DOHA, 26 June 2022, (TON): Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani arrived in Cairo on an official visit to meet Egypt’s President.

El-Sisi's office said “Abdel Fattah El-Sisi welcomed the emir at Cairo airport on his first visit in seven years.”

Local media reported “the two leaders are expected to discuss on Saturday key regional issues ahead of President Joe Biden’s anticipated trip to the Middle East next month and on ways to further improve diplomatic and economic relations.”

The emir's visit came less than two months after his government announced that it would invest $5 billion in Egypt, another lifeline to the country's economy which has been dealt a blow amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

By TON Maldives Desk

A city is in offing from the waters of the Indian Ocean in a turquoise lagoon, just 10 minutes by boat from Male, the Maldivian capital, a floating city, big enough to house 20,000 people, is being constructed. Designed in a pattern similar to brain coral, the city will consist of 5,000 floating units including houses, restaurants, shops and schools, with canals running in between.

The launched floating city is a combined venture between the government of the Maldives and property developer Dutch Docklands. "A floating city will look accurately the same like normal cities and so with grimy roads, beautiful, lively houses.

The first units will be unveiled this month, with residents starting to move after the completion of whole city in future. The project is a joint venture between property developer Dutch Docklands and the Government of the Maldives is meant for futuristic vision. It's being built as a practical solution to the harsh reality of sea-level rise.

An archipelago of 1,190 low-lying islands, the Maldives is one of the world's most vulnerable nations to climate change. Eighty percent of its land area is less than one meter above sea level, and with levels projected to rise up to a meter by the end of the century, almost the entire country could be submerged.

However, if a city floats on water it could rise with the sea. According to founder of Water studio this is "new courage" for more than half a million people. It can prove that there is affordable housing, large communities, and normal towns on the water that are also safe. Through this way, the (Maldivians) will go from climate refugees to climate innovators.

In 2003, Olthuis founded Water studio, an architecture firm dedicated entirely to build on water. The biggest problem is space. As cities are expanding and appropriate property for new urban development are running out and the need to build on water is the need of hour in some places like Maldives.

However in recent years, climate change has become "a facilitator," driving floating architecture towards the mainstream. Over the last two decades, Water studio has designed more than 300 floating homes, offices, schools and health care centers around the world.

The Netherlands has become a epicenter for the movement, a home to floating parks, a floating dairy farm, and a floating office building, which helps as the headquarters for the Global Center on Adaptation (GCA), an organization focused on scaling climate adaptation solutions. The cost of not adapting to these flood risks is extraordinary. Floating offices and floating buildings are part of this planning to counter the climate of the future.

Despite getting momentum in recent years, floating construction still has a long way to go in terms of scale and affordability. The Maldives project aims to achieve both, constructing a city for 20,000 people in less than five years. Other plans for floating cities have been launched, such as Oceanic City in Busan, South Korea, and a series of floating islands on the Baltic Sea developed by Dutch company Blue21, but none compete with this scale and timeframe.

Water studio’s city is designed to attract local people with its rainbow-colored homes, wide balconies and seafront views. Residents will get around on boats, or they can walk, cycle or drive electronic scooters or carts along the sandy streets.

The capital of the Maldives is hugely overcrowded, with no room to expand besides into the sea. It offers space that is hard to come by in the capital. Male is one of the most densely-populated cities in the world, with more than 200,000 people squeezed into an area of around eight square kilometers. And prices are competitive with those in the Hulhumalé (a manmade island built nearby to ease overcrowding) starting at $150,000 for a studio or $250,000 for a family home.

The segmental units will be constructed in a local shipyard, then towed to the floating city. Once the floating city is operationalized, it will attached a large of people to underwater concrete hull. peach reefs that surround the city will help to provide a natural wave breaker, stabilizing it and preventing inhabitants from feeling seasick.

The potential environmental impact of the structure will be thoroughly assessed by local peach experts and approved by government authorities before construction began. To support the marine life, artificial coral banks made from glass foam are connected to the underside of the city, which will help stimulate coral to grow naturally.

The aim is for the city to be self-sufficient and have all the same functions as one on land. There will be energy, powered mainly by solar generated on site, and sewage will be treated locally as feed for plants.

As an alternative to air conditioning, the city will use deep water sea cooling, which involves pumping cold water from the deep sea into the lagoon, helping to save energy. By developing a fully functioning floating city in the Maldives it will be solution of climate change and urbanization, that's both practical and affordable.

DHAKA, 26 June 2022, (TON): Foreign Minister Dr. A K Abdul Momen called for strengthening free mobility of trade and investment and human resources and introducing a visa-free Commonwealth regime.

A foreign ministry press release said “he made the call during the 26th Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting at the Rwandan capital Kigali.”

