The government has extended the release period of BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia by six months. Her release has been extended for the eighth time by executive order of the government. The Ministry of Home Affairs issued a notification in this regard on Wednesday (March 27). Earlier on March 20, Law Minister Anisul Huq said Khaleda Zia's release period would be extended by six months on two conditions. During the extended period, Khaleda Zia will receive treatment from her own residence in Dhaka and she will not be able to leave the country during this time.

Awami League president Sheikh Hasina, elder daughter of the country's founding father, formed the government for the fourth consecutive.   She took oath as the prime minister for fifth term. President Mohammed Shahabuddin administered the oath of office and oath of secrecy to Sheikh Hasina and her new ministers at Durbar Hall of Bangabhaban at 7.06pm. After the swearing-in, Sheikh Hasina signed the oath of office and oath of secrecy. The new cabinet will be comprised of 37 members this time, Cabinet Secretary Mahbub Hossain told the media. There will be 25 ministers and 11 state ministers in this cabinet along with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Among them, there will be two technocrat ministers this time. Here is the distribution of ministries.   Ministers AKM Mojammel Haque (Ministry of Liberation War Affairs) Obaidul Quader (Ministry of Road Transport and Bridges) Nurul Majid Mahmud Humayun (Ministry of Industries) Asaduzzaman Khan (Ministry of Home Affairs) Dr Dipu Moni (Ministry of Social Welfare) Md Tajul Islam (Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development & Co-operatives) Lt Col Muhammad Faruk Khan (Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism) Abul Hasan Mahmud Ali (Ministry of Finance) Anisul Huq (Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs) Hasan Mahmud (Ministry of Foreign Affairs) Md Abdus Shahid (Ministry of Agriculture) Sadhan Chandra Majumdar (Ministry of Food) Ubaidul Muktadir Chowdhury (Ministry of Housing and Public Works) Md Abdur Rahman (Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock) Narayan Chandra (Ministry of Land) Abdus Salam (Ministry of Planning) Mohibul Hasan Chowdhury (Ministry of Education) Forhad Hossain (Ministry of Public Administration) Faridul Haque Khan (Ministry of Religious Affairs) Md Jillul Hakim (Ministry of Railways) Saber Hossain Chowdhury (Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change) Jahangir Kabir Nanak (Ministry of Textiles and Jute) Nazmul Hasan Papon (Ministry of Youth and Sports) Architect Yeafesh Osman (Ministry of Science and Technology) Dr Samanta Lal Sen (Ministry of Health and Family Welfare)   State Ministers Simeen Hussain Rimi (Ministry of Women and Children Affairs) Nasrul Hamid (Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources) Zunaid Ahmed Palak (Ministry of Posts, Telecommunications and Information Technology) Mohammad A Arafat (Ministry of Information and Broadcasting) Md Mohibur Rahman (Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief) Khalid Mahmud Chowdhury (Ministry of Shipping) Zahid Faruk (Ministry of Water resources) Kujendra Lal Tripura (Ministry of Chittagong Hill Tracts Affairs) Rumana Ali (Ministry of Primary and Mass Education) Shafiqur Rahman Chowdhury (Ministry of Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment) Ahsanul Islam Titu (Ministry of Commerce)

