United States
US expresses solidarity with victims of enforced disappearances, their families around world
The United States has said it stands in solidarity with victims of enforced disappearances and their families around the world, said the US Embassy here.
On the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances, the US Embassy in Dhaka reiterated the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet’s call for greater scrutiny of allegations of enforced disappearances.
Read:AL indulges in enforced disappearances to establish one-party rule: Fakhrul
After concluding her official visit to Bangladesh recently, Bachelet said, “I raised my deep concern about these serious allegations with Government ministers and highlighted the need for an impartial, independent, and transparent investigation into these allegations, accompanied by security sector reform."
Enforced disappearance has become a global problem and is not restricted to a specific region of the world, said the UN.
Global Covid cases top 600 million
The overall number of Covid cases has now surged past 600 million amid a rise in new infections in parts of the world.
According to the latest global data, the total case count mounted to 600,358,815 and the death toll reached 6,470,926 on Sunday morning.
The United States has the highest cumulative number of confirmed cases and deaths, both accounting for nearly 16 percent of the world's total.
The US has recorded 95,331,020 cases so far and 1,065,555 people have died from the virus in the country, the data shows.
The United States is followed by India and Brazil, which have recorded cases exceeding 44 million and 34 million respectively, as well as 527,289 and 682,560 deaths.
India reported 13,272 new cases of COVID-19 during the past 24 hours, taking the total tally to 44,327,890, according to federal health ministry data released on Saturday morning,
Saturday's new cases marked a decrease in comparison to the daily caseload of Friday which was 15,754.
The country also logged 36 related deaths during the past 24 hours, pushing the death toll to 527,289 since the beginning of the pandemic, the ministry said.
Read: WHO: World coronavirus cases fall 24%; deaths rise in Asia
In terms of the World Health Organization (WHO) regional offices, Europe and the Americas have so far reported more than 209 million and 151 million confirmed cases, as well as 1,964,786 and 2,711,779 deaths, respectively, reports Xinhua.
The two regions combined account for over 72 percent of the world's total in confirmed cases and over 75 percent of deaths.
As the weekly numbers of new COVID-19 cases and deaths have continued to decline according to the WHO statistics, the agency said on Wednesday that the pandemic remains a public health emergency of international concern, advising countries to be prepared to scale up COVID-19 response rapidly.
Covid in Bangladesh
Bangladesh reported zero Covid death and 100 new cases in 24 hours till Saturday morning.
While the country's total fatalities remained unchanged at 29,315, the new cases took the caseload to 2,009,797, according to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
The daily case test positivity rate increased to 4.42 per cent from Friday’s 3.32 per cent as 2,265 samples were tested.
The mortality rate remained unchanged at 1.46 percent and the recovery rate rose to 97.19 per cent from Friday’s 97.18 per cent.
Congressional Bangladesh Caucus eyes strengthening Dhaka-Washington ties
Newly inaugurated Congressional Bangladesh Caucus will promote “continued good relations” between Bangladesh and the United States.
“We look forward to strengthening the United States-Bangladesh relationship on the basis of our shared democratic values to address major issues, including climate change, human rights, and humanitarian challenges,” said Congressman Joe Wilson of South Carolina in the House of Representatives who joined with his colleagues - Congressmen Gerry Connolly, Dwight Evans and Steve Chabot as a co-chair of the Congressional Bangladesh Caucus.
Caucus Members will receive periodic updates on bilateral relationship, joint efforts to combat terrorism and promote human rights, as well as opportunities for high-level visits between the two countries, including with Ambassador M Shahidul Islam as they work to “strengthen” their relationship.
Wilson, joining with his colleagues on August 16, said the people of Bangladesh are well represented by Bangladesh Ambassador to the USA M Shahidul Islam.
The Caucus was established, in part, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Bangladesh and the United States, which began in 1972, soon after Bangladesh secured its independence from Pakistan.
“The United States has been a longstanding partner in Bangladesh's journey to economic development and democratic institution building since that time,” Wilson said.
Read:Election period in Bangladesh to be important time to maximise civic, political space: Bachelet
During the last 50 years, Bangladesh has made significant socio-economic progress, including increased food production, disaster management capacity building, poverty alleviation, improved health and education, and women's empowerment, he mentioned.
For more than a decade, Wilson said, Bangladesh has remained one of the fastest-growing economies in the world, and its economic growth is not only benefiting its own people, but is also contributing to the peace, progress, and prosperity of the Indo-Pacific Region.
Significantly, no other country in the world commits more forces to United Nations Peacekeeping, he said.
