RIYADH, 19 November 2022, (TON): Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s official visit to Thailand, participation in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit and meetings with several Asian heads of government are the latest highlights of a successful tour of Asia.

Friday’s engagements in Bangkok came after an official visit by the crown prince to Seoul for meetings with the South Korean leadership and signing of economic deals. He also attended the two-day G20 leaders’ summit in Bali, Indonesia.

The crown prince’s arrival in the Thai capital on Thursday represented a symbolic turning of the page in Saudi-Thai relations and followed the resumption of diplomatic ties in January.

He was invited by Thailand to join the APEC forum as a guest of honor despite Saudi Arabia not being a member of the group, an indication of Thailand’s desire to enhance cooperation, trade and investment to serve both kingdoms.

RAMALLAH, 19 November 2022, (TON): Azerbaijan’s decision on Friday to open an embassy in Tel Aviv sparked astonishment and condemnation among Palestinians.

Azerbaijan shares a long border with Iran and is a major buyer of Israeli weapons systems. It is now set to become the first country with a Shiite majority and government to have a mission in Israel.

While some former Palestinian diplomats and political analysts sought to play down the move at a time of intense diplomatic struggles between Palestinians and Israel, others saw it as a victory for Israeli diplomacy.

Senior Arab intelligence officers told Arab News that increased cooperation between the security services of Azerbaijan and Israel in recent years meant that Israeli personnel now had free operability in areas close to the Azerbaijan-Iran border.

ATHENS, 19 November 2022, (TON): The defense ministers of Israel and Greece have stressed the importance of maintaining strong alliances to tackle global and regional threats, citing challenges such as the war in Ukraine and ongoing tension in the eastern Mediterranean.

Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz said “the world is changing.”

“The implications of the war in Ukraine bleed through national borders. The politics of extremism and terrorism impacts countries across the globe.”

DHAKA, 19 November 2022, (TON): Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan and his Indian counterpart Amit Shah Friday discussed various aspects relating to border management and common security-related issues.

The two home ministers held the meeting on the sidelines of 'No Money for Terror' Ministerial Conference on Counter-Terrorism Financing, which began in New Delhi. 

"Both sides had productive exchanges on border management and common security-related issues," the Indian Ministry of Home Affairs tweeted in the evening after the meeting. 

Besides, Bangladesh delegation sources said that the two home ministers also discussed the issue to bring down border killings to a zero level.

RIYADH, 19 November 2022, (TON): Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman concluded his official visit to South Korea, having secured multiple trade deals and reaffirmed the long-standing relationship between both countries.

A number of officials, including Saudi Energy Minister Abdulaziz bin Salman and Interior Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Saud bin Naif, accompanied the crown prince on his two-day visit, which followed his attendance at the G20 Summit in Bali, Indonesia.

The crown prince held a number of meetings with South Korean government officials and business leaders, resulting in 26 memoranda of understanding worth $30 billion, covering railways, construction, petrochemicals, agriculture and energy.

MOSCOW, 19 November 2022, (TON): Russia is not ruling out further high-level meetings with the United States on “strategic stability,” Moscow’s deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov said, as an upcoming meeting between the two powers in Cairo on nuclear proliferation nears.

Ryabkov was quoted “if the Americans show interest and readiness, we will not refuse.”

Strategic stability is a term Russia and the United States, the world’s two biggest nuclear powers, use to mean reducing the risk of nuclear war.

KYIV, 19 November 2022, (TON): Kyiv said “Ukrainian experts had started work at the site where a missile killed two people in southeastern Poland, as the countries discuss what role Ukraine may play in an investigation into the incident.”

Poland and other Western states have said the missile that landed in Przewodow, a village near the border with Ukraine, was a Ukrainian air defense missile that went astray in pursuit of a Russian missile.

Kyiv denied this, saying it has evidence of a “Russian trace” in the blast, and demanded access to the site and a role in the investigation into the cause of the explosion.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba wrote on Twitter that Ukrainian experts were already working at the site, but did not mention Kyiv’s demand to take part in the investigation.

KABUL, 19 November 2022, (TON): The foreign minister of Uzbekistan, Vladimir Norov, at a European Union - Central Asia meeting that was held in Uzbekistan, called for international efforts to prevent the isolation of Afghanistan and for coordinated efforts to provide real practical assistance to the Afghan people.

Norov said that in the meeting they discussed important issues about regional and international agendas that included peace and development in Afghanistan.

Vladimir Norov, the foreign minister of Uzbekistan said “we also exchanged views on the topical issues on the regional and international agenda including sustainable peace and development in neighboring Afghanistan.”

DHAKA, 19 November 2022, (TON): State Minister for Foreign Affairs Md Shahriar Alam said “Bangladesh would welcome visible Portuguese investment and expertise in the blue economy, including for exploring potential for offshore wind power generation.”

Portugal's large-scale and judicious investment in renewable energy over the past years has largely cushioned it from the present energy crisis around the world, he said, while speaking at a seminar as the chief guest.

State Minister Alam said “we have many untapped potentials for economic cooperation between our two countries. We believe that there are opportunities for further expanding two-way investments in each other's countries.”

DHAKA, 19 November 2022, (TON): Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen has requested his Bahrain counterpart for recruiting more skilled and semi-skilled workers including IT professionals from Bangladesh.

During his bilateral meeting with the Foreign Minister of Bahrain Dr Abdullatiff bin Rashid Al-Zayani held in Manama, Momen briefed the Bahrain foreign minister about socio-economic development in Bangladesh under the leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

Foreign Minister Momen thanked the government of Bahrain for hosting a large number of Bangladeshi expatriates living in Bahrain.