Recep Tayyip Erdogan was inaugurated for another five-year term, calling for reconciliation with his political opponents after a bitter election battle. In a cabinet reshuffle, Mehmet Simsek was named finance minister. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan appealed for unity as he was sworn in for a third consecutive term on Saturday after winning a runoff election. "We will embrace all 85 million people regardless of their political views ... Let's put aside the resentment of the election period. Let's look for ways to reconcile," Erdogan said during the inauguration speech at the presidential palace in Ankara. "Together, we must look ahead, focus on the future, and try to say new things. We should try to build the future by learning from the mistakes of the past," he added. Erdogan's opponents stay seated Supporters in parliament gave Erdogan a minute-long standing ovation after his swearing in, while some opposition lawmakers refused to stand up. The ceremony was attended by high-level officials, including NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. Later Saturday, 21 heads of state and 13 prime ministers joined Erdogan at a lavish dinner, alongside high-level officials from other countries such as the United States and China. What next for Turkey? Turkey's longest-serving leader, Erdogan won 52.2% support in a May 28 runoff election. His victory defied most opinion polls and came despite a cost-of-living crisis that was seen to have hurt his prospects. Erdogan's new five-year mandate will allow him to continue pursuing an increasingly authoritarian program domestically while charting an independent path as a regional military power amid global crises such as Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the conflict in Syria. His new government will also oversee efforts to rebuild after a devastating series of earthquakes in February killed 50,000 people and leveled entire cities in the southeast of the country — a disaster he was widely criticized over. Key among his priorities will be addressing Turkey's economic troubles that analysts blame on the Turkish president's unorthodox economic policies. Later Saturday, Erdogan announced his new Cabinet, confirming that former Deputy Prime Minister Mehmet Simsek would become treasury and finance minister. Simsek is a former Merrill Lynch economist known for his more conventional approach to public finances. His appointment is seen as a sign that Turkey will return to internationally-established economic policies. Erdogan appointed Cevdet Yilmaz to the position of vice president, Yasar Guler was named defense minister, Hakan Fidan was appointed as foreign minister and Ali Yerlikaya was named interior minister. During his victory speech last Sunday, Erdogan admitted that inflation, which hit a 24-year high of 85% last year before easing to 44% last month, was Turkey's most urgent issue. Stoltenberg eyes NATO talks On Sunday, Erdogan will hold bilateral talks with Stoltenberg as Turkey continues to block Sweden's membership of the military alliance in the wake of Russia's war in Ukraine. Ankara was among the last NATO members to ratify Finland's membership in March. Erdogan has held out on allowing Sweden to join over Stockholm's reluctance to extradite exiled members of Kurdish groups that Turkey claims to be "terrorists" with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). The NATO secretary general previously said his visit to Turkey aimed to "ensure the fastest possible accession of Sweden" to the military alliance, ideally during the next leaders' summit in July. "My message is that Sweden has delivered, and the time has come to ratify Sweden," Stoltenberg told reporters on Thursday. Stoltenberg will be joined for the talks by former Swedish Prime Minister Carl Bildt.

"Let's finish the job," the 80-year-old US president said in a video announcing he would seek a second term in the White House. Biden is facing a possible rematch with Donald Trump. US President Joe Biden  confirmed his reelection bid on Tuesday. "Every generation has a moment where they have had to stand up for democracy," Biden said in a tweet accompanying a three-minute video. "To stand up for their fundamental freedoms. I believe this is ours." "That’s why I’m running for reelection as President of the United States. Join us. Let’s finish the job," he added. The 80-year-old is possibly set for a rematch against former Republican President Donald Trump. Biden beat Trump in the 2020 presidential election. Biden's road back to the White House The president had previously hinted that he would make an announcement in January. Revelations about the mishandling of sensitive official documents from his time serving as vice president, however, appeared to have thrown a shadow over any announcement plans. Some Democrats have said that they would rather Biden didn't run, in large part due to his age, but he is not facing any serious rivals for the Democratic Party's candidacy. There are still questions over which candidate will win the Republican Party's nomination, although Trump is currently favored. The Biden presidency surprised many with its unusually strong performance during last year's midterms — despite the president's low approval ratings. Nevertheless, the country is still more divided than it has been for decades. What to expect from Biden's campaign Biden took office with the coronavirus pandemic still raging. He plans to focus his campaign on his record there, as well as the major bills he managed to get through Congress with bipartisan support. This includes his $1 trillion infrastructure bill and a $430 billion inflation package. He has staked his campaign's success on "finishing the job," a phrase he has turned into a slogan, having already laid out key legislation that will likely form the backbone of his election manifesto — including a ban on assault-style weapons, lowering the cost of prescription drugs, and adding the right to abortion into the constitution after the conservative-dominated Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade last year. Biden has admitted that one of his goals as president — reuniting the country — has not exactly gone to plan. "I said I was running for three reasons," he said in January. "One was to restore the soul of America. And the second one was to rebuild the country from the middle out and the bottom down." "Thirdly was to unite the country. The third is turning out to be the hardest," he said.

