Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani has come to Dhaka on a two-day visit at the invitation of  President Md. Sahabuddin and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. He arrived at Shahjalal International Airport at 5 pm on Monday (April 22). Six deals between Qatar and Bangladesh and five Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) are to be signed. The agreements are- avoidance of double taxation, co-operation about law issues,  co-operation about maritime transport, development and protection of investments, transfer of convicts, and formation of joint business councils. The MoUs include- MoUs on manpower, port management, higher education and scientific research, co-operation of youth and sports  and co-operation of diplomatic training. 'It is very important to visit the Qatae Emir for ensuring fuel security. There will be a multipurpose discussion about fuel between two countries. Apart from this, Qatar has a huge amount of sovereign wealth fund that can be a potential source of investment for Bangladesh. Alongside with, Qatar is one of the most important source of fuel for Bangladesh,' Foreign Minister Hasan Mahmud said at a press conference on Sunday (April 21).

The first consignment of 1,650 tonnes of onion from India  has arrived on Sunday (March 31) through the Darshana land port in Bangladesh. Mirza Quamrul Hasan, manager of Darshana International land port, said the first consignment of onions imported by Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) has been received at around 5:30 pm.  The loaded wagons will be unloaded at night and taken to Sirajganj bazar. The imported onions it will be sold at Tk 40 per kg in Dhaka and Chattogram markets.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina reached in Brussels to attend the "Global Gateway Forum" to be held on October 25-26 at the invitation of the European Commission (EC) President Ursula von der Leyen. A commercial flight (BG 207) of Biman Bangladesh Airlines carrying the prime minister and her entourage members landed at the Brussels Zaventem Airport, Belgium at 6.30 pm  (Brussels time).  Bangladesh Ambassador to Belgium Mahbub Hassan Saleh received the prime minister at the airport. Earlier, the flight departed from Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport (HSIA), Dhaka at 11:10 am (BD time). According to BSS, During the visit, the prime minister will have a number of meetings with leaders of European countries on the sidelines of the forum. In the morning on October 25, she will have a bilateral meeting with Executive Vice President of the EC and European Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis. Later, the Bangladesh PM will have a bilateral meeting with the EC President Ursula von der Leyen. After this bilateral meeting, a loan support agreement of 350 million Euros on the renewable energy sector will be signed between the Bangladesh government's Economic Relations Department (ERD) and European Investment Bank. A grant agreement of 45 million Euros for Bangladesh's renewable energy sector will be signed between the European Commission and European Investment Bank. And a 12 million Euros grant agreement between the Bangladesh government and EC will also be signed for Bangladesh's renewable energy sector. During this visit, the Bangladesh government and EC will sign five different grant agreements of 70 million Euros on Bangladesh's Social sectors. On the same day, Sheikh Hasina will attend the Global Gateway Forum's opening plenary session and deliver her speech. In the afternoon, European Investment Bank President Dr. Werner Hoyer will hold a meeting with the premier. EC Commissioner for Crisis Management Janez Lenarcic and EC Commissioner for International Partnerships Jutta Urpilainen will pay a courtesy call on the Bangladesh premier. In the evening, the prime minister will attend a dinner hosted by Ursula von der Leyen in honor of the heads of state and government participating in the Global Gateway Forum. On October 26, she will hold a bilateral meeting with her Belgian counterpart Alexander De Croo. The premier will also hold a bilateral meeting with Luxembourg Prime Minister Xavier Bettel. In the afternoon on the same day, Sheikh Hasina will attend a reception accorded to her by Bangladeshi expatriates living in Belgium. TV channel EURONEWS and POLITICO are scheduled to take interview of the Bangladesh prime minister. She is scheduled to return home on October 27.

French President Emmanuel Macron arrived in Tel Aviv early Tuesday morning for talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other senior officials. Macron is expected to express his "full solidarity" with Israel as well as to call for the "preservation of the civilian population" in Gaza, according to his office. The French leader is expected to call for a "humanitarian truce" to get much-needed aid to the more than 2 million people trapped in the Gaza Strip and to propose launching a "true peace process" that would lead to a Palestinian state in exchange for Israeli security guarantees, the presidential palace said. As well as the Israeli prime minister, Macron will meet with Israeli President Isaac Herzog and opposition leaders Benny Gantz and Yair Lapid in Jerusalem. He is also due to meet the relatives of French and French-Israeli nationals who were killed or taken hostage by Hamas during their unprecedented terror attack on Israel on October 7. Some 30 French citizens were among the 1,400 people killed during the Hamas attacks, while another seven are believed to be among the more than 200 people being held captive by the terror group in Gaza. Macron is visiting Israel after a host of world leaders, including German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and US President Joe Biden, visited Israel.

The US president Joe Biden's plane, Air Force One, touched down just before 11 a.m. (0800 UTC) at Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion airport. Descending from the plane amid a large security contingent, Biden embraced Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Isaac Herzog. Under unusually tight security even for the US president, they spoke for a short time before departing in a convoy. "Welcome, Mr. President. God bless you for protecting the nation of Israel," Herzog's office quoted him as telling Biden. Hundreds of armed police and troops have been stationed around the seafront Tel Aviv hotel where Netanyahu and Biden are holding talks. Tel Aviv is only 65 kilometers (40 miles) from the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, from which the devastating October 7 attack was launched.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is among the world leaders descending on New York on Monday as the United Nations prepares to kick off a high-level summit aimed at rescuing its largely ignored Sustainable Development Goals for economic growth. The UN General Assembly in New York formally starts on Tuesday with speeches from UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, US President Joe Biden, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Zelenskyy, among others. The UN Security Council is scheduled to hold an open meeting on Ukraine on Wednesday. On the same day, Scholz, Zelenskyy and other representatives from politics and business will receive the Global Citizen Award from the Atlantic Council think tank. The week-long UN General Assembly is set to focus on dusting off its 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) aimed at avoiding poverty, hunger, poor education and poor health care.  In 2015, the countries of the world set themselves these central goals for global development with the key aim of ending hunger and extreme poverty by 2030.  However, the pandemic, the Ukraine war, and a debt crisis in poor countries are among the setbacks that have left the UN well off its target. 

