LONDON, 13 January 2022, (TON): The US State Department confirmed that an 80-year-old Palestinian-American man found dead in the West Bank was a US citizen.

Palestinian officials and relatives said “Omar Abdalmajeed As’ad was found earlier after being detained and handcuffed during an Israeli raid on an occupied West Bank village.”

The State Department said “had been in touch with the Israeli government for clarification over the death.”

His body was found in Jiljilya in the early morning with a plastic zip-tie still around one wrist.

The Israeli military said it had carried out an overnight operation in the village, and that a Palestinian was “apprehended after resisting a check.” It said he was alive when the soldiers released him.

It said in a statement “the Military Police Criminal Investigation Division is reviewing the incident, at the end of which the findings will be transferred to the Military General Advocate Corps.”

CAIRO, 13 January 2022, (TON): Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit met Arab Gulf Program for Development President Prince Abdulaziz bin Talal during the launch of the Arab Forum for Sustainable Development.

Aboul Gheit praised AGFUND for its ongoing humanitarian work, including supporting refugees, and highlighted the need to boost cooperation between both organizations to help strengthen the efforts of Arab states to recover from the coronavirus pandemic and achieve 2030 sustainable development goals.

Prince Abdulaziz said that working under the umbrella of the Arab League, the AGFUND had implemented a number of initiatives including the establishment of banks for the poor, the education of refugees at the Zaatari camp in Jordan, and other programs to help Arab citizens.

WASHINGTON, 13 January 2022, (TON): Eight countries that include Iran, Venezuela and Sudan have lost their right to vote at the United Nations because of unpaid dues.

Secretary General Antonio Guterres said “a total of 11 countries are behind in their payments.”

Under the UN charter, a member country’s right to vote is suspended when its arrears equal or exceed the amount of dues it should have paid over the preceding two years.

If the outstanding debt is deemed to be “due to conditions beyond the control of the member,” the assembly may let that country continue to vote.

For 2022 this is the case of the Comoro Islands, Sao Tome and Principe, and Somalia, Guterres said.

He said “the eight countries that have lost their right to vote for now are Iran, Sudan, Venezuela, Antigua and Barbuda, Congo, Guinea, and Papua New Guinea.”

DUBAI, 13 January 2022, (TON): US senators blasted Iran’s backing of the Houthi militia in the wake of the group’s military losses in Shabwa and Marib.

In a statement to Al-Arabiya, Republican Senator Marco Rubio, a member of the US Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs, labeled the Houthi militia as Iranian agents that destabilize the region.

It added that it targets Saudi Arabia and its civilians.

He said “as long as the Houthis remain a proxy force for the Iranians, we will face a problem.”

US Senator Lindsey Graham, meanwhile, said Iran was the root of evil in the Middle East.

“The world should alert Iran that its subversive behavior must stop,” he said, adding that Tehran was looking for chaos.

Republican Senator Ron Johnson echoed his statement, tell media “we would love to see peace in Yemen, but Iran is not helping.”

MOGADISHU, 13 January 2022, (TON): Officials said “several people were killed on Wednesday in a suicide car bomb blast in Somalia’s capital Mogadishu.”

The attack was claimed by the Al-Shabab extremist group, which said in a brief statement that it was targeting foreign officers.

It took place only days after Somali leaders had agreed on a new timetable for long-delayed elections in the troubled Horn of Africa country.

The government said in a statement on Twitter that it condemned the “cowardly” suicide attack, and gave a toll of four dead and six injured.

“Such acts of terrorism will not derail the peace & the ongoing development in the country. We must unite in the fight against terrorism.”

Local government security officer Mohamed Abdi had earlier told AFP that at least six people were killed.

“It has also caused devastation in the area,” he said, warning that the toll could be higher because a large number of people were in the area.

Witnesses said “a multi-vehicle private security convoy escorting foreigners was passing by the area in southern Mogadishu when the explosion hit.”

BRUSSELS, 13 January 2022, (TON): Russia is seriously concerned about the desire of NATO countries to lower the ceiling on the use of nuclear weapons. This was stated by Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko at a press conference following a meeting of the Russia-NATO Council (RNC).