Xi Jinping, China's most powerful leader since Mao Zedong, could be on track to remain in power for life. Chinese leader Xi Jinping unanimously secured an unprecedented third five-year presidential term on Friday, making him China's most powerful leader since Mao Zedong and is on track to remain in power for life. Nearly 3,000 members of the National People's Congress (NPC), voted for Xi to be president, in an uncontested election. Xi was also unanimously voted to serve a third term as the head of the nation's Central Military Commission. During the parliamentary session, Zhao Leji, 66, was appointed as the new parliament chair, and Han Zheng, 68, as the new vice president, both of whom were members of Xi's previous team of party leaders at the Politburo Standing Committee. Over the next two days, officials appointed or elected by Xi will fill top positions in the cabinet, including Li Qiang, who is expected to be named as China's No. 2. From obscurity to leadership Xi's re-election marks a remarkable ascent from a relatively unknown party member to the leader of a burgeoning global superpower. Despite facing widespread protests over his zero-Covid policy and the subsequent deaths of numerous individuals after its abandonment, the 69-year-old leader has persevered. It was widely expected that Xi's appointment would be endorsed by the National People's Congress, a ceremonial body whose members are appointed by the ruling party. Since taking power in 2012, Xi has marginalized potential challengers and filled key positions in the Communist Party with his own allies. The vote for Xi was unanimous, with 2,952 members of the NPC supporting his appointment. Xi strengthens grip on power Xi's path to another term was paved when he eliminated presidential term limits in 2018, and his power was further consolidated last October when he was reconfirmed as the general secretary of the central committee of the ruling Communist Party for another five years. This was a stark departure from the tradition of transferring power every decade. Earlier, the two-term limit for the presidency was removed from the Chinese constitution, leading to speculation that Xi might rule indefinitely. The election process was shrouded in secrecy, with no candidate lists distributed and Xi and others believed to have run unopposed. Additionally, Xi was unanimously appointed as commander of the 2 million-member People's Liberation Army, a force that takes its orders from the party rather than the country.

The president says he plans to seek reelection in 2024 but is not ready for a full-blown campaign yet. Should he serve a second term, Biden would be 86 by the time he leaves office. Joe Biden may have yet to announce his reelection campaign formally, but he made it clear on Friday that he intends to seek a second term as US President. "My intention is... has been from the beginning, to run," he told in a sit-down interview. He was asked about his plans after his wife, Jill Biden, said in a separate interview that her husband would run again and that there's "pretty much" nothing left to do but figure out the time and place for the announcement. "How many times does he have to say it for you to believe it?" the first lady told The Associated Press during a visit to Kenya. No rush to start campaigning However, Biden said he was in no hurry to formalize his candidacy. "There's too many other things we have to finish in the near term before I start a campaign," he said. "I've got other things to finish before I get into a full-blown campaign." At 80, Biden is the oldest sitting president, and he would be 86 at the end of a second term, should he gain reelection. Although he was declared fit for his role earlier this week, there have been questions about whether he is too old to run for another term. "It's legitimate for people to raise issues about my age. It's totally legitimate to do that." "The only thing I can say is 'watch me,'" he added, referring to his record in office. Republican opponents started campaigning Poll results published by NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist Poll shows half of Democrats or Democratic-leaning independents think their party has a better chance of winning the White House in 2024 with Biden as its nominee. That is in contrast to a poll released by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research earlier this month which found just 37% of Democrats wanted him to seek a second term. Thursday's poll results, however, put Biden in a better place than former President Donald Trump, who announced his candidacy in November last year. It found 54% of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents say the GOP has a better chance of winning the presidency in 2024 with someone other than Trump as the party's nominee. Nikki Haley, a former governor of South Carolina turned US ambassador to the UN under Trump, announced last week that she was running to secure the Republican nomination for president in 2024. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and former Vice President Mike Pence have also been touted as potential nominees for the Republican party.

Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo was re-elected president of Equatorial Guinea for his sixth term with 95% of the vote. Equatorial Guinea's ruler Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo has been re-elected to a sixth term as president of the West African country. He received 94.9% of the votes cast, election officials announced on Saturday, putting turnout for the vote at 98%. The two opposing candidates, Andrès Esono Ondo and Buenaventura Monsuy Asumu, each received around 9,700 and 2,900 of the approximately 413,000 votes in Equatorial Guinea. Obiang's ruling Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea (PDGE) also won all seats in the National Assembly and the Senate. Eternal president The West African country of around 1.5 million people has had only two presidents since independence from Spain in 1968. Obiang ousted his uncle Francisco Macias Nguema in a coup in 1979. Ruling for more than 43 years, Obiang is the world's longest-reigning head of state, excluding monarchs. The 80-year-old has never been officially re-elected with less than 93% of the vote.      In a country where there is only one legitimate opposition party, Obiang exercises near-total political control. Rights groups accuse him of silencing dissent and cracking down on rivals. Protests are mostly forbidden, media is heavily controlled, and political opponents are often arrested and tortured, critics say. Oil wealth and corruption The discovery of offshore oil in the mid-1990s turned Equatorial Guinea into sub-Saharan Africa's third-richest country, in terms of per-capita income in 2021. However, the wealth has remained concentrated in the hands of a few families. The country also has a reputation for graft, ranking 172 out of 180 nations on Transparency International's 2021 Corruption Perceptions Index. The president's son, Vice President Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue, who observers see as a potential successor, was convicted of embezzlement by a French court in 2020. The Obiangs have denied wrongdoing.

