Yemen’s warring sides began talks Saturday aimed at implementing a U.N.-brokered deal on a prisoner exchange, the United Nations said. The discussions between Yemen’s internationally recognized government and the Houthi rebels are talking place in Switzerland. They are co-chaired by U.N. envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg and the International Committee of the Red Cross. Grundberg urged both parties to “engage in serious and forthcoming discussions to agree on releasing as many detainees as possible,” according to a U.N. statement. Also Read: British navy seizes Iran missiles, parts likely Yemen bound “I urge the parties to fulfill the commitments they made, not just to each other, but also to the thousands of Yemeni families who have been waiting to be reunited with their loved ones for far too long,” he said. Yemen’s conflict erupted in 2014, when the Iran-backed Houthis seized the capital, Sanaa, and much of the country’s north. That prompted a Saudi-led coalition to intervene months later in a bid to restore the internationally recognized government to power. Jason Straziuso, a Geneva-based spokesperson for the ICRC, characterized the meeting as an opportunity to “reduce the humanitarian suffering associated with this conflict.” “If more detainees are released, it will be welcome news for families that can be re-united with loved ones,” he said. Majed Fadail, Yemen's deputy minister for human rights and a member of the government delegation, said the talks would last for 11 days, the government-run SABA news agency reported. He said they were eager to release all war prisoners to help achieve a “lasting and comprehensive peace” in Yemen. Abdul-Qader el-Murtaza, the head of the Houthi delegation, said they hoped that this round of talks proves “decisive.” The talks are a follow-up to a 2018 agreement that demanded that both parties release all those detained in relation to the conflict “without any exceptions or conditions.” The Detainees’ Exchange Agreement was part of a wider U.N.-brokered deal that ended months of fighting over the crucial Red Sea city of Hodeida four years ago. Since then, the two parties have released many prisoners with a major exchange taking place in October 2020 and involving more than 1,000 detainees from both sides. The conflict has created one of the world’s worst humanitarian disasters and has become in recent years a proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran. The Yemen talks in Switzerland began a day after Iran and Saudi Arabia announced a China-brokered deal to re-establish diplomatic ties after years of frayed ties and hostilities.

Global climate talks approached crunch time on Friday, the final scheduled day of negotiations that are expected to go past their deadline as chances of a deal still looked unclear. The UN Secretary-General António Guterres flew to Sharm El-Sheikh on Friday after attending the G-20 meeting. Addressing the ministers engaged in the final negotiations, the UN chief said that the difference between North and South is very clear. This division has become whetted between developed and rapidly developing countries. But now it's time to stop the blame game, the UN chief added. He called on all countries to act on three urgent issues -- loss and damage to restore lost hope and to reach an acceptable agreement with developed countries on financing. In this context, he said, the time to talk about loss and damage is over. Now it's time to work. "We are witnessing the horror of loss and damage all over the world. There is no way to deny it. So a decision on this issue must be taken here at the last meeting." Injustice cannot continue to countries that are emitting less carbon and struggling to survive, he said. Now is the time to show compassion to them. In climate negotiations, loss and damage refers to the idea that rich nations, which have historically done the most to contribute to climate change, should compensate the developing countries most impacted. Read more: COP27: Bangladesh wants developed countries to deliver on $100 billion promise Limiting global warming to 1.5C is not just a goal, it is the key to saving the people of the world. Therefore, the 27th Climate Conference decision must confirm the commitment in this matter as proof of political will. We want the Climate Solidarity Act. This allows developed countries to take the lead in reducing carbon emissions. International financial institutions must accelerate the financing of renewable energy. This is essential to achieve the 1.5-degree target. The UN Secretary-General also said that countries need to be more proactive in the question of financing. Developing countries must provide $100 billion annually and an acceptable roadmap is needed to scale up adaptation financing. Saber Hossain Chowdhury Mp, a member of the Bangladesh delegation and president of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Environment, Forestry and Climate Change, told UNB that although progress has been made on many issues, progress is still lagging behind on complex issues such as reducing carbon emissions, loss and damage and finance. He said the most surprising thing is that the results of the speeches given by high-level world leaders on November 7 and 8 are not beingreflected even in the final meeting at the ministerial level. He also said that the United Nations and the host country are seeking reflection of that moral goodwill in the last meeting of the ministerial level to bring out effective and fruitful decisions from the conference. In this regard, the president of the 27th climate conference, the foreign minister of Egypt is talking separately with the ministers of developed and developing countries. They are discussing to reach an agreement on complex issues. But not a single positive reflection of this discussion can be seen in the ministerial level meeting. The discussion on the mitigation work program to reduce carbon emissions to limit the global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius by 2030 has not reached the desired level. The adaptation issue is caught in the process of nowhere. No consensus has been reached so far on financing. The ministers are reluctant to take a political decision on loss and damage, he added. He said that the issue of assistance to the countries affected by climate change has been put on the agenda of this climate conference by the host country Egypt for the first time. It came to the agenda for the first time mainly due to the pressure of African countries. Now the entire LDC countries are speaking on this issue. But developed countries are opposing it, he added. Read more: “We had enough of your promises and we need these words to be put into action now”  

