DHAKA, 04 March 2022, (TON): United Nations secretary general Antonio Guterres has praised the role of Bangladeshi peacekeepers in the UN Missions and hoped that the country would continue to provide more troops to fulfill UN's future needs in this connection.

According to a message received “the UN secretary general lauded the Bangladeshi peacekeepers role when he met Bangladesh foreign minister Dr AK Abdul Momen at the UN headquarters in New York.”

During the meeting, Foreign minister AK Abdul Momen requested the SG to appoint more Bangladeshi nationals at the high-level positions of the UN peace operations, and also in the position of Special Representative of Secretary General in various UN political missions across the world.

The foreign minister briefed the SG about the current situation of the forcibly displaced Myanmar nationals and sought UN's help to repatriate all Rohingyas to Myanmar.

Appreciating Bangladesh's generosity for sheltering 1.1 million Rohingyas, Guterres reiterated UN's support for returning the forcibly displaced Rohingyas to their homeland in Myanmar.

KABUL, 04 March 2022, (TON): Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the first deputy of the Prime Minister, once again called on the international community to remove sanctions on Afghanistan. 

The conference of the national private sector was held in Kabul to assess the opportunities and challenges lying ahead of the Afghan private sector.

The conference was attended by senior officials of the Islamic Emirate and envoys of several countries. 

Speaking at a gathering, Mullah Baradar said that nationwide security has been provided in Afghanistan and the ground is paved for trade and investment like never before.

He said “I call for the international community to lift the remaining sanctions on Afghanistan and give the opportunity for Afghans to play their role in the economic development inside and outside Afghanistan.” 

He also pledged that the Islamic Emirate would attempt to provide more facilities, urging the Afghan traders abroad to invest inside Afghanistan.

He urged the Afghan traders inside and outside the country to invest in Afghanistan. 

KABUL, 04 March 2022, (TON): The chargé d’affaires of the Afghanistan permanent mission to the United Nations told media that he would condemn the Russian invasion of Ukraine on behalf of the people of Afghanistan at the General Assembly of the Eleventh Emergency Special Session on Ukraine.

The UN General Assembly held a conference to hold Russia accountable for its invasion of Ukraine.

The chargé d’affaires of Afghanistan’s permanent mission to the UN, Naseer Ahmad Faiq, said that more than 100 states, including Afghanistan, supported the resolution that condemns the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

He said “Russia’s assault on Ukraine is an obvious violation of international law and UN norms which stress respecting sovereignty and preventing violations of political independence of a country– and finding a peaceful settlement for the disputes between the countries.”

Faiq said “Afghanistan, which has unfortunately been affected by wars and the aggression of foreign powers–and its people have experienced its negative impacts–is always supporting international law and UN norms and reconciliation through summits and dialogues.”

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, however, urged the sides involved in the Ukraine tensions to resolve their dispute through negotiations, and said that it was concerned about the fate of the Afghan citizens living in Ukraine.

DHAKA, 04 March 2022, (TON): Russia said “it regretted the death of a sailor onboard a Bangladeshi ship in Ukraine amid the armed conflict there and assured Dhaka of making every effort to ensure the ship's safe departure of the vessel.”

The Russian embassy said in a statement "we express deep condolences to the near and dear ones of the deceased.”

Without elaboration, the statement said the "circumstances of the incident are being established" as Bangladeshi sailor Hadisur Rahman, the third engineer of MV Banglar Samriddhi, was killed as the vessel was anchored at Ukraine's Olvia Port.

But it claimed that Russia's armed forces command relying on the objective monitoring data, has repeatedly stated that, during the retreat, the Ukrainian nationalists open indiscriminate fire and deliberately capture hostages, use them as a human shield, resorting to the well-known  terrorists' tactic.

DHAKA, 04 March 2022, (TON): Foreign secretary Masud Bin Momen said “the 28 sailors of a Bangladeshi ship named 'Banglar Samriddhi' that stranded in Ukraine amid the armed conflict have been moved to safer place.”

He revealed the latest development of the ship, that came under a missile attack leaving one Bangladeshi sailor death, to reporters at foreign ministry here this afternoon.

The foreign ministry through Bangladesh embassy in Poland arranged the evacuation of the stranded sailors with the support of local authority.

Foreign ministry official said “the ministry has the plan to evacuate the ship crews a well as take the dead body of sailor Hadisur Rahman to any bordering country from Ukraine.”