China's Communist Party on Sunday formally reelected Xi Jinping the party's general secretary for another five years, paving the way for his historic third term as Chinese president. The widely expected announcement comes after a week-long Communist Party Congress during which Xi further cemented his grip on power. Party faithful endorsed his "core" position in leadership, and approved changes to the constitution making Xi's political vision central for China's future. The decision tilts the Asian powerhouse decisively back towards one-man rule after decades of power-sharing among its elite. Chinese state media said Xi was also reappointed as head of China's Central Military Commission. "I wish to thank the whole Party sincerely for the trust you have placed in us," Xi told journalists at Beijing's Great Hall of the People following the announcement. He promised to "work diligently in the performance of our duties to prove worthy of the great trust of our Party and our people." "China cannot develop without the world, and the world also needs China," he continued. "After more than 40 years of unflagging efforts towards reform and opening up, we have created two miracles — rapid economic development and long-term social stability." Xi set for unprecedented third term Xi is now almost certain to be given and third presidential term during the annual legislative sessions in March. In 2018, he scrapped the presidential two-term limit, allowing himself to rule indefinitely. The 69-year-old leader is now expected by some to try to stay in power for life. Delegates at the congress also chose a new Central Committee of 205 party officials — only 11 women were named to the committee. Central Committee members went on to elect the all-powerful Politburo Standing Committee, which Xi will again lead. A list of officials in the new Central Committee revealed the replacement of four out of seven Standing Committee members, including Premier Li Keqiang, allowing Xi to install loyalists to the body. They include Shanghai Party boss Li Qiang, close aide Ding Xuexiang and Guangdong Party chief Li Xi, state media reported  Xi and the other Standing Committee members appeared for the first time as a group before reporters Sunday at the Great Hall of the People, the seat of China's ceremonial legislature in central Beijing. Most powerful man since Mao Since he took office in 2013, Xi has achieved a concentration of power like no modern Chinese ruler other than the modern country's founder Mao Zedong. Xi has pushed forward the central role of the Communist Party, expanding state control over society and the economy. He has also overseen China's rise as the world's second-biggest economy, a huge military expansion and a far more aggressive global posture that has drawn strong opposition from the United States. Despite nearly unchecked power, Xi faces huge challenges over the next five years, including managing the nation's debt-ridden economy and the growing US rivalry. 'Winner takes all' in Chinese politics Wen-Ti Sung, a lecturer in Taiwan Studies at the Australian National University (ANU) currently based in Taipei, told DW that Xi's reappointment is proof that there is a "winner-takes-all situation in China’s politics today." Sung said, "Xi is showing to the world that they should stop trying to hope" for a "factional power struggle within China today or going forward." “There will be no other power figure of comparable stature who can play a balancing role or be the focal point for organizing any meaningful organized opposition to check Xi’s power,” he added. Sung also warned that the Taiwan issue would likely remain in focus. Xi has threatened to retake the independent island that China considers its territory by force. Meanwhile, Alfred Wu, an associate professor from the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy in Singapore, told DW that those picked for the Politburo were people who have worked with Xi in the past. "I would say he wants the fourth term and this group of people will support him when the decision-making about the fourth term comes. The overall structure is to make sure that he is No.1 in China for at least 10 years," he said. Wu added China's political system was "no different than a dictatorship," giving the example of Xi insisting that the country's zero-COVID strategy remains the best course of action despite the rest of the world having reopened. "'There is no checks and balances and information surrounding Xi will be very much like favoring Xi’s assumption. It’ll look like an echo chamber," Wu said.

