Eleven out of the 23 crew members of a Bangladeshi cargo vessel, MV Abdullah, that was hijacked by a group of Somali pirates in the Indian Ocean, are residents of Chattogram. Earlier on Tuesday, the ship, carrying coal from Mozambique’s Maputo port to Al Hamriyah Port in the UAE, was attacked around noon. MV Abdullah is owned by SR Shipping Lines – a sister company of Chattogram-based Kabir Steel and Rerolling Mill (KSRM) Group. All crew members are being held hostage by the pirates, said KSRM’s media adviser Mizanul Islam. Bangladesh cargo vessel hijacked by Somali pirates in Indian Ocean The crew members are: Captain Mohammad Abdur Rashid, Chief Officer Mohammad Atikullah Khan, Second Officer Mazharul Islam Chowdhury, Third Officer Tarequl Islam, Deck Cadet Sabbir Hossain, Chief Engineer ASM Saiduzzaman, Second Officer Toufiqul Islam, Third Engineer Rokon Uddin, Fourth Engineer Tanvir Ahmed, Engine Cadet Ayub Khan, electrician Ibrahim Khalil, seaman Md Anwarul Haque, seaman Md Asifur Rahman, seaman Sazzad Hossain, seaman Joy Mahmud, seaman Nazmul Haque, seaman Ainul Haque, oiler Mohamamd Shamsuddin, Ali Hossain, fireman Mosharraf Hossain Shakil, chief cook Shafiqul Islam, general steward Nur Uddin, and fitter Saleh Ahmed. KSRM owns 23 ships – all operating on international routes. In 2010, one of the ships, ‘MV Zahan Moni’, was hijacked and was later released by Somali pirates after providing ransom. Read more: 11 crew swim ashore as water enters coal-laden cargo vessel in Pashur River

The devastating Tropical Cyclone Freddy which has devastated southern Africa in a rare second landfall has killed at least 216 people in Malawi and Mozambique since Saturday night, with the death toll expected to rise. Heavy rains that triggered floods and mudslides have killed 199 people in Malawi, authorities said Tuesday. President Lazarus Chakwera declared a “state of disaster” in the country's southern region and the now-ravaged commercial capital, Blantyre. Some 19,000 people in the south of the nation have been displaced, according to Malawi’s disaster management directorate. “Power and communications are down in many affected areas, hindering aid operations,” said Stephane Dujarric, the U.N. Secretary General’s spokesperson at a press briefing Tuesday afternoon. The most affected regions remain inaccessible so the full extent of the damage is so far unknown. Reports from Mozambique’s disaster institute on Tuesday confirmed that 17 people have died in the country and 1,900 homes have been destroyed in the coastal Zambezia province. Tens of thousands of people are still holed up in storm shelters and accommodation centers. Freddy will continue to thump central Mozambique and southern Malawi with extreme rainfall before it exits back to the sea late Wednesday afternoon, the U.N.’s meteorological center on the island of Réunion projected. Human rights group Amnesty International has called on the international community to mobilize resources and boost aid and rescue efforts in the two countries. Relief efforts in the nationsare strained and were already battling a cholera outbreak when Freddy struck. “It is clear that the official death toll will rise in both Malawi and Mozambique, as will reports of wrecked infrastructure,” saidTigere Chagutah, Amnesty International’s east and southern Africa director. “The affected countries must also be compensated for loss and damage caused by the cyclone." In November last year, nations agreed to compensate countries affected by extreme weather exacerbated by human-caused climate change. Cyclones are wetter, more frequent and more intense as the planet heats up, scientists say. “Mozambique and Malawi are among the countries least responsible for climate change, yet they are facing the full force of storms that are intensifying due to global warming driven mostly by carbon emissions from the world’s richest nations,” Chagutah added. Cyclone Freddy has been causing destruction in southern Africa since late February. It also pummeled the island states of Madagascar and Réunion last month as it traversed across the ocean. The cyclone has intensified a record seven times and has the highest-ever recorded accumulated cyclone energy, or ACE, which is a measurement of how much energy a cyclone has released over time. Freddy recorded more energy over its lifetime than an entire typical U.S. hurricane season. Freddy first developed near Australia in early February and is set to be the longest-ever recorded tropical cyclone. The U.N.'s weather agency has convened an expert panel to determine whether it has broken the record set by Hurricane John in 1994 of 31 days.

The FBCCI Senior Vice President Mostofa Azad Chowdhury on Monday said the federation is looking to enhance bilateral trade relations and investment opportunities between Bangladesh and Mozambique. “Both Bangladesh and Mozambique occupy a strategic position as business hubs and could benefit from a more robust trade and economic partnership,” he said while presiding over a discussion meeting with the Mozambique Business Delegation at the FBCCI. Mostofa said, “Our presence in Africa is mostly due to the large contribution of our peacekeeping forces. But now we are trying to increase business ties with the southern economic bloc by enhancing trade and investment.” The delegation was led by the Director General for Asia and Oceania of Mozambique Jose Matsinha. He said, "There is huge potential in economic relations between Mozambique and Bangladesh. We’re here in Bangladesh to see which area we both can work on." Read more: FBCCI urges policy support in tourism development Jose Matsinha said, “We can get experience from Bangladesh in strategic areas with mutual interest. We have a large amount of land and plenty of water in Mozambique but we lack expertise. Bangladesh can help us in the agriculture sector.” He also praised the Bangladeshi peacekeepers who worked in Mozambique. High Commissioner of Mozambique to India Ermindo Ferreira, Director General (Bangladesh’s foreign wing) for Africa Md. Tarikul Islam, representative of the Ministry of Economy and Finance (of Mozambique) Jose Fernando Messias, Mozambican Investment, and Export Promotion Agency Dique Francisco Bacar, and FBCCI Directors, among others, were present on the occasion.

