Dhaka, May 13 (IANS) Pakistan’s High Commissioner to Bangladesh, Syed Ahmed Maroof’s sudden leave and disappearance from the country has set rumour mills abuzz, not only on social media but also in political and diplomatic circles from Dhaka to Islamabad.

Riyadh, May 13 (IANS) US President Donald Trump arrived in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday as he began a four-day visit to the Middle East which would also take him to Qatar and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), later this week.As he reached Riyadh, Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Crown Prince and Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia, welcomed Trump at the King Khalid International Airport. Trump was greeted with a 21-gun salute and trumpet fanfare upon his arrival. The Crown Prince and US President then engaged in cordial talks over Saudi coffee at the airport’s VIP lounge.Later, the Crown Prince received President Trump at the Royal Court in Al-Yamamah Palace in Riyadh.”We are thrilled to welcome President Trump to Riyadh for a visit that marks another milestone in our strategic partnership. Together, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United States of America stand as a force for good, advancing peace, security, and prosperity across the world,” Reema Bandar Al-Saud, Saudi Arabia’s Ambassador to the US posted on X.The trip comes at a crucial time as US–Iran concluded the fourth round of indirect nuclear talks in Oman on Sunday.President Trump on Monday said that the Iranians were being “very reasonable” and “talking very intelligently” in negotiations with Washington over Tehran’s nuclear programme.”Soon I’m heading over to the Middle East, and we’ll see what we’ll do in regards to Iran. I think you have some very good things happening there,” Trump said, speaking to reporters before departing for Riyadh.White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt touted Trump’s trip as a “historic return to the Middle East”.”Eight years later, President Trump will return to re-emphasise his continued vision for a proud, prosperous, and successful Middle East, where the United States and Middle Eastern nations are in cooperative relationships, and where extremism is defeated in place of commerce and cultural exchanges,” the Press Secretary said.Accompanying Trump on the four-day tour is US Secretary of State Marco Rubio as the United States looks to strengthen ties with the Gulf partners.”Secretary Rubio’s engagements with senior officials will advance solutions to global and regional challenges, expand bilateral trade and investment, and reaffirm our strategic partnerships,” said the US Department of State.The United States has come under widespread regional criticism for backing Israel’s military escalation and proposing the relocation of Palestinians from Gaza. Regional analysts hope that Washington could play a meaningful role during Trump’s visit by promoting a ceasefire and easing tensions, Xinhua news agency reported.With many issues in the Middle East “unsolved,” the need for the United States to coordinate with regional countries appears to be “more pressing than ever,” said Abdulaziz Sager, chairman of the Gulf Research Centre.Saudi Arabia marks Trump’s first major official overseas visit of his second term. On his inauguration day in January, Trump said that he would choose Saudi Arabia as his first destination “if Saudi Arabia wanted to buy another 450, or 500 billion (dollars’ worth of US products)”.–IANSint/scor/as

Quetta, May 13 (IANS) The Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) has severely condemned the latest extrajudicial…

Seoul, May 13 (IANS) The South Korean foreign ministry is preparing to resume diplomacy at the leaders’ level once the new government is launched after the June 3 presidential election, an official said on Tuesday, amid a prolonged leadership vacuum caused by former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol’s martial law bid.Since Yoon’s brief imposition of martial law on December 3, which ultimately led to his impeachment and removal from office, South Korea’s diplomacy has stalled, especially at the high level, largely due to the leadership vacuum.A slew of multilateral diplomatic events are scheduled for next month, including the summit of the Group of Seven (G7) advanced countries in Canada and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) leaders’ gathering in the Netherlands.If confirmed, these venues are expected to serve as the first stage for the succeeding president’s diplomatic debut where he could possibly meet with key world leaders for bilateral talks, including US President Donald Trump.”We are making basic preparations to resume summit diplomacy once the new government takes office following the June 3 presidential election,” a ministry official told reporters.”We’re preparing, in terms of both content and protocol, to ensure that diplomatic activities proceed without a hitch under any circumstances,” he said.South Korea is not a G7 member state, but was invited to the expanded G7 sessions in 2021 and 2023, when Britain and Japan were the host country, respectively.South Korea has also been invited to NATO summits in recent years as one of NATO’s four Indo-Pacific partners, known as the IP4, along with Japan, New Zealand and Australia, Yonhap news agency reported.Yoon, who dramatically rose from a top prosecutor to the presidency in about three years, became the nation’s second President to be formally removed from office, with his surprise martial law bid rattling the nation for months and deepening political polarisation.Yoon, 64, follows in the footsteps of former South Korean President Park Geun-hye, who was ousted in 2017 when the Constitutional Court upheld her impeachment over a corruption scandal.Before taking the nation’s highest office, Yoon began his career as a prosecutor in 1994, rising through the ranks to lead an investigation team into Park’s corruption scandal that ultimately led to her ouster and subsequent imprisonment.In 2019, he was appointed as the nation’s top prosecutor under then South Korean President Moon Jae-in but clashed with the administration as he oversaw investigations into family members of former Justice Minister Cho Kuk.Amid mounting pressure from the Moon administration, Yoon stepped down from his post in 2021, only to enter politics shortly after and win the presidential election in 2022 as the candidate for the conservative People Power Party.Yoon’s term was riddled with conflict with an uncooperative National Assembly dominated by the main Opposition Democratic Party (DP). Yoon exercised his presidential veto power against 25 Bills passed by the National Assembly.Tensions with the DP appeared to reach an extreme in early December as the main Opposition introduced motions to impeach the country’s top auditor and a senior prosecutor, with Yoon declaring martial law on December 3, which ultimately led to his downfall.–IANSint/jk/dan

