NEW DELHI, 10 February 2022, (TON): An Indian state has shut high schools and colleges for three days, after a row over Muslim women wearing headscarves in the classroom.

The government of Karnataka state took the decision after protests by students over the hijab escalated into violence.

A judge at the state's high court referred petitions challenging the ban to a larger panel.

Protests have now spread across the country.

Hundreds of people demonstrated against the ban in Kolkata and Chennai, two of India's largest cities, and in Hyderabad. And the Pakistani government summoned the Indian ambassador to formally convey its concern.

The decision to close the schools and colleges in the southern Indian state came after protests by six teenage students at a government-run college over wearing hijabs spread to other colleges.

DHAKA, 10 February 2022, (TON): The Greece government has assured Bangladesh of providing job facilities to 4,000 new workers annually, as the two countries signed a Memorandum of Understanding.

According to a press release issued “through the MoU, overseas workers will get the new window for employment opportunities in Greece every year.”

Expatriates welfare and overseas employment minister Imran Ahmed and Greek Minister of Migration and Asylum N Mitarachi signed the MoU on behalf of their respective sides at the Prabasi Kalyan Bhaban.

Meanwhile, secretary of the ministry Dr Ahmed Muniruch Salehin and secretary general of migration policy Patroklos Georgiadis were present.

The Greece will give a 5 year temporary work permit for Bangladeshi overseas workers. Under the MoU Greece will give jobs for seasonal workers in the Agriculture sector.

The MoU said “after completing the five years tenure, workers will have to return back home, but they will be able to go to Greece again for employment.”

DHAKA, 10 February 2022, (TON): US Secretary of State Antony J Blinken has invited foreign minister Dr AK Abdul Momen to visit Washington DC to mark the 50th year of bilateral ties that began with the emergence of independent Bangladesh half a century ago.

Momen told media "on Wednesday morning, I have been informed about the invitation.”

He said “the US Department of State conveyed the invitation to Bangladesh’s Washington mission in a message while Blinken himself expressed his willingness for the in-person meeting during a telephonic call in December last.”

Momen said “at that time Blinken said he would like to meet me in-person in Washington DC in spring of this year.”

SEOUL, 09 February 2022, (TON): North Korea boasted that it is one of only a handful of countries in the world to field nuclear weapons and advanced missiles and the only one standing up to the United States by shaking the world with missile tests.

International tension has been rising over a recent series of North Korean ballistic missile tests, actions long banned by the UN Security Council. January was a record month of such tests, with at least seven launches of nine missiles including a new type of "hypersonic missile" able to manoeuvre at high speed.

Also among the tests was the first firing since 2017 of a Hwasong-12 intermediate-range ballistic missile, capable of striking US territories in the Pacific Ocean.

North Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement "in today's world where many countries waste time dealing with the United States with submission and blind obedience, there’s only our country on this planet that can shake the world by firing a missile with the US mainland in its range.”

The statement on the ministry's website said “the series of tests since New Year represented "remarkable achievements" that strengthened North Korea's "war deterrence.”

It said "there are more than 200 countries in the world, but only a few have hydrogen bombs, intercontinental ballistic missiles, and hypersonic missiles.”

ANKARA, 09 February 2022, (TON): Turkey will not turn its back on its commitment to a Palestinian state in order to broker closer ties with Israel, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said, ahead of an expected visit by Israeli President Isaac Herzog next month.

The two countries expelled their ambassadors in 2018 after a bitter falling-out and relations have remained tense but Ankara has taken steps to mend strained regional ties, including with Israel.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said “Herzog would visit Turkey in mid-March, the first such trip in years, adding the two countries could discuss energy cooperation. Herzog has yet to confirm the visit.”

Ankara, which supports a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, has condemned Israel's occupation of the West Bank and its policy towards Palestinians, while Israel has called on Turkey to drop support for the Palestinian group Hamas which runs Gaza.

Cavusoglu told reporters in Ankara "any step we take with Israel regarding our relations, any normalisation, will not be at the expense of the Palestinian cause, like some other countries.”

