RIYADH, 24 February 2022, (TON): Saudi Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Adel Al-Jubeir met Panama Foreign Minister Erika Mouynes during an official visit to the Central American country.

The two sides reviewed bilateral relations between the Kingdom and Panama and ways to reinforce them in all fields, and discussed the latest regional and international developments.

The talks also touched on ways to enhance cooperation between the two countries in fields such as clean energy, investment and trade, in light of the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 reform plan.

RIYADH, 24 February 2022, (TON): Saudi aid officials agreed on a deal to dig 241 surface wells in Niger to help provide water for around 629,000 people.

The accord was signed in Riyadh by the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center’s assistant general supervisor for operations and programs, Ahmed bin Ali Al-Beez.

Abdullah Al-Muallem, director of KSrelief’s health and environmental aid department, said that the wells project involved fitting manual pumps that could reach depths of 20 to 30 meters as part of an initiative to provide water that was safe for drinking and other uses.

NEW YORK, 24 February 2022, (TON): During a meeting at the UN, Gulf nations expressed great concern about the deteriorating situation in Ukraine and urged all participants to work to resolve the crisis through dialogue and diplomacy.

Speaking on behalf of the Gulf Cooperation Council, Abdulaziz Alateek, Saudi Arabia’s deputy permanent representative to the UN, expressed the council’s support for international efforts to encourage calm and a deescalation of tensions.

He appealed for the full implementation of Security Council Resolution 2202, which was unanimously adopted in 2015 and calls for a ceasefire in eastern Ukraine and the simultaneous withdrawal of all heavy weapons by both sides to create a security zone.

His remarks came during a plenary session of the UN General Assembly to discuss the latest developments in the long-simmering crisis along the eastern borders of Ukraine.

KABUL, 24 February 2022, (TON): The photographer Jim Huylebroek travelled across the country with the international children’s agency Save the Children, capturing the stories of children whose lives have been devastated by the humanitarian crisis, for the series titled, children on the edge of life.

The images tell the stories of their fight for survival. Families making impossible decisions about which child they can afford to feed, and which will go hungry, mothers giving birth alone on dirt floors because they cannot afford to travel to hospital, children forced to work on the streets to put food on the table.

In the north of Afghanistan, Laalah, 12, lives with her mother and four siblings in a tent, built with tarpaulin sheets in the basement of a half-constructed building.

Her father, Maalek, struggles to find work as a labourer, and sometimes has no choice but to send his sons to find rubbish to sell or burn to keep their home warm.

Maalek, 40, said “whenever kids are free from school they go out and collect rubbish. They go onto the streets and collect and sell cans so they can afford their school expenses or food.”

KABUL, 24 February 2022, (TON): The United States has imposed restrictions on the import of Afghan archaeological and ethnological material.

The State Department said “curbs on the import of cultural and historical items from Afghanistan were aimed to prevent terrorists from profiting.”

However, media reported that experts had expressed concerns about the unintended consequences of the restrictions. The restrictions are aimed to prevent illicitly trafficked materials from entering the US art market and reduce the incentive for the pillage of Afghanistan’s cultural heritage.

In a statement, the State Department hoped “the move would help combat profit from the sale of the cultural objects by terrorists and criminal outfits. Implemented on an emergency basis, the decree took effect.”

It includes restrictions on bringing ceramics, paintings, glass, ivory, ancient textiles, tiles and wood pieces, among others, into the US.

The unilateral action to impose the emergency import restrictions was being initiated because of circumstances in Afghanistan, the State Department explained.

“Can the State Department act based on a request of a government that no longer exists?” ancient coin collector and advocate Peter Tompa asked in a post on his blog.

DHAKA, 24 February 2022, (TON): The government will observe the National Statistics Day-2022 on February 27 in a colorful manner in order to make the government statistics more public oriented and also to reach those to the doorsteps of people.

A notification of the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics said “the theme of this year's National Statistics Day is "Quality statistics is the staircase of better life (Gunogoto Porisongkhan Unnoto Jiboner Sopan).”

DHAKA, 24 February 2022, (TON): State minister for foreign affairs Md Shahriar Alam has said “the Paris Agreement, SDGs and Sendai Framework must be fully implemented to address the root causes of climate-induced migration and displacement.”

A foreign ministry press release said “he made this remark while speaking virtually in a webinar titled ‘Climate Change and Migration and Displacement Nexus.” 

The webinar was organized by the Permanent Mission of Bangladesh in Geneva under the auspices of the Climate Vulnerable Forum (CVF) - the 55 member Forum is currently leading by Bangladesh for the second term.

International Organization for Migration Director-General António Vitorino, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, Ambassadors and Permanent Representatives France, Egypt and Germany, Charge d'affaires of Ghana, and representatives from different stakeholders spoke on the occasion among others.

Mentioning that Bangladesh is at the forefront of the climate crisis, Shahriar said migration and displacement of a staggering number of people are inevitable unless climate actions are not accelerated globally.

NEW DELHI, 24 February 2022, (TON): Amid the fierce debate over allowing hijab in colleges in Karnataka, a 17-year-old Amritdhari (baptised) Sikh girl was asked by her college to remove her turban as the college has a uniform dress code.

It has to follow the February 10 interim order of the Karnataka high court restraining students from “wearing saffron shawls, hijab and religious flags or the like in classrooms of colleges which have prescribed a uniform”.

The girl’s family, while insisting that the college never discriminated and has always been very considerate and polite, said the Karnataka government and the high court have to clarify on the matter and issue instructions.

The student of Mount Carmel PU College, Bengaluru, who is also the president of the students’ association, was politely asked to remove her turban for the first time on February 16 to which she refused.

DHAKA, 24 February 2022, (TON): Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said “the Developing-8 countries collectively have a great potential to emerge as a powerful economic bloc.”

The premier made the remark when D-8 Secretariat Secretary General Isiaka Abdul Qadir Imam paid a courtesy call on her at Ganabhaban in Dhaka.

PM's Press Secretary Ihsanul Karim briefed the press after the meeting.

Both the leaders reiterated the need for materializing the preferential trade agreement (PTA) to harness the immense potential for promoting trade among the member countries.

They emphasized the thrust sectors of the D-8, such as trade, economy, commerce, transport, agriculture, tourism, education and energy.

DHAKA, 24 February 2022, (TON): The government has appointed Rear Admiral SM Abul Kalam Azad as the new High Commissioner of Bangladesh to the Republic of Maldives.

Rear Admiral Azad was commissioned in the Bangladesh Navy on July 1, 1987, said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

In his long and distinguished career, he has served in various staff, instructional, and command appointments at different levels.

He received the prestigious Nou Gaurab Padak for his professional excellence and exceptional service in the Bangladesh Navy.