Seoul, May 13 (IANS) Former South Korean first lady Kim Keon Hee has told the prosecution she cannot comply with a summon request this week, claiming the investigation into the alleged influence-peddling case could sway public opinion ahead of the upcoming presidential election, judicial sources said on Tuesday.Kim’s legal representatives submitted a letter of excuse for her non-attendance to a planned hearing at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors Office on Wednesday, according to the sources.Kim faces charges of violating the Public Official Election Act and the Political Funds Act in connection with allegations that she helped former People Power Party Rep. Kim Young-sun win the party’s nomination for the 2022 by-elections via Myung Tae-kyun, a self-proclaimed power broker, who in return conducted free public opinion polls favourable to Yoon Suk Yeol ahead of the 2022 presidential election.In the letter, Kim cited concerns over the investigation’s potential impact on the June 3 presidential election, saying it could spur speculative media reports, Yonhap news agency reported.Earlier on May 12, prosecutors in South Korea had ordered Kim to appear for questioning this week over allegations of influence-peddling in the 2022 parliamentary by-elections.Prosecutors are reportedly considering requesting a warrant to detain Kim in the event she defies repeated summonses without legitimate grounds.Earlier in 2025, Kim Keon-hee, faced mounting public scrutiny over her suspected involvement in the country’s short-lived martial law decree, with allegations of election meddling and text messages sent to an official on the eve of the December debacle.The opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) claimed that the looming threat of a public revelation over the first couple’s alleged interference in the nomination process for a local parliamentary by-election in 2022 had pressured former president Yoon Suk-yeol into launching the long-planned action.Yoon, who dramatically rose from a top prosecutor to the presidency in about three years, became the nation’s second President to be formally removed from office, with his surprise martial law bid rattling the nation for months and deepening political polarisation.Before taking the nation’s highest office, Yoon began his career as a prosecutor in 1994, rising through the ranks to lead an investigation team into Park’s corruption scandal that ultimately led to her ouster and subsequent imprisonment.In 2019, he was appointed as the nation’s top prosecutor under then South Korean President Moon Jae-in but clashed with the administration as he oversaw investigations into family members of former Justice Minister Cho Kuk.Amid mounting pressure from the Moon administration, Yoon stepped down from his post in 2021, only to enter politics shortly after and win the presidential election in 2022 as the candidate for the conservative People Power Party.Yoon’s term was riddled with conflict with an uncooperative National Assembly dominated by the main Opposition Democratic Party (DP). Yoon exercised his presidential veto power against 25 Bills passed by the National Assembly.Tensions with the DP appeared to reach an extreme in early December as the main Opposition introduced motions to impeach the country’s top auditor and a senior prosecutor, with Yoon declaring martial law on December 3, which ultimately led to his downfall.–IANSint/jk/dan

