KYIV, 08 December 2022, (TON): Russian President Vladimir Putin has acknowledged that his army could be fighting in Ukraine for a long time, but for now there will be no second call-up of soldiers.

He said “Putin has rarely spoken about the likely duration of a war that he began more than nine months ago, and in a televised meeting with loyalists.”

Putin said “this can be a long process.”

Russia has been forced into a series of significant retreats in the face of Ukrainian counter-offensives, waged with increasing stocks of Western weaponry, in the east and south since July.

ANKARA, 08 December 2022, (TON): A new 400-bed hospital, built with €50 million of EU funding, opened to patients on Tuesday in the border city of Kilis in southeastern Turkiye.

The project, one of the largest funded by the EU, is part of the bloc’s continuing investment in health infrastructure in the country to improve medical services for Syrian refugees and their host communities.

It is managed by the Council of Europe Development Bank and the Turkish Ministry of Health.

Kilis is just a few miles from the border with Syria and often witnesses exchanges of artillery fire in the civil war that has devastated its neighbor. It previously had only one public hospital, which opened in 2007, to serve the needs of both the native and refugee population.

AMMAN, 08 December 2022, (TON): The foreign ministers of Jordan, Egypt and Iraq, Ayman Safadi, Sameh Shoukry and Fuad Hussein, met to discuss ways in which the strategic integration of their countries might be boosted through a trilateral cooperation mechanism.

They reportedly identified potential areas for cooperation in politics, economics, security and industry, and recommended that efforts continue to move forward toward signing agreements.

Safadi and Shoukry expressed the full support of their countries for stability and security in Iraq and congratulated the nation on the formation of its new government.

RIYADH, 08 December 2022, (TON): According to Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan “three summits due to take place in Riyadh in the coming days reflect the shared determination of the Kingdom, the other Gulf Cooperation Council nations and the wider Arab world to strengthen cooperation and enhance strategic relations with China in pursuit of greater growth and prosperity for all of the countries and their peoples.”

He said “the relations between the Kingdom and China are strategic and close in light of the international developments and changes taking place.”

The Saudi Press Agency reported “he added that the bilateral relationship is characterized by friendship, mutual trust, cooperation and continuous coordination.”

BEIJING, 08 December 2022, (TON): Pakistan will benefit from stronger Saudi-China relations, experts said on Wednesday, as the visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping to the Kingdom was expected to bring in more investment to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor project.

Xi arrived in Riyadh on Wednesday for a three-day visit aimed at bolstering trade ties and expected to lead to a strategic agreement between the regional powers.

The Chinese leader was due to meet Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and other heads of state from Gulf Arab nations when Saudi Arabia hosts China-Gulf and China-Arab summits in its capital.

DHAKA, 08 December 2022, (TON): The United States is likely to start taking forcibly displaced Rohingyas from Bangladesh to its territory with a few numbers.

Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen told media "in the first phase, they have listed about 62 Rohingyas among them, they are likely to take a few Rohingyas on December 8.”

He made the comment after his meeting with visiting US Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration Julieta Valls Noyes at Foreign Service Academy here.

LIMA, 08 December 2022, (TON): Peru’s Congress swore in a new president on Wednesday in a day of sweeping political drama that saw the former leader, Pedro Castillo, ousted in an impeachment trial hours after he attempted a last-ditch bid to stay in power by trying to dissolve Congress.

Ignoring Castillo’s attempt to shut down the legislature by decree, lawmakers moved ahead with the previously planned impeachment trial, with 101 votes in favor of removing him, six against and 10 abstentions.

The result was announced with loud cheers, and the legislature called Vice President Dina Boluarte to take office.

LONDON, 08 December 2022, (TON): The UN General Assembly adopted four draft resolutions intended to strengthen its relief system, which it noted is struggling to assist nearly 400 million people facing severe crises around the globe.

One of the resolutions focuses on “Assistance to the Palestinian People.”

It underscores the importance of emergency and humanitarian assistance in the Gaza Strip, and the need to move forward with reconstruction efforts.

It urges the international community to provide urgently needed assistance and services to alleviate the difficult humanitarian situation confronting Palestinian women, children and families, and to assist in the reconstruction and development of Palestinian institutions.

AL-MUKALLA, 08 December 2022, (TON): Yemen’s central bank has frozen the assets and accounts of 12 business groups and traders for supporting or having connections with the Iran-backed Houthis.

The move was part of a list of measures approved by the internationally recognized government of Yemen to punish the militia for attacks on oil installations.

Ahmed Ahmed Ghaleb, head of the Aden-based central bank, has formally instructed local exchange firms to close the accounts of the 12 oil and trade organizations and businesspeople and cease doing business with them.

The governor said “you must freeze all accounts, prohibit commercial and financial activities with the aforementioned persons and organizations, and add them to your blacklists.”

DHAKA, 08 December 2022, (TON): UN Resident Coordinator in Bangladesh Gwyn Lewis said “they remind Bangladesh of its commitments, as a UN member state, to free expression, media freedom, and peaceful assembly among others written in the Declaration as the country is coming closer to its national election next year.”

She said in a media statement "we reaffirm the UN's full support to Bangladesh in upholding its commitments.”

Gwyn Lewis said "ours is a shared humanity rooted in universal values. A threat to the rights of one person is a threat to the whole of society."