The US State Department on Wednesday defended President Joe Biden's charge that Russia is carrying out a genocide in Ukraine, saying its forces are trying to destroy the country and its civilian population. Biden levelled the accusation at President Vladimir Putin's forces for the first time on Tuesday, while adding however that it would be up to lawyers to decide if Russia's behavior actually qualifies as genocide. "I am going to predict that what President Biden called it is what we will ultimately likely find when we are able to gather all of this evidence," the State Department's number three official, Victoria Nuland, said on CNN. "Because what is happening on the ground is not an accident," she said. "It is an intentional decision by Russia, by its forces to destroy Ukraine and its civilian population," she added. The UN convention on preventing genocide, dating from 1948, defines it as a crime "committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group." Jurists are careful about using the word, and Western leaders are divided about accusing Russia of genocide. The Kremlin called Biden's use of it "unacceptable." US diplomats have been seeking to play down the impact of the president's comments, saying he is mainly adopting a "moral" position rather than a strictly legal one. "The president was speaking to the impression that he had garnered from watching the horrific footage that we've all seen from places like Mariupol, from places like Bucha, from Kharkiv and from other places," State Department spokesman Ned Price said, citing Ukrainian cities where the West accuses Russia of atrocities against civilians. "It is much less important what you call it, rather than how you respond to it, and we're responding to it, resolutely, by providing our Ukrainian partners with precisely what they need to defend themselves against this Russian aggression," Price said. "Whether this is a war crime, whether this is an atrocity, whether this is genocide, it does not change our strategy," said Price. Source: AFP/BSS AH

The United Nations Security Council on Tuesday approved Secretary General Antonio Guterres for a second term, with conflict resolution set to top his agenda at the world body’s helm. The 72-year-old former prime minister of Portugal has held the office since 2017 and faced no competition for the next term in the job. Around 10 other people also sought the post, but they were not formal candidates because none of the 193 UN member states endorsed them. During a brief closed door session the Security Council voted unanimously to recommend that the General Assembly give Guterres another term, said the council’s current president, Estonian ambassador Sven Jurgenson. Approval from the General Assembly is seen as a formality and expected to take place soon. During his first term Guterres was forced to concentrate on limiting the potential damage from the unilateral, nationalist and alliance-wary foreign policy of then US president Donald Trump. Now, as he embarks on a new term, Guterres will need “a battle plan” for all the crises around the globe, one diplomat said. He can point to few major diplomatic victories over the past five years. Wars or conflicts in Syria, Yemen and Mali, for instance, are nowhere near resolution. A peace process has begun in Libya, which descended into violent chaos after the death of Moamer Kadhafi in 2011, but the UN is mainly seen as playing an accompanying role. Critics also point to the UN’s passivity in the face of Myanmar’s military crackdown against the Rohingya people since 2017, which UN investigators have said amounts to genocide. Guterres said last month that “key elements” of his work depended on discretion. “Sometimes to be effective, it needs to be done discreetly, to establish back channels between parties,” Guterres said. Such channels, he said, “are essential to avoid the worst in the confrontations and to try to find solutions.” Under constant pressure from major powers and small countries alike, Guterres managed to avoid alienating any of the five permanent members of the Security Council. This locked in a second term for him. – Criticism from NGOs – “We are in debt to him because the UN did not implode under Trump, which it could have,” one diplomat from one of those five nations said. Conflict resolution will be the defining challenge of his second term, diplomats say. “He had a hard time being influential in the resolution of crises, but did his predecessors do any better?” another diplomat said, also speaking on condition of anonymity. During his first term Guterres also made the fight against global warming one of his priorities. “We will not be able to reach our target solution to climate change if we have not a combined approach to these three areas: oceans, pollution, biodiversity,” he said recently. Here, too, he has little success to point to. On the pandemic, Guterres has spoken out about the ravages of Covid-19 and dangers that still await the world from the health crisis. But here as well his room for maneuver was limited, as countries opted to fight individual battles against the pandemic rather than make it a team effort against a common enemy. The harshest criticism of Guterres comes from NGOs who accuse him of not doing enough on human rights. Guterres defends himself against this criticism. “Guterres’s first term was defined by public silence regarding human rights abuses by China, Russia, and the United States and their allies,” said Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch. “With his reelection behind him, Guterres should use the next five years to become a strong vocal advocate for rights,” Roth added. “His recent willingness to denounce abuses in Myanmar and Belarus should expand to include all governments deserving condemnation, including those that are powerful and protected.” Source: AFP/BSS AH