By James Reinl Reprint UN, Aug 14 2019 (IPS) – World governments are not doing enough to stop armed groups from committing mass rape, torture and other war crimes, the head of the Red Cross aid group head Peter Maurer…
Category: Int’l relations
BNP against providing land to India for Agartala airport
Dhaka, Aug 19 (UNB) – BNP on Monday said there is no reason for Bangladesh to provide its land to India in Brahmanbaria to expand Agartala airport. “There’ve been media reports about it (India’s desire to use Bangladeshi land in…
Norway for joint efforts for ‘voluntary and safe’ return of Rohingyas
Dhaka, Aug 19 (UNB) – Norway has laid emphasis on working together to make sure that things are improving on Myanmar side and expediting the global efforts to ensure the “voluntary and safe” return of Rohingyas to their place of…
Hong Kong cuts taxes to shore up economy amid protests
Hong Kong, Aug 16 (AP/UNB) — Hong Kong’s government announced tax cuts and higher social spending Thursday to reverse a deepening economic slump aggravated by anti-government protests and the U.S.-Chinese tariff war. The territory’s financial secretary, Paul Chan, cut this…
Gibraltar frees held Iran oil tanker that US sought to seize
Madrid, Aug 15 (AP/UNB) — Gibraltar on Thursday allowed a detained Iranian supertanker to leave the British overseas territory after a last-minute U.S. attempt to seize the vessel, potentially defusing tensions between London and Tehran as a British-flagged tanker remains…
French ‘Spiderman’ scales Hong Kong skyscraper urging peace
A French climber known as “Spiderman” has scaled a Hong Kong skyscraper and put up a banner urging peace in the city rocked by political unrest. Alain Robert unfurled a banner showing a handshake and the flags of Hong Kong…
Indian business ties underpin muted Arab response to Kashmir
Dubai, Aug 15 (AP/UNB) — Gulf Arab countries have remained mostly silent as India’s government moved to strip the Indian-administered sector of Kashmir of its limited autonomy, imposing a sweeping military curfew in the disputed Muslim-majority region and cutting off…
Trump official: Statue of Liberty poem refers to Europeans
Washington, Aug 14 (AP/UNB) — A top Trump administration official said Tuesday that the famous inscription on the Statue of Liberty welcoming immigrants into the country is about “people coming from Europe” and that America is looking to receive migrants…
Pakistan seeks urgent UN meeting on India action in Kashmir
United Nations, Aug 14 (AP/UNB) — Pakistan called Tuesday for an urgent meeting of the U.N. Security Council, saying India’s decision to strip its part of disputed Kashmir of autonomy poses “an imminent threat” to international peace and could lead…
Sonia Gandhi to lead India’s beleaguered Congress Party
The Congress Working Committee (CWC) unanimously decided to appoint Sonia Gandhi as “interim president pending the election of a regular president,” the party said in a statement late on Saturday night. The committee wanted Rahul Gandhi to continue as its…
India to bring supplies to Kashmir; Pakistan to go to UN
New Delhi, Aug 10 (AP/UNB) — Authorities enforcing a strict curfew in Indian-administered Kashmir will bring in trucks of essential supplies for an Islamic festival next week, as the divided Himalayan region remained in a lockdown Saturday following India’s decision…
India to erect barbed-wire fence along BD-West Bengal border
Dhaka, Aug 09 – India would erect barbed wire fence along the border of West Bengal and Bangladesh to prevent cross-border infiltration by the Bangladeshi nationals illegally.
