FATULLAH: Bangladesh launched a nationwide food subsidy program on Sunday after prices for cooking oil, lentils and other staples shot up in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Rising produce costs, which officials blame on wild price fluctuations in the global oil market since the conflict began, have sparked murmurings of discontent around the South Asian nation of 170 million people in recent weeks.
Opposition activists have accused traders of profiteering and staged several protest rallies, with a nationwide strike against soaring prices planned for the end of the month.
Commerce ministry chief Tapan Kanti Ghosh said the program would provide cheap food to 10 million people and run until the end of Ramadan — the traditional month of fasting in the Islamic faith — in six weeks.
“The Ukraine war has increased crude oil prices, which have impacted global commodity prices,” he told AFP.
Hundreds of people were seen queuing in the scorching sun waiting for rations on the first day of the scheme in Fatullah, an industrial center on the outskirts of the capital Dhaka.
Mosharraf Hossain, a local helmsman, said he had to wait for four hours before making his purchase.
“Still it is worthy. The price hike in the regular market is unbelievable,” he told AFP.
Hossain said business owners had told him the “ongoing war near Russia” was the reason they had raised the price of their goods, but he was skeptical.
“Rice, lentils and sugar are mostly produced in our country,” he said. “Is the war here in Bangladesh? This is pure bluff.”
Bangladesh launches food subsidies after Ukraine war price spike
https://arab.news/nydrf
Bangladesh launches food subsidies after Ukraine war price spike
- Rising produce costs, which officials blame on wild price fluctuations in the global oil market since the conflict began, have sparked murmurings of discontent
- Opposition activists have accused traders of profiteering and staged several protest rallies
Trump discussing how to acquire Greenland; US military always an option, White House says
- Greenland has repeatedly said it does not want to be part of the United States
- Strong statements in support of Greenland from NATO leaders have not deterred Trump
WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump and his team are discussing options for acquiring Greenland and the use of the US military in furtherance of the goal is “always an option,” the White House said on Tuesday.
Trump’s ambition of acquiring Greenland as a strategic US hub in the Arctic, where there is growing interest from Russia and China, has been revived in recent days in the wake of the US arrest of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. Greenland has repeatedly said it does not want to be part of the United States.
The White House said in a statement in response to queries from Reuters that Trump sees acquiring Greenland as a US national security priority necessary to “deter our adversaries in the Arctic region.”
“The president and his team are discussing a range of options to pursue this important foreign policy goal, and of course, utilizing the US military is always an option at the commander-in-chief’s disposal,” the White House said.
A senior US official said discussions about ways to acquire Greenland are active in the Oval Office and that advisers are discussing a variety of options.
Strong statements in support of Greenland from NATO leaders have not deterred Trump, the official said.
“It’s not going away,” the official said about the president’s drive to acquire Greenland during his remaining three years in office.
The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said options include the outright US purchase of Greenland or forming a Compact of Free Association with the territory. A COFA agreement would stop short of Trump’s ambition to make the island of 57,000 people a part of the US.
A potential purchase price was not provided.
“Diplomacy is always the president’s first option with anything, and dealmaking. He loves deals. So if a good deal can be struck to acquire Greenland, that would definitely be his first instinct,” the official said.
Administration officials argue the island is crucial to the US due to its deposits of minerals with important high-tech and military applications. These resources remain untapped due to labor shortages, scarce infrastructure and other challenges.
Leaders from major European powers and Canada rallied behind Greenland on Tuesday, saying the Arctic island belongs to its people.
