DHAKA, 23 June 2022, (TON): The Asian Development Bank on Wednesday approved a $41.4 million grant to help improve infrastructure and manage the basic needs of displaced Rohingyas from Myanmar sheltered in Cox’s Bazar district in Bangladesh.

A media statement said “the grant forms the second phase of ADB’s ongoing Emergency Assistance Project, a $100 million grant approved in 2018.”

ADB Country Director for Bangladesh Edimon Ginting said “the new assistance will strengthen the resilience against Covid-19 and any future pandemic by expanding health facilities and improving water supply and sanitation.”

“Disaster shelter centres, health facilities, improved water supply and sanitation, and better waste management that will be provided with ADB assistance, will reduce disaster risks and serve basic human needs of the camp population until their repatriation.”

TEHRAN, 23 June 2022, (TON): Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was due in Iran for talks on boosting trade and energy cooperation as the two countries grapple with Western economic sanctions.

Tehran and Moscow both have huge oil and gas reserves but are constrained by sanctions that limit their ability to export their output.

Iran’s official news agency said “Lavrov will meet our foreign minister (Hossein Amir-Abdollahian).”

Russia was slapped with sanctions following its February invasion of neighboring Ukraine, while Iran’s economy has been reeling under biting sanctions reimposed by the US in 2018, following Washington’s withdrawal from a nuclear accord between Tehran and major powers.

Russia played a key role in that deal, taking charge of Iran’s excess enriched uranium stocks beyond those permitted under the agreement.

DUBAI, 23 June 2022, (TON): Kuwait’s Crown Prince has dissolved the parliament and called for new elections over the coming months, he said in a televised speech.

Crown Prince Mishal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah said “we have decided to dissolve the National Assembly constitutionally and resort to elections.”

He added “we will not interfere in the elections nor in the selection of the next Speaker of the parliament.”

The crown prince noted that the next phase requires a solid and renewed approach amid the turbulent regional political scene.

He said “our citizens are not satisfied with the work of the legislative and executive institutions.”

KABUL, 23 June 2022, (TON): An earthquake of magnitude 6.1 killed more than 1,000 people in Afghanistan, disaster management officials said “with nearly 1,600 injured and the toll expected to grow as information trickles in from remote mountain villages.”

Head of Information and Culture Department of the province told media "more than 1000 people were killed and over 1500 others injured in Paktika province.”

He added that the death toll could rise as rescue operations still continue in the Gayan and Barmal districts of the province.

US Geological Survey said “Wednesday's quake was the deadliest since 2002. It struck about 44 km (27 miles) from the southeastern city of Khost, near the border with Pakistan.”

DHAKA, 23 June 2022, (TON): Finance minister AHM Mustafa Kamal told “the parliament that the amount of default loans in the country was Tk 1,26,389 crore as of March.”

Apart from this, another Tk 21,046 crore remains stuck due to the stay orders of the High Court as banks and financial institutions are unable to realise the amount.

Kamal made the disclosure while responding to a tabled question from ruling party lawmaker M Abdul Latif from Chattogram.

He said “the amount of default loans of all banks and financial institutions on the CIB database till March 2022 was Tk 1,26,389 crore.”

DHAKA, 23 June 2022, (TON): The United States has provided over Taka 2.3 crore as emergency funding to deliver critical relief to families and communities hit hardest by record-level rainfall and catastrophic flooding across areas of northern Bangladesh.

A US embassy press release said “the US is providing the fund through U.S. Agency for International Development.”

Some of these areas have not seen floodwaters like this for over 120 years.

The United States continues to stand by the government and the people of Bangladesh during these challenging times and will support our partners on the ground to deliver crucial assistance to people in areas most affected.

DHAKA, 23 June 2022, (TON): The United Kingdom has released additional emergency funding of £442,548 to the support communities affected by the ongoing floods in Sylhet division.

A press release issued by British High Commission said “this emergency funding brings the UK's contribution to the flood relief effort in recent weeks to £636,548.”

The release quoting acting British High Commissioner to Bangladesh Javed Patel said "the new emergency funding we have released today will be used to support the most vulnerable through cash assistance, shelter management, water and sanitation, and educational materials.”

He added "the devastation we have seen from flooding this year in Bangladesh has been heartbreaking.”

DUBAI, 22 June 2022, (TON): The US Navy said “its forces had a tense encounter with Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard in the strategic Strait of Hormuz.”

The Navy’s Mideast-based 5th Fleet said “three Guard vessels had an unsafe and unprofessional encounter as the USS Sirocco and USNS Choctaw County transited Monday through the strait, the narrow mouth of the Arabian Gulf.”

The Navy said one of three of the Guard fast crafts raced head-on at the Sirocco before changing course. The Navy said the Sirocco fired a warning flare during the encounter as well.

A short video released by the Navy showed the encounter.

SEOUL, 22 June 2022, (TON): South Korea said “it had successfully launched its homegrown space rocket and placed a payload into orbit in a giant leap for the country’s quest to become an advanced space-faring nation.”

The Korea Satellite Launch Vehicle II, nicknamed Nuri and emblazoned with the South Korean flag, from the launch site in Goheung on the southern coast, trailing a column of flame.

Seoul said “all three stages of the rocket worked, taking it to its target altitude of 700 kilometers (430 miles), and it successfully separated a performance verification satellite and put it into orbit.”

South Korea’s space program has taken a giant leap forward, said “Lee Jong-ho, minister of science and technology, adding he declared the mission a success.”

He said “South Korea has now become the seventh nation in the world to launch a space vehicle with homegrown technology.”

He added “the government would continue its quest to become “an advanced space-faring nation.”

BEIRUT, 22 June 2022, (TON): Lebanon, Syria and Egypt agreed to ship 650 million cubic meters of natural gas per year from Egypt to Lebanon via Syria, part of a US-backed effort to address Lebanon’s crippling blackouts with electricity and gas transfers.

The deal, signed at a ceremony at the Lebanese energy ministry in Beirut, would see gas piped to Lebanon’s northern Deir Ammar power plant, where it could add some 450 megawatts, or around four extra hours of power per day to the grid.

Deir Ammar is one of several plants in Lebanon that can run on both gas and diesel, but use the latter as the gas pipeline has yet to come online.

Lebanon’s caretaker energy minister Walid Fayad told media “the deal also still requires the approval of the World Bank, which has pledged financing, and the United States for compliance with its Syria sanctions regime.”