DUBAI, 11 February 2022, (TON): Britain’s Prince William embarked on his first official visit to the United Arab Emirates, where the future monarch is highlighting his passionate work around wildlife conservation and climate change.

The visit by Prince William marks a significant milestone in relations between the UK and the UAE. The prince has met with Dubai Crown Prince Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum at Expo 2020 Dubai site.

Queen Elizabeth II first visited the UAE as monarch in 1979, while Prince Charles’ last visit was in 2016.

There are more than 100,000 British citizens living in the UAE and more than 6,000 British companies operating in the country, according to the British Business Group in Dubai and Northern Emirates.

The Duke of Cambridge’s visit coincides with the UK’s national day at Expo 2020, the world’s fair taking place in Dubai.

Prince William has toured the $7 billion expo site and is expected to visit the UK pavilion, as well as discuss the importance of conservation efforts with young Emiratis, officials and conservationists.

One initiative close to Prince William’s heart is United for Wildlife, established in 2014 by the duke to help facilitate efforts to counter the trade in illegal wildlife.

WASHINGTON, 11 February 2022, (TON): US President Joe Biden and King Salman of Saudi Arabia discussed energy supplies in the face of soaring fuel prices and developments in the Middle East, including Iran and Yemen, in a telephone call.

The White House said in a statement "the two leaders committed to ensuring the stability of global energy supplies.”

Saudi state news agency SPA said “Salman, head of the largest crude exporter in the OPEC oil production group, spoke about maintaining balance and stability in the petroleum markets.”

He emphasised the need to maintain the supply agreement OPEC has with its allies including Russia, a group known as OPEC+.

Last week, OPEC+ agreed to stick to moderate rises in its oil output, with the group struggling to meet existing targets and wary of responding to calls on its strained capacity for more crude from top consumers to cap surging prices.

TIGRAY, 11 February 2022, (TON): Ethiopian security officers have been systematically extorting and abusing Tigrayan civilians held without charge, including minors and the elderly, since a wave of nationwide mass arrests began last year, according to alleged victims and their families.

Estimates say thousands of civilians have been rounded up since the conflict between rebels from the country’s northern Tigray region and Ethiopia’s national army began 15 months ago.

According to the UN “at least 1,000 Tigrayans, including United Nations staff, were arrested in two weeks in November 2021 in the capital Addis Ababa.”

According to victims and relatives of victims “the Ethiopian government says it only targets those suspected of supporting the rebels. But as profiling and detentions increased, so did the extortion of detainees by police and prison wardens.”

“We have become a commodity in prison,” said Kirubel, who spent up to seven months detained in an Addis Ababa facility until his family paid for his release.

“They slap a price on you. Then your loved ones have to find the money and buy your freedom.” Prison wardens, government prosecutors and officials from the local attorney general’s offices are among those alleged to have demanded exorbitant bribes for release.

WASHINGTON, 11 February 2022, (TON): With American consumers spending freely and many supply chains still snarled, year-over-year inflation may have notched yet another four-decade high in January.

The factors that have accelerated prices since last spring remain largely in place: Wages are rising at the fastest pace in at least 20 years.

Ports and warehouses are overwhelmed, with hundreds of workers at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, the nation’s busiest, out sick last month.

Many products and parts remain in short supply as a result. And reports indicate that the expiration of stimulus checks and other government aid has yet to slow Americans’ appetite for shopping.

Economists have forecast that when the Labour Department reports January’s inflation figures Thursday, it will show that consumer prices jumped 7.3 per cent compared with 12 months ago, according to data provider FactSet.

That would be up from a 7.1pc year-over-year pace in December and would mark the biggest such increase since February 1982.

At the same time, other figures could suggest that the price increases have begun to slow.

RIYADH, 11 February 2022, (TON): Officials said “twelve people were injured by falling debris when the Saudi military blew up a Yemeni rebel drone targeting an airport close to the border.”

Fragments fell to the ground after the interception of the drone over Abha International Airport, which has previously been targeted in similar assaults.

The Houthis claimed responsibility for the attack in a tweet, saying they had targeted an airport “used for military action against Yemen” and warning citizens to “stay away” from such sites.

The Houthis have been fighting a Saudi-led coalition since 2015 when Saudi Arabia led a group of other Middle East countries to intervene militarily in Yemen's civil war after the Yemen government was pushed from power by the Houthis.