Bangladesh has a per capita income higher than its neighbors in South Asia and the United States is one of Bangladesh's most important trading partners, with approximately 19-20 percent of its exports destined for the United States, Wilson said.
Also, bilateral trade between the United States and Bangladesh was over $10 billion (U.S.) in 2021.
According to the United States Census Bureau, there are over 200,000 people of Bangladeshi origin living in America.
Promoting educational exchanges between Bangladesh and the United States benefits both nations, and with approximately 10,000 students from Bangladesh studying in the United States, the country places eighth in the World in this category, Wilson said.
IGP’s US Visit: Discussion underway among relevant authorities
Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan on Tuesday said discussion is underway regarding Inspector General of Police (IGP) Benazir Ahmed’s planned visit to the United States, noting an “understanding” between the United Nations and the US.
“There’s an understanding between the UN and the US. It’s (visit) under discussion following that particular process,” he told reporters, mentioning that a decision will be reached once the process is done.
Benazir is scheduled to attend the third United Nations Chiefs of Police Summit (UNCOPS 2022) which will bring together Ministers, Chiefs of Police and senior representatives of regional and professional policing organizations to United Nations Headquarters from August 31 to September 1.
Earlier, US Ambassador to Bangladesh Peter Haas held a meeting with the home minister at the Secretariat.
The home minister explained the steps taken by the government to ensure that there is no violation of laws by the law enforcement agencies.
“We informed them that punitive action was taken against some Rab officials after getting allegations,” he said referring to the steps taken following Narayanganj seven-murder case.
US, South Korea to begin expanded military drills next week
The United States and South Korea will begin their biggest combined military training in years next week in the face of an increasingly aggressive North Korea, which has been ramping up weapons tests and threats of nuclear conflict against Seoul and Washington, the South’s military said Tuesday.
The allies’ summertime drills, which will take place from Aug. 22 to Sept. 1 in South Korea under the name of Ulchi Freedom Shield, will include field exercises involving aircraft, warships, tanks and potentially tens of thousands of troops.
The drills underscore Washington and Seoul’s commitment to restore large-scale training after they canceled some of their regular drills and downsized others to computer simulations in recent years to create space for diplomacy with Pyongyang and because of COVID-19 concerns.
The U.S. Department of Defense also said the U.S., South Korean and Japanese navies took part in missile warning and ballistic missile search and tracking exercises off the coast of Hawaii from Aug. 8 to 14, which it said was aimed at furthering trilateral cooperation in face of North Korean challenges.
While the United States and South Korea describe their exercises as defensive, Ulchi Freedom Shield will almost surely draw an angry reaction from North Korea, which describes all allied trainings as invasion rehearsals and has used them to justify its nuclear weapons and missiles development.
Before they were shelved or downsized, the U.S. and South Korea held major joint exercises every spring and summer in South Korea. The spring ones had been highlighted by live-fire drills involving a broad range of land, air and sea assets and usually involved around 10,000 American and 200,000 Korean troops.
Tens of thousands of allied troops had participated in the summertime drills, which had mainly consisted of computer simulations to hone joint decision making and planning, although South Korea’s military has emphasized the revival of large-scale field training this time.
Officials at Seoul’s Defense Ministry and its Joint Chiefs of Staff did not comment on the number of U.S. and South Korean troops that would be participating in Ulchi Freedom Guardian Shield.
The drills, which will kick off along with a four-day South Korean civil defense training program led by government employees, will reportedly include exercises simulating joint attacks, frontline reinforcements of arms and fuel, and removals of weapons of mass destruction.
Read:China sets sanctions on Taiwan figures to punish US, island
The allies will also train for drone attacks and other new warfare developments shown during Russia’s war on Ukraine and practice joint military-civilian responses to attacks on seaports, airports and major industrial facilities like semiconductor factories.
“The biggest meaning of (Ulchi Freedom Shield) is that it normalizes the South Korea-U.S. combined exercises and field training, (contributing) to the rebuilding of the South Korea-U.S. alliance and the combined defense posture,” Moon Hong-sik, a Defense Ministry spokesperson, said during a briefing.
Some experts say North Korea may use the drills as an excuse to stir up tensions.
The North has already warned of a “deadly” retaliation against South Korea over its COVID-19 outbreak it dubiously claims was caused by anti-Pyongyang propaganda leaflets and other objects flown across the border by balloons launched by southern activists. There are concerns that the North Korean threat, issued last week by the powerful sister of leader Kim Jong Un, portends a provocation, which may include a nuclear or major missile test or even border skirmishes.
