Russian Aerospace Forces carried out patrols in the airspace of the Republic of Belarus, during which they worked out the issues of their fighter cover by Su-30SM aircraft of the Air Force.

The ministry stressed that the patrols were carried out “in order to ensure the military security of the Union State and were not directed against third countries.”

The message says “the pilots completed the assigned task successfully, demonstrating impeccable flying skills and skill.

LONDON, 12 November 2021, (TON): Britain said that officials had pressed Iranian deputy foreign minister Ali Bagheri Kani to release detained dual nationals including British-Iranian aid worker Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe.

The foreign ministry said “British foreign office officials also told Bagheri Kani at a meeting in London that Iran should conclude the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPoA) nuclear deal under the terms on the table now.”

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said in a statement “The Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister was also pressed on the need for Iran to urgently release all British nationals unfairly detained in Iran, including Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, Anoosheh Ashoori and Morad Tahbaz.”

Iran’s foreign ministry was not immediately available to comment.

Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a project manager with the Thomson Reuters Foundation, was arrested at a Tehran airport in April 2016 and later convicted of plotting to overthrow the clerical establishment.

In April, an Iranian court sentenced Zaghari-Ratcliffe to a new term in jail on charges of propaganda against Iran’s ruling system, just a month after she finished a prior five-year sentence. That sentence has not yet started, though it has been upheld by an appeals court.

Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s family and the foundation have denied the charges. The foundation is a charity that operates independently of media company Thomson Reuters and its news subsidiary Reuters.

Her husband, Richard Ratcliffe, is on a hunger strike to highlight her case. He met British minister for the Middle East James Cleverly.

WASHINGTON, 12 November 2021, (TON): The United States and European delegations on the UN Security Council condemned on Thursday Belarus's behavior in the migrant crisis on its border with Poland.

Poland says “the government of strongman Alexander Lukashenko has lured about 2,000 migrants, mainly Kurds from the Middle East, to Belarus for the purpose of sending them across the border into Poland and thus the EU in revenge for sanctions.”

These people are now living in a tent camp on the border in near freezing temperatures. Poland refuses to allow them in.

After an emergency meeting on the crisis the Western delegations at the Security Council issued a joint statement condemning "the orchestrated instrumentalization of human beings whose lives and wellbeing have been put in danger for political purposes by Belarus."

They said “Belarus is doing this with the objective of destabilizing neighboring countries and the European Union's external border and diverting attention away from its own increasing human rights violations."

The statement made no mention of Belarus ally Russia, which before the meeting rejected western allegations that it was working in conjunction with Minsk to send the migrants over the EU's eastern border into Poland.

KHARTOUM, 12 November 2021, (TON): State television reported “Sudan’s General Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan named a new ruling council to steer the country’s transition after last month’s military takeover.”

The announcement came more than two weeks since Burhan dissolved the government led by Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok, detained the civilian leadership, and declared a nationwide state of emergency.

It also comes just two days ahead of planned mass protests against the October 25 coup.

Burhan said in a statement “the commander-in-chief of the armed forces issued a constitutional decree to form the Transitional Sovereignty Council.”

Under the decree, Burhan chaired the council formed in August 2019 following the ouster of president Omar Al-Bashir keeps the post.

Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, leader of the feared paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, remains his deputy.

The council also retains Shamsaldine Al-Kabashi, Yasser Atta, and Ibrahim Gaber, all senior military figures.

Civilian figures include former parliamentarian Abou Al-Qassem Bortoum, a supporter of Sudan’s normalization with Israel.

WASHINGTON, 12 November 2021, (TON): The US called for the Houthi militia in Yemen to immediately release American embassy staff recently detained in Sanaa.

At least 25 local employees for the embassy and the US Agency for International Development were detained in recent weeks by the Iran-backed group, Bloomberg reported.

The embassy was shuttered in 2015 shortly after the Houthis seized the capital and much of northern Yemen, sparking the conflict.

The Houthis recently raided the embassy compound and removed some of the property.

A State Department spokesperson said most of the staff had been released but some remained detained.

The spokesperson said “we are concerned that Yemeni staff of the US Embassy in Sanaa continue to be detained without explanation and we call for their immediate release.”

The Houthis must “immediately vacate” the embassy and “return all seized property,” they added. “The US government will continue its diplomatic efforts to secure the release of our staff and the vacating of our compound, including through our international partners.”

State Department Spokesman Ned Price said he did not have details on why the staff had been detained at this time.

ROME, 12 November 2021, (TON): Italy has rescued 430 migrants, including 13 minors, from a fishing boat that ran aground in front of the Levante pier of the port of Pozzallo, in the southeast of Sicily.

A spokesman from the Italian Coast Guard told media that the boat came from Tunisia. Most of the migrants aboard, he added, were Tunisians, while some came from Sub-Saharan Africa.

The spokesman added “those were the youngest in the group, and they were not looking well at all, so our doctors are now treating them.”

Transshipment operations of refugees were carried out by the police and the Italian Coast Guard with inflatable boats and a tugboat. The operations ended at 2 a.m. Mayor of Pozzallo Roberto Ammatuna coordinated the rescue from the pier.

He said “it was not an easy task because the ship had been severely damaged by the hit, and the weather was getting worse. However, all the fishermen of Pozzallo and some young guys helped rescuers with small boats and dinghies so that everything could be done quickly.”