The United States sees the upcoming "Partnership Dialogue" with Bangladesh as an opportunity to expand the "robust relationship" between the two countries, according to an official posted at the US Embassy in Dhaka. Both sides emphasise the multi-faceted nature of the relationship cannot be undermined by any single issue. The entire gamut of relations between the two countries - security cooperation, trade, labour rights, investment opportunities, human rights, governance, global threats including climate change, regional issues including a free and open Indo-Pacific region - are all expected to fall within the ambit of the dialogue, to be held in Dhaka on March 20. "In the dialogue we will discuss opportunities to expand a robust relationship, ways we can further enhance close ties on a range of areas of cooperation," said the US Embassy official in Dhaka on Tuesday.  While briefing a small group of journalists, he said Bangladesh-US ties go beyond the government-to-government sphere, with the people to-people contacts and commercial relationships remaining active and growing. READ: Bangladesh, US keen to further strengthen ties with greater engagements  US Department of State's Under Secretary of Political Affairs Victoria Nuland is scheduled to arrive Dhaka on March 19 to lead the US delegation for the 8th bilateral "Partnership Dialogue" between the two countries.  Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen will lead the Bangladesh delegation.  In this fiftieth year of diplomatic relations, Washington seeks to "deepen a strong and multi-faceted relationship" built on mutual respect and shared interests with Bangladesh, said the US Embassy official. During this visit, Under Secretary Nuland, whose rank makes her the third-most senior official at the State Department, will have the opportunity to make people-to-people and business connections. "We have a long history of cooperation between our two countries," said the official at the US Embassy.  The United States has been a consistent partner in the success stories of Bangladesh, and this dialogue, and others that follow this year, will demonstrate their willingness to remain so in the future. Earlier, Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen said the relations between Bangladesh and the United States have many factors and determinants and the relations will be enhanced and deepened through a number of dialogues, visits back-and-forth, and track-2 engagements in the coming months. "To this end, we are aiming at fostering a closer understanding with the US,” he said recently, adding that Bangladesh fully intends to “enhance and deepen” its ties with the US. Meanwhile, a rung or two above the dialogue, Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen is scheduled to have a bilateral meeting (in-person) with his US counterpart, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, in Washington on April 4.

Bangladesh logged 15 more Covid-linked deaths with 3,929 fresh cases in 24 hours till Wednesday morning as Bangladesh is seeing a downtrend in both cases and fatalities. The daily positivity rate slightly decreased to 12.20 per cent from Tuesday’s 13.77 per cent after testing 34,175 samples during the period, according to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS). On Tuesday, Bangladesh reported 34 more Covid-linked deaths with 4,746 fresh cases. The fresh numbers took the country’s total fatalities to 28,887 while the caseload mounted to 1,923,031. Among the new deceased, 10 were men and five women. Five of the deaths were reported in Dhaka division while four in Chattogram, two in Khulna, and one each in Barishal, Sylhet, Rangpur and Rajshahi divisions. READ: Covid-19: Bangladesh reports 34 more deaths Meanwhile, the mortality rate remained static at 1.50 per cent. However, the recovery rate slightly rose to 89.24 per cent with the recovery of 12,757 more patients during the 24-hour period. On January 28, Bangladesh logged its earlier highest daily positivity rate at 33.37 per cent reporting 15,440 cases and 20 deaths. On December 9 last year, Bangladesh again logged zero Covid-related death after nearly three weeks as the pandemic was apparently showing signs of easing. READ: Prince Charles’ wife Camilla tests positive for COVID-19 The country reported first zero Covid-related death in a single day on November 20 last year along with 178 infections since the pandemic broke out in Bangladesh in March 2020. Besides, the country registered the highest daily caseload of 16,230 on July 28 last year, while the highest number of daily fatalities was 264 on August 10 last year.

Normal life was affected as several parts of Bangladesh reeled under cold wave-like conditions on Saturday. The lowest temperature of the country was recorded at 7 degrees Celsius at Rajarhat in Kurigram district and Tetulia in Panchagarh district, the Bangladesh Meteorological Department (BMD) said. Dhaka’s minimum temperature was recorded at 12.6 degrees, it said “The mild to moderate cold wave is likely to continue for 2-3 days more in some parts of the country,” said a meteorologist at BMD. According to the regular bulletin, “Mild to moderate cold wave is sweeping over Rangpur, Rajshahi, Mymensingh and Sylhet divisions and the districts of Gopalgonj, Tangail, Kishoregonj, Feni, Jashore, Kushtia, Chuadanga  and Barishal and it may continue.” READ: Cold wave sweeps parts of Bangladesh Weather may remain dry over the country. On the other hand, moderate to thick fog may occur over northwestern parts and light to moderate fog may occur at places elsewhere over the country during midnight to Sunday morning, according to the bulletin. Night and day temperatures may remain nearly unchanged over the country. READ: Brace for mild cold wave! UNB Kurigram Correspondent reports: “The temperature may dip further in the district in the next couple of days,” said sources at the Kurigram Weather Observatory Centre. People belonging to the economically weaker section, especially the daily wagers, are the worst sufferers. Many of them have no proper warm clothes to wear.

