JEDDAH, 21 January 2022, (TON): Saudi Arabia and South Korea recently agreed to implement 35 intellectual property projects together.

A memorandum of understanding was signed on the sidelines of the Saudi-Korean Investment Forum in Riyadh by Dr. Abdulaziz Al-Suwailem, chief executive officer at the Saudi Authority for Intellectual Property, and Dr. Kim Yong Rae, commissioner of the Korean Intellectual Property Office, in the presence of Korean President Moon Jae-in.

The agreement, according to a statement, “enhances the strategic partnership between South Korea and Saudi Arabia,” and will involve the secondment of Korean IP experts to Riyadh.

SAIP spokesman Yasser Hakami told media that the MoU laid out the framework, projects, timeline and procedures for the specified bilateral cooperative activities.

Hakami said “within this arrangement, the two sides will implement a number of programs and projects that will foster an IP ecosystem through patent examination, IP information, and national IP strategies.”

LONDON, 21 January 2022, (TON): £42 million UK Export Finance guarantee enables Mabey Bridge to export 87 emergency bridges to areas impacted by flooding across Ghana.

The business will manufacture the bridges in their factory in Gloucestershire and train local engineers in Ghana to install them in future

The latest deal comes as UKEF announces its support for markets in Africa has reached a 20-year high, providing over £2.3bn in 2020-21

A Gloucestershire-based manufacturer has secured a contract to provide 87 emergency bridges for use in flood-hit areas across Ghana following a £42 million guarantee from UK Export Finance (UKEF), as the UK prepares to host the 3rd Africa Investment Conference.

The UK government is seeking to boost major investment into Africa at the Conference by helping buyers and project sponsors on the continent access long-term finance from the UK’s export credit agency, UKEF.

The UK agency can help foreign countries with finance, loans and insurance to make their projects happen, if they commit to sourcing goods and services from the UK.

WASHINGTON, 21 January 2022, (TON): Antony J. Blinken, Secretary of State has said “ in advance of a potential further invasion of Ukraine, Russian intelligence services, mainly the Federal Security Service (FSB), a U.S. sanctioned entity, have been recruiting Ukrainian nationals in key positions to gain access to sensitive information. “

The FSB leverages these officials in an attempt to create instability in Ukraine.  In close coordination with the Government of Ukraine, the United States is working to identify, expose, and impose costs on these actors in order to foil these influence operations.

The United States is imposing sanctions on four individuals connected to ongoing Russian intelligence service-directed influence activities designed to destabilize Ukraine.

This action is intended to target, highlight, and undercut Russia’s ongoing destabilization effort in Ukraine. 

It is separate and distinct from the broad range of high impact measures the United States and its allies and partners are prepared to impose in order to inflict significant costs on the Russian economy and financial system if it were to further invade Ukraine.

The individuals we are targeting, two of whom are members of Ukraine’s parliament, act at the direction of the FSB and support Russia’s destabilizing and dangerous influence operations, which undermine not just Ukraine but also the fundamental principles of democracy.

BEIRUT, 21 January 2022, (TON): A war monitor said “shelling on the Turkish-held city of Afrin in northern Syria killed six civilians on Thursday, the latest in a spate of attacks.”

It was not immediately clear who fired the artillery shells but the attack came from a region where Kurdish fighters and Syrian regime forces are present, said the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The Britain-based monitor which relies on sources inside Syria for its reports said “six people, including two children, where killed.”

It added “nearly 30 others were wounded.”

The shelling came a week after a suicide bomber launched an attack near a military base run by Turkey-backed fighters in Afrin, according to the Observatory.

Turkey and its proxies have seized control of territory inside Syria over several military operations launched since 2016 against Daesh and the Kurdish YPG militia.

NEW YORK, 21 January 2022, (TON): RIA Novosti correspondent reports “the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution condemning and rejecting the denial of the Holocaust as a historical event.”

More than 60 countries acted as co-sponsors of the resolution, including Israel, the USA, Great Britain, France, Germany, Ukraine, Georgia.

The resolution was adopted without a vote.

According to the text of the resolution, the General Assembly rejects and unconditionally condemns any total or partial denial of the Holocaust as a historical event.

The UNGA “strongly urges all Member States to unreservedly reject any total or partial denial of the Holocaust as a historical event or any distortion of its history and any actions taken to this end.”

The General Assembly expresses its gratitude to the countries that contribute to the preservation of sites used as Nazi death camps.

BEIJING, 21 January 2022, (TON): The Navy of the People’s Liber-ation Army of China sent the destroyer “Urumqi” to the Gulf of Oman for joint naval exercises CHIRU-2Q22 with Russia and Iran. This was announced by the Ministry of Defense of China.

