Awami League (AL) General Secretary Obaidul Quader has said that there is no possibility of conflict from the party's side during the rally on July 27. “Awami League will not instigate any violence. However, the AL government will ensure the safety of people's lives and property if violent incidents occur,” he said while addressing the introductory meeting of the party's education and human resources sub-committee at its central office on Bangabandhu Avenue in Dhaka today (July 24, 2023). BNP's dream will never come true: Obaidul Quader “Around 70 percent of the country's population is eagerly waiting to vote for AL. People are our strength, and we are not afraid of anyone,” he said. Commenting on student politics, he said, “The beauty of student politics has lost some sheen, and we need to revive its former glory.” Sheikh Hasina's government needed again: Obaidul Quader Quader also said, “There has been a quiet revolution happening in the development of Digital Bangladesh by Sajeeb Wazed. He works in silence and does not seek self-promotion.” General Election to be held as per constitution: Obaidul Quader

Some 110 million people have had to flee their homes because of conflict, persecution, or human rights violations, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees says. The war in Sudan, which has displaced nearly 2 million people since April, is but the latest in a long list of crises that has led to the record-breaking figure. "It's quite an indictment on the state of our world," Filippo Grandi, who leads the U.N. refugee agency, told reporters in Geneva ahead of the publication Wednesday of UNHCR's Global Trends Report for 2022. Also Read: Record 108.4 mln people forcibly displaced by end of  2022: UNHCR Last year alone, an additional 19 million people were forcibly displaced including more than 11 million who fled Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in what became the fastest and largest displacement of people since World War II. "We are constantly confronted with emergencies," Grandi said. Last year the agency recorded 35 emergencies, three to four times more than in previous years. "Very few make your headlines," Grandi added, arguing that the war in Sudan fell off most front pages after Western citizens were evacuated. Also Read: UN agencies warn of starvation risk in Sudan, Haiti, Burkina Faso and Mali, call for urgent aid Conflicts in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia and Myanmar were also responsible for displacing more than 1 million people within each country in 2022. The majority of the displaced globally have sought refuge within their nation's borders. One-third of them - 35 million - have fled to other countries, making them refugees, according to the UNHCR report. Most refugees are hosted by low to middle-income countries in Asia and Africa, not rich countries in Europe or North America, Grandi said. Also Read: Sudan military ruler seeks removal of UN envoy in letter to UN chief, who is 'shocked' by the demand Turkey currently hosts the most refugees with 3.8 million people, mostly Syrians who fled the civil war, followed by Iran with 3.4 million refugees, mostly Afghans. But there are also 5.7 million Ukrainian refugees scattered across countries in Europe and beyond. The number of stateless people has also risen in 2022 to 4.4 million, according to UNHCR data, but this is believed to be an underestimate. Also Read:  Thousands of exhausted South Sudanese head home, fleeing brutal conflict Regarding asylum claims, the U.S. was the country to receive the most new applications in 2022 with 730,400 claims. It's also the nation with the largest backlog in its asylum system, Grandi said. "One of the things that needs to be done is reforming that asylum system so that it becomes more rapid, more efficient," he said. The United States, Spain and Canada recently announced plans to create asylum processing centers in Latin America with the goal of reducing the number of people who trek their way north to the Mexico-U.S. border. Also Read: UN: Sudan conflict displaces over 1.3 million, including some 320K to neighboring countries As the number of asylum-seekers grows, so have the challenges facing them. "We see pushbacks. We see tougher and tougher immigration or refugee admission rules. We see in many countries the criminalization of immigrants and refugees, blaming them for everything that has happened," Grandi said. Also Read: War in Ukraine, disasters left 71mn people internally displaced in 2022: Report Last week European leaders renewed financial promises to North African nations in the hopes of stemming migration across the Mediterranean while the British government insists on a so-far failed plan to ship asylum-seekers to Rwanda, something UNHCR is opposed to. But there were also some wins, Grandi said, pointing to what he described as a positive sign in the European Union's negotiations for a new migration and asylum pact, despite criticism from human rights groups. Also Read: Sudan's government declares UN envoy ‘persona non grata’ Grandi also celebrated the fact that the number of refugees resettled in 2022 doubled to 114,000 from the previous year. But he admitted this was "still a drop in the ocean."  

