ALGIERS, 06 December 2022, (TON): Jordan’s King Abdullah II and Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune have launched a new phase of bilateral relations.

Jordan News Agency reported “the leaders held talks on Sunday in Algiers to discuss boosting Jordanian-Algerian cooperation in politics, economics, trade, investment, and defense.”

The meeting, which was attended by senior officials from both sides, also affirmed interest in maintaining coordination and consultation on Arab causes and other issues of mutual concern.

KYIV, 06 December 2022, (TON): Ukraine accused Russia of destroying homes in the southeast and knocking out power in many areas with a new volley of missiles, while Moscow said Ukrainian drones had attacked two air bases deep inside Russia hundreds of kilometres from the front lines.

A new missile barrage had been anticipated in Ukraine for days, and it took place just as emergency blackouts were due to end, with previous damage repaired. The strikes plunged parts of Ukraine back into freezing darkness with temperatures now firmly below zero Celsius.

At least four people were killed in the Russian attacks, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, adding that most of some 70 missiles were shot down.

He said “energy workers had already begun work on restoring power supplies.”

DHAKA, 06 December 2022, (TON): Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has said “her government prioritised the procurement of state-of-the-art weapons and military hardware to strengthen the armed forces of Bangladesh.”

She said while "we are working to make the armed forces professional and strong as envisioned by the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. We have added new composite and para commando brigades to the army and collected modern weaponry for every force.”

Hasina said “her government is implementing the ‘Forces Goal 2030’ to build a time-befitting technology knowledge-based military force.”

HAMBURG, 06 December 2022, (TON): There is no prospect of a negotiated end to the war in Ukraine, according to Irina Scherbakova, one of the co-founders of the Nobel Peace Prize-winning Russian rights organisation Memorial.

Scherbakova said in Hamburg, Germany “I am absolutely convinced that there is not a diplomatic solution with Putin’s regime, so long as it is still there.”

Her comments came as she was presented with another award for her years of work cataloguing Stalinist-era crimes and campaigning on rights issues in her home country.

DHAKA, 06 December 2022, (TON): Japan, an important development partner of Bangladesh, expects all parties to join the next general elections in Bangladesh to be held in December 2023 or January 2024.

information minister Hasan Mahmud told “Japan being our development partner wants political stability here. They  expect all political parties to join the next polls.”

Hasan Mahmud said that they had discussed  issues relating to the bilateral relations between the two countries and development projects being implemented with assistances from Japan.

The information minister said “we also discussed that the politics of denial and confrontation should come to an end. He agreed with me that these are creating obstacles to the country’s development.”

JAKARTA, 06 December 2022, (TON): Rescuers evacuated more people from nearby villages after the eruption of Indonesia's Mount Semeru, with officials warning of danger from cooling lava despite less activity from the volcano.

More than 2,400 villagers have now fled their homes and taken shelter in 11 evacuation centres after the highest mountain on the country's main island of Java erupted.

“The military, police, local disaster and village officials keep evacuating people in Curah Kobokan where the hot ash cloud and cold lava might travel,” Abdul Muhari, a spokesman for Indonesia's disaster mitigation agency, told local television.

WASHINGTON, 06 December 2022, (TON): As speculation mounted this past February about a possible Russian invasion of Ukraine, Olena Galushko felt a pull to leave her country.

On February 23, just one day before the war erupted, Galushko packed three suitcases, gathered her family, and left their home in the Ukrainian city of Bucha. Galushko travelled with her three children – aged five, 10 and 14 – and her mother and her husband to Poland.

That unexpected road trip was the start of a physically and emotionally draining voyage for Galushko and her family, as they began new lives as refugees.

Today, they are starting fresh in the US state of California.

CAIRO, 06 December 2022, (TON): An Egyptian-Sudanese military training exercise has got underway at the border guard training fields complex in Egypt.

The Guardian of the South-2 joint drill which will continue for several days is one of a number of exercises that have been conducted by the two nations’ armed forces.

Egyptian military spokesman Gharib Abdel-Hafez said that elements of Egypt’s border guard and Sudan’s infantry would be taking part in the training focused on border security tasks.

RAMALLAH, 06 December 2022, (TON): A 22-year-old Palestinian man was killed by Israeli gunfire during a military raid in the occupied West Bank.

Omar Manna “Faraja” was killed in Bethlehem Dheisheh refugee camp after being hit by four bullets in the chest.

Another six people were injured, and four were arrested during the Israeli operation.

Troops stormed the refugee camp, sparking violent clashes with youths, official Palestinian sources said.

LONDON, 06 December 2022, (TON): A blanket ban on asylum seekers from countries designated by the UK as being safe places to live is proposed by British Home Secretary Suella Braverman.

Under plans to tackle what the UK government describes as a “migrant crisis,” she is said to be drawing up legislation that will make it easier to automatically reject and expel asylum seekers from such countries whether or not their claims are “unfounded.”

Experts said the move is designed primarily to target Albanian migrants. More than 12,000 have arrived in the UK on small boats this year, representing about a quarter of all such Channel crossings.

Under the new legislation, the report added, countries would be designated as safe based on the rules that already apply to an existing Home Office white list.