Envoys from around the globe gathered Sunday in the Egyptian seaside resort of Sharm el-Sheikh for talks on tackling climate change amid a multitude of competing crises, including the war in Ukraine, high inflation, food shortages and an energy crunch. Negotiators spent a frantic two days ahead of the meeting discussing whether to formally consider the issue of loss and damage, or reparations, to vulnerable nations suffering from climate change. The issue, which has weighed on the talks for years, was agreed just hours before the meeting officially opened. In an opening speech, the head of the U.N.’s panel of climate scientist highlighted the urgency of cutting greenhouse gas emissions and adapting to the effects of global warming. “This is a once in a generation opportunity to save our planet and our livelihoods,” said Hoesung Lee, chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The outgoing chair of the talks, British official Alok Sharma, said countries had made considerable progress at their last meeting in Glasgow, including on setting more ambitious targets for cutting emissions, finalizing the rules of the 2015 Paris agreement and pledging to begin phasing out the use of coal — the most heavily polluting fossil fuel. “We kept 1.5 degrees (2.7 Fahrenheit) alive,” he said, referring to the most ambitious goal of the Paris pact, to keep temperature increase since pre-industrial times under that threshold. Read: Health must be at the centre in COP27 climate change negotiations: WHO Yet now those efforts were being “buffeted by global headwinds,” he warned. “(Russian President Vladimir) Putin’s brutal and illegal war in Ukraine has precipitated multiple global crisis, energy and food insecurity, inflationary pressures and spiraling debt,” said Sharma. “These crises have compounded existing climate vulnerabilities and the scarring effects of the pandemic.” However even the most optimistic scenarios assuming countries do everything they have pledged put the world on course for 1.7 C of warming (3.1 F), he warned. “As challenging as our current moment is, inaction is myopic and can only defer climate catastrophe,” said Sharma. “We must find the ability to focus on more than one thing at once.” “How many more wake up calls does the world to world leaders actually need,” he said, citing recent devastating floods in Pakistan and Nigeria, and historic droughts in Europe, the United States and China. His successor, Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, said his office would “spare no effort” to achieve the goals of the Paris accord. President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi wrote on Twitter that Egypt, as host country, was seeking to move from the “pledges phase to the implantation phase with concrete measures on the ground.” The U.N.’s top climate official also appealed to countries both to engage constructively in the negotiations and take the necessary action back home. “Here in Sharm el-Sheikh, we have a duty to speed up our international efforts to turn words into action,” he said, adding that “every corner of human activity must align with our Paris commitment and pursue our efforts to limit temperature rise to 1.5 degrees.” More than 40,000 participants have been registered for this year’s talks, reflecting the sense of urgency as major weather events around the world impact many people and cost billions of dollars in repairs. Egypt said over 120 world leaders will attend, many of them speaking at a high-level event on Nov. 7-8, while U.S. President Joe Biden was expected to arrive later in the week. But many top figures including China’s President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India were not planning to come, casting doubt on whether the talks in Egypt could result in any major deals to cut emissions without two of the world’s biggest polluters. Read: Is it too late to prevent climate change? Rights groups criticized Egypt on Sunday for restricting protests and stepping up surveillance during the summit. New York-based Human Rights Watch, citing Egyptian media, said authorities had also arrested dozens of people for calling for protests. “It is becoming clear that Egypt’s government has no intention of easing its abusive security measures and allowing for free speech and assembly,” Adam Coogle, the group’s deputy director for the Middle East and North Africa, said in a statement. Human Rights Watch said it had had joined about 1,400 groups from around the world urging Egypt to lift the restrictions on civil society groups. Alaa Abdel-Fattah, a prominent imprisoned pro-democracy activist from Egypt, escalated his hunger strike Sunday in the first day of the COP27, according to his family. Abdel-Fattah’s aunt, award-winning novelist Ahdaf Soueif, said he went into a “full hunger strike,” and stopped drinking water at 10 a.m. local time. Concerned that he could die without water, she was calling for authorities to release him in response to local and international calls.