Exhausted Sudanese and foreigners joined growing crowds at Sudan's main seaport Tuesday, waiting to be evacuated from the chaos-stricken nation. After more than two weeks of fighting, areas of the capital of Khartoum appear increasingly abandoned. The battle for control of Sudan erupted on April 15, after months of escalating tensions between the military, led by Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan, and a rival paramilitary group called the Rapid Support Forces, commanded by Gen. Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo. Other nations have tried to convince the two generals to stop the fighting and come to the negotiating table. The government of South Sudan, which officially split from Sudan in 2011, said Tuesday that the two rival generals have agreed in “principle” on a weeklong cease-fire starting on Thursday, and on engaging in peace talks. The statement did not elaborate on the possible venue or timing for the talks. Also Read: Sudan evacuees to return home within 72 hours of landing in KSA: Riyadh Embassy South Sudan President Salva Kiir spoke with both Burhan and Dagalo over the phone, the government said in a statement. There was no immediate comment from either the army or the paramilitary. Meanwhile, civilians were packing buses and trucks for Sudan’s northern border with Egypt. Many others headed to Port Sudan, on the country's Red Sea coast. The relative calm of the port city, from which many foreign governments have evacuated their citizens, seemed the safer option. “Much of the capital has become empty,” said Abdalla al-Fatih, a Khartoum resident who fled with his family to Port Sudan on Monday. He said they had been trapped for two weeks, and that by now, everyone on his street had left. When they arrived in Port Sudan after a 20-hour journey, they found thousands, including many women and children, camping outside the port area. Many had been in the open air for more than a week, with no food or basic services in the sweltering heat. Others crowded into mosques or hotels inside the city. Tariq Abdel-Hameed was one of around 2,000 Syrians in Port Sudan hoping to get out by sea or air. Some 200 Syrians have been evacuated since the crisis began, including 35 on Friday on a vessel bound for Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The first Damascus-bound flight was scheduled to take off later Tuesday, Abdel-Hameed said, with about 200 on board, mostly pregnant women and sick people. At the congested crossing points with Egypt, thousands of families have waited for days inside buses or sought temporary shelter in the border town of Wadi Halfa. Yusuf Abdel-Rahman, a Sudanese university student, said he and his family entered Egypt through the Ashkit border crossing late Monday. They had first gone to another crossing point, Arqin, but said it was too crowded to make the attempt. Families with children and the sick were stranded in the desert landscape with no food and water, waiting for visas which are mandatory for Sudanese men to enter Egypt, he recounted. In Khartoum, Abdel-Rahman said he had seen widespread destruction and looting. He knows many people whose homes have been commandeered by the paramilitary forces and thinks they are lucky to have left before their home was stormed. “We could have ended up dead bodies," he said. The fighting has displaced at least 334,000 people inside Sudan, and sent tens of thousands more to neighboring countries — Egypt, Chad, South Sudan, the Central African Republic and Ethiopia, according to U.N. agencies. Aid workers are increasingly concerned about lack of basic services in these areas. Between 900 and 1,000 people arrive daily at the border with Ethiopia, Paul Dillon, a spokesman for the International Organization for Migration, said at a news briefing Tuesday in Geneva. At least 20,000 people crossed into Chad, which borders the Darfur city of Genena where clashes last week killed dozens and wounded hundreds. Aleksandra Roulet-Cimpric, the Chad Country Director with the International Rescue Committee, described dire conditions for the arrivals there, many of them women and children who have no choice but to seek shelter from the heat under sparse trees. The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi warned that the number of people fleeing to neighboring countries could surpass 800,000. Early Tuesday, the sounds of explosions and gunfire echoed though many parts of Khartoum, with fierce clashes taking place around the military’s headquarters, the international airport and the Republican Palace, residents said. Warplanes were seen flying overhead, they said. The fighting continued despite the newest extension of a shaky cease-fire, meant to allow safe corridors for healthcare workers and aid agencies working in the capital. “The war never stopped,” said Atiya Abdalla Atiya, Secretary of the Sudan Doctors’ Syndicate. Morgues across the capital are filled with bodies and people are still unable to collect the dead for burial, he said. At least 447 civilians have been killed and more than 2,255 wounded since the fighting began, according to figures provided Tuesday by the Doctors’ Syndicate, which tracks civilian casualties. The Sudanese Health Ministry said it counted at least 550 people killed, including civilians and combatants, with more than 4,900 wounded as of Monday. In addition to the South Sudanese proposal, there has been other suggestions aimed at stopping the violence and avoiding a worsening humanitarian disaster. Both sides agreed to send representatives for talks that would potentially be held in Saudi Arabia, according the U.N. envoy in Sudan, Volker Perthes. The kingdom has joined the United States in pressing for a lasting cease-fire. Another proposal, put forward by Sudan's former Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok, who met this week with regional leaders and Western diplomats in Kenya’s capital, Nairobi, set forward a series of five steps to help the two sides reconcile. “This war can lead to a global emergency unless halted immediately," he said. The power struggle has derailed Sudan’s efforts to restore its democratic transition, which was halted in Oct. 2021 when Burhan and Dagalo, then allies, removed Hamdok's Western-backed transitional government in a coup.