The ministry said in a statement posted on the WeChat social network “China sent the Urumqi missile destroyer, the Taihu integrated supply ship, sh-ipborne helicopters and 40 marines to participate in the exercise.”

The Chinese ministry said “the exercise is aimed at deepening practical cooperation between the navies of the three countries.”

Earlier, the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation reported that from January 18 to January 22 of this year, the Russian-Chinese-Iranian naval exercises CHIRU-2Q22 are being held in the Gulf of Oman and the airspace above it.

ANKARA, 21 January 2022, (TON): A source in the Turkish Foreign Ministry told reporters “Turkey plans to organize negotiations on the Minsk agreements in Istanbul, invite representatives of the Donbass and the OSCE to them, and make meetings frequent and regular, the date of the negotiations has not yet been determined.”

The source said “negotiations on the Minsk agreements will be held in Istanbul . The same players will take part in th-em as before: Russia, Ukra-ine, representatives from Donbass and the OSCE . The date for the negotiations has not yet been determined. Meetings within the negotiation process will be frequent and regular.”

According to him, Turkey took a clear position in the Ukrainian crisis from the very beginning.

The agency’s interlocutor said “it lies in the need for steps aimed at reducing tension, preventing an arm-ed conflict and further mai-ntaining and strengthening the dialogue. We take this position in NATO as well.”

RIYADH, 21 January 2022, (TON): The defense ministry said “the Royal Saudi Land Forces and the Egyptian Armed Forces concluded a joint exercise in the Kingdom’s northwestern region.”

The Tabuk-5 maneuvers, which began on Jan. 6, were concluded in the presence of the commander of the northwestern region, Maj. Gen. Hussain bin Saeed Al-Qahtani, and a number of senior officers of the RSLF and the Egyptian armed forces.

The exercises concluded with participating forces carrying out a number of combat scenarios, which they were trained on during the exercise.

Special forces carried out parachute landings and free-jumping using helicopters to clear and storm the fortified sites. The armored divisions carried out support operations using live ammunition for light and heavy weapons.

Maj. Gen. Khalid bin Mohammed Al-Khashrami, director of the exercises, said “the drill was one of the most important, due to the diversity and nature of the participating forces.”

He emphasized its benefits to both forces in refining their combat skills and raising their readiness, while praising the high proficiency of all the operations assigned to them during the exercise.

JERUSALEM, 21 January 2022, (TON): Israeli police evicted the Salhiyya family from their two adjacent houses, in the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood in East Jerusalem early on Wednesday, and later tore down the structures, a move which UNRWA’s West Bank field office has condemned.

Staff who visited the scene on Thursday morning observed the total destruction of the property, with school bags, clothes and family photos still partially visible beneath the rubble.

The agency said “under international humanitarian law, the forcible transfer of protected persons, as well as the destruction of real or personal property belonging individually or collectively to private persons by Israel, as the occupying power, is strictly forbidden, except where such measures would be rendered absolutely necessary by imperative military reasons, or for the security of the population under occupation.”

According to UNRWA “the 15-member Salhiyya family, who include an older woman and young child, had been living in Sheikh Jarrah for nearly 40 years.”

The neigbourhood and tensions surrounding evictions, and attempted evictions, was at the heart of brutal fighting that erupted last year in Gaza, between Israel and the militant group, Hamas.

BEIJING, 21 January 2022, (TON): Chinese and American navies were once again face to face in the South China Sea.

In a statement, the Chinese People's Liberation Army said “a US destroyer trespassed its territorial waters surrounding the Xisha Islands in the South China Sea “without Chinese government's approval.”

The US 7th Fleet, which commands America’s Asia-Pacific operations, said “its USS Benfold (DDG 65) asserted navigational rights and freedoms in the vicinity of the Paracel Islands, consistent with international law.”

The command said in a statement “this freedom of navigation operation (FONOP) upheld the rights, freedoms, and lawful uses of the sea recognized in international law by challenging restrictions on innocent passage imposed by China, Taiwan, and Vietnam and also by challenging Beijing’s claim to straight baselines enclosing the Paracel Islands.”

It added “unlawful and sweeping maritime claims in the South China Sea pose a serious threat to the freedom of the seas, including the freedoms of navigation and overflight, free trade and unimpeded commerce, and freedom of economic opportunity for the South China Sea littoral nations.”

China claims sovereignty over parts of the resource-rich sea, bringing it into a dispute with the Philippines, Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam.