MOSCOW, 08 February 2022, (TON): With war clouds gathering over Ukraine, international diplomacy goes into overdrive with the French and Russian presidents to talk in Moscow and the German chancellor heading to the White House to meet with US leader Joe Biden.

Also, the German, Czech, Slovak and Austrian foreign ministers were expected in Kyiv, which has played down dire US warnings that Moscow had stepped up preparations for a major incursion into Ukraine.

US officials have said the Kremlin has assembled 110,000 troops along the border with its pro-Western neighbor but intelligence assessments have not determined whether President Vladimir Putin has actually decided to invade.

They said Russia is on track to amass a large enough force — some 150,000 soldiers — for a full-scale invasion by mid-February.

Such a force would be capable of taking the capital Kyiv in a matter of 48 hours in an onslaught that would kill up to 50,000 civilians, 25,000 Ukrainian soldiers and 10,000 Russian troops and trigger a refugee flood of up to five million people, mainly into Poland, the officials added.

On top of the potential human cost, Ukraine fears further damage to its already struggling economy.

And if Moscow attacks Ukraine it could face retaliation over the Nord Stream 2 pipeline set to double natural gas supplies from Russia to Germany, with Berlin threatening to block it.

LAGOS, 08 February 2022, (TON): The ship operator said “three crew members on board a Nigerian oil vessel that exploded and sank last week have been found alive while seven were still missing.”

The Nigerian FPSO Trinity Spirit a floating production, storage and offloading vessel caught fire following an explosion, but the blaze was extinguished a day later.

The vessel was located at the Ukpokiti Terminal, along the coast of the oil-rich Niger Delta region.

Ten crew members were on board the vessel at the time of the accident.

Ikemefuna Okafor, the executive officer of Shebah Exploration & Production Company Ltd. (SEPCOL), the vessel owner, said “three crew members have been found alive in the community.”

He said “the company would ensure they receive the appropriate medical attention.”

However, Okafor said that one dead body was discovered in the vicinity of the vessel, but it was not immediately clear if it was a crew member.

He said “the identity of the dead body is yet to be ascertained.”

He added that efforts were ongoing to find the remaining crew members.

“Focus of our joint efforts is to prioritize investigations toward establishing the whereabouts, safety, and security of the seven crew members still missing, clean up and limit damage to the environment, and establish the cause of the explosion.”

LONDON, 08 February 2022, (TON): Rights group Amnesty International has urged the UK government to apply more pressure on Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi militia to free a British man who has been detained without charge for almost five years.

Luke Symons, 29, from Wales, has been held by the Houthis in the capital Sanaa since his arrest at a security checkpoint in the southwestern city of Taiz on April 4, 2017.

His family said “he has been accused by the Houthis of spying for the British government but has yet to be formally charged with an offense.”

His family added that Symons was tortured to make him “confess” to being a spy, and as a result of beatings his arm was broken.

Amnesty said he is being held in solitary confinement, and during his last phone call with family last week he said his detention conditions were having a serious detrimental impact on his physical and mental health.

Sacha Deshmukh, Amnesty International UK’s CEO, said “Luke has already endured almost five grueling years behind bars, and it’s long overdue that the government properly engaged with his family and exerted sustained pressure on the Houthis to get him out of jail and back home to Cardiff.”

RIYADH, 08 February 2022, (TON): According to the Gulf Initiative and the UN Security Council Resolution No. 2216 “Dr. Nayef Falah Al-Hajraf, secretary-general of the Gulf Cooperation Council, has praised the efforts of the Coalition to Restore Legitimacy in Yemen to boost political, development and relief support in Yemen.”

Al-Hajraf made the remarks during a meeting with Saudi Arabia’s Ambassador to Yemen Mohammed bin Said Al-Jaber, supervisor general of the Saudi Development and Reconstruction Program for Yemen, at the secretariat general headquarters in Riyadh.

During the meeting, both sides discussed efforts to reconstruct Yemen through rebuilding and developing infrastructure affected by the war.

DHAKA, 08 February 2022, (TON): Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen is scheduled to leave Dhaka for the United Arab Emirates on a four-day visit on Wednesday night to attend a series of programmes apart from a bilateral meeting with his UAE counterpart.

The foreign minister will visit Bangladesh Pavilion on February 12 and UAE Pavilion on February 10 at the Expo 2020 in Dubai.

