NEW DELHI, 08 October 2021, (TON): West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was sworn in as a member of the state legislative assembly today, a week after she won the by-poll in the Bhabanipur constituency in south Kolkata by a record margin.

In a break from convention, Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar swore Mamata in, who won the Bhabanipur by-poll by a margin of 58,835 votes.

Under Article 188 of the Constitution, a Governor can either himself swear in the newly-elected legislators or delegate the power to the Speaker of the legislature.

Mamata needed to win the election to retain the chief minister's chair after her defeat against protege-turned-rival Suvendu Adhikari of Bharatiya Janata Party in Nandigram by 1,956 votes in the March-April assembly elections.

Mamata was sworn in as Chief Minister on May 5 for a third consecutive tenure after leading her party to a landslide victory in the assembly poll earlier this year. But her defeat in Nandigram had left a bitter taste.

DHAKA, 08 October 2021, (TON): The minister will attend a commemorative event to mark the 60th anniversary of the first NAM Conference in Belgrade, apart from his bilateral engagements

Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen left Dhaka on a two-day official visit to attend a number of bilateral meetings in Romania and Serbia.

The minister left Dhaka early Thursday for his first destination - Romania- at the invitation of his Romanian counterpart Bogdan Aurescu.

He will have a bilateral meeting with Romanian Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu during his visit.

DHAKA, 08 October 2021, (TON): After serving two years in prison for illegally entering India, 20 Bangladeshi teenagers, who were victims of human trafficking, today returned to the country through the Benapole land port.

India's Petrapole Immigration Police handed over the 11 boys and nine girls to Benapole Immigration Police this evening, reports our Benapole correspondent.

Mojibur Rahman, officer-in-charge of Benapole Immigration Police, confirmed the development to media.

OC Mojibur said they were trafficked by middlemen around two and half years ago from different districts – Noakhali, Narail, Narayanganj, Barishal, Khulna, Kishoreganj, Jashore, Satkhira, and Naogaon.

A non-government organisation (NGO), Justice and Care, has taken custody of the returnees and will provide them with legal assistance, the official also said, adding that they have been taken to the NGO's shelter home to be later handed over to their respective families.

ABM Muhit Hossain, senior programme officer of the NGO, told The Daily Star that the teenagers were lured by traffickers with promise of employment opportunities and were trafficked to India to be engaged in risky activities in Kolkata.

On information, law enforcers in Kolkata arrested them during drives. They were then sentenced to two-year imprisonment by a Kolkata court and sent to jail. Later, an Indian NGO took the teenagers into their custody and provided them legal assistance to help them return to Bangladesh with necessary travel permits, Muhit added.

He added that “the returnees will remain in 14-day institutional quarantine at Gazir Dargah in Jashore and will be provided with necessary legal and employment assistance.”

WASHINGTON, 08 October 2021, (TON): US special operations forces and marines have been secretly training Taiwanese troops for more than one year, risking the ire of China, the Wall Street Journal reported.

The Journal said about two-dozen US service members have trained Taiwanese ground and maritime forces "for at least a year," amid China's rising verbal threats against the island ally of the United States.

The report cited unnamed officials for the report. Taiwan's Defence Ministry declined to comment on the report.

The Pentagon did not confirm or deny it. Spokesperson John Supple said the US support for Taiwan's military is gauged on its defence needs.

Supple said in a statement "our support for and defence relationship with Taiwan remains aligned against the current threat posed by the People’s Republic of China.”

"We urge Beijing to honour its commitment to the peaceful resolution of cross-Strait differences."

The report appeared to confirm Taiwan media articles last November, which cited Taiwan's Naval Command that US troops had arrived there to train Taiwan marines and special forces in small-boat and amphibious operations.

Those reports were subsequently denied by US and Taiwanese officials, who emphasised the two sides are involved in bilateral military exchanges and cooperation.

The United States supplies weapons to Taiwan, including missiles for defence and fighter jets, amid Beijing's threat to forcibly retake control of the island and reintegrate it with China.

The US also maintains an ambiguous commitment to defend Taiwan, which Beijing considers a renegade province.

ABU DHABI, 08 October 2021, (TON): Ahmed bin Abdul Aziz Kattan, Saudi minister of state for African countries affairs, met with Sheikh Shakhbout bin Nahyan, minister of state in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, in Abu Dhabi.

They discussed the bilateral relations between the two countries, as well as the developments in regional and international events and topics of common interest.

The meeting was attended by Saudi Ambassador to the UAE Turki bin Abdullah Al-Dakhil and Director-General of the minister of state for African countries affairs’ office, Bandar bin Fahd Al-Zaid.

BRUSSELS, 08 October 2021, (TON): In response to an invitation by the Independent Electoral Commission of the Republic of The Gambia, the European Union will deploy an EU Election Observation Mission (EOM) to observe the presidential election scheduled for 4 December 2021.

Josep Borrell, High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission, has appointed Mr Norbert Neuser, Member of the European Parliament, as Chief Observer.