Justice Hasan Foez Siddique, a judge of the Appellate Division, has been appointed the new Chief Justice (CJ) of Bangladesh. Law and Justice Division of the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs issued a gazette notification in this regard on Thursday. READ: IGP meets Chief Justice The Chief Justice will take oath at Bangabhaban at 4 pm on Friday, said President’s Press Secretary Joynal Abedin. Incumbent Chief Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain went on retirement on Thursday as he turned 68. According to Article 96 (1) of the constitution, a judge shall hold office until the age of 67. Chief Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain paid a farewell call on President Abdul Hamid at Bangabhaban on Wednesday evening. READ: Ex-Bangladesh chief justice Sinha seeks political asylum in Canada: Report Mahmud Hossain was appointed the 22nd Chief Justice of the country on February 2, 2018. The post of the chief justice fell vacant when Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha resigned on November 10 in 2017. Justice Md Abdul Wahhab Miah, the senior most judge of the appellate division, had been carrying out the activities of Chief Justice since October 3 in 2017.

A number of events were held in Dhaka on Friday to observe the 13th anniversary of 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks to condemn the terror groups and to express solidarity with the innocent victims killed. A photo exhibition was held at Shilpakala Academy organized by Ekattorer Ghatak Dalal Nirmul Committee. Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal in the presence of High Commissioner of India to Bangladesh Vikram K Doraiswami inaugurated the exhibition. The exhibition highlighted the horrors inflicted by the terror groups through seventy framed photos. Terror incidents of August 21 grenade attack and Holey Artisan attack in 2016 were also showcased in the exhibition. Read: Ensure electricity for all remote villagers: Hasina In another event, theatre artists enacted a drama depicting the Mumbai attack at the city’s Bashundhara Shopping Complex in the evening which was applauded by the huge crowd. Meanwhile, Muktijoddah Mancha, a platform of descendants of freedom fighters, protested in front of the Pakistan High Commission with banners and placards condemning the role of the Pakistan government in sheltering masterminds of the attacks and calling for global efforts in bringing the perpetrators to justice. Bangladesh Online Activist Forum (BOAF) organized a discussion meeting titled ‘International Terrorism and Mumbai Attacks’ at the National Press Club in Dhaka. Read: 26/11: Street drama staged in Dhaka protesting Mumbai terror attack Besides, a documentary movie was screened at Shahbagh after around two hundred volunteers with candles paid tributes to the martyrs at the Shaheed Minar in Dhaka University. Hundreds of volunteers in Rajshahi, Chittagong, Sylhet, Khulna, Satkhira, Jashore and Cumilla also organized protest demonstrations, human-chain programmes and cycle rallies to mark the day. On November 26 in 2008, a group of ten Pakistani nationals trained by proscribed terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) carried out a gruesome attack on 166 innocent people including foreign nationals from USA, Canada, Jordan, Malaysia, Mauritius and other nationalities. The masterminds behind the attack mainly LeT Ameer Hafiz Saeed and his accomplice Zakiur Rahman Lakhvi had planned and trained the militant cadres.

US President Joe Biden has named Peter D. Haas as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Bangladesh, says the White House. The US President has also named three individuals to serve as Ambassadors of the US, including Eric M. Garcetti, a nominee for Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, to India. Read US Ambassador joins student leadership workshop in Rajshahi Haas, a career member of the Senior Foreign Service, class of Minister-Counselor, currently serves as acting Assistant Secretary of State and concurrently as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary, for Economic and Business Affairs for the Department of State, said the White House in a statement. Previously, Haas was Senior Advisor/Deputy Assistant Secretary for Trade Policy and Negotiations for the State Department and prior to that was the Deputy Permanent Representative to the US Mission to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development in Paris, France. Read US Ambassador Miller visits art exhibition on PM at Cosmos Centre Over his career he has served in positions across five geographic bureaus of the State Department including as Consul General of the US Consulate General Mumbai, India. Haas holds a BA in International Studies and German from Illinois Wesleyan University. He attended the London School of Economics as a Marshall Scholar, where he earned MSc (Econ) degrees in both the Politics of the World Economy and Comparative Government. Read Outgoing US ambassador says world must end Taiwan’s exclusion He is the recipient of the James Clement Dunn Award for Excellence and the Cordell Hull Award for Economic Achievement by Senior Officers.  His foreign languages are French and German. Ambassador Earl R Miller is approaching the end of his three-year assignment as U.S. Ambassador to Bangladesh. Read Working on how US companies can invest in Sylhet: US Ambassador "These nomination announcements are a regular part of the confirmation process for new U.S. ambassadors," said a spokesperson at the US Embassy in Dhaka. 

Chairman of Yabang Group Xiaochu Xu has met Bangladesh Ambassador to China Mahbub Uz Zaman at his office in Beijing and discussed investment plans in Bangladesh.    They plan to invest in building a large scale industrial park in Bangladesh.    If things go according to plan,   the initial investment may be around US$ 1 billion, said the Ambassador on Friday.    The investment is likely to generate employment for around 10000 persons.   Their focus is on printing and dyeing, pharmaceuticals and other chemical plants.    Xu was accompanied by Jianling Li , General Manager,  Jiangsu Yabang Dyestuff Limited at the meeting held on Thursday.    The Yabang Investment holding group is one of the three leading companies in the Chemical Sector and among the 500 top listed companies in China . It has More than 15000 employees .    Its business covers dye, coating, pigment, medicine, veterinary, Pharma, pesticides, photovoltaics, logistics, finance and real estate Industries. It has more than 60 subsidiaries ( branch ) companies .    The groups annual sales volumes exceeds USD 10 billion with the profit of 500 million .