A record 59.1 million people were displaced within their homelands last year, 4 million more than in 2020, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said Thursday.  For the past 15 years, most internal displacements were triggered by disasters, with annual numbers slightly higher than those related to conflict and violence.  Weather-related events such as floods, storms and cyclones resulted in some 23.7 million internal displacements in 2021, mainly in Asia Pacific.  With the expected impacts of climate change, and without ambitious climate action, numbers are likely to increase in the coming years, the IOM said. Meanwhile, conflict and violence triggered 14.4 million internal displacements in 2021, a nearly 50 percent increase over the previous year.  The majority took place in Africa, particularly Ethiopia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, while Afghanistan and Myanmar saw unprecedented numbers of displacement.  Children and youth accounted for more than 40 percent of the total number of those internally displaced last year.  Also read: Ukraine war refugees top 5 million as assault intensifies

Bangladesh has welcomed the announcement of the former Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi to transfer power to the Presidential Leadership Council headed by Rashad al- Alimi to help complete the implementation of the mandated tasks of the transitional period. Bangladesh also appreciated the development with regard to the delegation of the full powers of the President to the Council in accordance with the constitution, the Gulf initiative and its executive mechanisms, said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Friday. READ: Qatar to continue supplying LNG to Bangladesh: MoFA Dhaka hoped that the stakeholders will take this opportunity to continue the political process to reach a comprehensive agreement to end the conflict in Yemen. It also reiterated its commitment to supporting all efforts for maintenance of peace and stability in Yemen and the region.

Millions of Ukrainians may soon face serious food insecurity because of the ongoing conflict amid reports that people are facing "life-and-death decisions" on whether to leave Mariupol and elsewhere, the UN said Tuesday. More than a month since the Russian invasion, the alert from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) follows assessments in 19 of Ukraine's 24 regions, which indicated that it was uncertain if the country could harvest crops, plant new ones or sustain livestock production. "An immediate and worrying finding is that food shortages are expected immediately or in the next three months in over 40 percent of the surveyed areas and cases," said Rein Paulsen, FAO director of the Office of Emergencies and Resilience. READ: Russian pledge to scale back in Ukraine draws skepticism "When it comes to the all-important production of vegetables, conflict is likely to severely disrupt production for tens of thousands of smallholder farmers, those who have decided to stay behind." In Mariupol and other Ukrainian locations that have been encircled and pummelled by indiscriminate shelling, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) warned that the crisis was "deepening." According to the UN aid coordinating office, OCHA, around 90 percent of Mariupol's residential buildings – some 2,600 homes – have been affected by active fighting. Some 60 percent of buildings have suffered various degrees of damage from direct shelling, while about 40 percent have been completely destroyed. Local authorities say the rising civilian death toll is fast approaching 5,000 people. Highlighting the risks faced by medical workers and patients in Ukraine, Dr Jarno Habicht, World Health Organization representative in the country, said there have now been "74 attacks, with 72 deaths and 40 injuries between February 24 to March 25…These attacks are against hospitals, ambulances."

