The 3rd Foreign Office Consultations (FOC) between Bangladesh and Bhutan was held in Thimphu (April 19) . Bangladesh delegation was led by Foreign Secretary of Bangladesh Masud Bin Momen, while Bhutan delegation was led by Pema Choden, Foreign Secretary of Bhutan.  During the Foreign Office Consultations, whole gamut of bilateral relations was discussed. Both the Foreign Secretaries expressed satisfaction on the excellent bilateral relations that exist between Bangladesh and Bhutan. They discussed all the major issues of mutual interests and agreed to promote cooperation encompassing all sectors, especially trade and commerce, health, investment, connectivity, power and energy, tourism, culture and education among others. Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen urged Bhutan to take necessary measures to rejoin the BBIN MVA framework to promote prosperity through people to people contact.  Foreign Secretary of Bangladesh raised the issue of Sustainable Development Fees for tourists and requested to reduce the current SDF for the Bangladeshi tourists. The Bhutanese side assured of positive consideration. The two sides agreed to work together to enhance tourism and foster people to people contact. Both the Foreign Secretaries also discussed the means and ways of faster implementations of the  decisions taken and MoUs signed  during the recent visit by the King of Bhutan to Bangladesh.  Bhutanese Foreign Secretary, Pema Choden, stressed on the exploration of the untapped potential in economic, cultural and educational areas and proposed to establish meaningful collaborative relationship. She mentioned that Bhutan would like to pursue more trade and investment cooperation with Bangladesh. She also stressed on mutual efforts to conclude the pending Agreements/MoUs. She also emphasized on the exchange of government and private level visits between the two countries.  Both the Foreign Secretaries discussed regional issues of mutual interest and  hoped that both countries would continue to work to reinvigorate the SAARC and BIMSTEC processes.  Bangladesh Foreign Secretary also called on Lyonpo D. N. Dhungyel, Minister of Ministry of Foreign Affairs and External Trade, Royal Government of Bhutan at the latter’s office. During the meeting, they discussed the issues of mutual interests including trade & investment, special economic zone in Kurigram, power sector cooperation, cooperation in health and education, regional cooperation etc.  Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen also attended the National Day Reception hosted by the Bangladesh Embassy in Bhutan as the Special Guest. He also inspected the progress of the ongoing construction work of the Chancery and Residence Construction project of Bangladesh Embassy in Thimphu. 

For the first time a top U.S. diplomat for South and Central Asia has for the first time publicly addressed allegations of conspiring to oust Pakistan's former Prime Minister Imran Khan in 2022. US Assistant Secretary of State Donald Lu on Wednesday rubbished former Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan’s allegations his government was ousted via a conspiracy orchestrated by Washington, describing it as a “conspiracy theory” and a “lie.” "These allegations, this conspiracy theory, is a lie, it is a complete falsehood," Lu said while responding to a question by committee Chairman Representative Joe Wilson, a Republican from the U.S. state of South Carolina. Cypher conspiracy In April 2022, Khan was expelled from power in a parliamentary vote of no-confidence. Khan has since alleged that a secret diplomatic cable, or cypher, sent by then-Pakistani ambassador to the U.S. Asad Majeed Khan, proves the United States conspired with Pakistan's military and opposition leaders to remove him from office. The cable described a March 7, 2022, meeting with Lu in Washington. Last August, an American news outlet, The Intercept, published what it said was the text of the cipher. According to Ambassador Khan's purported cable, the State Department officials at the meeting encouraged Khan to tell Pakistan's powerful military that Islamabad could expect warmer relations if Khan were removed from office because of his neutrality on the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The Pakistani prime minister was in Moscow for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the day the invasion began and failed to condemn it. "I think if the no-confidence vote against the Prime Minister succeeds, all will be forgiven in Washington because the Russia visit is being looked at as a decision by the Prime Minister. … Otherwise, I think it will be tough going ahead," the document quoted Lu as telling the Pakistani ambassador. While the State Department has consistently rejected the allegation of conspiring in Khan's ouster, the department's spokesperson Mathew Miller conceded last year that the Biden administration was unhappy with Khan's overtures to Russia. "We expressed concern privately to the government of Pakistan as we expressed concerns publicly about the visit of then-Prime Minister Khan to Moscow on the very day of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. We made that concern quite clear," Miller said at a regular press conference while responding to a question about The Intercept's reporting. The Pakistani military and Khan's opponents also have rejected his allegations. The former Pakistani prime minister is currently serving a 10-year prison term for revealing the contents of the secret cable, a charge he rejects as politically motivated. Lu called the reporting of the diplomatic cable in Pakistani media inaccurate. "At no point does it [the cypher] accuse the United States' government or me personally of taking steps against Imran Khan," he told the committee. Lu pointed out that Pakistan's now-former ambassador Khan had also testified to his government that there was no U.S. conspiracy to remove the prime minister from office. In March 2022, Pakistan's National Security Committee headed by Khan issued a demarche to the U.S ambassador over his country's "interference" in Pakistan's politics. After Khan's ouster, however, another NSC committee headed by then-Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif concluded that the diplomatic cable did not indicate any U.S. conspiracy. "We respect the sovereignty of Pakistan. We respect the principle that Pakistani people should be the only ones choosing their own leaders through a democratic process," Lu told Wednesday's hearing. The assistant secretary was disrupted several times as some in the audience called him a liar. The proceedings stopped on a few occasions, and Capital Police removed some in attendance for being disruptive. Lu told the committee that he has received several death threats, and his family also has been threatened over "unfounded allegations" since Khan's removal. Election irregularities Addressing reports of irregularities in Pakistan's February 8 general elections, Lu said the Biden administration was persistently urging Pakistani authorities to investigate. "We as a partner of Pakistan have called for that to be done transparently and fully and for those found responsible for irregularities to be held accountable." Pakistan's much-delayed elections faced several controversies. A state-backed crackdown on Khan's party, pre-election violence including terror attacks, suspension of mobile internet services on Election Day, and a massive delay in announcing results led local and international observers to question the fairness of the vote. The United States, U.K. and the EU have called on Pakistan to probe the discrepancies. In a February 28 letter to President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken, a bipartisan group of 31 members of the U.S. Congress urged the administration not to recognize Pakistan's new government until "a thorough, transparent, and credible investigation of election interference" was conducted. In a statement on April 13, though, Blinken congratulated Sharif on being elected as prime minister of Pakistan. U.S. ambassador to Islamabad Donald Blome has since met Pakistan's new president, prime minister, as well as foreign and finance ministers. Representative Greg Casar, a Democrat from Texas who was among the authors of the letter, questioned Lu on the administration recognizing Sharif's government. "We do not go around recognizing or withholding recognition. We decide whether we are going to engage with the government," said Lu. Pakistan's polls delivered a hung parliament. Khan's party had to field candidates as independents after it was deprived of a unified elections symbol. Although candidates backed by Khan's PTI won the largest number of seats in the lower house of the parliament, Sharif's party, which came in second, formed a coalition government with Khan's opponents.   Source: Voice of America

