DHAKA, 14 July 2022, (TON): Over a lakh people have been rendered homeless in Barguna’s Taltoli upazila after portions of the Payra river dam collapsed due to a tidal surge, inundating eight villages.

SM Sadik Tanvir, upazila nirbahi officer of Taltoli said “a vast tract of low-lying areas in Joyalbhanga, Nolbunia and Tetulbaria villages have been inundated, while at least 50 fish enclosures were swept away by the flood waters.”

The disaster forced the residents of the eight villages to take shelter on high land with their livestock.

Besides, the Boroitola Ferry Ghat near the Bishkhali river has also been submerged due to the swelling of the river.

Aminul Islam Shohag, deputy assistant engineer of the Water Development Board, Barguna, said “a proposal has been sent to the higher authorities for the construction of another dam here soon.”

DHAKA, 14 July 2022, (TON): French diplomat in Dhaka said “France is keen to strengthen its cooperation with Bangladesh for mutual economic and social benefits overcoming challenges ahead.”

French Embassy in Dhaka Chargé d’affaires Guillaume Audren de Kerdrel said “we now have to keep working together to combine our strength in order to consolidate mutual economic and social benefits and to face the numerous challenges to come.”

He assured that the French embassy will continue to play an active role to further strengthen the friendly relations between the two countries.

While Bangladesh is still facing the challenges of climate change, France commends the leading role of Bangladesh in the Climate Vulnerable Forum.

DHAKA, 14 July 2022, (TON): The foreign ministry announced “the government has appointed Muhammad Imran, currently serving as the high commissioner of Bangladesh to India, as the ambassador of Bangladesh to the United States.”

Imran will succeed Md Shadidul Islam, the current Bangladesh ambassador in Washington DC.

Imran is a career foreign service officer belonging to the 1986 batch of the Bangladesh Civil Service Foreign Affairs cadre.

In his illustrious diplomatic career, Imran has served extensively in various capacities both at the headquarters and in Bangladesh missions abroad, such as Jeddah, Bonn, Berlin, and Ottawa, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

A medical graduate from Mymensingh Medical College, Imran obtained a Diploma in Development Diplomacy from Germany and completed a course on Humanitarian Law.

By TON Bangladesh
Bangladesh government is being internationally projected as human rights violater. The global human rights protectors heavily condemned the Bangladesh government’s move to deregister top NGO Odhikar. As the Odhikar human rights group had registered alleged rights abuses by Bangladesh’s notorious Rapid Action Battalion (RAB).
The Bangladesh government has canceled the operating license of one of its top human rights Odhikar groups in a move intended to send a “frightening message” to the rights defenders in the country. Bangladesh refused to renew the licence of Odhikar human rights group, and accused the group of “tarnishing the image of the Bangladesh state to the world”.
The Odhikar had been raising human rights issues in the South Asian country since its foundation in 1994. It worked closely with the United Nations in recording thousands of extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances purportedly committed by the Bangladeshi security forces.
The group had registered alleged rights abuses by Bangladesh’s notorious Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), an elite police unit sanctioned by the United States in December last year. The RAB is accused of participation in hundreds of disappearances and closely 600 extrajudicial killings since 2018.
Since the US sanctions, Dhaka on numerous occasions queried Washington to reassess its decision. In April this year, Bangladesh’s foreign minister even said he had required New Delhi’s help to get the sanction on RAB and some of its officials withdrew.
This move by Dhaka sends an alarming message that the government doesn’t care about mending its rights record and that it wants to control the story about rights issues in Bangladesh a narrative that always comes across as more reliable when it’s articulated by an NGO like Odhikar as opposed to the government.
Such steps of Bangladesh against Odhikar is inviting further US sanctions. It’s certainly making Washington more suspicious regarding the worse genuinely committed human record Bangladesh. .
In April this year, Odhikar said in a statement the government was retaliating against the NGOs that accused the RAB of rights abuses. Among the measures taken by the government was the watching of foreign funding received by the rights groups?
The circular stated that “foreign aids of some NGOs including Human Rights Watch, Odhikar, Ain o Salish Kendra and BLAST could be checked sternly”. The fact-based information about various extrajudicial killings, including alleged disappearances and murders, has been published on the organization’s own website, creating various issues for Bangladesh.
There is no opportunity to consider the application for renewal of the registration submitted by Odhikar as the activities of the organization are not satisfactory due to inconsistencies in the application for renewal of registration and the organization has been operating in “a regulatory limbo” since it sought to renew its 10-year license in 2014.
The Adhikari’s went to the court to challenge that inaction interestingly, we had a hearing scheduled hearing. The Bangladeshi authorities cancelled the license of human rights origination even though the issue is under trial which is unethical and unacceptable. The act of the Bangladesh government seems resolute to show that all concerns over its human rights record are justified.
When the US has issued sanctions against the Rapid Action Battalion and several of its serving and former officers, the Bangladeshi government blamed human rights groups, not the security personnel and other officials that are blamed to over hundreds of enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings.
Above all, the authorities blamed Odhikar, a human rights group that has previously been beleaguered repeatedly, their funds held up, offices raided, and surveillance.
The authorities in Bangladesh “must immediately cancel the decision to capriciously ban” Odhikar and allow the rights group “to work without fear of punishments”. Odhikar’s documentation of human right violations has been critical in holding perpetrators to account in Bangladesh.
It is ridiculous that the authorities withheld the registration of the rights group for eight years and then annulled it because of the global rage they faced for a poor human rights record. The annulment of the rights group’s registration is “additional blow to the already awful human rights record of Bangladesh. It has sent a bad message to the outside world that civil society groups and human rights defenders who speak up on human rights issues will be frightened and hushed.
The government of Bangladesh should must reverse this appalling decision which has tarnished the its image international due to such acts and instead take steps to create a friendly and conducive environment for civil society to carry on their work without retaliations. However, Hunan Right organization must also think thousands times before involving any government institution on weak evidences.