Meanwhile, Russia said “it regretted the death of a sailor onboard a Bangladeshi ship in Ukraine amid the armed conflict there and assured Dhaka of making "every effort" to ensure the ship's safe departure of the vessel.”

The Russian embassy said in a statement "we express deep condolences to the near and dear ones of the deceased.”

JERUSALEM, 03 March 2022, (TON): The Palestinian health ministry said “three Palestinians were killed Tuesday by Israeli forces in two separate incidents in the occupied West Bank.”

The ministry said late in the afternoon “Ammar Shafiq Abu Afifa was killed by Israeli occupation forces shooting at him near the town of Beit Fajar.”

The Israeli army did not immediately comment, when asked by reports.

Afifa was a resident of the Al-Aroub refugee camp north of Hebron in the occupied West Bank, the official Palestinian news agency Wafa reported.

Israeli border police and Palestinian health authorities said “Separately, Israeli forces killed two Palestinians before dawn on Tuesday after coming under fire during an arrest raid in the northern West Bank.”

Israeli border police said officers and undercover police entered the Jenin refugee camp to arrest a suspect “wanted for terrorist activity.”

Police said “after the arrest of the suspect, as the forces left the house, heavy fire was opened from several directions, and undercover forces operating at the scene responded with live fire.”

TEHRAN, 03 March 2022, (TON): Tehran warned of “negative consequences” to a UN Security Council resolution that has extended an arms embargo to all of Yemen’s Iran-backed Huthi rebels, rather than some of the group’s leaders.

Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said in a statement “the resolution will have negative consequences on the path to peace and will further distance the positions of the conflicting parties.”

Yemen has since 2014 been embroiled in a civil war between the Huthis and the internationally recognised government, which is supported by a military coalition led by Saudi Arabia, Iran’s regional rival.

The Security Council resolution proposed by the United Arab Emirates, which is part of the coalition was adopted on Monday with 11 votes in favour and four abstentions.

Khatibzadeh said “the resolution passed under the influence of the political considerations and lobbying of the aggressor coalition countries.”

WASHINGTON, 03 March 2022, (TON): Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken spoke with Mexican Foreign Secretary Marcelo Ebrard. Secretary Blinken noted Mexico’s strong statements in support of Ukraine and in defense of the UN Charter in its Security Council and General Assembly remarks and as a part of the OAS Joint Declaration in the wake of Russia’s premeditated and unprovoked invasion.

The Secretary and Foreign Secretary reaffirmed both countries’ condemnation of Russia’s actions and called for Russia to cease all hostilities.

Secretary Blinken and Foreign Secretary Ebrard also spoke about the renewed and vibrant U.S.-Mexico partnership and the advances in cooperation over the past year led by President Biden and President Lopez Obrador.

RIYADH, 03 March 2022, (TON): UN Special Envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg recently met in Riyadh with Yemeni President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi to discuss the latest efforts to bring peace to the war-ravaged country.

In a statement on Wednesday, the office of the special envoy of the secretary-general for Yemen, told media “Grundberg briefed the president on his latest efforts and next steps in initiating structured bilateral consultations with multiple Yemeni stakeholders aimed at informing a framework for ending the war and laying the foundations for peace in Yemen.”

Following their meeting, Grundberg said “I thank President Hadi for his support for my efforts in facilitating a peaceful settlement of the conflict.”

The UN envoy also met with senior Saudi officials, ambassadors of the P5 the UN Security Council’s five permanent members China, France, Russia, the UK, and the US and the US Special Envoy for Yemen Timothy Lenderking to discuss recent developments and explore options to reach a sustainable resolution to the conflict as well as achieve immediate de-escalation.

LONDON, 03 March 2022, (TON): The Prime Minister spoke to Ukrainian President Zelenskyy this morning to condemn the abhorrent attacks on Ukraine in the recent hours and days.

The Prime Minister told President Zelenskyy that the UK was rallying UN General Assembly members today, to ensure the strongest possible condemnation of Russia at this afternoon’s UN meeting in New York.

Sharing his disgust at the attacks on Ukraine, the Prime Minister said “the UK was doing everything possible to support the Ukrainian people and their resistance.”

President Zelenskyy thanked the Prime Minister for the UK’s support and leadership in ensuring defensive aid reached Ukraine and said it had been vital in holding back Russian forces.

Both leaders agreed on the need for sanctions to go further to exert maximum pressure on President Putin in the coming days.