Bangladesh partially restores telecommunication services as protests taper off

Bangladesh partially restores telecommunication services as protests taper off
Above, a man cleans a desk at an empty call center in Dhaka following a nationwide curfew and internet shutdown imposed by the Bangladesh government. (AFP)
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Updated 24 July 2024
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Bangladesh partially restores telecommunication services as protests taper off

Bangladesh partially restores telecommunication services as protests taper off
  • Supreme Court scales down reservations for various categories to 7 percent, overruling a high court verdict reinstating a 56 percent quota in government jobs
  • Protesting students have given the government a fresh 48-hour ultimatum to fulfill four other conditions of an eight-point list of demands

DHAKA: Bangladesh partially restored telecommunication services on Wednesday although Internet connection was slow and social media remained suspended, days after deadly protests against reservations for government jobs killed almost 150 people.
The country has mostly been calm since Sunday when the Supreme Court scaled down reservations for various categories to 7 percent, overruling a high court verdict reinstating a 56 percent quota in government jobs that had been scrapped in 2018.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s government said on Tuesday that it would heed the Supreme Court ruling.
As demonstrations against the quotas — which included a 30 percent reservation for family members of freedom fighters from the 1971 war of independence from Pakistan — tapered off, the government started easing the curfew imposed last week.
Restrictions will be relaxed for seven hours on Wednesday and offices will also be open from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., officials said.
Residents of the capital Dhaka could be seen out on the streets on Wednesday morning as they made their way to their offices, with public buses also plying in some places — in sharp contrast to the violent clashes in the city last week.
Protesting students have given the government a fresh 48-hour ultimatum to fulfill four other conditions of an eight-point list of demands, and said they will announce next steps once that ends on Thursday.
“We want the government to meet our four-point demand, including restoration of Internet, withdrawal of police from campuses, and opening universities (which have been closed for a week),” protest coordinator Nahid Islam said.
The South Asian nation of 170 million was rocked by protests since the high court verdict last month, which left less than half of state jobs open on merit in a country where about 32 million young people are out of work or education.
Demonstrations intensified after Hasina refused to meet the protesters’ demands and instead labelled them “razakar” — a term used for those who collaborated with the Pakistani army during the war.
Hasina this week blamed her political opponents for the violence and said the curfew would be lifted “whenever the situation gets better.”
The main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party has denied any role in the violence.
Several countries in the region have evacuated citizens from the violence-hit nation over the last few days, including India and Malaysia.


2 people were killed in a knife attack in Germany and a suspect has been detained, police say

2 people were killed in a knife attack in Germany and a suspect has been detained, police say
Updated 16 sec ago
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2 people were killed in a knife attack in Germany and a suspect has been detained, police say

2 people were killed in a knife attack in Germany and a suspect has been detained, police say
Police said they did not immediately know the motive for the attack
Train services in the town were temporarily interrupted

BERLIN: Two people, including a child, were killed and two others were severely injured in a stabbing attack in Bavaria on Wednesday, German police said.
Police said a suspect was detained in the knife attack, which occurred in a park in the southern German town of Aschaffenburg.
Police said they did not immediately know the motive for the attack, but that it was not terrorism.
Train services in the town were temporarily interrupted as the suspect tried to flee along the tracks, German news agency dpa reported. However, he was quickly detained, police wrote on the social media platform X.
Police asked possible witnesses to come forward. They did not release any details about the identities of the victims or the suspect.

Macron says Europe must protect sovereignty in face of Trump’s return

Macron says Europe must protect sovereignty in face of Trump’s return
Updated 11 min 13 sec ago
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Macron says Europe must protect sovereignty in face of Trump’s return

Macron says Europe must protect sovereignty in face of Trump’s return
  • Macron made the remarks at a joint news conference with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz

PARIS: More than ever, Europeans, including France and Germany, must protect their sovereignty in the face of the return of US President Donald Trump, French President Emmanuel Macron said on Wednesday.
He made the remarks at a joint news conference with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Paris, adding that it was important to support the automobile, steel, chemical sectors, among others.
“After the inauguration of a new administration in the United States, it is necessary more than ever for Europeans and for our two countries to play their role of consolidating a united, strong and sovereign Europe,” Macron said.


Malaysia’s Anwar says don’t single out China in sea tensions

Malaysia’s Anwar says don’t single out China in sea tensions
Updated 22 January 2025
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Malaysia’s Anwar says don’t single out China in sea tensions

Malaysia’s Anwar says don’t single out China in sea tensions
  • There will always be border disputes in Asia, and China should not be singled out because of tensions in the South China Sea, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said Wednesday