RIYADH, 09 February 2022, (TON): The Saudi Chief of General Staff Gen. Fayyadh bin Hamed Al-Ruwaili met Thierry Carlier, director for international development at the French Ministry of Armed Forces, in Riyadh.

The two sides discussed bilateral cooperation, mainly in the military sector, as well as the latest developments in the region and efforts being taken to resolve them.

The meeting was also attended by Maj. Gen. Hamed bin Rafi Al-Omar and director of the joint chiefs.

TEL AVIV, 09 February 2022, (TON): Israel’s police commissioner cut short an official foreign trip and rushed home to deal with a growing scandal over reports of illegal spying, including on members of former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s inner circle.

Under mounting pressure, Kobi Shabtai returned from the United Arab Emirates, where the police forces were to establish professional ties during a longer visit.

The decision came a day after a local newspaper reported that police illegally used spyware, including on the phones of Netanyahu’s son and others, prompting a high-level investigation and upending the opposition leader’s corruption trial.

“In light of recent publications and in order to keep a close eye on developments, the commissioner will shorten his visit,” the police said in a statement, noting that Shabtai supports an investigation headed by a judge. The national police force, the statement added, “has nothing to hide from the public.”

Shabtai’s early return reflected the seriousness of the allegations reported by the Calcalist business newspaper, which have ricocheted across Israel’s political and legal landscapes. In addition to Netanyahu’s circle, targets have included former ministry directors, mayors and political activists.

WASHINGTON, 09 February 2022, (TON): A federal judge ordered the U.S. government to pay slightly more than $230 million to survivors and family members of victims of a 2017 mass shooting at a Texas church that killed 26 people.

U.S. District Judge Xavier Rodriguez ruled seven months after finding the government 60% responsible for the Nov. 5, 2017, massacre by former Air Force airman Devin Patrick Kelley at the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, Texas.

Rodriguez, who works in San Antonio, Texas wrote “the losses and pain these families have experienced is immeasurable.”

Kelley, whom the judge found 40% responsible, used firearms he should not have been allowed to buy after admitting in a 2012 court martial to domestic assault. The Air Force had failed to enter that plea in a database used for background checks.

In addition to those killed, 22 people were injured when Kelley, 26, dressed in black and wearing a skull mask, opened fire at a Sunday service at the church, 31 miles (50 km) east of San Antonio.

He later died of a self-inflicted gunshot to the head following a police chase.

OTTAWA, 09 February 2022, (TON): Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is demanding an end to a protest by hundreds of truckers that has paralysed the capital, as local authorities called for federal support.

The so-called Freedom Convoy and their supporters began arriving in Ottawa late in January to denounce an order requiring truckers to be fully vaccinated in order to cross Canada’s land border with the United States.

According to the Canadian Anti-Hate Network non-profit group “the protests were organised by known far-right figures who have espoused Islamophobic, anti-Semitic and other hateful views.”

“It has to stop,” Trudeau said during an emergency debate in the House of Commons on his return to parliament after isolating for a week due to a positive coronavirus test.

“This pandemic has sucked for all Canadians,” he added, visibly frustrated.

“But Canadians know the way to get through it is continuing to listen to science, continuing to lean on each other.” Trudeau pledged federal government support “with whatever resources the province and city need”, without elaborating what measures might be planned.

RIYADH, 09 February 2022, (TON): The Kingdom’s foreign ministry said “Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan held talks with the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Yemen, David Gressly, during his visit to Riyadh.”

During the meeting, they reviewed the regional and international efforts of the Kingdom and the UN to reach a comprehensive political solution to the Yemeni crisis, including the Kingdom’s peace initiative.

They also reviewed the humanitarian and development support programs implemented by the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center to help alleviate the suffering of the Yemeni people.

The ministry said in a statement “the two sides discussed ways to enhance joint Saudi-UN coordination to support regional and international efforts to stop the humanitarian violations carried out by the Iran-backed Houthi militia against the Yemeni people, which in turn disrupted all political solutions to end the war.”