In an interview with Associated Press Television last month, Choe Jin, deputy director of a think tank run by Pyongyang’s Foreign Ministry, said the United States and South Korea would face “unprecedented” security challenges if they don’t drop their hostile military pressure campaign against the North, including joint military drills.
Kim Jun-rak, spokesperson of South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the South Korean and U.S. militaries were maintaining a close watch on North Korean military activities and facilities.
Animosity has built up on the Korean Peninsula since U.S.-North Korea nuclear negotiations derailed in early 2019 over exchanging the release of crippling U.S.-led sanctions against the North and the North’s disarmament steps.
Kim Jong Un has since declared to bolster his nuclear deterrent in face of “gangster-like” U.S. pressure and halted all cooperation with the South. Exploiting a division in the U.N. Security Council over Russia’s war on Ukraine, North Korea has dialed up weapons testing to a record pace this year, conducting more than 30 ballistic launches. They have included the country’s first demonstrations of intercontinental ballistic missile technology since 2017 and further tests of tactical systems designed to be armed with small battlefield nukes.
Kim has punctuated his testing binge with repeated warnings that the North would proactively use its nuclear weapons in conflicts with South Korea and the United States, which experts say indicate an escalatory nuclear doctrine that could cause greater concerns for its neighbors.
South Korea and U.S. officials say North Korea is also gearing up for its first nuclear test since September 2017, when it claimed to have developed a thermonuclear warhead to fit on its ICBMs.
Covid-19 vaccine consignment for kids arrive in Dhaka
Bangladesh has received 1.5 million doses of pediatric Pfizer Covid-19 vaccines donated by the United States.
This is the first shipment of specially formulated Covid-19 vaccines to protect children between the ages of 5-11 from the coronavirus.
More vacancies are scheduled to arrive in the coming weeks, according to the US Embassy in Dhaka.
Read: Children aged 5-12 to be vaccinated soon: Health Minister
USAID is providing support to train health workers to administer these vaccines safely and effectively, enabling the government of Bangladesh to begin rolling out a Covid-19 vaccination campaign for kids ages 5 and older in the coming weeks.
The United States has now donated nearly 74 million doses of Covid vaccines with more on the way.
Biden's Mideast trip aimed at reassuring wary leaders
Before stepping foot in Saudi Arabia, President Joe Biden knew there would be trouble.
Biden was risking criticism by visiting a country he had vowed to make a “pariah” for human rights abuses, and there was no guarantee the visit would immediately yield higher oil production to offset rising gas prices.
He decided to face the blowback anyway, hoping to use the visit to repair strained ties and make clear to wary Arab leaders that the United States remains committed to their security and the region’s stability.
His visit to Saudi Arabia was occasionally uncomfortable but, in Biden's view, ultimately necessary. Although he's been focused on confronting Russia's invasion of Ukraine and limiting China's expanding influence in Asia, those goals become far more difficult without the partnerships that he was tending to here.
Read: Biden says US ‘will not walk away’ from Middle East
“It is only becoming clearer to me how closely interwoven America’s interests are with the successes of the Middle East,” the president said Saturday at a summit in the Red Sea city of Jeddah.
It was a belated recognition of geopolitical reality that, for nearly a century, has kept the United States deeply invested in the energy-rich region, most recently with ruinous wars that stretched over two decades. Biden tried to turn the page on those conflicts while insisting that the U.S. would remain engaged.
“We will not walk away and leave a vacuum to be filled by China, Russia or Iran,” Biden said. “We will seek to build on this moment with active, principled, American leadership.”
The summit, where Biden announced $1 billion in U.S. funding to alleviate hunger in the region, was the final destination on Biden's four-day trip, which included stops in Israel and the West Bank.
His travels were shadowed by a steady stream of grim news from Washington, where Democratic plans to address climate change floundered on Capitol Hill and there was fresh evidence that inflation had reached historic levels.
And at every step along the way, Biden confronted a far different region than existed when he served as vice president.
Read: Biden meets with Arab Gulf countries to counter Iran threat
President Donald Trump withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal reached under President Barack Obama, and Tehran is believed to be closer than ever to building a nuclear weapon.
The threat, which Biden has struggled to address through renewed negotiations, has deepened coordination between Israel and its Arab neighbors, who have found common cause in confronting Iran.