Rwanda President Paul Kagame officially welcomed more than thirty Heads of States, Foreign Ministers and delegates to this year's CHOGM taking place from 24-25 June in Rwanda under the theme "Delivering a Common Future: Connecting, Innovating, Transforming."

The Commonwealth leaders discussed building more partnerships among Commonwealth countries in areas including sustainable and inclusive development, governance, and rule of law, post-covid recovery, youth technology, and innovation.

DHAKA, 26 June 2022, (TON): Padma Bridge will be open for vehicular movement from 6am on Sunday.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina unveiled the plaque of the 6.15km Padma Bridge on Saturday at Mawa end in Munsiganj at a colourful ceremony where thousands of distinguished guests, including foreign diplomats, were present.

The premier paid toll as the first traveller and enjoyed an aerial show staged by the Bangladesh Air Force turning the skyline above the Padma Bridge into a virtual rainbow at the midpoint of the bridge.

Later, the enthusiastic people gathered at the bridge site were allowed to walk along the bridge of their long-cherished dream for the first as well as the last time, since the structure is prohibited for the walking people beyond the viaduct point due to security reasons.

KYIV, 26 June 2022, (TON): Russian forces fully occupied the eastern Ukrainian city of Sievierodonetsk, both sides said, “confirming Kyiv’s biggest battlefield setback for more than a month following weeks of some of the war’s bloodiest fighting.”

Ukraine called its retreat from the city a tactical withdrawal to fight from higher ground in Lysychansk on the opposite bank of the Siverskyi Donets river.

Pro-Russian separatists said Moscow’s forces were now attacking Lysychansk.

The fall of Sievierodonetsk once home to more than 100,000 people but now a wasteland was Russia’s biggest victory since capturing the port of Mariupol last month.

It transforms the battlefield in the east after weeks in which Moscow’s huge advantage in firepower had yielded only slow gains.

BERLIN, 26 June 2022, (TON): German Chancellor Olaf Scholz welcomes leaders of the Group of Seven rich democracies to a three-day summit in the Bavarian Alps overshadowed by the war in Ukraine and its far-reaching consequences, from energy shortages to a food crisis.

The summit takes place against a darker backdrop than last year when the British, Canadian, French, German, Italian, Japanese and US leaders met for the first time since before the pandemic and vowed to build back better.

Soaring global energy and food prices are hitting economic growth in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The United Nations warned on Friday of an “unprecedented global hunger crisis.”

Climate change, an increasingly assertive China and the rise of authoritarianism are also set to be on the agenda.

JEDDAH, 26 June 2022, (TON): State media reported that Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi held talks in Jeddah, during which they reviewed the bilateral relations between the two brotherly countries and areas of joint cooperation.”

According to the Saudi Press Agency “the two leaders also exchanged views on a number of issues, which contribute to supporting and strengthening security and stability in the region.”

Al-Kadhimi and his delegation was welcomed on their arrival at Jeddah's King Abdulaziz International Airport late on Saturday by the crown prince and other members of the Saudi delegation.

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman welcomes Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi (L) in Jeddah.

DHAKA, 26 June 2022, (TON): Bangladesh missions abroad have celebrated the grand inauguration of the long-cherished Padma Multipurpose Bridge through different programmes with much enthusiasm.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina opened the much-anticipated 6.15km Padma Bridge.

The Embassy of Bangladesh in Washington DC, the Embassy of Bangladesh in Hanoi, Vietnam, the Deputy High Commission of Bangladesh, Mumbai, India, Bangladesh High Commission in Islamabad, Pakistan, Bangladesh Embassy in Rome, Italy, Bangladesh Embassy in Tokyo.

The messages said “the programs included reading out the messages of the president and the prime minister, offering special prayers seeking eternal peace of the departed soul of Father of Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and for the prosperity and welfare of the country, cutting cakes, screening videos on Padma Bridge and holding discussions.”

DHAKA, 26 June 2022, (TON): World Bank countrydirector for Bangladesh and Bhutan, Mercy Miyang Tembon, said “the World Bank was happy with the opening of the Padma Bridge.”

She said while talking to reporters “we are happy that the bridge is completed. We are happy that Bangladesh is going to be benefited from this bridge.”

Tembon said “the World Bank was one of the biggest development partners of Bangladesh.”

She said “we recognise the impotence of this bridge.”

She added that the bridge would bring economic benefit to the people of Bangladesh by creating jobs and reducing travel time.

DHAKA, 26 June 2022, (TON): US president Joe Biden has been invited to visit Bangladesh.

Bangladesh’s ambassador to the United States, M Shahidul Islam, has met the US president at the White House and conveyed prime minister Sheikh Hasina’s invitation to president Biden.

During the meeting, Biden said that Bangladesh was an important country.

The Bangladesh ambassador said “honoured to have an audience with the US president in the Oval Office.”