BNP on Sunday reached a consensus with Kalyan Party to wage a 'simultaneous’ movement by giving priority to bring back a caretaker government to oversee next general elections. As part of its move to launch a united anti-government movement, the party began its second round of dialogue with political parties through the first meeting with the leaders of Kalyan Party at the BNP chairperson’s Gulshan office. Talking to reporters after the talks, BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said, “We’ve reached an understanding through the discussions that we’ll forge a greater national unity to initiate a movement.  We’ve also agreed on the demands on which we’ll start the movement.” He said they agreed on the issues like the formation of a polls-time caretaker government, the resignation of the current government, the dissolution of Parliament and the formation of a new Election Commission under the caretaker administration to conduct the next polls. The BNP leader said both sides also agreed on some other issues, including the release of Khaleda Zia and all other opposition leaders and the withdrawal of all ‘false’ cases filed against them. Read: BNP to unveil polls-time govt formula at 'appropriate' time: Fakhrul Kalyan Party chairman Syed Muhammad Ibrahim said they had fruitful discussions on kicking off a ‘simultaneous’ movement.  “But we’ve agreed not to disclose the exact date of the start of the movement." He said there will have a surprise in the upcoming anti-government movement mainly for the restoration of democracy. Ibrahim, a freedom fighter and a former military official, said he believes that the struggle to restore democracy is another war. “We’ll fight this war together and turn victorious. We’ve no other options, but to win this battle." Explaining the reason for the second round of dialogue, Mirza Fakhrul said they agreed in principle to build a national unity and begin a simultaneous movement during their first phase of talks. “In the second round of dialogue, we have reached a consensus on the issues and demands for which we’ll carry out the movement.” He also said they have a plan to hold discussions with all political parties except Awami League in the second phase. Read: BNP to hold rallies in 10 divisional cities from October 8 A nine-member delegation of the Kalyan Party, led by its chairman Ibrahim joined the talks with Mirza Fakhrul and Nazrul Islam Khan, a standing committee member of BNP and 20-party coordinator. Other members of the Kalyan Party delegation include its secretary general Abdul Awal Mamun, central leaders Nurul Kabir Pintu, Abdullah Al Hasan Shakib, Rashed Ferdous, Mahbubur Rahman Shamim, Jamal Hossain, Abu Hanif and Abu Yusuf.   Earlier, BNP had discussions with 23 parties during its first phase of talks that began on May 24 to work out the outline for launching a united movement to 'restore' democracy and people’s voting rights.

The U.S. government will hold trade talks with Taiwan in a sign of support for the island democracy that China claims as its own territory, prompting Beijing to warn Thursday it will take action if necessary to “safeguard its sovereignty.” The announcement of trade talks comes after Beijing fired missiles into the sea to intimidate Taiwan after U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi this month became the highest-ranking American official to visit the island in 25 years. Chinese President Xi Jinping’s government criticized the planned talks as a violation of its stance that Taiwan has no right to foreign relations. It warned Washington not to encourage the island to try to make its de facto independence permanent, a step Beijing says would lead to war. “China firmly opposes this,” Ministry of Commerce spokesperson Shu Jueting said. She called on Washington to “fully respect China’s core interests.” Also Thursday, Taiwan’s military held a drill with missiles and cannons simulating a response to a Chinese missile attack. Taiwan and China split in 1949 after a civil war and have no official relations but are bound by billions of dollars of trade and investment. The island never has been part of the People’s Republic of China, but the ruling Communist Party says it is obliged to unite with the mainland, by force if necessary. President Joe Biden’s coordinator for the Indo-Pacific region, Kurt Campbell, said last week that trade talks would “deepen our ties with Taiwan” but stressed policy wasn’t changing. The United States has no diplomatic relations with Taiwan, its ninth-largest trading partner, but maintains extensive informal ties. Read: US Congress members meet Taiwan leader amid China anger The U.S. Trade Representative’s announcement of the talks made no mention of tension with Beijing but said “formal negotiations” would develop trade and regulatory ties, a step that would entail closer official interaction. Being allowed to export more to the United States might help Taiwan blunt China’s efforts to use its status as the island’s biggest trading partner as political leverage. The mainland blocked imports of Taiwanese citrus and other food in retaliation for Pelosi’s Aug. 2 visit. Taiwan’s Foreign Ministry expressed “high welcome” for the trade talks, which it said will lead to a “new page” in relations with the United States. “As the situation across the Taiwan Strait has recently escalated, the U.S. government will continue to take concrete actions to maintain security and stability across the Taiwan Strait,” it said in a statement. U.S.-Chinese relations are at their lowest level in decades amid disputes over trade, security, technology, and Beijing’s treatment of Muslim minorities and Hong Kong. The U.S. Trade Representative said negotiations would be conducted under the auspices of Washington’s unofficial embassy, the American Institute in Taiwan. “China always opposes any form of official exchanges between any country and the Taiwan region of China,” said Shu, the Chinese spokesperson. “China will take all necessary measures to resolutely safeguard its sovereignty.” Washington says it takes no position on the status of China and Taiwan but wants their dispute settled peacefully. The U.S. government is obligated by federal law to see that the island has the means to defend itself. “We will continue to take calm and resolute steps to uphold peace and stability in the face of Beijing’s ongoing efforts to undermine it, and to support Taiwan,” Campbell said during a conference call last Friday. China takes more than twice as much of Taiwan’s exports as the United States, its No. 2 foreign market. Taiwan’s government says its companies have invested almost $200 billion in the mainland. Beijing says a 2020 census found some 158,000 Taiwanese entrepreneurs, professionals and others live on the mainland. China’s ban on imports of citrus, fish and hundreds of other Taiwanese food products hurt rural areas seen as supporters