The budding ties have also opened the door to greater economic and security integration, recasting the Middle East's fractious politics at the same time that Arab leaders were fearing the U.S. had become a less reliable ally. They distrusted Obama's outreach to Iran and Trump's erratic behavior, then viewed Biden as neglectful toward the region once he took office.
Biden's challenge has been to recognize the shifting landscape and persuade leaders in the Middle East to remain aligned with U.S. interests — without being dragged back into a corner of the world that the American public has largely turned away from after the end of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Although Biden expressed a renewed commitment to the region by saying “the United States is not going anywhere,” he also seemed to acknowledge its limitations.
“The United States is clear-eyed about the challenges in the Middle East and about where we have the greatest capacity to help drive positive outcomes," he said.
Also: Biden tells Dems to quickly pass pared-down economic package
Besides announcing the new funding for hunger relief, he met individually with several of his counterparts, some for the first time since he became president.
He also invited Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who recently became president of the United Arab Emirates, formalizing his role at the helm of major policy decisions, to visit the White House in the coming months.
It was another effort to smooth ties that have become strained, in part because of Biden's actions. For example, although the U.S. has played a key role in encouraging a monthslong cease-fire in Yemen, the Emiratis have criticized his decision to reverse a Trump-era move that had listed the Iran-backed Houthis as a terrorist group.
The centerpiece of Biden's outreach in the Middle East was his first meeting with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia and heir to the throne held by his father, King Salman.
The encounter began Friday with a fist bump outside the royal palace in Jeddah, a chummy gesture that was swiftly criticized because of Prince Mohammed's history of human rights abuses. In addition to cracking down on his critics in Saudi Arabia, the prince, according to U.S. intelligence, likely approved the killing of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi nearly four years ago.
Biden rejected the notion that he was abandoning human rights by meeting with the crown prince, and said he brought up Khashoggi's murder during their conversation. The topic created a “frosty” start to the meeting, according to a U.S. official who was not authorized to discuss the private meeting and insisted on anonymity.
The Saudi-owned Al Arabiya news network, citing an unnamed Saudi source, reported that Prince Mohammed responded to Biden’s mention of Khashoggi by saying that attempts to impose a set of values can backfire. He also said the U.S. had committed mistakes at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, where detainees were tortured, and pressed Biden on the killing of Palestinian American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh during a recent Israeli raid on the West Bank city of Jenin.
Also read: Biden’s Saudi visit aims to balance rights, oil, security
The atmosphere between the two eventually became more relaxed, the U.S. official said, as they spoke about energy security, expanding high-speed internet access in the Middle East and other issues.
The regional summit in Jeddah and Biden's visit provided Prince Mohammed with the opportunity to showcase his country's heavyweight role in the Middle East, and his position at the helm of the world's largest oil exporter.
He hinted that the kingdom could pump more oil than it currently does, something Biden wants to see when existing production quotas among OPEC+ member countries, which include Russia, expire in September.
“I’m doing all I can to increase the supply for the United States of America, which I expect to happen,” Biden said Friday. “The Saudis share that urgency, and based on our discussions today, I expect we’ll see further steps in the coming weeks.”
He also tried to draw Arab nations onto his side over the invasion of Ukraine by releasing satellite imagery indicating that Russian officials visited Iran in June and July to see weapons-capable drones that it could acquire.
The disclosure appeared aimed at drawing a connection between the war in Europe and Arab leaders' own concerns about Iran.
So far, none of the countries represented at the summit has moved in lockstep with the U.S. to sanction Russia, a foreign policy priority for the Biden administration. If anything, the UAE has emerged as a sort of financial haven for Russian billionaires and their multimillion-dollar yachts. Egypt remains open to Russian tourists.
Meantime, there are sharp divisions on regional foreign policy among the heads of state who attended the summit.
For example, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the UAE are trying to isolate and squeeze Iran over its regional reach and proxies. Oman and Qatar have solid diplomatic ties with Iran and have acted as intermediaries for talks between Washington and Tehran.
But before ending his speech at the summit, Biden expressed hopes for a new era of cooperation.
"This is a table full of problem solvers," he said. “There’s a lot of good we can do if we do it together.”
US envoy decries Pak atrocities in 1971 as horrible
The United States has said there was no doubt that there had been “terrible atrocities” and killings in 1971 but the question of determining genocide under the US law is a very difficult legal question.
“Undoubtedly what happened in 1971 was horrible. There were terrible atrocities. There were considerable amounts of deaths. The question of determining genocide under the US law is a very difficult legal question,” said US ambassador to Bangladesh Peter Haas on Tuesday.