Armed clashes erupted Thursday in Beirut during a protest organized by the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah and its allies against the lead judge probing last year’s blast in the city’s port. At least six people were killed and dozens were wounded in some of the most serious fighting in years, authorities said. The hours-long exchange of fire along a former front line from the 1975-90 civil war involved snipers, pistols, Kalashnikovs and rocket-propelled grenades, and were reminiscent of that conflict. The clashes were the worst since 2008, when the Shiite Hezbollah briefly overran parts of Beirut. It was not immediately clear how Thursday’s violence erupted but tensions were running high after the Iran-backed Hezbollah and its Shiite allies from the Amal Movement demanded the removal of the judge leading the investigation into last year's massive port explosion. The two parties called for a protest near the Justice Palace, along the former front line between Muslim Shiite and Christian areas. Read: Huge fire breaks out at Beirut port a month after explosion In a statement Thursday, the two groups said their protesters came under fire from snipers deployed over rooftops in the Tayouneh area. Gunfire echoed in the capital for several hours and ambulances, sirens wailing, rushed to pick up casualties. Snipers shot from buildings. Bullets penetrated apartment windows in the area. Four projectiles fell near a private French school, Freres of Furn el Chebbak, causing panic, a security official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the press. The students huddled in the central corridors with the windows open to avoid major impact, in scenes reminiscent of the 1975-90 civil war. Smoke covered the neighborhood where intense gunfire was relentless. A car caught fire, while a blaze was reported in a lower floor where residents were stuck and called for help. Haneen Chemaly, a resident of Furn el-Chebbak and mother of a 6-month old girl, said she first moved to the corridor before running to the shelter because the sound of gunfire was terrifying from her 10th-floor apartment. “I did it for my child,” she said. “I don’t know what is happening. I can just hear the sound of gunfire.” The violence unfolded while U.S. Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland was in town, meeting with Lebanese officials. Her schedule was slightly thrown off by the action on the streets. The demands for Bitar’s removal and calls for protest upset many who considered it blatant intervention in the work of the judiciary. The right wing Christian Lebanese Forces mobilized supporters Wednesday evening after Hezbollah and Amal called for the protest at the Justice Palace, located in a Christian area. Videos circulating on social media showed supporters of the Christian Lebanese Forces marching in the streets, carrying large crosses. A journalist with The Associated Press saw a man open fire with a pistol during Thursday's protest, as well as gunmen shooting in the direction of protesters from the balcony of a building. Several men fell immediately from the gunfire and bled on the street. The army deployed heavily and sent patrols to the area to search for the gunmen, following the exchanges of gunfire between the Muslim and Christian sides of the capital. A staffer at the emergency room at al-Sahel hospital said they received three bodies and 15 people who were injured. One of the dead, a woman, had received a bullet to her head. Two of the 15 injured were in critical condition. In a statement, Prime Minister Najib Mikati appealed for calm and urged people “not to be dragged into civil strife.” The probe centers on hundreds of tons of ammonium nitrates that had been improperly stored at a port warehouse that detonated on August 4, 2020, killing at least 215 people, injuring thousands and destroying parts of nearby neighborhoods. It was one of the largest non-nuclear explosions in history and has further devastated the country already roiled by political divisions and unprecedented economic and financial meltdown. Read: Huge fire extinguished at oil facility in southern Lebanon Bitar is the second judge to lead the complicated investigation - his predecessor was removed following legal challenges. Now Bitar has come up against formidable opposition from the powerful Hezbollah group and its allies who accuse him of singling out politicians for questioning, most of them allied with Hezbollah. None of Hezbollah’s officials have so far been charged in the 14-month-old investigation. Sporadic shooting continued even after army troops deployed to the area Thursday. Residents and civilians in the area were ducking to avoid the shooting. Someone screamed: “Some martyrs on the ground!” People pulled one man who was apparently shot and down, away from the line of fire. Others pulled another body away. In some videos circulating online, some men were chatting: “Shiite Shiite” on the streets, as residents were running from the gunfire. The tensions over the port blast add to Lebanon's enormous multiple troubles, including an unprecedented economic and financial meltdown, an energy crisis leading to extended electricity blackouts, hyperinflation and soaring poverty. Chemaly said said there was no electricity for her to follow on TV what was going on. So she knew nothing of the situation on the ground and opted for safety. After spending some time in the shelter, she moved to the first floor to stay with her neighbors away from the fire. “I know there was so much mobilization from the night before, all predicting that a war would erupt,” Chemaly, who heads a local NGOs that provides social services. Civil war erupting “is the last card they have to use. They have (driven) us into bankruptcy, devastation and now they are scaring us with the specter of civil war.” The armed clash could derail the country’s month-old government of Prime Minister Najib Mikati even before it begins tackling Lebanon’s economic meltdown. A Cabinet meeting was canceled Wednesday after Hezbollah demanded urgent government action against the judge. One Hezbollah-allied minister said he and other Cabinet members would stage a walkout if Bitar isn’t removed.