The Expo 2020 is currently hosted by Dubai in the United Arab Emirates from October 1, 2021, to March 31, 2022.

The bilateral meeting with the UAE foreign minister will be held on Saturday, said an official referring to Dr Momen's tentative programme schedule.

He will also attend the UK National Day reception to be held at the UK Pavilion in the Expo 2020. The foreign minister will attend the Commonwealth reception at the UK Pavilion on the same day.

Dr Momen is scheduled to return home on Sunday night wrapping up his four-day visit.

SRINAGAR, 08 February 2022, (TON): An Indian court gave a Kashmir freelance journalist two days to appear before it over a police complaint that he had acted against the public interest by sharing information on social media about a militant attack on a policeman.

The complaint against Gowhar Nazir Geelani comes days after the editor of web portal Kashmir Walla, Fahad Shah, was arrested for allegedly uploading on social media anti-national content to provoke the public to disturb law and order.

"I have granted him two days for appearance before the court" Executive Magistrate Fida Mohammad Bhat told Reuters of Geelani.

A summons issued to Geelani and seen by Reuters said that on Feb. 1, following the wounding of the policeman by militants, the journalist disseminated information on social media that would have endangered the life of the injured individual and other persons.”

Geelani is also allegedly accused of sharing information that raised "serious security and breach-of-peace concerns.”

NEW DELHI, 08 February 2022, (TON): A defence ministry official said “a Himalayan avalanche trapped a patrol team of seven Indian Army personnel in the northeastern state of Arunachal Pradesh near China and they have yet to be rescued.”

The team was on duty in the Kameng region, high in the Himalayas, which has seen heavy snowfall in the past few days, said Lieutenant Colonel Harsh Wardhan Pande, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Defence based in the country's northeast.

He said in a statement "search and rescue operations are currently underway.”

"Specialised teams have been airlifted to assist in rescue operations."

DHAKA, 08 February 2022, (TON): European Union Ambassador to Bangladesh Charles Whiteley expressed interest in working in the energy sector of Bangladesh.

He said while paying a courtesy call on State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid at the Secretariat "cooperation for green transition, smart grid, renewable energy and regional cooperation with Nepal-Bhutan can be financed by the EU.” 

During the meeting, they discussed various issues of mutual interest.

The state minister said while welcoming the ambassador "we want to work closely with European countries.”

Bangladesh and the EU can work together on clean energy, digitization of the distribution sector, smart meters, smart grid, underground cable and modernization of the energy sector.

The state minister said “Bangladesh Power Management Institute can be made as a training institute of international standard with the help of the EU.”

DHAKA, 08 February 2022, (TON): Luxembourg has reaffirmed its continued support to Bangladesh on the repatriation of Rohingyas to their homeland in Myanmar, alongside exploring new opportunities to widen and deepen existing bilateral relations.

According to a release of the Prime Minister’s Press Wing “the reaffirmation came when Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina exchanged greetings with her counterpart Xavier Bettel through video conferencing.”

During the conversation that lasted for about half an hour, the two prime ministers discussed a range of topics and agreed to explore new opportunities through cooperation.

Sheikh Hasina said “Luxembourg has been a steady supporter and trusted partner in the ongoing socio-economic development journey of Bangladesh.”

She recollected a congratulatory message from the Grand Duke of Luxembourg on the occasion of Bangladesh’s Independence Day last year, when the Golden Jubilee of independence and the birth centenary of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was being celebrated.

KABUL, 08 February 2022, (TON): A Taliban official said “at least 19 people were killed by an avalanche while crossing a remote mountain pass from Afghanistan to Pakistan.”

Scores of Afghans cross illegally to Pakistan every day through the porous mountain border in search of jobs or to buy essential goods for trade.

Najibullah Hassan Abdal, head of information for eastern Kunar province, told AFP rescue workers were still searching at the scene of the avalanche.

He said “nineteen bodies have been recovered already.”

Illegal traffic across the Pakistan-Afghan border has soared since the Taliban returned to power in August, plunging the country into a severe crisis with tens of thousands of people made jobless.

Pakistan is attempting to fence the entire 2,670-kilometre (1,660 miles) frontier, known as the Durand line for the British colonial administrator who first drew it.