Dhaka, May 13 (IANS) As the radical Islamist party of Bangladesh, Jamaat-e-Islami, struggles to regain its political party status, the Supreme Court on Tuesday stated that it is the first instance in the country’s history where a party’s registration was cancelled through a High Court verdict.The remarks were made by Chief Justice Syed Refaat Ahmed during the hearing of Jamaat-e-Islami’s petition by the full appellate division bench consisting of seven members.The Islamist party appealed seeking restoration of its registration as a political party and its electoral symbol, scale, local media reported.Tawhidul Islam, who represented the Election Commission (EC) in the hearing, said that EC has stepped back ever since the High Court intervened in the matter of Jamaat’s registration, and is now waiting for the verdict from the Appellate Division regarding Jamaat’s registration.He further informed the court that following the administrative decision of the Supreme Court, the EC removed Jamaat’s symbol, the scales, and if it now wants a new symbol, it can apply afresh.Meanwhile, the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court adjourned the hearing till May 14, Bangladeshi leading daily, The Dhaka Tribune, reported.In August 2013, the High Court declared Jamaat’s registration as a political party illegal and void by disposing of a writ petition. Subsequently, in December 2018, the EC formally cancelled the party’s registration through a gazette notification.Jamaat later appealed against the High Court’s verdict, but in November 2023, the Appellate Division, led by then Chief Justice Obaidul Hassan, dismissed Jamaat’s appeal for default as the party’s principal lawyer was not present during the appeal hearing.As a result, the High Court’s verdict declaring Jamaat’s registration as an illegal political party remained in effect.After the fall of the Awami League Government, headed by Sheikh Hasina in a violent mass uprising last year, Jamaat-e-Islami submitted a petition to revive the appeal to regain its cancelled registration as a political party.In October, the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court accepted Jamaat-e-Islami’s request seeking to regain its registration as a political party.From then on, Jamaat used the legal means to seek the restoration of the party registration and its electoral symbol, local media reported.Reports further suggest that on August 1 last year, the previous Awami League-led government banned Jamaat, its student wing, Islami Chhatra Shibir, and all of its associated organisations as political entities under the Anti-Terrorism Act-2009.However, the interim government under Muhammad Yunus, after coming to power, lifted the ban on Jamaat-e-Islami and its student wing, issuing a gazette notification.These radical forces earlier worked hand in glove with the student leaders and Yunus to overthrow the democratically elected government of the Awami League.–IANSint/scor/sd/

Islamabad, May 13 (IANS) Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar has said that the ceasefire between India and Pakistan could be under threat if New Delhi continues to keep the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) in abeyance and tries to divert Pakistan’s water. Dar’s statement comes after the two sides announced a ceasefire and agreed to continue it during the first phase of the direct communication at Director General Military Operations (DGMO) level hotline contact on Monday.

Speaking to CNN, Ishaq Dar said that while he welcomes the ceasefire between India and Pakistan, after major military operations by both sides on each other’s respective territories, the water issue needs to be resolved soon.Dar said the potential of the ceasefire to hold would come under question again if India refuses to reverse its decision to suspend the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT).“The National Security Committee (NSC) of Pakistan declared that if this treaty (Indus Waters Treaty) is tampered, if the water is diverted, if the water is stopped, it will be treated as an act of war,” said Dar.“We want to take the whole process forward in an honourable way, with dignity for both sides, and resolve through a composite dialogue, the issues which will give on a long-term basis, this region, peace and security”, he added.The treaty was suspended by New Delhi following the deadly April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam, which claimed the lives of 26 innocent tourists.India also took several other measures, including closure of trade and borders with Pakistan, expelling diplomats from the Pakistani High Commission in New Delhi, and suspending visas of Pakistani nationals in India.Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his address to the nation on Monday night, made it clear that his government will, in the coming days, “measure every step of Pakistan” on the criterion that what sort of attitude Pakistan will adopt ahead on curbing cross-border terrorism.”The way the Pakistani army, Pakistan government are encouraging terrorism, it will destroy Pakistan one day. If Pakistan wants to survive, it will have to destroy its terror infrastructure. There is no other way to peace. India’s stand is very clear… Terror and talks cannot go together… Terror and trade cannot go together…. Water and blood cannot flow together,” the Indian Prime Minister said while signalling that there was no plan to reverse the decision on the Indus Waters Treaty suspension.After the first DGMO level contact between India and Pakistan, it would be interesting to see the agenda of talks during the second phase of direct communication, expected to happen in the coming days.The Indus Water Treaty, which was signed in 1960, governs the sharing of the waters of six rivers — Indus, Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi, Beas, and Sutlej — between India and Pakistan.–IANSint/hamza/as

