WASHINGTON, 17 August 2022, (TON): Antony J. Blinken, Secretary of State has said “on behalf of the United States of America, I send my congratulations to the Indonesian people on the occasion of your Independence Day.”

The United States is proud of the long history of friendship and cooperation between our two countries. I witnessed firsthand the strength of our relationship and the importance of the U.S.-Indonesia Strategic Partnership when I visited Jakarta in December 2021 and Bali in July 2022.

We support Indonesia’s global leadership as this year’s G20 President and look forward to Indonesia’s 2023 ASEAN Chairmanship.

MOSCOW , 17 August 2022, (TON): Russian state media has reported “Russia’s Defence Ministry has blamed saboteurs for explosions at a military warehouse in northern Crimea that forced the evacuation of more than 3,000 people.”

The ministry said “the explosions on Tuesday rocked an ammunition storage facility near the village of Mayskoye and disrupted train services and power supplies although nobody was seriously injured in the blasts.”

Russia’s Kommersant newspaper also reported on Tuesday on another possible act of sabotage in Crimea, quoting witnesses as saying that plumes of smoke could be seen over a Russian military airbase on the peninsula in Gvardeyskoye.

The incidents follow a series of explosions last week at a Russian-operated airbase in Crimea which Ukrainian officials had hinted were part of some kind of special operation but which Moscow said at the time was an accident.

BAGHDAD, 17 August 2022, (TON): Iraq’s finance minister resigned Tuesday, two government officials said, over the country’s worst political crisis in years involving an influential Shiite cleric and his Iran-aligned rivals.

The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations, said Finance Minister Ali Allawi resigned during a Cabinet meeting Tuesday to protest the political conditions.

They said “Oil Minister Ihsan Abdul-Jabbar will become acting finance minister.”

Allawi’s decision came weeks after members of influential Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr’s parliamentary bloc resigned from parliament and his supporters stormed the parliament building in Baghdad.

Al-Sadr later demanded that parliament be dissolved and early elections held.

DAMASCUS, 17 August 2022, (TON): A war monitor said “a Turkish air strike on a Syria border post run by regime forces killed 11 Tuesday, following an overnight flareup between Ankara’s forces and Kurdish fighters that control the area.”

Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said “eleven fighters were killed in a Turkish air strike that hit a Syrian regime outpost near the Turkish border.”

WASHINGTON, 17 August 2022, (TON): The European Union and United States said “they were studying Iran’s response to what the EU has called its final proposal to save a 2015 nuclear deal after Tehran called on Washington to show flexibility.”

A US State Department spokesperson said the United States was sharing its views on Iran’s response with the European Union after receiving Tehran’s comments from the bloc.

An EU spokesperson told reporters in Brussels “for the moment, we are studying it and we are consulting with the other JCPOA participants and the US on the way forward.”

She declined to give a time frame for any reaction from the EU.

After 16 months of fitful, indirect US-Iranian talks, with the EU shuttling between the parties, a senior EU official said on Aug. 8 the bloc had laid down a final offer and expected a response within a very, very few weeks.

DHAKA, 17 August 2022, (TON): Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan said “discussions are underway regarding Inspector General of Police Benazir Ahmed’s planned visit to the United States, noting an understanding between the United Nations and the US.”

He told reporters “there’s an understanding between the UN and the US. It’s (visit) under discussion following that particular process.”

Benazir is scheduled to attend the third United Nations Chiefs of Police Summit which will bring together ministers, chiefs of police and senior representatives of regional and professional policing organizations to United Nations headquarters from August 31 to September 1.

Earlier, US Ambassador to Bangladesh Peter Haas held a meeting with the home minister at the Secretariat.

DHAKA, 17 August 2022, (TON): Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina slammed the role of the United States and human rights watchdogs.

She said “now, I have to learn human rights from them who are protecting the killers of my father, mother, brothers, women and children? Where are our human rights?”

Hasina, also the president of the ruling Awami League, made the remarks while speaking at a discussion program arranged by her party to mark the 47th death anniversary of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

She said “the countries who are questioning human rights and giving sanctions on us, are also giving shelters to the killers of the August 15 massacre. And BNP is their patronizer and nurturer.”

NEW DELHI, 17 August 2022, (TON):  Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Emmanuel Macron reviewed ongoing bilateral initiatives, including defence collaboration projects and cooperation in civil nuclear energy.

A statement issued by the Prime Minister's Office said “during their telephonic conversation, they also discussed important geopolitical challenges, including those related to global food security.”

India and France have been expressing concern at the risk to the global food security and nutrition in light of the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

PM Modi tweeted "spoke to my friend President Emmanuel Macron. Conveyed India's solidarity with France in dealing with the devastating wildfires.”

DHAKA, 17 August 2022, (TON): Bangladesh and Switzerland are in touch to develop a mechanism for exchange of information to avoid any misunderstanding and confusion between the two sides.

Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen said “they are in touch with the Swiss Embassy in Dhaka and Switzerland’s administrative capital Bern as there is a proposal to that end from the Swiss side.”

The decision to develop such a mechanism came amid confusions over deposits of Bangladeshi money in the Swiss banks and whether Bangladesh has sought information from the Swiss authorities or not.

The Foreign Secretary said the government wants to make sure that there is no illicit transfer of funds.

Responding to a question, he said the mechanism is primarily for the exchange of information.

DHAKA, 17 August 2022, (TON): The United States ambassador to Bangladesh, Peter Haas, in a meeting with home minister Asaduzzaman Khan, inquired about the election-time government and the law and order situation.

The ambassador also wanted to know whether there was any possibility of a deterioration of the existing law and order situation.

In what was his first meeting with the home minister since he arrived in March, the US ambassador was accompanied by the US  department of justice representative, among others.

Haas told reporters “following the nearly two-hour-long meeting at the secretariat that they had discussed broader areas of bilateral cooperation.”