of President Tsai Ing-wen, but those goods account for less than 0.5% of Taiwan’s exports to the mainland. Beijing did nothing that might affect the flow of processor chips from Taiwan that are needed by Chinese factories that assemble the world’s smartphones and consumer electronics. The island is the world’s biggest chip supplier. A second group of U.S. lawmakers led by Sen. Ed Markey, a Democrat from Massachusetts, arrived on Taiwan on Sunday and met with Tsai. Beijing announced a second round of military drills after their arrival. Taiwan, with 23.6 million people, has launched its own military drills in response. On Thursday, drills at Hualien Air Base on the east coast simulated a response to a Chinese missile attack. Military personnel practiced with Taiwanese-made Sky Bow 3 anti-aircraft missiles and 35mm anti-aircraft cannon but didn’t fire them. “We didn’t panic” when China launched military drills, said air force Maj. Chen Teh-huan. “Our usual training is to be on call 24 hours a day to prepare for missile launches,” Chen said. “We were ready.” The U.S.-Taiwanese talks also will cover agriculture, labor, the environment, digital technology, the status of state-owned enterprises and “non-market policies,” the U.S. Trade Representative said. Washington and Beijing are locked in a 3-year-old tariff war over many of the same issues. They include China’s support for government companies that dominate many of its industries and complaints that Beijing steals foreign technology and limits access to an array of fields in violation of its market-opening commitments. Then-President Donald Trump raised tariffs on Chinese goods in 2019 in response to complaints that its technology development tactics violate its free-trade commitments and threaten U.S. industrial leadership. Biden has left most of those tariff hikes in place.

Turkey’s president and the U.N. chief met with Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelenskyy on Thursday in a high-stakes bid to ratchet down a war raging for nearly six months, boost desperately needed grain exports and secure the safety of Europe’s biggest nuclear power plant. The gathering, held far from the front lines in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv, near the Polish border, marked the first visit to Ukraine by Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan since the outbreak of the war, and the second by U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres. Erdogan has positioned himself as a go-between in efforts to stop the fighting. While Turkey is a member of NATO — which backs Ukraine in the war — its wobbly economy is reliant on Russia for trade, and the country has tried to steer a middle course. At the meetings, Turkey agreed to help rebuild Ukraine’s infrastructure, including roads and bridges, and Zelenskyy asked Guterres to seek U.N. access to Ukrainian citizens deported to Russia, according to the Ukrainian president’s Website. Zelenskyy also requested U.N. help in freeing captured Ukrainian soldiers and medics. On the battlefield, meanwhile, at least 11 people were killed and 40 wounded in heavy Russian missile strikes on Ukraine’s Kharkiv region on Wednesday night and Thursday morning, Ukrainian authorities said. Russia’s military claimed that it struck a base for foreign mercenaries in Kharkiv, killing 90. There was no immediate comment from the Ukrainian side. Heightening international tensions, Russia deployed warplanes carrying state-of-the-art hypersonic missiles to the country’s Kaliningrad region, an enclave surrounded by two NATO nations. The three leaders’ agenda included the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in southern Ukraine. Moscow and Kyiv have accused each other of shelling the complex, and the fighting has raised fears of a nuclear catastrophe. Read:Ukrainians flee grim life in Russian-occupied Kherson In his nightly video address Wednesday, Zelensky reaffirmed his demand for the Russian military to leave the plant, emphasizing that “only absolute transparency and control of the situation” by, among others, the U.N.’s International Atomic Energy Agency, could guarantee nuclear safety. Zelenskyy and Guterres agreed Thursday on arrangements for an IAEA mission to the plant, the Ukrainian president’s website reported. It wasn’t immediately clear if Russia would agree to those terms. Zelenskyy asked Guterres to ensure the safety of the plant, including its demilitarization. Concerns about the plant mounted Thursday when Russian and Ukrainian authorities accused each other of plotting to attack the site and then blame the other side. Earlier this month, Erdogan met in Russia with Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss the fighting. And last month, Turkey and the U.N. helped broker agreements clearing the way for Ukraine to export 22 million tons of corn and other grain stuck in its Black Sea ports since Russia invaded Feb. 24. The agreements also sought to clear roadblocks to exports of Russian food and fertilizer to world markets. The war has significantly worsened the global food crisis because Ukraine and Russia are major suppliers of grain. Developing countries have been hit particularly hard by shortages and high prices, and the U.N. has declared several African nations in danger of famine. Yet even with the deal, only a trickle of Ukrainian grain exports has made it out. Turkey’s Defense Ministry said more than 622,000 tons of grain have been shipped from Ukrainian ports since the deal was reached. At a news conference Thursday in Lviv, Guterres touted the success of the grain export agreements but added, “There is a long way to go before this will be translated into the daily life of people at their local bakery and in their markets.” The discussions about an overall end to the war that has killed untold thousands and forced over 10 million Ukrainians to flee their homes were not expected to yield anything substantive. In March, Turkey hosted talks in Istanbul between Russian and Ukrainian negotiators, but the effort to end the hostilities failed, with the two sides blaming each other. Erdogan has engaged in a delicate balancing act, maintaining good relations with both Russia and Ukraine. Turkey has provided Ukraine with drones, which played a significant role in deterring a Russian advance early in the conflict, but it has refrained from joining Western sanctions against Russia over the war. Turkey is facing a major economic crisis, with official inflation near 80%, and is increasingly dependent on Russia for trade and tourism. Russian gas covers 45% of Turkish energy needs, and Russia’s atomic agency is building Turkey’s first nuclear power plant. Sinan Ulgen of the Istanbul-based EDAM think tank characterized Turkey’s diplomatic policy as being “pro-Ukraine without being anti-Russia.” “Turkey believed that it did not have the luxury to totally alienate Russia,” Ulgen said.

BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir on Wednesday voiced satisfaction with the outcomes of their talks with Gono Odhikar Parishad as they reached a consensus on waging a simultaneous movement for ousting the current regime and ensuring the next polls under a neutral government. The dialogue between the two political parties was held at Gono Odhikar Parishad’s central office in the capital’s Purana Paltan. As part of their move to unite opposition parties for launching a simultaneous movement, Mirza Fakhrul together with party standing committee member Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury and media cell convener Jahiruddin Swapan sat in talks with a seven-member delegation of Gono Odhikar Parishad, led by its  Convener Reza Kibria at 11am. Talking to reporters after the meeting, Fakhrul said, “We're very satisfied with the outcomes of our talks with Gono Odhikar Parishad. We’re glad that they agreed with us on all issues, especially on not joining any polls under the current government.” He said they also reached a consensus that the present government cannot be allowed to remain in power as it has very conscientiously and cunningly destroyed the achievements of Bangladesh, including democracy, freedom of speech, social values and the right to justice. “That’s why we have agreed on initiating a united and simultaneous movement together with the people to remove this government,” the BNP leader said. He said BNP and Gono Odhikar Parishad are in the same position on issues like the resignation of the government, dissolution of the parliament, formation of an election-time neutral government and the reconstitution of the Election Commission. "We want to establish a people's parliament and government with the genuine representatives of people through holding an acceptable election,” Fakhrul said. After that election, he said their party will form a national government with all their movement partners to repair the state. Read: BNP sits with Ganosanghati Andolan  Reza Kibria said they had a very positive discussion with BNP and they agreed on many issues. “After discussing the overall situation of the country here, we have understood that we are on the same path with the same thoughts. We don't have much disagreement with BNP. It is good news for all opposition parties and for those who want a change in Bangladesh," he observed. Reza said they have no plan to go to the elections under the current government as they think no fair election can be held under Awami League. “Discussions are underway with many parties and more will follow as a process of building a national unity has begun. The position of our two parties is very similar and we’ll work together to topple this despotic, corrupt and fascist government. All those who want democracy in the country will work together under the same banner,” he observed. Gono Odhikar Parishad member secretary Nurul Haque Nur said they discussed what to do to overcome the ongoing crisis in the country. “There’s not much difference between us and BNP in the perception about what we should do to overcome the crisis. We have agreed on the 10 issues that we had in today's discussion.” He said they also agreed with BNP's demand for a simultaneous or a united movement with other political parties to oust the 'fascist' government. Earlier on Tuesday, Nurul in a discussion meeting said BNP and Awami League have the same character and the country cannot be run by the two major parties. As journalists drew his attention to such a dissimilar position, Nur said it is fact that Awami League and BNP were in power for 34 years and they have much in common in their governance. “Now where Bangladesh stands, new arrangements and management are needed. In that case, BNP has moved away from its old position. They announced to form of a national government after the election to bring a change in the current system (of governance).” On May 24, BNP formally began the dialogue with other opposition parties with the first meeting with Nagorik Oikya aimed at forging unity among opposition political parties. The party also had talks with Labour Party, Ganosanghati Andolon, Bangladesher Biplobi Workers Party, Jatiya Party (Kazi Zafar), National Democratic Party, JAGPA, Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), Nap (Bhasani), Muslim League, Islami Oikya Jote and Jamiat Ulama-e Islam, Bangladesher Samyabadi Dal and Democratic League (DL), Bangladesh People's League, Bangladesh NAP, JSD-Rob,  Jatiya Dal and a faction of Gonoforum,

BNP Thursday sat with a faction of Bangladesher Samyabadi Dal and Democratic League (DL) as part of its move to work out a strategy to wage a greater anti-government movement. BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir and party standing committee member Nazrul Islam Khan had separate meetings with the parties, also the components of the 20-party alliance, in the evening at the party chairperson's Gulshan office. An eight-member delegation of Samyabadi Dal, led by its general secretary Sayed Nazrul Islam, first sat with the BNP leaders. Later, the BNP leaders had a meeting with a six-member delegation of DL, led by its general secretary Saifuddin Moni. Read: BNP appreciates CEC, but won't join any talks with current EC Later, Fakhrul told the media that their party's talks with political parties remained suspended for some days due to floods and Eid. "We resumed the dialogue again through the two meetings with Samyabadi Dal and Democratic League today." He