Grushko said “in its military development, the United States and its allies are trying to achieve superiority in all operating environments: land, air and sea. Now space and cyberspace, in all possible theaters of military operations. Conceptually, operatively and technically, the ceiling for the use of nuclear weapons is being lowered. We see that a nuclear component is introduced in the scenarios of various exercises, this also causes our most serious concern.”

The diplomat also pointed to the complete degradation of the arms control system.

It all started with the fact that the United States withdrew from the ABM Treaty (Treaty on the Limitation of Anti-Ballistic Missile Systems). Then it did not allow NATO countries to ratify the agreement on adapting the CFE Treaty (Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe), which was intended to become the cornerstone of European security.

RIYADH, 13 January 2022, (TON): Members of the UAE’s security forces arrived in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday ahead of a joint tactical exercise with security agencies from the other Gulf Cooperation Council member states.

The Saudi Defense Ministry said “Arab Gulf Security 3 will take place this month in Dammam in the Eastern Province.”

Brig. Gen. Salem bin Abdullah Al-Habsi, a member of the Command and Control Committee, said the participants are prepared for the exercise, which aims to enhance coordination and field cooperation, and develop capabilities for dealing with crises and emergencies.

The Kingdom’s Ministry of Interior announced that its preparations for hosting the exercise had been completed. It was organized in accordance with a decision taken in 2020 during the 37th meeting of GCC interior ministers.

PARIS, 13 January 2022, (TON): France’s Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said “international negotiations on Iran’s nuclear activities are proceeding so slowly that they are unlikely to lead to any agreement “within a realistic timeframe.”

Le Drian told the French parliament “the discussions taking place in Vienna “are under way but from our point of view they are slow, too slow.”

He added “there is a vital urgency on this issue because of Iran’s own actions and the trajectory of its nuclear programme.”

Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman had said that efforts by all parties to revive his country’s 2015 nuclear agreement with world powers had resulted in good progress during the Vienna talks.

Negotiations to salvage the nuclear deal resumed in late November after they were suspended in June as Iran elected a new, ultraconservative government.

The 2015 deal — agreed by Iran, the US, China, Russia, Britain, France and Germany — offered Tehran sanctions relief in exchange for curbs on its nuclear programme.

NEW YORK, 13 January 2022, (TON): The US ambassador to the UN, said “the Houthi offensive in Marib is fueled by the illegal flow of weapons to the group from Iran, Linda Thomas-Greenfield.”

She told fellow members of the Security Council that “while we encourage peace, we must not be afraid to call out actions that obstruct it,” and that the escalation of violence by the Houthis “undermines the cause of peace.”

She added “just last month, the US Navy seized upwards of 1,400 assault rifles (and) 226,000 rounds of ammunition from a vessel originating from Iran.”

“This ship was on a route historically used to illegally smuggle weapons to the Houthis. The smuggling of arms from Iran to the Houthis represents a flagrant violation of the UN’s targeted arms embargo and is yet another example of how Iran’s destabilizing activity is prolonging the war in Yemen.”

Her comments came as council members condemned the continued Houthi aggression, the resultant deaths and displacements, the militia’s attacks on targets in Saudi Arabia, and its ongoing “acts of piracy” that endanger maritime security.

In his briefing to the council on the latest developments in the conflict Hans Grundberg, the UN’s special envoy for Yemen, reiterated that no long-term solution is “to be found on the battlefield,” and that the “warring parties can, should and, indeed, must talk even if they are not ready to put down their arms.”

KIEV, 13 January 2022, (TON): The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine approved an action plan for the implementation of the Communication Strategy on the country’s Euro-Atlantic integration for the period until 2025.

The corresponding decision was made by the government on Wednesday at a meeting.

The plan, in particular, provides for the creation of a special commission on coordination and implementation of the strategy, the formation of an analytical digest and its distribution among the embassies of the alliance member states and Ukrainian officials, training of civil servants on the topic of Euro-Atlantic integration.

The document also states that all state bodies, covering the NATO issue, should be guided by a “unified approach”.

In addition, the media and bloggers will be involved in covering alliance-related topics. The document contains a clause on the formation of a positive perception of the topic of Ukraine’s joining NATO in society. The NATO theme will also be present in schools.

The plans of the events stipulate the conduct of lessons and educational hours on the topic of NATO for schoolchildren. In August 2021, President of Ukraine Zelenskyy signed a decree “On a communication strategy on Ukraine’s Euro-Atlantic integration for the period until 2025.”