WASHINGTON, 05 January 2022, (TON): The U.S. government says “it charged one of the main suspects in the killing of Haitian president Jovenel Moïse as it unsealed a complaint that revealed federal authorities had interviewed several months ago while he was hiding in Jamaica.”

The U.S. government announced that it charged one of the main suspects in the killing of Haitian president Jovenel Moïse as it unsealed a complaint that revealed federal authorities had interviewed him several months ago while he was hiding in Jamaica.

Mario Antonio Palacios Palacios, a 43-year-old former Colombian soldier, is charged with conspiracy to commit murder or kidnapping outside the United States and with providing material support resulting in death, knowing or intending that such material support would be used to prepare for or carry out the conspiracy to kill or kidnap.

He appeared at a federal court in Miami on Tuesday afternoon but did not enter a plea. Palacios, who was wearing jeans and a gray T-shirt and had his hands and feet shackled, told the judge he wanted to be appointed an attorney.

After responding to questions related to his income and property, including that he owned a house in Cali, Colombia, and received a nearly $370 army pension, he was granted counsel based on limited income.

RIYADH, 05 January 2022, (TON): The Arab coalition said “it intercepted and destroyed a drone in Yemen’s airspace that was launched by the Houthi militia toward Saudi Arabia, state TV reported.”

The coalition said the drone was launched from the capital, Sanaa, to target civilians in the Kingdom.

It added in a statement “attempts to target civilians require an immediate response to deal with the sources of the threat.”

The Houthi militia have been launching near daily cross border attacks against Saudi Arabia, most of which are intercepted by the Kingdom’s defenses or coalition forces.

The attacks have been widely condemned by the international community.

MOSCOW, 05 January 2022, (TON): Deputy Foreign Minister of Russia Alexander Grushko told media that he will represent the Russian diplomatic service at the upcoming meeting of the Russia-NATO Council on January 12 in Brussels.

He said, answering a relevant question “the delegation consists of representatives of the Foreign Ministry and the military. I will head the Foreign Ministry unit.”

According to Grushko, NATO, having announced its intention to hold an emergency videoconference of foreign ministers on the eve of the meeting of the Russia-NATO Council, is trying to raise tensions around the internal Ukrainian conflict.

He said “we expect such steps from the alliance. Usually the NRC (the Russia-NATO Council – TASS note) was always preceded by either a meeting of the Ukraine-NATO commission or a meeting of the North Atlantic Council. These are some signals that NATO sends us that they are concerned about alleged concentration of Russian forces.”

“This all fits into their line aimed at increasing tensions around the internal Ukrainian crisis, the line of positioning Russia as a party to the conflict. There is nothing surprising here.”

Earlier, the alliance re-ported that NATO foreign ministers would hold an emergency videoconference on January 7 to discuss Russia’s demands on European security.

LONDON, 05 January 2022, (TON): The State Department said “US Secretary of State Antony Blinken held phone calls with his Saudi and Emirati counterparts to discuss Russia’s military buildup near Ukraine’s border.”

Blinken spoke separately with Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan and UAE Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed, where they also discussed a number of bilateral and regional issues and developments, including Yemen, Ethiopia and Sudan.

Saudi Press Agency reported “Prince Faisal and Blinken spoke about ways of developing areas of cooperation and joint coordination, strengthening security and stability in the Middle East, and regional and international efforts to lay the foundations for peace made by the two countries.”

MOSCOW, 05 January 2022, (TON): According to the Russian Foreign Ministry “Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and the head of the Indian Foreign Subramaniam Dzhayshankar by phone discussed practical issues of bilateral cooperation and reaffirmed their disposition to strengthen relations in the economy, nuclear energy, space and health.”

It is clarified that the telephone conversation to-ok place at the initiative of the Indian side.

The message said “practical issues of bilateral cooperation in the development of the results of the Russian-Indian summit in New Delhi on December 6, 2021 were discussed . The intention was confirmed to consistently strengthen relations of a particularly privileged strategic partnership between the two states in the spheres of economy and investment, nuclear energy, space, high technologies, healthcare.”

