KABUL, 26 April 2022, (TON): An Afghan delegation led by the acting minister of refugees and repatriations is set to visit Tehran to hold talks over refugee-related challenges and the border tension that flared up recently in a border area.

Following the recent tensions between Islamic Emirate forces and Iranian border guards and videos showing the torture Afghan refugees in Iran, a delegation will visit Tehran in the coming days.

Khalilurahman Haqqani, minister of refugee and repatriations said “we are trying to visit Iran to talk about all the problems that Afghans are struggling with there; we hope we can talk and solve the problems.”

Meanwhile, Afghan students and refugees residing in Iran said that they have always faced visa issues as well as residence and employment problems across Iran.

Khan Mohammad Seerat, an Afghan student in Iran said “one of the serious challenges is receiving visas, when the students receive visas and come for an education. The second problem is the permission for residence, it takes a long time.”

NEW DELHI, 26 April 2022, (TON): External affairs minister of India S Jaishankar will pay a day long visit in Dhaka to hand over an invitation letter of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to his Bangladesh counterpart Sheikh Hasina to visit India.

India’s foreign secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla in New Delhi said “yes, the EAM will pay a one day visit in Dhaka on Thursday. He will carry a letter of prime minister Narendra Modi to invite prime minister Sheikh Hasina to visit India.”

When his attention was drawn on Bangladesh media reports on the Jaishankar’s upcoming Dhaka visit, Shringla, the former Ambassador of India to Bangladesh, told media that ‘it is confirmed that the EAM will visit Dhaka and it will be a one-day visit.

He joined the function as the chief guest.

NEW DELHI, 26 April 2022, (TON): Prime Minister Narendra Modi and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen agreed to launch an EU-India trade and technology council to address the challenges of ensuring trusted technology and security in the wake of rapid geopolitical changes.

The decision was taken during talks between PM Modi and von der Leyen.

The European Union said “the strategic coordination mechanism will allow both partners to tackle challenges at the nexus of trade, trusted technology and security, and thus deepen cooperation in these fields."

It said both sides agreed that rapid changes in the geopolitical environment highlight the need for joint in-depth strategic engagement.

EU said in a statement " Trade and Technology Council will provide the political steer and the necessary structure to operationalise political decisions, coordinate technical work, and report to the political level to ensure implementation and follow-up in areas that are important for the sustainable progress of European and Indian economies.”

DHAKA, 26 April 2022, (TON): Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen “urged Copenhagen to firmly raise the Rohingya issue at the United Nations Security Council as Denmark is going to become a member of UNSC.”

He said “they are becoming a member of security council, we urged them to raise the Rohingya crisis UNSC firmly as a core issue.”

The foreign minister told this to media after holding a meeting with Danish Development Cooperation Minister Flemming Møller Mortensen in a city hotel here.

Before the meeting the two ministers signed the Framework Document on Sustainable and Green Engagement in presence of visiting Danish Crown Princess Mary in the city. 

Dr Momen said “Denmark would support Bangladesh to check environmental degradation in Cox’s Bazar caused by huge influx of Rohingyas from Myanmar.”

DHAKA, 26 April 2022, (TON): Bangladesh Foreign Minister Dr A K Abdul Momen and Danish Minister for Development and Cooperation Flemming Moller Mortensen signed a Framework Document on Sustainable and Green Engagement as the two countries shared joint commitment in tackling global challenges like climate change and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.

Dr A K Abdul Momen and Danish Minister inked the document at a city hotel function.

Visiting Danish Crown Princess Mary was present to witness the signing ceremony.

During the ceremony, Dr Momen said “the Framework Document would serve as an expression of intent between Bangladesh and Denmark, which will be supplemented by an Action Plan involving the concerned government entities.”

He said "this initiative signals our two countries' shared interest in further diversifying the content of our bilateral relations.”

JERUSALEM, 25 April 2022, (TON): Bennett’s office said in a statement “US President Joe Biden has accepted an invitation from Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett to visit Israel and intends to make the trip in the coming months.”

The statement said “two leaders spoke on Sunday and Bennett briefed Biden on efforts “to stop the violence and incitement in Jerusalem.”

At least 57 Palestinians were injured in clashes with Israeli police within the Al-Aqsa mosque compound, raising concern of a repeat of last year’s war between Israel and the Hamas Islamists ruling Gaza.

WASHINGTON, 25 April 2022, (TON): Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal said “the Ukrainian authorities are negotiating with the United States and other Western countries on the use of Russian assets frozen by the West.”

Shmyhal told media “we are having these negotiations with the United States, with all our partners. This is a very important international issue, the task and goal is to find a solution on how to use these frozen assets to finance the restoration of Ukraine in this case.”

State Department and the White House informed “Shmyhal met in Washington with Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan to discuss American assistance to his country and continue pressure on Russia.”

Western countries, agai-nst the backdrop of a special operation in Ukraine, imposed tough sanctions against Russia, including freezing the country’s foreign exchange reserves, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov earlier estimated that about half, or about $300 billion, of Russia’s gold and foreign exchange reserves were frozen.

The head of the Bank of Russia, Elvira Nabiullina, noted that the Russian authorities are preparing lawsuits to challenge the freezing of the country’s international reserves.

ANKARA, 25 April 2022, (TON): The Turkish Foreign Ministry issued a condemnation of US President Joe Biden, who again called the events of the early 20th century in the Ottoman Empire the Armenian genocide.

The republic’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement “statements about the events of 1915 that are inconsistent with historical facts and international law are not relevant to reality. This includes today’s unsuccessful statement by US President Biden, who repeated the mistake made in 2021.”

It added that we condemn those who distort political motives and historical facts , and insists on this mistake.

Biden paid tribute to the memory of the Armenians killed in the Ottoman Empire in 1915.

A year ago, Biden became the first US president to call the events of the early 20th century in the Ottoman Empire the Armenian genocide. His predecessors as head of state avoided using the term.

Ankara categorically does not accept such a characterization of the events of 1915 and declares that it was not a genocide, but a fratricidal war, the victims of which were both Armenians and Turks.

MUSCAT, 25 April 2022, (TON): Oman's foreign ministry said “Oman facilitated the release of 14 foreigners, including a British national, who were held in Yemen and transferred them from the Houthi-controlled Yemeni capital Sanaa to Muscat.”

The ministry added “people freed included a British man, his wife and child, seven Indian nationals, a Filipino, an Indonesian, an Ethiopian and a Myanmar national.”

The British government identified the Briton as Luke Symons, saying he had been held without charge or trial since 2017.

Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said in a statement "Luke was 25 when he was unlawfully detained by the Houthis. His son was only a few months old at the time.”

PARIS, 25 April 2022, (TON): According to estimates from the Ipsos polling institute “Emmanuel Macron has been re-elected for a second term as French president on Sunday, with 58.2% of the vote.”

The interior ministry said “turnout for the French presidential run-off stood at 63.2 percent at 5 p.m., down by more than two percentage points from the same time in the second round of the 2017 presidential race.”

Participation was also two percentage points below what it had been at 5:00 pm in the first round of voting on April 10, when President Emmanuel Macron and his far-right challenger Marine Le Pen advanced to the run-off.

On the basis of the official figures, polling organizations estimated that the abstention rate was on course for 28 percent which, if confirmed, would be the highest in any presidential election second-round run-off since 1969.