Since then, some estimates say thousands have been killed, many of them civilians, in strikes by the Saudi coalition.

The Houthis have frequently launched drone attacks at targets in the kingdom, including airports and oil installations.

RIYADH, 11 February 2022, (TON): Saudi Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Adel Al-Jubeir met Ambassador of Greece to the Kingdom Alexis Konstantopoulos in Riyadh.

During the meeting, they reviewed the bilateral cooperation between the two countries, and the most prominent issues of common interest.

The meeting was attended by the director general of the European department, Sultan bin Khuzaim.

In a separate meeting, Al-Jubeir met Egypt’s Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Ahmed Farouk.

They likewise reviewed bilateral relations and the most prominent regional and international developments of common interest.

LONDON, 11 February 2022, (TON): Iran could have enough material to build a nuclear bomb within weeks, US senators have been warned in a closed-door meeting.

The assessment of Tehran’s nuclear capability highlights how Iran’s breakout timeline the time needed to produce enough enriched uranium for a bomb has continued to drop.

The warning came just after Iran announced that it had produced ballistic missiles capable of traveling 1,450 km and penetrating missile shields such as the US-manufactured Patriot system, used by Saudi Arabia, the UAE and other Middle Eastern countries. Iran now has the largest arsenal of ballistic missiles in the region.

Some have taken the news of Iran’s shortening breakout time as a new impetus for the US to conclude a deal with Tehran that would curb its nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief.

“I see no way to stop Iran’s progress other than re-entering this deal,” Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy, chair of the Foreign Relations Committee’s Middle East panel, told Politico.

“And I left the briefing more certain than ever that we better be serious about trying to get back into an agreement.”

KHARTOUM, 11 February 2022, (TON): Sudanese protesters marched in neighborhoods across the capital and the country in protest at October’s military coup and a wave of political detentions.

The takeover ended a partnership between the military and civilian political parties, drawing global condemnation and plunging Sudan into political and economic turmoil.

Protests organized by resistance committees have drawn hundreds of thousands of people, and at least 79 have been killed and more than 2,000 injured in crackdowns.

Hundreds of protesters diverged from planned routes to renew efforts to march on the presidential palace, but were met with tear gas and a heavy security presence a little more than a kilometer from their goal.

22-year-old university student Salah Hamid said “we will continue demonstrating in the streets until we bring down military rule and bring back democracy.”

Other protests took place across the Nile in the cities of Omdurman and Bahri, and farther away in Gadarif and Sennar.

WASHINGTON, 11 February 2022, (TON): The US said “it is committed to supporting Saudi Arabia in the defense of its people and territory after a Houthi attack on the Kingdom's Abha airport, in which 12 people were injured.”

President Joe Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, said “United States strongly condemns today’s terrorist attack.”

Noting that Houthi rebels had claimed responsibility for the drone, Sullivan said “Washington will work with our Saudi and international partners to hold them accountable.”

He added “America will have the backs of our friends in the region.”

The Coalition to Restore Legitimacy in Yemen said Saudi air defenses thwarted a cross-border attack at 12:05 p.m. that involved a booby-trapped drone launched by the Iran-backed Houthi militia in a deliberate attempt to target civilians at the airport.

Shrapnel rained down when the drone was intercepted and fell inside the airport grounds, coalition spokesman Brig. Gen. Turki Al-Maliki said, and part of a glass facade was damaged. Two Saudi citizens, four Bangladeshis, three Nepalese, an Indian, a Filipino, and a Sri Lankan were injured.

KABUL, 11 February 2022, (TON): The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) said he had met the health minister in the Taliban-led government in Afghanistan for talks on the dire health and humanitarian crisis in the country.

WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus revealed that he met Qalander Ebad for talks.

Ebad is part of a Taliban delegation visiting Geneva for a week of talks with institutions and non-governmental agencies on humanitarian access and human rights, as Afghanistan’s new rulers expand their international engagement.

The Taliban movement returned to power in Kabul in mid-August as the United States ended its 20-year war in Afghanistan.

Since then, Afghanistan has plunged into financial chaos, with inflation and unemployment surging, while the halting of aid and US sanctions has triggered a humanitarian crisis in a country already devastated by decades of war.

Tedros had already met Ebad during his visit to Kabul in September 2021 in the wake of the Taliban takeover.

Tedros said “despite some improvements since then, the health situation in Afghanistan is still dire and the acute humanitarian crisis is continuing to put lives at risk.”