High Representative/Vice-President Josep Borrell said “anchoring the democratic change that the Gambian people achieved in 2017 continues to be on top of the EU agenda. This will be the first EU mission to observe a presidential election in The Gambia and its deployment reaffirms our commitment to supporting the consolidation of democracy.

Under the leadership of Chief Observer Mr Neuser, the EU EOM will provide an independent, evidence-based assessment of the electoral process and work together with Gambian citizens to consolidate the democratic advancements.”

The Chief Observer, Mr Neuser, said “I believe it is crucial for the European Union to accompany these presidential elections in The Gambia. I am confident that citizens will actively scrutinize the process and I trust that state authorities, political parties and all candidates will play their part in promoting a peaceful and credible election.”

BEIJING, 08 October 2021, (TON): Military tensions between China and Taiwan are at their highest in four decades, the island’s defence minister warned on Wednesday, adding Beijing would be in a position to launch a full-scale invasion in 2025.

Taiwan lives under the constant threat of invasion by China, which views the self-ruled democratic island as its territory to be seized one day, by force if necessary.

Defence Minister Chiu Kuo-cheng offered his assessment after around 150 Chinese warplanes, a record number that included nuclear-capable bombers, made incursions into Taiwan’s air defence zone starting on Friday.

Chiu told parliament for the military, the current situation is the grimmest in the more than 40 years since I joined the service.”

He warned that even “slight carelessness” or “miscalculation” could spark a crisis, and that China would be able to launch an invasion of the island in four years.

Chiu said “it is capable now but it has to calculate what it would cost, and what kind of outcome it wishes to achieve.”

“After 2025, the cost and losses would be lowered to a minimum,” he added, without providing further details.

Chinese President Xi Jinping, who has called the seizure of Taiwan “inevitable”, also described relations with Taipei as “grim” in a letter to the island’s newly elected main opposition leader last week.

WASHINGTON, 08 October 2021, (TON): The United States and China have agreed in principle for their presidents to hold a virtual meeting before the end of the year, a senior US administration official said on Wednesday, after high-level talks aimed at improving communication between the two countries.

The closed-door meeting at an airport hotel in the Swiss city of Zurich between US national security adviser Jake Sullivan and China's top diplomat Yang Jiechi was their first face-to-face encounter since an unusually public and acrid airing of grievances in Alaska in March.

US officials had suggested that the meeting was a follow-on from President Joe Biden's September 9 call with Chinese President Xi Jinping, prior to which the world's top two economies appeared to have been locked in a stalemate.

The White House said that Sullivan raised concerns about contentious issues such as China's actions in the South China Sea, as well as on human rights and Beijing's stances on Hong Kong, Xinjiang, and Taiwan.

At the end of the day, however, both Beijing and Washington said the talks, which lasted six hours, were constructive and candid. The US side said the tone was very different from Alaska.

The US official told reporters "we do have out of today's conversation an agreement in principle to hold a virtual bilateral [summit] meeting before the end of the year.”

Asked for further details, White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said: "We're still working through what that would look like, when and of course the final details we don't quite have them yet."

NAYPYITAW, 08 October 2021, (TON): Local People’s Defence Force (PDF) fighters in Mandalay Region have said “they bombed a military supply train that was heading to Yangon on Tuesday, badly damaging part of the vehicle.”

A member of the PDF in Myittha Township said “the attack took place around 6pm as the train passed over the Samar bridge on the Yangon-Mandalay highway, some 70km south of Mandalay.”

He told media “the back part of the train was badly damaged as the bomb was made with four-inch-diameter pipes.”

“There were no casualties. It was definitely a junta train as it was transporting supplies for the military,” he said, adding that some soldiers were aboard the train.

Locals told Myanmar Now the train was carrying food supplies.

One man who lives near the site of the attack just south of Myittha said he heard the bomb go off.

He said “we heard a loud bang. We didn’t hear anything about anyone dying but the train was badly damaged.”

NAYPYITAW, 08 October 2021, (TON): Unidentified assailants shot and killed two members of the pro-junta Border Guard Force (BGF) who were leaving a store in Karen State on Tuesday carrying beer and food.

Two attackers who arrived on a motorcycle shot Sergeant Kyaw Doe and Private Toe Lin Kyaw in Kyeik village, Kyainseikgyi Township, where there are two BGF bases.

“They were both shot in the head and one of them was also shot twice in his chest,” said Captain Thit Htoo Oo, who supervises the unit the dead men were part of.

The killers used pistols in the attack. None of the armed groups operating in the region has claimed responsibility.

Thit Htoo Oo’s unit is under Battalion 1023 of the BGF’s Cantonment Area 4 and is split into two groups. Since September 10, one has been stationed at a hill near Kyeik and the other just outside the village.

said Thit Htoo Oo “we are stationed here for the village’s safety.”

Battalion 1023 has been operating in the area in collaboration with the junta’s Battalion 557 under the supervision of Operations Command Headquarters 13, according to the Karen Information Center news outlet.