said they are trying to unite the political parties through the talks to launch a greater movement to restore democracy. During the meetings, Fakhrul said the two parties agreed to wage a united street movement to force the current Awami League regime to quit power and establish a pro-people government through a credible election under a non-party administration. "We've already sat with many parties, and we hope we'll be able to conclude the talks within a short time," the BNP leader said. On May 24, BNP formally began the dialogue with other opposition parties with the first meeting with Nagorik Oikya – aimed at forging unity among opposition political parties. The party also had talks with Labour Party, Ganosanghati Andolon, Bangladesher Biplobi Workers Party, Jatiya Party (Kazi Zafar), National Democratic Party (JAGPA), Nap (Bhasan), Muslim League, Islami Oikya Jote and Jamiat Ulama-e Islam.

Russia’s military announced Tuesday it will “fundamentally" scale back operations near Ukraine’s capital and a northern city, as talks brought the outlines of a possible deal to end the grinding war into view. Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Fomin said the move was meant to increase trust in the talks after several rounds of negotiations failed to halt what has devolved into a bloody campaign of attrition. The announcement was met with skepticism from the U.S. and others. Read:Ukraine, Russia hold new talks aimed at ending the fighting While Russia portrayed it as a goodwill gesture, it comes as the Kremlin’s troops have become bogged down in the face of stiff Ukrainian resistance that has thwarted President Vladimir Putin’s hopes for a quick military victory. Late last week, and again on Tuesday, Russia seemed to roll back its war aims, saying its “main goal” now is gaining control of the Donbas region in eastern Ukraine. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he had not seen anything indicating talks were progressing in a “constructive way,” and he suggested Russian indications of a pullback could be an attempt by Moscow to “deceive people and deflect attention.” “There is what Russia says and there is what Russia does, and we’re focused on the latter,” Blinken said in Morocco. “And what Russia is doing is the continued brutalization of Ukraine.” He added, “If they somehow believe that an effort to subjugate only the eastern part of Ukraine or the southern part of Ukraine ... can succeed, then once again they are profoundly fooling themselves.” Fomin said Moscow has decided to “fundamentally ... cut back military activity in the direction of Kyiv and Chernihiv” to “increase mutual trust and create conditions for further negotiations.” He did not immediately spell out what that would mean in practical terms. Ukraine’s military said it has noted withdrawals of some forces around Kyiv and Chernihiv. Pentagon spokesman John Kirby told CNN “we haven’t seen anything to corroborate” reports of Russia withdrawing significant forces from around Kyiv. “But what we have seen over the last couple of days is they have stopped trying to advance on Kyiv.” Rob Lee, a military expert at the U.S.-based Foreign Policy Research Institute, tweeted: “This sounds like more of an acknowledgment of the situation around Kyiv where Russia’s advance has been stalled for weeks and Ukrainian forces have had recent successes. Russia doesn’t have the forces to encircle the city.” Negotiators from Russia and Ukraine met Tuesday in Istanbul, their first face-to-face talks in two weeks. Earlier talks, held in person in Belarus or by video, made no progress toward ending the more than month-long war that has killed thousands and driven over 10 million Ukrainians from their homes, including almost 4 million who have fled the country. Fomin suggested there had been progress Tuesday, saying “negotiations on preparing an agreement on Ukraine’s neutrality and non-nuclear status, as well as on giving Ukraine security guarantees, are turning to practical matters.” Ukraine’s team, meanwhile, set out a detailed framework for a peace deal under which the country would remain neutral but its security would be guaranteed by a group of third countries, including the U.S., Britain, France, Turkey, China and Poland, in an arrangement similar to NATO’s "an attack on one is an attack on all” principle. Ukraine said it would also be willing to hold talks over a 15-year period on the future of the Crimean Peninsula, which was seized by Russia in 2014, with both countries agreeing not to use their armed forces to resolve the issue in the meantime. Russia’s views on the proposals were not immediately clear. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said the talks had made “meaningful” progress and the two sides had reached “a consensus and common understanding” on some issues. Read:New round of talks aims to stop the fighting in Ukraine He said the meeting would be followed by a one between the Russian and Ukrainian foreign ministers at an unspecified time. A meeting between the Russian and Ukrainian presidents is also “on the agenda,” he said. Moscow has demanded, among other things that Ukraine drop any hope of joining the NATO alliance, which it sees as a threat. Ahead of the talks, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his country was prepared to declare its neutrality. Zelenskyy also said he was open to compromise over the Donbas, the predominantly Russian-speaking region where Moscow-backed rebels have been waging a separatist war for eight years. But