NEW DELHI, 03 May 2022, (TON): Indonesia, the world's biggest producer of palm oil, announced last week that it would halt exports to stabilise spiking prices at home, which it blamed on the war in Ukraine and the pandemic.

Cooking oil is an integral part of the Indian diet. So much so that India is the world's second-largest consumer and largest importer of vegetable oils.

Some 56% of its requirements are imported from more than seven countries.

Indians mainly cook with palm, soybean and sunflower oils. For palm oil, the country imports 90% of its requirement from Indonesia and Malaysia. Nearly half of that comes from Indonesia alone.

If this was not enough, half of India's sunflower oil requirements come from Russia and Ukraine, which account for 80% of global exports.

According to a report “war in Ukraine is likely to lead to a 25% cut in supplies of sunflower oil in the next fiscal year.”

NEW DELHI, 03 May 2022, (TON): German Chancellor Olaf Scholz plans to invite Prime Minister Narendra Modi as the special guest to a Group of Seven leaders' summit next month as part of an effort to forge a broader international alliance against Russia.

Germany, which currently holds the rotating G-7 presidency, will also welcome the leaders of Indonesia, South Africa and Senegal to the gathering in the Bavarian Alps June 26 to June 28, said people with knowledge of the matter.

The decision could be announced as early as Monday, when Mr Scholz welcomes PM Modi for talks in Berlin and a joint German-Indian cabinet meeting.

Scholz was undecided on PM Modi's invitation until a few weeks ago given the prime minister's reluctance to condemn Russia's invasion.

DHAKA, 03 May 2022, (TON): The United Nations Development Programme and the ICT Division of Bangladesh government have signed an agreement to launch a cyberecurity campaign for the youth and children in select LDCs.

UNDP’s Bangladesh resident representative Sudipto Mukerjee and Bangladesh Hi-Tech Park Authority managing director Bikarna Kumar Ghosh signed the agreement on behalf of their respective organisations.

Speaking at the signing ceremony, Sudipto said that the first-ever government cost-sharing agreement will further strengthen UNDP’s partnership with the Bangladesh government.

He said “this partnership will prepare, aware, and activate the children and youth of the LDC countries to combat the future and ongoing challenges on the cyber security front.”

Bikarna Kumar said “UNDP-Bangladesh Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman International Award on Cyber Security Awareness would be announced under this partnership to encourage and inspire the youth to combat cyber security challenges.”

KYIV, 02 May 2022, (TON): US Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi has met with Ukraine’s president during a visit to the country’s embattled capital, Kyiv.

Pelosi, second in line to the presidency after the vice president, is the highest-ranking American leader to visit Ukraine since the start of the war, and her visit marks a major show of continuing support for the country’s struggle against Russia.

Footage released early Sunday by President Volodymyr Zelensky’s office showed Pelosi in Kyiv with a Congressional delegation including representatives Jason Crow, Jim McGovern and Adam Schiff.

Zelensky told the delegation “you all are welcome.”

Pelosi told Zelensky “we believe that we are visiting you to say thank you for your fight for freedom.”

Pelosi added “we are on a frontier of freedom and your fight is a fight for everyone. Our commitment is to be there for you until the fight is done.”

TEHRAN, 02 May 2022, (TON): Iran’s Parliament Speaker said “the United States seeks to create ethnic and religious division in Afghani-stan to be able to blackmail the government in Kabul.”

Speaking in an open session on Sunday in Iran’s Parliament, Baqer Qalibaf touched upon the recent tragic events in Afghanistan and blamed insecurity in the country on the US.

He said that the US uses the ISIS to make Afghanistan insecure so that it can cause an unprecedented crisis in the country thro-ugh creating ethnic and religious division to be able to blackmail the government in Kabul.

The speaker noted “the Islamic Republic of Iran recognizes Kabul as responsible for providing security, but the caretaker government in the country has failed to do so up to now.”

RIYADH, 02 May 2022, (TON): According to a joint statement issued at the conclusion of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s three-day visit to the Kingdom “Saudi Arabia has discussed enhancing its $3 billion deposit in Pakistan’s central bank through term extension or otherwise.”

Sharif arrived in Saudi Arabia on his first official foreign trip since assuming office on April 11. He met Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at the Al-Salam Palace in Jeddah.

According to the joint statement, “their talks revolved around enhancing bilateral trade, investment and encouraging cooperation between the private sector in both countries, among other issues.”

Saudi Arabia deposited $3 billion in Pakistan’s central bank to help support its foreign reserves last year. The South Asian nation’s financial situation has not improved since then, and it still requires external finances due to its widening current account deficit and declining foreign exchange reserves.

WASHINGTON, 02 May 2022, (TON): US lawmakers are working on a request sent by US President Joe Biden for additional funds to help Ukraine.

This is stated in a statement by Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi, released on Sunday after her visit to Kyiv.

Pelosi, who represents the Democratic Party and holds the third-highest position in the US government hierarchy, met earlier in the day with a group of US lawmakers with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

According to her “the delegation assured the Ukrainian side that additional American support is already on the way.”

Pelosi said in a statement “congressmen are working to ensure that “President Biden’s request for significant funding is translated into a package of legislative initiatives.”

According to the speaker “her trip to Kyiv was to demonstrate that the United States firmly supports Ukraine.”

HELSINKI, 02 May 2022, (TON): On critical sections of the Russian border in Finland, they plan to install more effective border barriers.

The commander of the Border Guard of the Northern Karelia Marko Turunen said “this is an important de-cision to start building fen-ces on the eastern (Russian) border, either in key areas or to cover most of the border with them. This is a massive change for us, so it requires decision-making at a higher level.”

According to him “border barriers are planned for high-risk areas and critical areas, such as border crossing points and areas near them.”

Finland has a common border with Russia that is 1,340 kilometers long. At present, the border between Finland and Russia is separated only by a barbed wire fence.

Jukka, deputy commander of the Southeast Finnish Border Guard, in an interview with public broadcaster YLE said “the existing fence does not play any role in preventing crossing the border.”

He said “its main purpose is to prevent pets from escaping across the border.”

RIYADH, 02 May 2022, (TON): Saudi Arabia’s King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman received cables from leaders of Islamic countries, extending greetings on the eve of Eid Al-Fitr.

The king and crown prince sent reply cables to the leaders, thanking them for their well wishes and called for lasting security and stability and more progress and prosperity for the Islamic nation.

The king and crown prince also received similar greetings from various Saudi officials on the advent of Eid Al-Fitr.

BRUSSELS, 02 May 2022, (TON): Head of the EU Foreign Service Josep Borrell had a telephone conversation with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba and discussed with him the development of partnership with Ukraine, assistance to it and the preparation of new EU sanctions against Russia.

Borrell wrote about this on Sunday on his Twitter.

He said “we are talking with Dmitry Kuleba to discuss the ongoing EU assistance to Ukraine. Work continues on the next package of sanctions. The upcoming EU-Ukraine Cooperation Council will be a key moment to further advance our cooperation.”

Borrell said “the situation in Mariupol is disgusting, an urgent humanitarian evacuation is needed.”

He added “in the liberated Mariupol, a peaceful life is gradually being established. Up to 100 civilians were evacuated from the blocked Azovstal plant, according to reports from Kyiv, with the support of the UN, who were sent to Zaporozhye.”