DHAKA, 09 July 2022, (TON): Mentioning the government is working for social peace and harmony, Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen said “if social harmony is not destroyed and peace is maintained in the society, it brings the welfare of the people.”

He made the remarks while addressing a discussion meeting on the occasion of “Ulto Rath Yatra” at the International Society for Krishna Consciousness Sylhet Temple in Yugaltila, Sylhet as the chief guest.

The minister said “Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is working relentlessly to build the Shonar Bangladesh of harmony that Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman dreamt of.”

Shrimat Bhakti Odito Navadwip Maharaj presided over the function.

DHAKA, 09 July 2022, (TON): Awami League Joint General Secretary Mahbubul Alam Hanif said “the country still has a capacity to generate 26,000 megawatt power.”

He said "now the country is generating 26,000 MW power.”

The ruling party leader made this comment while replying to a query at his own residence located at PTI road here.

He said "now the country has a capacity to generate 26,000MW electricity and the power generation has lessened owing to rising power generation cost amid recent global perspective.”

LONDON, 09 July 2022, (TON): Russia’s ambassador to London said “Russia will defeat Ukrainian forces in the whole of the eastern Donbas region and is unlikely to withdraw from a vast swathe of land across Ukraine’s southern coast.”

Since the Feb. 24 invasion, Russian forces have taken control of a big chunk of territory across Ukraine’s southern flank above Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014, and is slowly pushing Ukrainian forces out of two Russian-backed rebel regions of east Ukraine which it has recognized as independent states.

When asked how the conflict might end, Russian Ambassador Andrei Kelin said Ukraine forces would be pushed back from all of Donbas and that it was difficult to see Russian and Russian-backed forces withdrawing from the south of Ukraine.

Kelin said in an interview “we are going to liberate all of the Donbas.”

BEIJING, 09 July 2022, (TON): Eastern Theatre Command of the People’s Liberation Army said in a statement “China’s military recently held multi-unit joint combat readiness exercises, patrols and combat drills in the sea and airspace around Taiwan.”

According to the ministry’s official Weibo “the exercises were organized in response to collusion and provocations by the United States and Taiwan, Wu Qian, spokesman for China’s ministry of defense said.”

Several Chinese fighter jets crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait on Friday in the northern part of the strait, a Taiwan source briefed on the matter told Reuters, adding the aircraft did not enter Taiwan’s airspace.

Senior United States senator, Republican Rick Scott, arrived in Taiwan on Thursday for a visit and met with Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen.

JERUSALEM, 09 July 2022, (TON): Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas held rare meetings and calls with Israeli leaders in an effort to calm tensions and coordinate security measures days before US President Joe Biden’s first visit to the region.

Official statements said “Israel’s President Isaac Herzog and Prime Minister Yair Lapid had separate calls with Abbas, following a meeting between Abbas and Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz in the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah.”

The prime minister’s office said “Lapid and Abbas discussed continued cooperation and the need to ensure quiet and calm, in the first call between the two since Lapid took over as caretaker prime minister in Israel last week ahead of elections on Nov. 1.”

Gantz said “Thursday’s meeting was conducted in positive terms and the two discussed civilian and security challenges in the region.”

LONDON, 09 July 2022, (TON): The European Court of Human Rights has condemned Greek authorities for acting unlawfully in failing to protect refugees in a 2014 mass drowning in the Aegean Sea that left 11 dead.

The landmark ruling also found that Greek officials subjected 12 of the survivors to degrading treatment when they reached land by strip-searching them, and failed to conduct an effective investigation into the circumstances surrounding the boat’s sinking that led to the drowning.

In its judgement, the court said “Greek authorities violated the refugees’ human rights on three counts by failing to protect them, by failing to conduct an adequate investigation and by subjecting them to degrading treatment.”

Sixteen survivors of the incident 13 Afghans, two Syrians and a Palestinian said “the Greek coastguard were responsible for the sinking when they towed the boat at high speed toward Turkey in what is known as a pushback operation, The Independent reported.”

CAIRO, 09 July 2022, (TON): Egypt’s Ambassador to Serbia Basil Salah met with Serbian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense Nebojsa Stefanovic, with the participation of the new Egyptian defense attache accredited in Belgrade.

The two sides welcomed the further strengthening of bilateral links in various fields of common interest, in addition to the reconvening of a joint committee after its previous session held in Cairo in July last year.

Salah pointed out Egypt’s wish to explore new areas of cooperation between the two countries and Stefanovic noted the importance of maintaining the nations’ historic bonds of friendship.

CANBERRA, 09 July 2022, (TON): Australia and New Zealand’s prime ministers agreed Friday that the security implications of China’s burgeoning influence must be discussed at a meeting of western Pacific leaders next week.

The neighboring countries are the wealthiest in the 18-member Pacific Islands Forum whose leaders will meet July 11-14 in the Fijian capital Suva.

Australia and New Zealand fear the security pact between China and the Solomon Islands struck this year could lead to a Chinese naval base being established in the south Pacific.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and his New Zealand counterpart Jacinda Ardern agreed at a joint press conference in Sydney that the security implications of China’s encroachment in the region needed to be on the agenda.

LONDON, 09 July 2022, (TON): Former British finance minister Rishi Sunak said “he was running to replace Boris Johnson after Johnson announced the previous day that he would stand down as prime minister.”

Sunak said in a campaign video released on Twitter “someone has to grip this moment and make the right decisions. That’s why I’m standing to be the next leader of the Conservative Party and your prime minister.”

Sunak quit as finance minister, one of two unexpected resignations that set in motion a chain of events that led to Johnson’s decision to step down.

The rules and timetable for the contest to replace Johnson are due to be set out next week by a party committee.

Sunak said in his resignation letter “it had become clear that his approach to the economy had been too different to Johnson’s, as the two had tried to agree on the next steps for the country.”

KYIV, 09 July 2022, (TON): Ukraine urged its allies to send more weapons as its forces dug in to slow Russia’s military advance through the eastern Donbas region, while a belligerent Moscow warned Western nations of consequences for their reprisals over its invasion.

Signalling that the Kremlin was in no mood for compromise, President Vladimir Putin said continued use of sanctions against Russia risked causing catastrophic energy price rises

Putin’s top diplomat Sergei Lavrov clashed with his Western counterparts at a Group of 20 meeting, where they urged Russia to allow Kyiv to ship blockaded Ukrainian grain out to an increasingly hungry world.

Meanwhile, Moscow’s envoy to London offered little prospect of a pull-back from parts of Ukraine under Russian control.