even as the negotiators assembled in Istanbul, Russian forces hit an oil depot in western Ukraine late Monday and blasted a gaping hole Tuesday morning in a nine-story government administration building in the southern port city of Mykolaiv. At least seven people were killed in that attack, Zelenskyy said. “It’s terrible. They waited for people to go to work” before striking the building, said regional governor Vitaliy Kim. “I overslept. I’m lucky.” In other developments: — The head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency arrived in Ukraine to try to ensure the safety of the country’s nuclear facilities. Russian forces have taken control of the decommissioned Chernobyl plant, site in 1986 of the world’s worst nuclear accident, and of the active Zaporizhzhia plant, where a building was damaged in fighting. — Russia has destroyed more than 60 religious buildings across the country in just over a month of war, with most of the damage concentrated near Kyiv and in the east, Ukraine’s military said. — Bloomberg said it has suspended operations in Russia and Belarus. Customers in the two countries won’t be able to access any Bloomberg financial products, it said. — In the room at the Istanbul talks was Roman Abramovich, a longtime ally of Putin who has been sanctioned by Britain and the European Union. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the Chelsea soccer team owner has been serving as an unofficial mediator approved by both countries. But mystery about his role has been deepened by news reports that he may have been poisoned during an earlier round of talks. In fighting that has devolved into a back-and-forth stalemate, Ukrainian forces retook Irpin, a key suburb northwest of the capital, Kyiv, Zelenskyy said late Monday. But he warned that Russian troops were regrouping to take the area back. Ukrainian forces also seized back control of Trostyanets, south of Sumy in the northeast, after weeks of Russian occupation that left a devastated landscape. Arriving in the town Monday shortly afterward, The Associated Press saw the bodies of two Russian soldiers in the woods, and Russian tanks sat burned and twisted. A red “Z” marked a Russian truck, its windshield fractured, near stacked boxes of ammunition. Ukrainian forces on top of a tank flashed victory signs. Dazed residents lined up amid charred buildings, seeking aid. It was unclear where the Russian troops went and under what circumstances they fled. Putin’s ground forces have been thwarted not just by stronger-than-expected Ukrainian resistance, but by what Western officials say are Russian tactical missteps, poor morale, shortages of food, fuel and cold weather gear, and other problems. Reinforcing what the military said last week, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said Tuesday that “liberating Donbas” is now Moscow’s main objective. While that presents a possible face-saving exit strategy for Putin, it has also raised Ukrainian fears the Kremlin aims to split the country and force it to surrender a swath of its territory.

Russia's military forces kept up their punishing campaign to capture Ukraine's capital with fighting and artillery fire in Kyiv's suburbs Monday after an airstrike on a military base near the Polish border brought the war dangerously close to NATO's doorstep. Residents of besieged Ukrainian cities held out hope that renewed diplomatic talks might open the way for more civilians to evacuate or emergency supplies to reach areas where food, water and medicine are running short. Air raid alerts sounded in cities and towns all around the country overnight, from near the Russian border in the east to the Carpathian Mountains in the west, as fighting continued on the outskirts of Kyiv. Ukrainian officials said Russian forces shelled several suburbs of the capital, a major political and strategic target for an invasion in its 19th day. Two people died after artillery hit a nine-story apartment building in a northern district of the city, according to Anton Gerashchenko, an adviser to Ukraine’s Interior Ministry. Using a ladder, a group of firefighters painstakingly carried an injured woman on a stretcher away from the blackened and still smoking building. Also read: Russian airstrike escalates offensive in western Ukraine A town councilor for Brovary, east of Kyiv, was killed in fighting there, officials said. Shells also fell on the Kyiv suburbs of Irpin, Bucha and Hostomel, which have seen some of the worst fighting in Russia’s stalled attempt to take the capital, regional administration chief Oleksiy Kuleba said on Ukrainian television. A fourth round of talks is expected Monday between Ukrainian and Russian officials to discuss getting food, water, medicine and other desperately needed supplies to cities and towns under fire, among other issues, Ukrainian presidential aide Mykhailo Podolyak said. The surrounded southern city of Mariupol, where the war has produced some of the greatest human suffering, remains cut off despite earlier talks on creating aid or evacuation convoys. It will be a “hard discussion,” Podolyak wrote on Twitter. “Although Russia realizes the nonsense of its aggressive actions, it still has a delusion that 19 days of violence against (Ukrainian) peaceful cities is the right strategy.” The hope for a breakthrough came the day after Russian missiles pounded a military training base in western Ukraine that previously served as a crucial hub for cooperation between Ukraine and NATO. The attack killed 35 people, Ukrainian