PARIS, 05 January 2022, (TON): The French Foreign Ministry condemned the shelling in the Idlib zone and called for an immediate de-escalation of the situation.

This was announced to reporters by an official representative of the country’s foreign ministry, commenting on the situation in Syria.

He said “France condemns renewed attacks in the Idlib zone, especially aimed at humanitarian infrastructure.”

The French diplomat argued that the ongoing attacks by the Syrian regime “are aimed at civilian infrastructure and are being carried out in violation of international humanitarian law.”

According to the Foreign Ministry spokesman, Paris “calls for an immediate de-escalation in Idlib, ensuring the protection of civilians and personnel of humanitarian organizations in accordance with international legal norms.”

ccording to the Russian military, over the past day in the Idlib de-escalation zone, one shelling was recorded from the positions of the terrorist group Jebhat al-Nusra banned in the Russian Federation.

WARSAW, 05 January 2022, (TON): The Polish Border Guard has signed three contracts with contractors for the construction of a fence on the border with Belarus. This was stated at a briefing by the Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs of Poland, Maciej Wonsik.

The said “today the border guards signed agreements.”

He stressed that three major agreements on the construction of the fence have been signed.

According to him, the length of the fence will be 186 km. Construction will be carried out simultaneously on four sites. It will take 50 tons of steel.

Poland announced plans to build a five-meter fence equipped with modern surveillance equipment on the border with Belarus, amid the migration crisis. For this project, almost 1.5 billion zlotys (over $ 370 million) will be allocated from the Polish budget.

The total length of the Polish-Belarusian border is 418 km. Most of it runs along the Bug River.

The crisis on the borders of Belarus with Latvia, Lithuania and Poland, where migrants have rushed since the beginning of last year, sharply escalated on November 8.

KABUL, 05 January 2022, (TON): Islamic Emirate send a delegation to assess social, economic and security situation in western Herat province.

The delegation after assessing and talking with elders of Herat, Farah, Nimroz, Badghis and Ghor province identify their problems and take action to resolve them.

Mullah Fazal Akhund and Haji Najibullah deputies of ministry of defense and general directorate of intelligence are includes of the delegation.

Deputy of general intelligence in a meeting with elders and local officials of west of the country said, purification of Islamic Emirate ranks from suspicious, coordination among security organs and solving social problems of the people is the main aims of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.

KABUL, 05 January 2022, (TON): Dozens of Afghan media officials from across the country, especially those from radio stations, gathered in Kabul and shared their concerns over financial problems and restrictions in accessing information from Islamic Emirate officials.

The media officials said “economic problems, the restrictions in accessing information, and restrictions against women reporters are the main challenges they are facing right now.”

According to the local media officials, in the past four months, many radio stations have ceased operating in different provinces of the country because of the mentioned problems.

Zahid Engar, head of Radio Sulh-e-Paygham said “our income is low, but our expenditures are high.”

The media officials also said in some provinces female reporters do not appear on duty because of the restrictions.

Kamila Sahar, owner of Rayhan Radio and TV station in Takhar province said “in Takhar province we are facing financial challenges and we also cannot have female reporters at our outlet.”

Ibrahim Mohammadi, an official of a local radio station in Farah said “in Farah province, reporters are not permitted to visit the security department (officials) or the provincial governor unless they have been granted permission by the information and culture department.”

The media professionals and officials at the end of their gathering read out a statement listing their problems and demands and called on the Islamic Emirate to address them.

NEW DELHI, 05 January 2022, (TON): Around 10,000 security personnel have been deployed in Punjab's Ferozepur district ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit, which is being opposed by some farmer unions.

PM Modi is visiting Punjab after a gap of two years and set to lay foundation stones of projects worth ₹ 42,750 crore.

Some farmer unions are demanding from the government to bring a law to guarantee the minimum support price (MSP) and withdraw police cases against farmers, who protested the Centre's farm laws.

Additional Director General of Police G Nageswara Rao said “adequate security arrangements have been made ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Punjab's Ferozepur.”

Officials said “around 10,000 security personnel will be deployed in the border district in the wake of the PM's visit.”