Iraq closed its airspace and land border crossings on Sunday as voters headed to the polls to elect a parliament that many hope will deliver much needed reforms after decades of conflict and mismanagement. The vote was brought forward by six months in response to a popular uprising in the capital Baghdad and southern provinces in late 2019, when tens of thousands of people took to the streets to protest endemic corruption, poor services and rising unemployment. They were met with deadly force by security forces firing live ammunition and tear gas. More than 600 people were killed and thousands injured within just a few months. Although authorities gave in and called the early elections, the death toll and the heavy-handed crackdown prompted many young activists and demonstrators who took part in the protests to later call for a boycott of the polls. A series of kidnappings and targeted assassinations that killed more than 35 people, has further discouraged many from taking part. Read: Biden says US combat mission in Iraq to conclude by year end A total of 3,449 candidates are vying for 329 seats in the parliamentary elections, which will be the sixth held since the fall of Saddam Hussein after the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. More than 250,000 security personnel across the country were tasked with protecting the vote. Army troops, police and anti-terrorism forces fanned out and deployed outside polling stations, some of which were ringed by barbed wire. “Get out and vote, and change your reality for the sake of Iraq and your future,” said Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi, after he cast his ballot at a school in Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone, home to foreign embassies and government offices. “To those who hesitate, put your trust in God and go and choose those you deem appropriate,” he added, reflecting concerns over a low turnout. “This is our opportunity.” The 2018 elections saw just 44% of eligible voters casting ballots, a record low. The results were widely contested. There are concerns of a similar or even lower turnout this time. Iraq’s top Shiite cleric and a widely respected authority, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, has called for a large turnout, saying that voting remains the best way for Iraqis to take part in shaping their country’s future. The election is the first since the fall of Saddam to proceed without a curfew in place, reflecting the significantly improved security situation in the country following the defeat of the Islamic State group in 2017. Previous votes were marred by fighting and deadly bomb attacks that have plagued the country for decades. As a security precaution, Iraq has closed its airspace and scrambled its air force from Saturday night until early Monday morning. In another first, Sunday's election is taking place under a new election law that divides Iraq into smaller constituencies — another demand of the activists who took part in the 2019 protests — and allows for more independent candidates. Read:Death toll rises to 92 in blaze at coronavirus ward in Iraq A U.N. Security Council resolution adopted earlier this year authorized an expanded team to monitor the elections. There will be up to 600 international observers in place, including 150 from the United Nations. Iraq is also for the first time introducing biometric cards for voters. To prevent abuse of electronic voter cards, they will be disabled for 72 hours after each person votes, to avoid double voting. But despite all these measures, claims of vote buying, intimidation and manipulation have persisted. The head of Iraq’s electoral commission has said that initial election results will be announced within 24 hours.

Restrictions imposed by Hungary on the financing from abroad of non-governmental organizations are incompatible with EU law, according to an opinion issued Tuesday by the European Union's Court of Justice.

The Kashmir takeover/ status quo cancellation/ending terrorist attacks move etc. was largely inevitable at this point of time as two Indian elite class battle it out within. One is trying to regain supremacy, the other to consolidate. The colonial elite led by Indian National Congress (INC) has been largely routed and the pre-colonial/indigenous elite led by the BJP is close to home after two consecutive electoral victories. BJP is much more popular than all others and even the traditional zones have fallen to the BJP chariot’s charge.