United Nations, May 13 (IANS) Amid fighting and disease, deadly floods posed additional dire challenges in South Kivu province of the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), UN humanitarians said.”Local authorities in South Kivu report that overnight flooding in Fizi territory between May 8-9 killed more than 60 people,” the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said on Monday.”Many people are still missing, and search efforts continue. More than 150 houses were also destroyed, leaving 1,000 people homeless.”The office said the officials warned that continued heavy rainfall threatens further damage and have issued an urgent appeal for humanitarian assistance. The deluge worsens existing vulnerabilities, where ongoing clashes and a recent surge in cholera cases heighten the risk of a major public health crisis.OCHA said local authorities convened an emergency meeting in Uvira to coordinate response efforts.In North Kivu province, the humanitarians said hostilities also continue, and officials report that nine civilians were killed and 50 others injured in an overnight attack in a village of Lubero territory on Wednesday and Thursday.Further north, in Ituri province, OCHA said assessments by its humanitarian partners indicate that more than 40,000 people arrived in the Fataki and Rety areas of Djugu territory between February and April. The new arrivals were mainly fleeing violence in other regions or returning home from previous displacement during a period of calm.”The crisis is overwhelming already strained services in these areas, affecting 155,000 people,” OCHA said.”Humanitarian partners report acute needs across all sectors, including shelter, food and healthcare.”The office said the world body continues to mobilise assistance despite access constraints and funding gaps, Xinhua news agency reported.According to the World Health Organization, Cholera outbreaks occur regularly in some countries. In others, they are less frequent, and it may be years between outbreaks. Cholera is linked to limited access to safe water, basic sanitation facilities and poor hygiene practices.This may be due to conflict, population displacement, climate events like cyclones, floods or drought, and lack of investment in maintaining and improving WASH services and infrastructure. Preventing and controlling cholera involves a combination of strengthening surveillance, improving water, sanitation and hygiene, increasing risk communication and community engagement, improving access to quality treatment and implementing oral cholera vaccine campaigns.–IANSint/jk/

Canberra, May 13 (IANS) Sussan Ley has been appointed as the leader of the Liberal Party, becoming the first woman to lead the federal party in its 80-year history.

She defeated her rival Angus Taylor in a tight party room ballot, taking over as Australia’s first female opposition leader, according to local media report.Ley took over the position from former opposition leader Peter Dutton.The Liberal-National coalition, which is presently Australia’s main opposition party, suffered a historic defeat in the elections on May 3.Dutton, who led the coalition, also became the first federal leader of an opposition to lose his own parliamentary seat, Australian news agency ABC reported.In an address to the nation as the leader for the first time, Ley said she planned to “do things differently” and would adopt a “fresh approach” after the coalition’s massive election loss.Later speaking to reporters gathered in the Liberal party room, she said she was humbled, honoured and “up for the job.””I want to harness the talents of every single person in our party room going forward to develop the clear, articulate policy agenda that does meet Australians where they are,” she said.Taylor congratulated Ley, stating that her success was a milestone for the party, which needed to come together.”The Liberal Party has suffered a historic defeat, and we have lost many good people in this election. This result shows we must do more to convince Australians that the coalition is the best party to support aspiration, economic opportunity, and the Australian dream,” he said.Meanwhile, Ley dismissed the claims that her appointment to the Liberal leadership is an example of the “glass cliff effect.”The glass cliff effect refers to women being more likely to be appointed to leadership positions when an organisation is in a precarious position, ABC reported.”I don’t accept that. I do say it sends a signal to the women of Australia that the Liberal Party has elected its first woman leader, but my agenda is much more than that. It’s about connecting with women and listening to where we went wrong,” she said.–IANSint/scor/sd/

Seoul, May 13 (IANS) South Korea’s People Power Party (PPP) presidential candidate Kim Moon-soo said on Tuesday that he is not considering expelling impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol from the conservative party ahead of the June 3 election.Kim resisted growing calls from his own party to sever ties with Yoon, who was removed from office last month over his short-lived martial law declaration on December 3 and now faces trials on charges of leading an insurrection.”Whether former President Yoon decides to leave the party or not is up to him,” Kim told reporters during his campaign stop in the southeastern city of Daegu.”If we judge that former President Yoon did something wrong and demand that he leave, then our party also bears responsibility,” he added.Kim, who apologised on Monday for the public’s suffering from Yoon’s martial law attempt, described the move as “one of the most extreme measures,” emphasising that it is not an appropriate approach to resolve political disputes.The former labour minister urged the party to overcome controversies related to Yoon’s martial law and impeachment and move forward to win the election.After Kim registered as the PPP’s candidate on Sunday following days of an internal feud over a unified candidacy with former Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, Yoon urged conservatives to rally behind Kim for the race, Yonhap news agency reported.If elected, Kim said he would push for an early summit with US President Donald Trump to negotiate a trade deal that would ease broad tariffs.He also unveiled support measures for the Artificial Intelligence sector to foster 200,000 young professionals in the field and create a private-public fund worth 100 trillion won ($71.2 billion) by drawing foreign investment.On security, Kim vowed to develop Nuclear-powered submarines to counter Pyongyang’s Nuclear threats and pursue unification with North Korea to save its people suffering from hunger and oppression.”Progressivism should bring prosperity, not poverty. I want to tear apart fake progressivism,” Kim said.–IANSint/jk/rad