The government has set a new office timing for the upcoming Ramadan. The government has decided to reschedule the office hours during the month of Ramadan at a cabinet meeting on Wednesday (February 28). According to the new schedule, office hours will start at 9am and will end at 3:30pm. There will be a 15-minute prayer break for the devotees. Cabinet secretary, Mahbub Hossain said that considering the time of Sehri and Iftar of Ramadan month all government, semi-government, autonomous, and semi-autonomous institutions will follow the new timing set by the government to facilitate the fasting people.

The winners of the 12th general election took the oath of office in parliament on Wednesday (Jan 10). Speaker Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury, winning the polls from Rangpur-6, took the oath at 10am. She administered the oath to the other newly elected Awami League MPs. The independents took the oath of office at 11am, while the Jatiya Party MPs did so at noon.   The Awami League is set to form a government for the fourth consecutive time after securing a landslide victory in the election. The ruling party won 222 seats, the independents 62 seats, the Jatiya Party 11 seats, and the Bangladesh Workers' Party, the Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal and the Bangladesh Kalyan Party won one seat each. Most of the independent MPs are also Awami League leaders.

Taiwan's representative office in Fiji has again changed its name, this time removing the official name of the country -- the Republic of China (ROC) -- from the title at the request of Fiji's government due to Chinese pressure. In March, the office's website changed the name listed on its website from "Taipei Trade Office in Fiji" to "Trade Mission of the Republic of China (Taiwan) to the Republic of Fiji." The move came after the new Fiji government, which is considered to be more friendly toward Taiwan than its predecessor, notified MOFA that its representative office there could revert to its former name, which included "ROC." The new government allowed the move even though Fiji has formal diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China (PRC), which frowns at any symbol conveying the idea that the ROC is a sovereign entity. Since then, however, Fiji had faced pressure from the PRC to have Taiwan change the office's name back to the one without "Republic of China (Taiwan)," according to Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) spokesman Jeff Liu (劉永健) back in June. Asked to comment on the latest developments, Liu told CNA on Wednesday that the office's website changed back to its former name -- the Taipei Trade Office in Fiji -- on Sept. 8, due to the demands made by the Fiji government. Taiwan has since issued an official protest to the Fiji government over pressuring Taipei on the matter, he said. Aside from allowing Taiwan to use its official name, the Fiji government in March also announced that diplomatic privileges for Taiwanese diplomats at the representative office, which had been revoked in 2018, would be restored in accordance with Fiji's Diplomatic Privileges and Immunities Act 1971. In response, Taiwan's government thanked the Fiji administration and expressed the hope that the two sides would continue to deepen their friendly relations. The decisions announced in March were made despite the lack of formal diplomatic relations between the ROC and Fiji after Fiji elected a new government in December 2022, bringing a Taiwan-friendly three-party coalition to power. The previous Fiji administration had forced the Taiwan representative office in 2018 to change its name to the "Taipei Trade Office in Fiji," according to MOFA. The Republic of Fiji was the first Pacific island country to establish diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China in 1975. China set up an embassy there in 1976, and Fiji opened its embassy in China in 2001. Despite the lack of official diplomatic ties with the ROC, Fiji leaders have visited Taiwan and have advocated on several occasions for Taiwan's participation in international organizations, according to a diplomatic source, who asked not to be named. Source: focustaiwan.tw

