WASHINGTON, 04 August 2022, (TON): Ukraine said “Russia had started creating a military strike force aimed at President Volodymyr Zelensky’s hometown of Kryvyi Rih, as NATO moved closer to the most significant expansion of the alliance in decades as it responds to the invasion of Ukraine.”

The US Senate and the Italian parliament both approved Finland and Sweden’s accession to the 30-member North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

Under NATO membership, which must be ratified by all 30 member states, an attack on one member is an attack against all.

US President Joe Biden said “this historic vote sends an important signal of the sustained, bipartisan US commitment to NATO, and to ensuring our Alliance is prepared to meet the challenges of today and tomorrow.”

PHNOM PENH, 04 August 2022, (TON): Southeast Asian foreign ministers urged restraint as China readied massive military drills off Taiwan, warning the situation risked spiralling into open conflicts.

A furious Beijing is planning its biggest-ever exercises around Taiwan in response to US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to the self-ruled island.

Ministers from the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) meeting in Phnom Penh warned against “provocative action.”

the ministers said “the situation could lead to miscalculation, serious confrontation, open conflicts and unpredictable consequences among major powers.”

SEOUL, 04 August 2022, (TON): North Korea warned it will never tolerate the United States’ criticism of the isolated country’s nuclear program, calling Washington the kingpin of nuclear proliferation and saying it would not allow any encroachment of its sovereign rights.

North Korea has conducted missile tests at an unprecedented pace this year and international experts believe it is readying its seventh nuclear test, the first since 2017.

The North’s permanent mission to the United Nations issued the statement on Wednesday as diplomats gathered in New York for a month-long UN conference to review the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said “during the meeting the North continues to expand its unlawful nuclear program” and “is preparing to conduct its seventh nuclear test.”

ABU DHABI, 04 August 2022, (TON): The UAE participated in the 55th Foreign Ministers Meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

During the meeting, which is taking place in Cambodia from 30th July to 6th August 2022, the UAE signed ASEAN’s Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia.

Dr. Abdulnasser Alshaali, Assistant Minister for Economic and Trade Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, represented the UAE at the signing ceremony.

Alshaali emphasized the UAE's shared values and deep ties with ASEAN member states in his remarks.

The assistant minister said "the signing of the TAC reflects the UAE's keenness to strengthen and advance economic relations with ASEAN countries."

CAIRO, 04 August 2022, (TON): The United Nations painted a grim picture for Sudan’s humanitarian situation, saying "almost a quarter of the country’s population was inching toward starvation amid a dire shortage of funding."

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said that 11.7 million people were facing acute hunger between June and September, an increase by nearly 2 million, compared to the same period last year.

The deepening food crisis in Sudan is caused mainly by the county’s fragile economy, prolonged dry spells, reduced areas cultivated and erratic rainfall, said the UN Food and Agriculture Organization.

The dark assessment comes as the East African nation has plunged into turmoil since a military coup in October.

It upended the country’s short-lived transition to democracy after nearly three decades of repression and international isolation under autocrat leader Omar Al-Bashir.

DHAKA, 04 August 2022, (TON): Experts said at a workshop “to assess the challenges and investment priorities of the government and development partners, agricultural transformation in southern Bangladesh is considered extremely important.”

Focusing on agriculture transformation as a huge priority, the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations with the Ministry of Agriculture organized a consultation workshop on "Investment for Agricultural Transformation in Bangladesh" in Barishal with participation of officials from extension.

The release added “the southern region of Bangladesh accounts for about a third of the country's landmass and is home to more than 35 million people.”

About half of the southern zone is open to the sea. It also has a distinct water management system and cropping patterns than the rest of Bangladesh.

KABUL, 04 August 2022, (TON): The Ministry of Mines and Petroleum in its annual report said “the ministry is in discussions with the Chinese CNPCI company about the oil contract for the Qashqari region of the Amu Darya River basin.”

Shahabuddin Delawar, the acting Minister of Mines and Petroleum, said that the Islamic Emirate will receive a 20% share of the oil's extraction and profit under the new agreement.

He said at a press conference "we have made three changes to the contract. The government will now get 20% of the revenue. If extraction does not begin within two months of the contract's signing, the agreement will be canceled, and the oil will be processed in Afghanistan, we won't sell crude oil to other countries.”

According to the ministry “a framework to reduce corruption and boost income has been developed, and the ministry has formed a technical committee to hand over major mines, giving local industrial companies priority with mining contracts.”

DHAKA, 04 August 2022, (TON): According to the Dhaka EPS Center “the number of Bangladeshi workers in South Korea, recruited under the Employment Permit System, is likely to be over 3,600 this year.”

A total of 2,594 Bangladeshi workers have already been recruited by South Korea between January and July 2022.

The government of the Republic of Korea plans to allocate over 1,000 additional quotas to Bangladesh this year to meet the increasing demand by Korean employers, said the Korean Embassy in Dhaka.

If things go well it will be the highest number since the start of Korea’s EPS programme with Bangladesh in 2008.

It was in 2010 that the highest number of Bangladesh EPS workers, 2,691, went to Korea.

DHAKA, 04 August 2022, (TON): UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said “more peacekeepers, weapons, and ammunition would soon be taken from Bangladesh for various peacekeeping missions in Africa.”

He said “this when Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen requested him to recruit more Bangladeshi peacekeepers,” during a meeting on the sidelines of the 10th Review Conference of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty in New York.

Momen also requested Guterres to appoint more Bangladeshi officials to different political and military positions at the UN Headquarters.

UN Secretary-General applauded Bangladesh's significant contribution to the UN peacekeeping operations and conveyed the gratitude of the international community to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for providing shelter to the Rohingyas and offering continued humanitarian assistance to them.

DHAKA, 04 August 2022, (TON): Bangladesh is seeking $2 billion from the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank amid efforts to bolster its foreign exchange reserves.

Bangladesh's $416 billion economy has been one of the fastest-growing in the world for years, but rising energy and food prices because of the Russia-Ukraine war have inflated its import bill and the current account deficit.

The government wrote letters to the two lenders seeking $1 billion each, the report said, citing people familiar with the matter.

This comes days after Bangladesh's Daily Star newspaper reported that the country wanted $4.5 billion from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), including for budgetary and balance-of-payment support.