United News of Bangladesh

Chief Adviser Prof Muhammad Yunus returned home early Monday, wrapping up his week-long engagements in Rome, Italy and Doha, Qatar.  A commercial flight carrying the Chief Adviser and his small entourage landed at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport at 3am on Monday after joining the funeral mass of Pope Francis at St. Peter's Square in Vatican City on Saturday. SDGs Affairs Principal Coordinator Lamiya Morshed and Chief Adviser's Press Secretary Shafiqul Alam, among others, accompanied the Chief Adviser during the funeral of Pope Francis, who, according to Prof Yunus, was an "amazing" human being. The Chief Adviser left Rome for home on Sunday, a day after joining the funeral mass of Pope Francis at St. Peter's Square in Vatican City, Chief Adviser's Deputy Press Secretary Abul Kalam Azad Majumder told UNB. Prof Yunus visited Rome from Doha, Qatar, wrapping up his four-day official visit where he attended the Earthna Summit and had a series of meetings with the Qatari leadership, including the Prime Minister of Qatar Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani. On Friday, the Chief Adviser flew directly to Rome to pay his last respects to his old friend Pope Francis. Meanwhile, senior leaders of the Catholic Church — Cardinal Silvano Maria Tomasi and Cardinal Jacob Koovakad — met separately with Prof Yunus on Saturday shortly after the Funeral Mass of Pope Francis. The two cardinals recalled Pope Francis’s lifelong mission to champion the causes of the poor and marginalised, his efforts to eradicate poverty, and his vision of a world without war or nuclear weapons. They deeply appreciated Professor Yunus’ work, describing him as a close friend of the late Pope and thanking him for dedicating his life to the fight against poverty. Dhaka wants regional peace; prefers Delhi-Islamabad talks to ease tensions Professor Yunus reminisced about his long association with Pope Francis, saying the Pope had the ability to embrace everyone, regardless of their religious background. Over 300 hospitals in Barishal to digitise treatment for children through Save the Children’s Health Application  He recalled meeting Pope Francis many times during his pontificate and highlighted how one of his critical letters to the Holy See — addressing the need to reform the Vatican Bank — was published on the front page of the Vatican’s official newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano. "I wrote about how the Vatican should reform its bank to make it more friendly to the poor. I was critical of its performance and controversies. Yet, the Pope published the entire letter," he said. Prof Yunus shared how Pope Francis appointed him to chair several committees focused on reforming the Vatican’s banking practices and expanding the Church’s pro-poor initiatives. In November, the Vatican launched the Pope Francis–Yunus Three Zero Clubs in Rome, aimed at promoting Professor Yunus’s vision of a world with zero unemployment, zero wealth concentration, and zero net carbon emissions. "I am a Muslim. Yet Pope Francis never objected to his name being used alongside a person from a different faith," Professor Yunus noted. Prof Yunus scheduled to return home early Monday He also recounted being honored with the Torch of St. Francis of Assisi by the Catholic Church for embodying the spirit of the 13th-century Italian mystic and saint. "He never treated me as an outsider," Professor Yunus said, reflecting on his rich memories with the late Pope. Cardinal Tomasi and Cardinal Koovakad mentioned that the College of Cardinals, of which they are key members, will meet next week to elect the next Pope. Both cardinals are seen as potential candidates for the Church’s top leadership position. Meeting with Cardinal Tomasi Cardinal Tomasi, a longtime former Permanent Observer of the Holy See in the UN offices in Geneva, called on the Chief Adviser on Saturday. Cardinal Tomasi, who recently visited Southeast Asia, discussed geopolitical issues with the Chief Adviser. Both leaders praised Pope Francis’s efforts to call for an end to the conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza. "Southeast Asia is evolving too fast," he said, reflecting on his visit to Vietnam, which has been clocking robust growth in recent years. He stressed more peace-building measures in the region and staying calm in times of tension. Professor Yunus also praised Vietnam's spectacular economic growth, saying his government was trying to emulate the South Asian nation in its efforts to attract more foreign investments and turn Bangladesh into an economic hub. Cardinal Tomasi said he hoped the next Pope would "keep the informality of Pope Francis" and "promote dialogue of peace among countries."   Meeting with Cardinal Jacob Koovakad Earlier in the afternoon, Cardinal Koovakad, who is the Vatican Prefect of the Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue, called on the Chief Adviser at his hotel in Rome. Cardinal Koovakad, who is from the Indian state of Kerala, announced that the Catholic Church in Bangladesh would host an interfaith dialogue in September this year, bringing together leaders from various religions. Professor Yunus emphasised the importance of continued dialogue among people of different faiths in Bangladesh. Dhaka-Mymensingh rail connection restored after 2-hr blockade He highlighted the country's commitment to religious harmony and the interim government’s efforts to protect the rights of all citizens, regardless of ethnicity, creed, color, or gender.      

Road Transport and Bridges minister and General Secretary of Awami League Obaidul Quader returned home on Friday night after regular health checkup at Singapore’s Mount Elizabeth Hospital. A flight of Biman Bangladesh Airlines carrying the Awami League leader landed at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport at 8:30pm, said Sheikh Walid Foyez, senior information officer of the Road Transport and Bridges Ministry. Earlier on Wednesday, Quader left for Singapore for a health checkup.  