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina arrived in USA on Monday to attend the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA). A flight of the British Airways (BA 1593) carrying the premier and her entourage members landed at the JKF International Airport, New York at 10:42 pm (New York time) on September 17 after a four-hour stopover at the Heathrow Airport in London. BSS Reported. Bangladesh Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the UN Muhammad Abdul Muhith and Bangladesh Ambassador to the USA Muhammad Imran received the prime minister at the airport. Earlier, a flight of Biman Bangladesh Airlines carrying the premier and her entourages departed from Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport for London en route to New York at 10:12am (BD time). On her way, the premier went round every nook and cranny of the Biman Bangladesh flight and exchanged pleasantries with the passengers. According to BSS, During her stay in New York on September 17-22, she will attend the first day of the high-level General Debate of the 78th UNGA session at the General Assembly Hall of the UN Headquarters on September 19 while she will address it on September 22 between 1pm to 2pm local time.  

US Deputy Assistant Secretary Mira Resnick arrived in Dhaka on Monday, September 4, 2023. Ahead of Bangladesh and the United States ninth annual bilateral security dialogue in Dhaka, she arrived today. Representatives from both sides will discuss Indo-Pacific regional issues, security and human rights, military cooperation, peacekeeping, security assistance, and counterterrorism, among other topics, said the US Embassy in Dhaka in a media note on Sunday. The United States and Bangladesh have a strong security partnership and share many interests in the Indo-Pacific region, said the embassy. Both countries share a vision to ensure the Indo-Pacific region is free, open, peaceful, and secure.  At the 8th Security Dialogue held between the two countries at US Department of State in April last year, the two sides had “constructive discussions” on defence agreements like GSOMIA and ACSA as the US is keen to enhance security cooperation with Bangladesh. 

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina arrived in Rome on a three-day official visit to Italy to attend the UN Food Systems Summit+2 Stocktaking Moment. A regular commercial flight of Qatar Airways, carrying the premier and her entourage members, landed at Rome Fiumicino Airport at 01:40pm local time (05:40pm BST) after making around one hour stopover at Hamad International Airport in Doha of Qatar. Earlier, the flight departed from Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport (HSIA) at 05:05am (BST). Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is joining the United Nations Food Systems +2 Stocktaking Moment (UNFSS+2) conference at the invitation of the United Nations (UN) Secretary General Ant¢nio Guterres. The UNFSS+2 conference will be held at the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) headquarters in Rome, Italy on July 24-26 with the theme "Sustainable Food Systems for People, Planet and Prosperity: Diverse Pathways in a Shared Journey". Source: BSS

US President Joe Biden began his three-nation Europe trip after arriving in London on Sunday. He is set to meet with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak at 10 Downing Street on Monday, after which he will visit King Charles at Windsor Castle. The talks with King Charles are expected to include climate initiatives. On Monday night, Biden will travel to Lithuanian capital Vilnius ahead of talks with NATO leaders slated for June 11 and 12. Expected to be on the agenda are NATO's support for Kyiv, as well as Sweden's bid to join the alliance, which has so far been blocked by Turkey. After his trip to Lithuania, Biden will head to Finland, which is the newest member of the NATO alliance.  Ukraine not 'ready' for NATO membership, Biden says The US president had cast doubt on the likelihood of Ukraine being offered NATO membership in comments to the CNN broadcaster. "I don't think it's ready for membership in NATO," Biden told CNN in an interview aired Sunday.  Biden said that while he hoped that NATO leaders would "lay out a rational path for Ukraine to be able to qualify to be able to get into NATO." He said that in order to join the military alliance countries must "meet all the qualifications, from democratization to a whole range of other issues." He added that bringing Ukraine into the alliance now would mean "war with Russia." "I don't think there is unanimity in NATO about whether or not to bring Ukraine into the NATO family now, at this moment, in the middle of a war," he said. Biden added that it will "take a while" for Ukraine to become a member of NATO. However, Biden said that Washington could provide Kyiv with support similar to that it gives to Israel until Ukraine joins NATO. "The United States would be ready to provide...security a la the security we provide for Israel." He said this involves "providing the weaponry they need, the capacity to defend themselves." According to a recent report by the US Congressional Research Service, no other country in the world has received more US support than Israel since World War II. Biden calls for Sweden in NATO during Erdogan call Also on Sunday, the White House said that Biden expressed a desire for Sweden to join NATO "as soon as possible" in a phone call with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan. Sweden's NATO bid requires unanimous approval from all member states, including Turkey. On Thursday, Stockholm failed to convince Ankara to ratify Swedish accession to NATO in a foreign minister-level meeting. Erdogan told Biden that Sweden had taken steps in the right direction for Turkey to support the bid, the Turkish presidency's communications directorate said in a separate statement on Sunday. However, it said that the steps were not useful as Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) supporters continued to hold demonstrations in Sweden.