KHARTOM, 15 February 2022, (TON): Sudan’s military authorities have arrested a former senior government official a second time and at least two demonstrators were killed as thousands once again took to the streets around the country Monday to protest an October military coup.

The Unionist Alliance party said Mohammed Al-Faki Suliman, a former member of the ruling Sovereign Council, was detained Sunday in the capital of Khartoum.

It said security forces stopped his vehicle as he was heading from his home to the party’s headquarters.

Suliman was also deputy head of a government-run agency tasked with dismantling the legacy of former autocratic President Omar Al-Bashir’s regime.

Also on Sunday, security forces arrested two former members of the agency, according to a security official who spoke on condition of anonymity. The agency is known as The Committee to Dismantle the Regime of June 30, 1989, in reference the Islamist-backed military coup that brought Al-Bashir to power.

The official said the three were taken to the Souba prison in Khartoum. He said they were facing charges related to the work of the agency, which the military disbanded following the Oct. 25 takeover.

ISTANBUL, 15 February 2022, (TON): The United Arab Emirates (UAE), Kuwait, and Iraq advised their nationals against traveling to Ukraine as tension continues to escalate between Russia and the West.

On Twitter, the UAE Embassy in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv urged its citizens to postpone any travel to Ukraine amid fear of a possible Russian invasion.

The Kuwaiti Foreign Ministry also called on its nationals in Ukraine to leave the country “to preserve their safety.”

It also urged those seeking to travel to Ukraine “to postpone their travel at the present time.

Citing “exceptional circumstances," the Iraqi Foreign Ministry issued a statement calling on its citizens in Ukraine to leave the country and to avoid traveling there.

Ukraine has been plagued by conflict in its eastern regions since March 2014 following Russia’s invasion and annexation of Crimea.

WASHINGTON, 15 February 2022, (TON): US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met his Japanese and South Korean counterparts in Hawaii to discuss the threat posed by nuclear-armed North Korea after Pyongyang began the year with a series of missile tests.

Blinken said at a news conference after the meeting that North Korea was in a phase of provocation and the three countries condemned the recent missile launches.

We are absolutely united in our approach, in our determination, Blinken said after his talks with Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi and South Korean Foreign Minister Chung Euiyong.

The three released a joint statement calling on North Korea to engage in dialogue and cease its unlawful activities.

WASHINGTON, 15 February 2022, (TON): Russia could invade Ukraine at any time and might create a surprise pretext for an attack, the United States said on Sunday, as it reaffirmed a pledge to defend “every inch” of Nato territory.

Russia has more than 100,000 troops massed near Ukraine, which is not part of the Atlantic military alliance, and Washington while keeping open the diplomatic channels that have so far failed to ease the crisis has repeatedly said an invasion is imminent.

Moscow denies any such plans and has accused the West of “hysteria”.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, on the eve of a trip that takes him to Kyiv on Monday and Moscow for talks with President Vladimir Putin, called for Russia to de-escalate and warned of sanctions if Moscow did invade.

A German official said Berlin did not expect “concrete results but diplomacy was important.

KABUL, 15 February 2022, (TON): A number of Afghan businessmen and workers engaged in trade and business in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) held a protest in Kabul calling for visas to be issued by the United Arab Emirates.

After the political change in Afghanistan, the business people say, they could not return to the UAE and they have not been able to get visas.

Mominyar Rahmani, a protester said “there are people here whose families and businesses are in the UAE, and most of their money and businesses are closed there.”

The protesters are asking the UAE to provide them with visas.

Nawaz Shah Karimi, a protester said “currently, new visas and visitation visas are both closed. We ask the UAE to extend our visas, which were rejected after the political change, so that we can continue our business.”

DHAKA, 15 February 2022, (TON): The Parliamentary Standing Committee of the Foreign Affairs Ministry at its 26th meeting recommended establishing naval communication early and increasing business between Bangladesh and the Maldives.

The meeting was held at the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban today with Parliamentary Standing Committee of the Foreign Affairs Ministry Chairman Lt. Col. Muhammad Faruk Khan (Retd.) in the chair.

Parliamentary Standing Committee of Foreign Affairs Ministry`s member foreign minister Dr A K Abdul Momen, state minister for Shahriar Alam, Nurul Islam Nahid, Md Abdul Mozid Khan, Md Hahibe Millat and Nahim Razzaq, among other, were present in the meeting.

NEW DELHI, 15 February 2022, (TON): External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar held "productive discussions" with his Philippines counterpart Teodoro L Locsin during which they covered a range of issues dealing with mutual national security and development aspirations.

Mr Jaishankar's three-day maiden visit to the Philippines comes over two weeks after the Southeast Asian country signed a USD 375 million deal with India to buy three batteries of the BrahMos cruise missile.

Mr Jaishankar tweeted "held productive discussions with FM @teddyboylocsin of Philippines. We are entering a new phase of our partnership. Its basis is the mutuality of national security and development aspirations. Our conversation covered a range of issues dealing with both.”

He said in another tweet after the wide-ranging talks "expect to take forward a shared agenda through sustained engagement. Thank you @teddyboylocsin for a warm welcome and generous hospitality.”

NEW DELHI, 15 February 2022, (TON): According to a local newspaper report “India has banned 54 Chinese apps in a new order citing security concerns, in the latest instance of tensions between the two neighbors locked in a protracted border dispute impacting business dealings.

The Economic Times reported “the South Asian nation’s ministry of electronics and IT has banned apps including those belonging to large China tech firms such as Tencent, Alibaba and NetEase, that are re-branded versions of apps already banned by India in 2020.”

A spokesman for the Home Affairs ministry did not immediately comment on the matter.

The latest move comes as a long-running dispute between the two nuclear-armed nations remains unresolved, after boiling over in a bloody 2020 skirmish that left soldiers from both sides dead, and drew tougher laws in India for investments from China, including the original app ban.

DHAKA, 15 February 2022, (TON): Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen and his United Arab Emirates counterpart, Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, have discussed the expected visit of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to the Gulf country.

A foreign ministry press release said “the two foreign ministers reviewed the bilateral relations between Dhaka and Abu Dhabi ahead of the Bangladesh premier's visit at a meeting held in Dubai.”

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is expected to visit UAE in March at the invitation of the Prime Minister of the UAE and the ruler of Dubai.

During the meeting, both foreign ministers recalled the existing bilateral relations between the two countries and underlined the need for working together in all areas of cooperation for mutual benefits of two peoples.

DHAKA, 15 February 2022, (TON): The French Embassy in Dhaka shared two photos recalling two historic moments with Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

The historic photos were shared as the two countries are celebrating the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations.

The embassy in a message said "we wish to express our joy to celebrate today the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between France and Bangladesh.”

Mentioning the "very successful" visit of the prime minister to France, the embassy said the visit expressed the common desire to deepen further the relationship between the two countries.

At the invitation of the French President Emmanuel Macron, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina paid an official visit to France from November 9 November last year.