Also read:Bangladesh won’t face Sri Lanka-like crisis: Ambassador Haas
He made the remarks at “DCAB Talk” when asked whether the US is in a position to recognize the genocide in Bangladesh in 1971.
The US government recently determined that the Myanmar military committed the crimes against humanity and genocide against humanity against ethnic Rohingya Muslims in Rakhine State.
Late Edward M. Kennedy in his speech delivered on his first visit to independent Bangladesh in February 1972 said, “You know while some governments do not yet recognise you, the people of the world do recognise you and they recognise all you have accomplished here in the name of freedom from tyranny and oppression.….”
Sought updates on Bangladesh’s request for the deportation of Rashed Chowdhury, the self-confessed killer of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, ambassador Haas said basically it is very complicated legal proceeding in the US and it is still under review.
He said they are very much aware of Bangladesh’s interest to see a decision made but it currently remains under review.
Responding to another question, the US envoy said the United States “makes no excuses” when it comes to the matter of human rights and freedom of the press.
Also read:US stands by Bangladesh as a steadfast dev partner: Ambassador Haas
“I will go back to a comment that I made earlier that the United States has decided to put human rights, the issues of freedom of the press at the centre of our foreign policy and that we make no excuses about that."
Diplomatic Correspondents Association, Bangladesh (DCAB) hosted the DCAB Talk at Jatiya Press Club.
DCAB President Rezaul Karim Lotus moderated the event while its General Secretary AKM Moinuddin delivered the welcome remarks.
Will be happy if sanctions on Rab withdrawn: FM
Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen has said Bangladesh will be happy if the United States withdraws the sanctions imposed on the elite force Rab, reiterating that it was “inappropriate and unjustified.”
“It’s up to them (US) to look into and to reexamine,” he said, adding that the Rab as an institution is doing an excellent job.
Also read: RAB's importance to counterterrorism recognised but lifting sanctions to take time: Blinken
The foreign minister feared resumption of radicalism due to sanctions imposed on the Rab and wanted to know who will take the blame if there is an increasing number of human trafficking, drug trafficking and resumption of radicalism.
“This is an important issue. We should look beyond. I raised it in every meeting. I personally feel it’s (sanctions) inappropriate and unjustified,” Momen said at a programme titled “A conversation with Bangladesh’s Foreign Minister” on the lessons learned from the last 50 years and the path ahead for US-Bangladesh relations hosted by United States Institute of Peace (USIP) on Tuesday.
President and CEO of the USIP Lise Grande delivered opening remarks at the event moderated by Ambassador Teresita Schaffer.
The FM said there is no more terrorism and radicalism in the country and gave credit to the Rab for the achievement. “Rab has achieved public acknowledgment.”
Earlier, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken recognized the elite force RAB's important counterterrorism role but stated that lifting sanctions and resuming training might take time.
Also read:PM blames a vested Bangladesh group for US sanctions on RAB
During his recent meeting with Blinken, Foreign Minister Momen emphasized that Bangladeshi law enforcers need training from the US on rules of engagements, and informed that there is an inbuilt system of inquiry in the Rab, which tracks all allegations; and number of personnel have been penalized.
Depicting the context of the creation of Rab in 2004, he underscored that the force has played pivotal role in Bangladesh’s counter-terrorism efforts; which may be undermined by the sanctions.
FM reaches Washington; meeting with Blinken Monday
Bangladesh and the United States want to “enhance and deepen” their ties as the two countries will mark the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations on Monday.Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen reached Washington on Sunday, a day before holding a bilateral meeting with his US counterpart Antony Blinken at the US State Department.Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen, Bangladesh Ambassador to the US M Shahidul Islam will also join the meeting that will begin at 1pm (Washington DC).
Also read: Dhaka to seek Washington’s wider, diversified cooperationDuring his official visit to the US at the invitation of Secretary Blinken, Momen will meet USAID Administrator Samantha Power.Meanwhile, US Ambassador to Bangladesh Peter Haas on Sunday visited the Liberation War Museum to pay tribute to the memory of the martyrs of 1971 and re-affirmed Dhaka-Washington friendship.The United States recognized Bangladesh on April 4, 1972, in a press statement from the then Secretary of State William Rogers.In addition, Herbert Spivack, the then principal U.S. officer in Dhaka, delivered a message from President Richard Nixon to Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman informing him that the US government wished to establish diplomatic relations at the ambassadorial level, according to Office of the Historian.
Also read: Dhaka invites more investments from SeoulThe United States and Bangladesh cooperate closely on a range of issues, including economics, security, governance and development.