Thirty-seven Bangladeshi nationals, most of them teenagers, returned home on Monday after serving up to three years of jail term in India for illegal entry into the neighbouring country. Petrapole Immigration Police handed the returnees – 13 girls, 20 boys and four women to  Benapole Immigration Police in the evening. They were trafficked to India through different points of the border with promises of jobs, but unfortunately landed in jail. The boys and girls were aged between 12 and 18 when they got trafficked. READ: 27 more Bangladeshis return through Darshana checkpost Binoy Krishna Mallik, executive director of Jashore Rights, said the victims went to India’s Bangalore three and half years back. Ahsan Habib, officer-in-charge of Benapole Check-post Immigration, said the Bangladeshi nationals returned through travel permits. They were later handed over to Benapole Port police from where two NGOs will receive them, he said. READ: 30 more Bangladeshis rescued from the Mediterranean return from Tunisia: BRAC The returnees will have to stay there for 14-day institutional quarantine, he added.

Bangladesh right-arm pacer Shahadat Hossain made a comeback to competitive cricket after serving a ban of 18 months. On Saturday, Shahadat played for Partex Sporting Club and bowled two overs but failed to scalp any wicket.  He was originally banned for five years, with two years suspension, in November 2019 for slapping a teammate during a National Cricket League Game in Khulna. He was also fined BDT 100,000.  In March this year, Shahadat submit an appeal to BCB to reduce his punishment and allow him to play domestic cricket so that he can help his family and his ailing mother.  Akram Khan, the cricket operation chairman of BCB, told the media in March that the board is considering allowing him to resume his career.  “His mother is diagnosed with cancer, and he has more problems in his family. We have forwarded his appeal to the disciplinary committee of the board. I think he will be eligible to resume his career soon,” Akram had told the media in March this year.  Shahadat got his international caps in 2005-2006. He represented Bangladesh in 38 Tests, 51 ODIs and 6 T20Is. He enjoyed more success in Tests cricket where he bagged 72 wickets with four five-wicket hauls. In ODIs, he bagged 47 wickets with a hattrick and in T20Is, he has six scalps under his belt.  Shahadat, a 34-year-old right-arm pacer, had played his last international game in 2015 against Pakistan in Dhaka. 

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa announced Sunday that his country will return to stricter lockdown measures in the face of a sharp rise in COVID-19 cases that indicate the virus is “surging again” in Africa’s worst-affected nation. Positive cases in South Africa in the past seven days were 31% higher than the week before, and 66% higher than the week before that, Ramaphosa said in a live TV address. He said some parts of the country, including the commercial hub Johannesburg and the capital city Pretoria, were now in “a third wave.” “We do not yet know how severe this wave will be or for how long it will last,” Ramaphosa said. In response, Ramaphosa said that from Monday the nighttime curfew would be extended by an hour to start at 11 p.m. until 4 a.m. A maximum of 100 people would be allowed at indoor social gatherings and no more than 250 at an outdoors gathering. The number of people attending funerals will be limited to 100 people and after-funeral gatherings were banned completely, Ramaphosa said. Nonessential businesses must close by 10 p.m. “We have tended to become complacent,” Ramaphosa said, warning virus infections were “surging again” at a time when the country moves into its winter months and people were more likely to gather together indoors, likely further increasing infections. South Africa’s decision to go back to a stricter lockdown reinforces — as the crisis in India has already done so starkly — how the global pandemic is far from over. READ: South African variant found in 81% Covid-19 samples since third week of March “We have seen in other countries the tragic consequences of leaving the virus to spread unchecked,” Ramaphosa said. “We cannot let our guard down.” South Africa has more than 1.6 million confirmed COVID-19 cases and more than 56,000 deaths, more than 30% of the cases and 40% of the deaths recorded by all of Africa’s 54 countries, according to the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. South Africa recorded 4,515 new cases over the past 24 hours and Ramaphosa said the “positivity rate” among tests conducted was now “a cause for concern.” South Africa had been under lockdown level one, the lowest of its five levels, but was now reverting to an “adjusted level two,” Ramaphosa announced. Authorities did stop short of reimposing the strict measures like limits on people’s movements during the day and a ban on the sales of alcohol and tobacco products that were in place at times last year. South Africa has seen two previous surges in infections, the first in the middle of last year and a second, much worse wave in December and January, when the emergence of a variant pushed infections and deaths to higher levels than the first surge. The virus was currently following “the same trajectory” as those waves, Ramaphosa said. Experts have warned that this wave, arriving with the Southern Hemisphere winter, might be even worse. The surge in cases also cast more attention on South Africa’s lagging vaccine rollout. Only around 1.5% of the country’s 60 million people have received a vaccine. Health workers were the No. 1 priority but less than 500,000 of the 1.2 million health workers have been vaccinated with the Johnson & Johnson one-dose shot. South Africa only began vaccinating its elderly citizens two weeks ago. In total, 963,000 South Africans had received a vaccine by Sunday, the government said, although half of those have only received the first of two required doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. READ: South Africa scraps AstraZeneca vaccine, will give J&J jabs South Africa has “secured” more than 50 million vaccines, Ramaphosa said, but currently has only 1.3 million in the country. More Pfizer-BioNTech doses are expected to arrive next week, and weekly after that, he said. South Africa hopes to vaccinate around 40 million people by the end of the year, a target that looks increasingly unlikely.

A Bangladeshi girl who was trafficked to India two years ago has returned home.