DAVOS: There will always be border disputes in Asia, and China should not be singled out because of tensions in the South China Sea, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said Wednesday.
Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Anwar said that Malaysia had border issues with Singapore and its other neighbors in Southeast Asia but they still managed to cultivate good relations.
While Malaysia also has maritime issues with China, it will push ahead with improving ties because it is an important country, he said.
“We have excellent relationship with Singapore. We still have border issues with them,” Anwar said.
“I treat the Thais as my family members, the leaders, but still we have some border issues with them. So it is with Indonesia, with the Philippines.
“(But) we don’t go to war, we don’t threaten. We do discuss. We get a bit... angry, but we do focus on the economic fundamentals and move on,” he added.
“Why is it that we must then single out China as an issue?” Anwar asked.
“That’s my only contention. Do I have an issue about it? Yes, but do I have a problem? No. Do we have any undesired tensions? No,” he said.
He said that while Malaysia has strong ties with the United States, China is an important neighbor that it must also engage with.
“Of course, people highlight the issue of the South China Sea... But may I remind you that Malaysia is a maritime country,” he said.
China has been “very reasonable” in dealing with Malaysia, Anwar added.
“They take us seriously, more seriously than many of the countries of our old allies and friends,” he said, without mentioning any country.
China has ruffled diplomatic feathers in Southeast Asia because of its assertion that it owns most of the strategic waterway despite an international ruling that the claim has no legal basis.
This has pitted it against Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam, which have partial claims to the sea.
In recent years, China and the Philippines have seen an escalation of confrontations, including boat-ramming incidents and Chinese ships firing water cannons on Filipino vessels.
The clashes have sparked concern they could draw the United States, Manila’s long-time security ally, into armed conflict with China.


Washington’s UN nominee supports Israeli biblical claim to West Bank

Washington’s UN nominee supports Israeli biblical claim to West Bank
Updated 22 January 2025
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Washington’s UN nominee supports Israeli biblical claim to West Bank

Washington’s UN nominee supports Israeli biblical claim to West Bank
  • ‘It’s going to be very difficult to achieve peace if you continue to hold the view that you just expressed,’ senator tells Elise Stefanik
  • Republican congresswoman for New York accuses international body of being ‘cesspool of antisemitism’

LONDON: The new US nominee for UN ambassador has backed Israeli biblical claims to the entire West Bank.

Elise Stefanik, a Republican congresswoman for New York, was being questioned on her stance by Democratic Sen. Chris Van Hollen during a Senate confirmation hearing.

“You told me that, yes, you shared that view,” Van Hollen said. “Is that your view today?” Stefanik said: “Yes.”

Her stance is at odds with international law, multiple UN Security Council resolutions, and a longstanding international consensus on the issue.

“It’s going to be very difficult to achieve peace if you continue to hold the view that you just expressed,” Van Hollen said.

During the hearing, Stefanik criticized the UN for its alleged anti-Israel bias, claiming that the organization is a “cesspool of antisemitism.”

She said: “Our tax dollars should not be complicit in propping up entities that are counter to American interests, antisemitic, or engaging in fraud, corruption or terrorism.”

The US is the largest funder of the UN and houses its secretariat in New York City. Washington pays about 22 percent of the UN’s regular budget.


India and US trying to arrange Modi meeting with Trump next month, sources say

India and US trying to arrange Modi meeting with Trump next month, sources say
Updated 22 January 2025
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India and US trying to arrange Modi meeting with Trump next month, sources say

India and US trying to arrange Modi meeting with Trump next month, sources say
  • Washington sees India as a strategic partner of the United States in its efforts to counter its rival China
  • Trump’s return to office has raised worries among officials in New Delhi about imposition of tariffs on India

NEW DELHI: Indian and US diplomats are trying to arrange a meeting in February between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump in Washington, two Indian sources familiar with the discussions told Reuters.
India, a strategic partner of the United States in its efforts to counter China, is keen to enhance trade relations with the US and make it easier for its citizens to get skilled worker visas, two topics that will be on the agenda if the leaders meet, the sources said.
Trump’s return to the White House has raised worries among officials in New Delhi about imposition of tariffs on India, which he has listed as one of the countries that has high tariffs on US products and has indicated that he favored reciprocating them.
But the sources said New Delhi was willing to offer some concessions to Washington — although it has not been officially informed of any plans by US to impose reciprocal tariffs — and was also open to offering incentives to attract more US investment in India.
Officials hope that an early meeting between the pair will help get ties off to a positive start in Trump’s new term, the sources said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Trump visited India in February 2020 during his previous term in office. Then, he was cheered by more than 100,000 Indians at a cricket stadium in Modi’s political homeland in Ahmedabad, where he promised India “an incredible trade deal.”
In 2019, Trump held a “Howdy Modi” rally with Modi in Houston, drawing 50,000 people, mainly Indian Americans.
Laying the groundwork for a new Modi-Trump meeting is also on the agenda of Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, who attended Trump’s inauguration on Monday and met US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
The United States is India’s largest trading partner and two-way trade between the two countries surpassed $118 billion in 2023/24, with India posting a trade surplus of $32 billion.
Other topics of discussion between the two leaders would be enhancing partnership in technology and defense sectors, the sources said.
Migration would be another area of discussion, as Trump has pledged a crackdown on illegal immigration but has said he is open to legal migration of skilled workers.
India, known for its massive pool of IT professionals, many of whom work across the world, accounts for the bulk of the skilled worker H-1B visas issued by the United States.
Rubio discussed with Jaishankar concerns related to “irregular migration” on Tuesday, the US State Department said.