NEW YORK, 13 July 2022, (TON): The UN Security Council adopted a resolution extending a system for cross-border aid to Syria by six months, the duration demanded by Russia while other members had sought a full year.

The measure received support from 12 of the Security Council’s 15 members, including Russia, China, and the grouping’s 10 non-permanent members.

Western nations had called for a year-long extension, arguing that six months was insufficient to properly plan the delivery of aid to war-ravaged Syria.

Britain, France and the United States abstained from the vote, marking their disagreement with the shorter duration.

JEDDAH, 13 July 2022, (TON): Israeli officials said “US President Joe Biden will sign an agreement with Israel this week pledging that both countries will use all elements of national power to ensure that Iran never obtains a nuclear weapon.”

The declaration of a joint stance against Iran’s nuclear program and regional aggression will be the centerpiece of Biden’s visit to Israel this week, after which he will travel to Saudi Arabia.

One official said “Iran is at the top of Israel’s agenda for meetings with US representatives at all levels, including Prime Minister Yair Lapid’s meeting with Biden. Iran is continuing to violate its obligations and continues to deceive the international community.”

The official said Iran was playing for time in talks aimed at reviving the collapsed 2015 deal to curb its nuclear program.

KHARKIV, 13 July 2022, (TON): As Russian missiles struck a key Ukrainian city, Russian President Vladimir Putin expanded a fast-track procedure for obtaining Russian citizenship to all Ukrainians, another effort to strengthen Moscow’s influence over war-torn Ukraine.

Until recently, only residents of Ukraine’s separatist eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions, as well as residents of the southern Zaporizhzhia and the Kherson regions, large parts of which are now under Russian control, were eligible to apply for the simplified passport procedure.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Klueba said “Putin’s signing of a passport decree, which also applies to stateless residents in Ukraine, was an example of his predatory appetites.”

Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry added “Russia is using the simplified procedure for issuing passports to tighten the noose around the necks of residents of the temporarily occupied territories of our state.”

LONDON, 13 July 2022, (TON): The White House said “US President Joe Biden wants to use his Middle East trip this week to deepen Israel’s integration in the region and will be working toward progress and momentum on discussions surrounding relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia.”

White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said “any normalization between Israel and Saudi Arabia was likely to take a long time, but that Biden would be looking to make progress on that front during his trip to Israel and Saudi Arabia this week.”

He said “it is our hope and expectation, as we look out into the future, we can help facilitate Israel’s deeper integration into the region across the board.”

MOSCOW, 13 July 2022, (TON): “Russian President Vladimir Putin will visit Iran next week” the Kremlin said a day after the US warned that Tehran could provide Moscow with drones for its action in Ukraine.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said “during a trip to Tehran next Tuesday, Putin will attend a trilateral meeting with the leaders of Iran and Turkey, the so-called Astana format of meetings for Syria-related talks.”

Peskov said “on the visit to Tehran, Putin will also have a separate meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.”

In March, Erdogan helped mediate talks between Russian and Ukrainian representatives in Istanbul, Turkey.

The White House said on Monday that it believes that Russia is turning to Iran to provide it with hundreds of drones, including those capable of carrying weapons, for use in Ukraine.

AMMAN, 13 July 2022, (TON): According to the US undersecretary of state “current priority for Washington and its NATO allies is addressing the emerging global challenges the alliance faces, especially those originating in Russia and China.”

Speaking during a press briefing in Brussels, attended by Arab News, Bonnie Denise Jenkins said “the alliance has for the first time formally discussed the challenges posed by Moscow, especially in light of the conflict in Ukraine, and the growing global strength of Beijing, which is perceived as a threat to Western powers.”

She said “her talks with European allies at NATO headquarters focused mainly on arms control related to the war in Ukraine, and the alliance’s new strategic concept, which was approved during its summit in Madrid last month.”

Jenkins said “the summit showcased our collective strength to meet the challenges of the world and threats we are facing today and in the future.”