The World Food Program (WFP) is keen to take initiative to provide multi-mineral enriched kernel grains to 25 thousand beneficiaries under a pilot project in Chattogram Hill Tracts (CHT). The WFP delegation expressed this eagerness as they paid a courtesy call on CHT Affairs Adviser Supradip Chakma at his secretariat office on Sunday. Welcoming the initiative of WFP in CHT region, Adviser Supradip Chakma said people of different communities live in Chattogram Hill Tracts and it is not possible to implement any programme without enjoying the beauty of CHT and understanding the needs of the people there, said a release of the Ministry of Chattogram Hill Tracts Affairs this evening. The adviser told the delegation that prior to implementing the project “there is a need to observe the activities of pregnant women, teenagers and children, students, and how the people there are coping with poverty.” Such projects of WFP should be implemented in coordination with the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs, Ministry of Primary and Mass Education and Ministry of Disaster and Relief of Bangladesh, he suggested. Noting that the kernel enriches the food quality, containing a lot of multi-mineral energy, the delegation said, “If 100 grams of rice are mixed with 10 grains of kernels and khichuri (Hotchpotch) is made, this food will become a multi-mineral energy rich food, where a lot of iron, iodine and other elements will be available as well.”  The WFP delegation sought the assistance of the CHT advisor in this connection. Secretary of CHT Affairs Ministry AKM Shamimul Haque Siddique and Joint Secretaries Kangkan Chakma and Sajol Kanti Bonik were present there. WFP Bangladesh Country Director Domenico Scalpelli led the delegation.  Senior Partnerships Advisor of WFP Bangladesh Md. Mohsin, Head of Field Operations Ms Hafiza Khan, Programme Policy Officer Ms Masing Newar and representative of Rangamati sub-office of WFP Elora Chakma were present on the occasion.

A source close to Hezbollah said Israel had conducted 11 consecutive strikes on the group's south Beirut stronghold late Thursday, in one of the most violent raids since Israel intensified its bombardment campaign last week. AFP correspondents in the capital and beyond heard loud bangs that made car alarms go off and building shake. About an hour later, AFP journalists heard several explosions coming from the direction of the southern suburbs after the Israeli military ordered residents of the Hadath neighbourhood to evacuate. "Israel struck the southern suburbs 11 consecutive times," the source said on the condition of anonymity. AFP footage showed giant balls of flame rising from the targeted site with thick smoke billowing and flares shooting out. Lebanon's official National News Agency (NNA) said "more than 10 consecutive strikes have been recorded so far, in one of the strongest raids on the southern suburbs of Beirut since the start of the Israeli war on Lebanon". The strikes echoed to mountain regions outside Beirut, the NNA said. Earlier Thursday, Israeli army Arabic-language spokesperson Avichay Adraee had issued an "urgent warning" for residents of the south Beirut area of Burj al-Barajneh to evacuate along with maps of the area. He later issued an evacuation order for the Hadath neighbourhood of Beirut's south. "You are located near facilities and interests belonging to Hezbollah, and the IDF (Israeli army) will work against them in the near future," he had said in a statement on X. Earlier in the evening, a source close to Hezbollah said another Israeli strike had targeted a warehouse next to Beirut airport, in the capital's south. "An Israeli air strike targeted a warehouse adjacent to the airport," the source told AFP, requesting anonymity to discuss sensitive matters. It was unclear what the warehouse contained. Earlier in the afternoon, the NNA had reported several "enemy raids". A source close to the group had told AFP that the earlier strikes had "targeted a building housing Hezbollah's media relations office", which had already been evacuated. This week, Israel announced that its troops had started "ground raids" into parts of southern Lebanon, after days of heavy bombardment of Hezbollah strongholds around the country. After nearly a year of low-intensity cross-border fighting, Israel has expanded its military campaign from Gaza to Lebanon, where heavy bombing has killed more than 1,000 people and forced hundreds of thousands to flee. Israel last week killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in south Beirut, a densely populated area before residents fled Israel's intensifying bombardment.

Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) Karim A.A. Khan called on Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly (UNGA) at the UN Headquarters in New York on Thursday. During the meeting, Karim A.A. Khan apprised Prof Yunus of the latest developments on the investigations into the Rohingya deportation launched by the ICC in 2019. He said he would visit Bangladesh by the end of the year. He praised Prof Yunus's three-point proposals to bring a new momentum to resolve the Rohingya crisis. The Chief Adviser made the proposal at a meeting at the UN Headquarters on Wednesday when the ICC chief prosecutor also spoke.   The proposals included an urgent conference hosted by the UN chief to review the overall situation and suggest way outs, energised joint response plan for the Rohingya humanitarian crisis and serious international efforts to support justice and accountability to address the genocide committed in Rakhine state of Myanmar in 2017. "The three points are perfect," Karim Khan said. Prof Yunus also asked him about the procedure to file a case of crime against humanity at the ICC against the perpetrators of the massacre during the July-August uprising, which left at least 700 people dead and more than 20,000 injured. Karim Khan said Bangladesh can definitely file a complaint at the Hague-based court, but he said there are rules to be followed for filing a crime against humanity case at the ICC.