A fire broke out at SA Paribahan in capital's Kakrail area on Monday, October 09. Now total 10 units are working to control the fire. Fire Service and Civil Defence control room officer Lima Khanom confirmed the news and said, the incident was reported at around 10:10 am. After receiving the information, 5 units were sent to the spot. After another 5 units have been joined there.

US President Joe Biden has announced setting up a new office to prevent gun violence, under the leadership of Vice President Kamala Harris, as the pair prepare for next year's presidential race. The federal office would be dedicated towards finding solutions and supporting communities suffering from shooting incidents. Biden announced it from the White House Rose Garden, alongside lawmakers and families of gun violence victims. What did Biden and Harris say? Both Biden and Harris referred to the recurring demand for government to "do something" after every mass shooting. "My administration has been working relentlessly to do something," Biden said, describing shootings as the "ultimate superstorm." Harris meanwhile said in a statement announcing the new office that the US is "torn apart" by gun violence, stressing that "we do not have a moment to spare nor a life to spare." "We know true freedom is not possible if people are not safe," Harris said.  The vice president, who formerly served as a prosecutor, has said that while gun violence affects all communities, communities of color are often more likely to suffer from it. What can the new office achieve? The office's launch is unlikely to have a strong impact on the issue of gun violence, as the White House has no unilateral power to limit gun use in a meaningful way. Any ban on assault weapons would need to come from the Republican-controlled Congress. Biden's presidential campaign is hoping efforts to enforce gun control could attract younger voters in the 2024 election. The Associated Press has counted at least 35 mass killings in the US so far this year, killing at least 171 (excluding the shooters), in a database maintained jointly with USA Today and Northeastern University.

The bilateral meeting between Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and French President Emmanuel Macron held at the Prime Minister's Office (PMO). Earlier, this day, Macron's arrival at the PMO at 10:20 am, in that time the French president welcomed by the Bangladeshi premier with a flower bouquet at the tiger gate. According to media reports, Macron paid glowing homage to Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman by placing a wreath at Bangabandhu's portrait and then visited the Bangabandhu Memorial Museum at Dhanmondi-32 earlier in the morning. On Sunday, Macron arrived in Dhaka evening on a two-day official visit to Bangladesh after attending the G-20 Summit in New Delhi, India.  A red carpet was rolled out and national anthems of both the countries were played as Macron was received by the prime minister with a flower bouquet at the airport at 8.10 pm on Sunday. A guard of honour and 21-gun salute was given to him by the Armed Forces.  From the airport, Macron went to the Hotel InterContinental where he later attended an official dinner hosted by the Bangladesh premier in his honour. The French president later went to the Dhanmondi Lake to enjoy the music show performed by local band Joler Gaan. 

A group of journalists participating in an invitation program organized by the Korea Foundation pose during a visit to The Korea Times' office in downtown Seoul, Monday.  From left are The Korea Times President-Publisher Oh Young-jin, RTV CEO Rahman Syed Ashik from Bangladesh), Le Manager Executive Director Sahar Mechri Kharrat from Tunisia, Canal 22 anchor Irma Gabriela Tlaseca Rodriguez from Mexico, Jordan Times Editor-in-Chief Mohammad Ghazal from Jordan, Guardian Media Ltd. Deputy Managing Editor Sampson Nanton from Trinidad and Tobago, The Gleaner reporter Simone Morgan-Lindo from Jamaica, La Provincia Managing Editor Antonio Cacereno from Spain and Miyagi Television Broadcasting President Tadayuki Tamai Japan.

Bangladesh Meteorology Department (BMD) today forecasts light to moderate rain or thundershowers along with temporary gusty wind in all eight divisions of the country in the next 24 hours commencing 9am today, as monsoon is fairly active over Bangladesh. (Reports BSS) "Light to moderate rain or thundershowers along with temporary gusty wind may occur at most places Barishal, Chattogram and Sylhet divisions; at many places over Dhaka, Mymensingh and Khulna divisions and at a few places over Rajshahi and Rangpur divisions with moderately heavy to heavy falls at places over the north-eastern part of the country in next 24 hours till 9am tomorrow," it said. However, the met office predicted that the day temperature may rise slightly and night temperature may remain nearly unchanged.