DHAKA, 23 October 2022, (TON): Permanent Representative of Bangladesh to the UN, Ambassador Muhammad A Muhith has said multidimensional cooperation between the militaries of Bangladesh and the United States is increasing.
Welcoming a US Army War College delegation, comprising 26 members, at the Permanent Mission of Bangladesh, he discussed Bangladesh’s engagements in maintaining international peace and security.
The Ambassador focused on Bangladesh’s important contribution to UN peacekeeping operations as the topmost troops and police-contributing country.

SYDNEY, 22 October 2022, (TON): United Nations inspectors have been blocked from accessing an Australian detention facility during a first anti-torture mission to the country, authorities said, adding that the visitors lacked prior approval.
UN inspectors touring facilities under a voluntary agreement to prevent cruelty to detainees were refused access to holding cells in a town outside the capital Canberra.
A New South Wales state government spokesman said “they were refused access to the cells as they did not have prior approval."
A government human rights watchdog condemned the lack of accountability on the part of local authorities.

RIYADH, 22 October 2022, (TON): Yemen’s internationally-recognized government said its forces had intercepted armed drones launched on a southern oil terminal in Hadramout province by Houthi militants as an oil tanker was preparing to dock.
A Yemeni government official said Houthi drones attacked Al-Dhabba oil terminal, located in the southern town of Al-Shihr, as Nissos oil tanker was preparing to enter the terminal.
Nissos was scheduled to load 2 million barrels of crude from the terminal, the official said, adding that there was no damage to the port and the tanker.
The office of Hadramout’s governor Mabkhout bin Madi confirmed the attack to Reuters.

WASHINGTON, 22 October 2022, (TON): US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said "United States will consider every means to advance diplomacy with Russia if it sees an opening, but at the moment Moscow shows no sign of willingness to engage in meaningful talks."
Blinken said at a press conference “every indication is that far from being willing to engage in meaningful diplomacy, President Putin continues to push in the opposite direction."
He said “we consider and will consider every means to advance diplomacy if we see an opening to advance it by whatever means, of course we’ll always look at it.”
Russia has intensified its missile and drone attacks on Ukraine’s power and water infrastructure this week in what Ukraine and the West call a campaign to intimidate civilians ahead of the cold winter.

ISTANBUL, 22 October 2022, (TON): Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has accepted a request from Sweden’s new prime minister to visit Turkey for talks aimed at overcoming Ankara’s objections to Stockholm and Helsinki’s bids to join NATO, local media reported.
Sweden and Finland earlier this year tore up their long-standing policies of non-alignment after Russia invaded Ukraine and launched their bids to join the US-led military alliance.
The move has received strong backing from the vast majority of NATO members but Erdogan has stalled the process over accusations the Nordic neighbors are havens for Kurdish militants hostile to Ankara.
Sweden’s new prime minister requested an appointment. I told our friends to ‘give an appointment. We will discuss these issues with him in our country.

RIYADH, 22 October 2022, (TON): Saudi Arabia’s embassy in Kyrgyzstan held a media forum in the capital, Bishkek, to mark the 30th anniversary of the establishment of Saudi-Kyrgyz relations, the Kingdom’s state news agency reported.
The embassy said "event was attended by the Kyrgyz deputy minister of foreign affairs, officials from the foreign culture, and media and sports ministries, the president of the Union of Journalists, and a number of media and embassy staff, as well as Kyrgyz youth."
The forum highlighted the development of relations over the last 30 years, and Saudi ambassador Ibrahim Al-Radi discussed the relations since their establishment.
The agreements that have been signed, the visits made by senior officials from both countries, the assistance provided by the Kingdom to Kyrgyzstan, and the development of relations under the directives of King Salman and President Sadyr Japarov.

TOKYO, 22 October 2022, (TON): Saudi Press Agency reported "CEO of the Saudi Fund for Development Sultan Al-Marshad met with Akihiko Tanaka, the CEO of the Japan International Cooperation Agency, in the capital, Tokyo, to discuss the latest developments in cooperation between the two parties."
During the meeting, they discussed the “Cooperation for Prosperity” initiative, which aims to enhance cooperation in the development field through exchanging expertise and knowledge, and developing the latest tools and means to contribute to achieving sustainable development in countries benefiting from development support.
SFD said in a statement“Al-Marshad and JICA President Dr. Tanaka discussed means of delivering more impactful development projects, enhancing development efforts, and the upcoming launch of the “Cooperation for Prosperity” initiative."

LONDON, 22 October 2022, (TON): Jordan’s government has said it is astonished after the Dutch ambassador in Amman commented on declining media freedom in the country.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates criticized Harry Verweij for weighing in on domestic affairs during a meeting with the minister of information.
Verweij posted a picture on Twitter where he sat with Minister of Media Affairs Faisal Al-Shboul, saying that he had raised concerns about Jordan’s declining international ranking on freedom of speech.
The comment, which also touched upon long-standing friendship between the two countries, prompted an immediate response from the Jordanian ministry.

WASHINGTON, 22 October 2022, (TON): Lawmakers probing the 2021 attack on the US Capitol subpoenaed former president Donald Trump Friday to testify on his involvement in the violence, in a major escalation of their sprawling inquiry.
The summons came after the House panel of seven Democrats and two Republicans voted unanimously last week to compel Trump’s appearance before investigators.
It requires the 76-year-old Republican to produce documents by November 4 and to appear for a deposition beginning on or around November 14, the Monday after the crucial November 8 midterm elections.
Trump, who urged his supporters to fight like hell in a fiery speech near the White House on January 6, 2021, was impeached for inciting the mob to storm Congress later that day to halt the peaceful transfer of power to Joe Biden.

WASHINGTON, 22 October 2022, (TON): Britain, France and Germany on Friday called for a United Nations probe of accusations Russia has used Iranian-origin drones to attack Ukraine, allegedly violating a UN Security Council Resolution.
In a letter signed by their UN envoys and seen by Reuters, the three backed Ukraine’s call for such a probe, arguing the drone use breached UN Security Council Resolution 2231 endorsing the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.
Separately, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Washington still believes diplomacy was the best way to rein in Tehran’s nuclear program but saw no chance “in this moment” to revive the 2015 deal because of Iran raising “extraneous” issues.
He said at a news conference “With or without a deal we will continue to take every step necessary to deal with Iran’s activities, Iran’s aggression, whether it’s in the Middle East or beyond."