DAVOS, 26 May 2022, (TON): Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said “he was only willing to talk directly to Vladimir Putin and not via intermediators.”

He added “if the Russian President understands reality there was the possibility of finding a diplomatic way out of the conflict.”

Zelensky, speaking to an audience at the World Economic Forum in Davos, also said “Ukraine would fight until it recovered all of its territory.”

The Ukrainian President said “Moscow should withdraw its troops back to the lines in place before Russia began its invasion on Feb. 24.”

BRUSSELS, 26 May 2022, (TON): European Union, the United States, and the United Kingdom announced the creation of the Atrocity Crimes Advisory Group, a mechanism aimed at ensuring efficient coordination of their respective support to accountability efforts on the ground.

The ACA will reinforce current EU, US and UK efforts to further accountability for atrocity crimes in the context of Russia’s ongoing war of aggression against Ukraine.

It advances commitments made by the European Union, the United States, and the United Kingdom to demonstrate international support and solidarity at this crucial historical moment for Ukraine.

The overarching mission of the ACA is to support the War Crimes Units of the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine in its investigation and prosecution of conflict-related crimes.

The ACA seeks to streamline coordination and communication efforts to ensure best practices, avoid duplication of efforts, and encourage the expeditious deployment of financial resources and skilled personnel to respond to the needs of the OPG as the legally constituted authority in Ukraine responsible for dealing with the prosecution of war crimes on its own territory.

LONDON, 26 May 2022, (TON): President Vladimir Putin signed a decree simplifying the process for residents of Ukraine’s Russian-occupied Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions to acquire Russian citizenship and passports.

The decree marks a further step toward “Russification” of the two regions, where Moscow’s war in Ukraine has enabled it to establish a continuous land bridge linking Russia to the Crimean peninsula which it seized from Ukraine in 2014.

Putin’s move extends a scheme available to residents of areas controlled by Russian-backed separatists in Ukraine’s Donetsk and Luhansk regions, where Moscow has issued around 800,000 passports since 2019.

Russia claimed full control of the Kherson region, north of Crimea, in mid-March, and holds parts of Zaporizhzhia region to the north-east.

CAIRO, 26 May 2022, (TON): Khaled Abdel Ghaffar, Egypt’s acting minister of health and population, discussed with his Qatari counterpart Hanan Mohamed Al-Kuwari cooperation between the two countries in the health sector.

The meeting was among others held by Abdel Ghaffar on the sidelines of the 75th session of the World Health Assembly in Geneva.

He and Al-Kuwari discussed investment opportunities in Egypt’s health sector through the construction of advanced health facilities on par with international standards, as well as developing and raising the efficiency of medical units, centers and hospitals.

DHAKA, 26 May 2022, (TON): The parliament secretariat commission approved a Taka 341.89 crore budget for parliament to spend on its development and non-development activities for the next fiscal year of 2022-23.

The approval was given at the 33rd meeting of the commission held at the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban with Speaker Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury in the chair.

The budget for the next fiscal year is 1.72 percent higher than the main budget of the current fiscal year, which was Taka 336.14 crore.

The commission in its meeting also revised the budget for the outgoing fiscal to Taka 316.01 crore.

Commission members Prime minister and Leader of the House Sheikh Hasina, Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal, Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Anisul Huq and Barrister Anisul Islam Mahmud were present.

KABUL, 26 May 2022, (TON): Officials said “four bombs ripped through minibuses and a mosque in Afghanistan, killing at least 12 people, with at least some of the attacks claimed by the Islamic State group.”

The number of bomb attacks have dropped across the country since the Taliban seized power last year in August, but several deadly bombings had rocked the country during the holy month of Ramadan.

A health official and police said “at least 10 people were killed when three bombs placed on board separate minibuses exploded in the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif.”

Balkh provincial police spokesman Asif Waziri told media "the bombs were placed on three minibuses in different districts of the city.”

Najibullah Tawana, head of the Balkh health department, said “three women were among the 10 killed in the blasts on board the vehicles.”

SRINAGAR, 26 May 2022, (TON): A judge allegedly said “an Indian court ordered life in jail for Kashmiri leader Yasin Malik for funding terrorist activities and other charges.”

Malik, head of the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front, earlier told a special court designated for the National Investigation Agency that he had been following Gandhian principles and non-violent politics after giving up arms in the 1990s.

Special Judge Parveen Singh said “life imprisonment sentence to the convict, Yasin Malik.”

She wrote on Twitter “Malik's wife Mushaal Hussein Mullick said the sentencing was illegitimate.”

Verdict in minutes by Indian kangaroo court.

DHAKA, 26 May 2022, (TON): Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission and Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute signed a MoU for the collaboration in the peaceful use of nuclear energy.

A press release said “the signing ceremony was held at the BAEC building in Dhaka with the presence of Dr Park Won Seok, President of KAERI, Dr Azizul Haque, Chairman of BAEC, and Korean Ambassador to Bangladesh Lee Jang-Keun.”

According to the MoU “KAERI and BAEC will strengthen cooperation in various aspects of peaceful utilization of atomic energy, including development, utilization and upgrade of research reactor, production and application of radioisotope, development of radiation technology, neutron science and management of nuclear/radioactive waste.”

Korea expects that the signing of the MoU will provide important momentum to take the existing collaboration between the two agencies to a new height.

DHAKA, 26 May 2022, (TON): The Bangladesh Shipping Corporation will pay 5 lakh dollars (about Taka five crore) as compensation to the family of third engineer Hadisur Rahman, who was killed in a missile strike on board a ship at the port of Alvia in Ukraine in March this year.

Besides, his younger brother will get a job at the BSC with effect from June 1 while the other members of the ship 'Banglar Samriddhi' which was damaged by a missile during the war between Ukraine and Russia on March 2 this year will get salaries of seven months.

A release said “this decision was taken at the 312nd meeting of the BSC's Board of Directors, chaired by State Minister for Shipping and Chairman of its Board of Directors Khalid Mahmud Chowdhury, MP, at BSC Dhaka Tower here.”

DHAKA, 26 May 2022, (TON): Visiting UN High Commissioner for the Refugees Filippo Grandi appealed the neighboring countries to retain Rohingyas they have already hosted rather create additional burden to Bangladesh that is sheltering more than 1.1 million displaced people.

He told a press briefing "the neighbouring countries should take care of these people like Bangladesh does.”

Grandi said “the numbers of Rohingyas living in other countries are nothing compared to those living in Bangladesh.”

He said "so, Bangladesh needs to be relieved of the burden.”

The high commissioner also made appeal to the ASEAN countries plus China, Japan, South Korea to use their influence so that the Rohingyas do not flee to Bangladesh and Myanmar is encouraged to take back their forcibly displace people.

He also urged for sustained and predictable support for Rohingya refugees and their local host communities in Bangladesh, while emphasizing the need to maintain Rohingyas hopes for voluntary return to Myanmar once the situation allows.