A five-member multi-sectoral technical delegation led by Ambassador Jose Matsinha, director general for Asia and Oceania at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation of Mozambique, is now in Bangladesh to identify potential areas of cooperation in different sectors, including trade and investment. This is the first visit of such a government-level delegation from Mozambique to Bangladesh. The president of Mozambique is due to visit Bangladesh in 2023. The delegation has been formed at the advice of the president of Mozambique to whom the delegation would provide feedback on the potential areas of cooperation. Read more: Malaysia's Bangladesh policy remains unchanged despite change in government The delegation comprises officials of the Economic and Finance Authority, Investment and Export Promotion Authority and the foreign ministry. It also includes Mozambique's high commissioner based in New Delhi. The delegation will have a number of meetings with ministries and private sectors of Bangladesh. They will also visit some industrial units. The delegation met with Shabbir Ahmad Chowdhury, secretary (west) at the foreign ministry of Bangladesh Sunday. Shabbir told the delegation that the Bangladesh government has adopted a policy of enhancing relations with African countries and is ready to explore cooperation in different sectors, including trade and economy. He also urged the Mozambican government to appoint an honorary consul in Bangladesh to foster relations. Matsinha invited Bangladeshi investors to invest in Mozambique. Read more: Bangladesh a truly important strategic partner: US He also suggested concluding a general corporation agreement and organising regular foreign office consultations. Matsinha underlined the engagement of the private sector to develop trade and business. Shabbir referred to the prospect of Bangladesh entrepreneurs and farmers establishing contract farming in Mozambique. The Mozambican side also called for cooperation in the sector.

After nearly a week of vicious fighting, Mozambique's rebels controlled about half of the strategic town of Palma on Tuesday, deepening the humanitarian crisis in the country's north and jeopardizing the multi-billion-dollar investment in offshore gas fields. About 200 rebels armed with automatic rifles, machine guns, and mortars now control the part of Palma where government offices and banks are located, according to local media reports. Thousands of residents already have fled to nearby Tanzania and south to the provincial capital of Pemba, according to international aid agencies. More than 900,000 people in Mozambique now require food aid because of the crisis in the northern part of the country, according to the U.N. World Food Program. "It is a fast-evolving conflict situation and large numbers of people are fleeing through the bush, with nothing, nothing by the clothes on their backs," Lola Castro, the regional director for WFP told The Associated Press. "This humanitarian crisis is not going away, it's increasing." Palma's streets are deserted except for sporadic gunfire from the rebels, said Lionel Dyck, director of the Dyck Advisory Group, whose helicopter gunships are helping the Mozambican police battle the insurgents. "It's actually quite dire on the ground. It's chaos because there's still no real control and there won't be control for some time," Dyck, a retired colonel in the Zimbabwean army, told the AP on Tuesday. "We are fighting the people on the ground and we are at the same time looking for stragglers," he said. "As we are flying over areas, we look for people that are hiding in the bush ... We can use our squirrel helicopters and go out and pick up the civilians and move them to a friendly base." The insurgents, who are allied to the Islamic State group, also attacked a site on the Indian Ocean coast near Macomia last week, showing their reach across Cabo Delgado province, according to local media reports. The three-year insurgency of the rebels, who are primarily disaffected young Muslim men, has taken more than 2,600 lives and displaced an estimated 670,000 people, according to the U.N. A video posted by the Islamic State group purports to show fighters in or near Palma, but cannot be independently verified by The Associated Press. About 50 armed fighters in a mix of camouflage uniforms, black shirts, and red headscarves are gathered for what appears to be a roll call. "Permission to kill where we are going," and "Permission to cut and kill where we are going," is shouted by some men, speaking a local dialect of Swahili and Arabic. The rebels are known locally as al-Shabab (the youth in Arabic) but have no known affiliation with the jihadist rebels of the same name in Somalia. The United States last week declared Mozambique's rebels to be a terrorist organization and announced that 12 military trainers had been deployed to help the southern African country's marines. Portugal, Mozambique's former colonial power, announced Tuesday that is stepping up its military cooperation by sending 60 soldiers to help train Mozambican special forces. The European Union is also preparing "to increase security cooperation (with Mozambique), possibly via support with equipment or training," Portuguese Foreign Minister Augusto Santos Silva said in a statement. The France-based oil and gas company has pulled out of its operations on the outskirts of Palma, a multi-billion-dollar investment to pump liquified natural gas from offshore oilfields in the Indian Ocean. Earlier this year the company had said it requires an area covering a 25-kilometer (15-mile) radius to be secure from rebel violence. Palma is within that area, making it uncertain when the oil giant will resume its investment.

Mozambique's President Filipe Nyusi was sworn in for a second and final term Wednesday after five turbulent years in office amid two armed insurgencies.

Bilene, Oct 17 (AP/UNB) — Unofficial results in Mozambique's elections point to sweeping victories for the ruling Frelimo party and President Filipe Nyusi, prompting some analysts to question the credibility of the polls and warn that the lopsided result may prolong the country's instability.

Maputo, Oct 16 (AP/UNB) — Vote counting continues Wednesday in Mozambique's presidential and parliamentary elections, after isolated incidents of vandalism and violence tainted a generally peaceful night of tallying the ballots.

Johannesburg, Oct 16 (AP/UNB) — Former Mozambican finance minister Manuel Chang is challenging attempts to extradite him to the United States for a corruption trial.

Gorongosa National Park, Aug 1 (AP/UNB) — Mozambique's president and the leader of the Renamo opposition signed a peace accord on Thursday to end years of hostilities that followed a 15-year civil war.