PM Modi talks about cleanliness in clip from Man vs Wild
Dhaka, Aug 9 (UNB) – Prime Minister Narendra Modi will soon be seen in Bear Grylls’ show Man vs Wild where they will spend some time in Jim Corbett National Park. In a new clip released by the makers, we…
Pakistan foreign minister visits China to discuss Kashmir
Islamabad, Aug 9 (AP/UNB) — Pakistan’s foreign minister is visiting China as part of efforts to pressure India to reverse its decision revoking the special status of the disputed region of Kashmir. Shah Mahmood Qureshi will meet with Chinese leaders…
Pakistan bans Indian films amid spike in tensions
Dhaka, Aug 9 (UNB) – Pakistan on Thursday banned the screening of Indian films in the country’s theaters, amid tensions between the two sides after India revoked the special status of Jammu and Kashmir, reports The Indian Express. “No Indian…
Modi’s Hindu vision of India sees smooth passage on Kashmir
New Delhi, Aug 8 (AP/UNB) — Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of a Hindu India has taken a leap forward with his government’s decision to subsume Muslim-majority Kashmir into the federal government by eliminating its special status and allowing anyone…
Pakistan lowers ties to depict alarming pic to world: India
Dhaka, Aug 8 (UNB) – India today asked Pakistan to review its decision to downgrade diplomatic and trade ties after its decisions on Kashmir. On Wednesday, Pakistan had expelled the Indian envoy in Islamabad and had announced a five-point plan…
Indo-Bangla secretary-level talks on water issues in Dhaka
Dhaka, Aug 8 (UNB) – Bangladesh and India are holding secretary-level talks here to discuss water-related issues between the two neighbours. The meeting began at state guesthouse Meghna at 11am on Thursday and a media briefing is scheduled for 5:45pm.…
India arrests over 500 as Kashmir clampdown challenged
New Delhi, Aug 8 (AP/UNB) — Indian security forces have arrested more 500 people since New Delhi imposed a communications blackout and security clampdown in divided Kashmir, where people remained holed up in their homes for a fourth day. A…
Dhaka-Delhi emphasise combating crimes along border
Delhi assures help to expedite Rohingya repatriation Dhaka, Aug 7 – Indian Home Minister Amit Shah has assured Bangladesh of helping in Rohingya repatriation process so that the Rohingya people can return to their place of origin in Myanmar’s Rakhine…
US sanctions imperil aid to Iran’s flood victims
By James Reinl UN, Aug 6 2019 (IPS) – Two major humanitarian groups have warned that United States sanctions on Iran are stopping cash flows for vital humanitarian work in the country, adding another complication to the growing rift between…
Kim says North Korean launches were warning to US, South
Seoul, Aug 7 (AP/UNB) — North Korea said Wednesday leader Kim Jong Un supervised a live-fire demonstration of newly developed, short-range ballistic missiles intended to send a warning to the United States and South Korea over their joint military exercises.…
Redrawn map may set off more change in Indian-ruled Kashmir
New Delhi, Aug 7 (AP/UNB) — India is redrawing its political map again. Parliament has approved a proposal by the Hindu nationalist-led government that strips statehood from Jammu and Kashmir, its only Muslim-majority state, splitting the region into two union…
India’s former foreign minister, Sushma Swaraj, dies at 67
New Delhi, Aug 7 (AP/UNB) — Sushma Swaraj, India’s former external affairs minister and a leader of the ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, died Tuesday at a hospital in New Delhi. She was 67. Swaraj died of a heart…
Sheikh Hasina expresses shock at the death of Shusma Swaraj
Dhaka, Aug 7 (UNB)- Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Wednesday expressed deep condolence at the death of former Indian external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj. In a condolence message, Sheikh Hasina, who is now in London, also extended sympathy to the…
Basic freedoms at risk in Kashmir – HRW
Free Political Leaders, Restore Communications, Exercise Restraint New York – Indian authorities have adopted measures in anticipation of unrest in Jammu and Kashmir state that raise serious human rights concerns, Human Rights Watch said today. The government announced on August…
Home minister-level talks with India in Delhi Wednesday
Dhaka, Aug 6 – Bangladesh and India will hold their 7th Home Minister-level bilateral talks in New Delhi on Wednesday afternoon.
Myanmar rejects report by UNHRC fact-finding mission
Yangon (Xinhua/UNB) – Myanmar’s Foreign Affairs Ministry on Tuesday released a statement rejecting the latest report and conclusions of a fact-finding mission by the United Nations Human Rights Council. Myanmar regarded the report as an action intended to harm the…
India’s lower house expected to ratify bill to split Kashmir
New Delhi, Aug 6 (AP/UNB) — India’s lower house of Parliament was set to ratify a bill that would downgrade the governance of India-administered, Muslim-majority Kashmir. The Lok Sahba was set to vote on the “Jammu and Kashmir Reorganization Bill”…
UN study finds businesses funding Myanmar army abuses
Bangkok, Aug 5 (AP/UNB) — A United Nations fact-finding mission called Monday for an embargo on arms sales to Myanmar and targeted sanctions against businesses with connections to the military after finding they are helping fund human rights abuses. The…