officials said, and the base's proximity to the borders of Poland and other NATO members raised concerns that the Western military alliance could be drawn into the the largest land conflict in Europe since World War II. Speaking Sunday night, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called it a “black day,” and again urged NATO leaders to establish a no-fly zone over his country, a plea that the West has said could escalate the war to a nuclear confrontation. “If you do not close our sky, it is only a matter of time before Russian missiles fall on your territory. NATO territory. On the homes of citizens of NATO countries,” Zelenskyy said, urging Russian President Vladimir Putin to meet with him directly, a request that has gone unanswered by the Kremlin. The president's office reported Monday that airstrikes hit residential buildings near the important southern city of Mykolaiv, as well as in the eastern city of Kharkiv, and knocked out a television tower in the Rivne region in the northwest. Explosions rang out overnight around the Russian-occupied Black Sea port of Kherson. Three airstrikes hit the northern city of Chernihiv overnight, and most of the town is without heat. Several areas haven’t had electricity in days. Utility workers are trying to restore power but frequently come under shelling. Also read: Ukraine says 85 children killed since invasion The government announced plans for new humanitarian aid and evacuation corridors, although ongoing shelling caused similar efforts to fail in the last week. Despite Russia's punishing assault on multiple fronts, Moscow's troops did not make major advances over the past 24 hours, the general staff of Ukraine’s armed forces said Monday morning. The Russian Defense Ministry gave a different assessment, saying its forces had advanced 11 kilometers (7 miles) and reached five towns north of Mariupol. A defense ministry spokesman said Russian forces shot down four Ukrainian drones overnight, including a Bayraktar drone. Ukraine’s Bayraktar drones, made by NATO member Turkey, have become a symbol of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s accusations that the U.S. and its allies pose an existential security threat to Russia. U.S. President Joe Biden is sending his national security adviser to Rome to meet with a Chinese official over worries that Beijing is amplifying Russian disinformation and may help Mosc ow evade Western economic sanctions. The U.N. has recorded at least 596 civilian deaths since Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, though it believes the true toll is much higher. The Ukrainian prosecutor general’s office said the death toll includes at least 85 children are among them. Millions more people have fled their homes. While Russia's military is bigger and better equipped than Ukraine's, Russian troops have faced stiffer than expected resistance, bolstered by Western weapons support. With their advance slowed in several areas, they have bombarded several cities with unrelenting shelling, hitting two dozen medical facilities and creating a series of humanitarian crises. The International Committee of the Red Cross said suffering in Mariupol, where missiles struck a maternity hospital Wednesday, was “simply immense” and that hundreds of thousands of people faced extreme shortages of food, water and medicine. “Dead bodies, of civilians and combatants, remain trapped under the rubble or lying in the open where they fell,” the Red Cross said in a statement. “Life-changing injuries and chronic, debilitating conditions cannot be treated.” The fight for Mariupol is crucial because its capture could help Russia establish a land corridor to Crimea, which it seized from Ukraine in 2014. But after invading Ukraine from Crimea and two other directions, Moscow has waged a multi-pronged attack and encircled several cities. The assault expanded Sunday to the International Center for Peacekeeping and Security near Yavoriv, a military base which has long been used to train Ukrainian soldiers, often with instructors from the United States and other NATO members. More than 30 Russian cruise missiles targeted the site. In addition to the 35 deaths, 134 people were wounded in the attack, the Ukrainian Defense Ministry said. The base is less than 25 kilometers (15 miles) from the Polish border and appears to be the westernmost target struck during Russia’s 18-day invasion. It has hosted NATO training drills, making it a potent symbol of Russia’s longstanding fears that the expansion of the 30-member Western military alliance to include former Soviet states threatens its security — something NATO denies. NATO said Sunday that it currently does not have any personnel in Ukraine, , though the United States has increased the number of U.S. troops deployed to Poland. White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said the West would respond if Russia’s strikes travel outside Ukraine and hit any NATO members, even accidentally. Russian fighters also fired at the airport in the western city of Ivano-Frankivsk, which is less than 150 kilometers (94 miles) north of Romania and 250 kilometers (155 miles) from Hungary, two other NATO allies. Ina Padi, a 40-year-old Ukrainian who crossed the border with her family, was taking shelter at a fire station in Wielkie Oczy, Poland, when she was awakened by blasts Sunday morning from across the border that shook her windows. “I understood in that moment, even if we are free of it, (the war) is still coming after us,” she said.