WASHINGTON, 21 June 2022, (TON): The local police chief said “a 15-year-old boy was killed and three other people, including a police officer, were wounded in a shooting after a concert in Washington Sunday night.”

The shooting was preceded by two other incidents which caused panic at the unpermitted ‘Moechella’ concert celebrating Juneteenth, with several people injured while running away, DC police chief Robert Contee told reporters.

Contee said “Police then shut down the sidewalk concert on safety grounds but shortly afterwards, despite a heavy police presence, the shooting occurred nearby in which the boy was killed.”

He said “unfortunately things like this can happen when you have the wrong mix of people, or people who introduce firearms into a situation.”

RIYADH, 21 June 2022, (TON): The Saudi-Indonesian Parliamentary Friendship Committee of the Shoura Council has held a meeting in Riyadh.

The meeting was chaired by Osamah bin Abdulaziz Al-Rabeeah, member of the council and head of the committee, with Abdulaziz Ahmad, Indonesian ambassador to Saudi Arabia.

The head of the committee praised the relations between the two countries in all fields, mainly those related to the parliamentary work between the Shoura Council and the Indonesian People’s Consultative Assembly, stressing ways to further enhance ties.

JEDDAH, 21 June 2022, (TON): Israel is building a US-backed regional air defense alliance that has already foiled Iranian attacks, Defense Minister Benny Gantz revealed.

Gantz said “the program would strengthen the cooperation between Israel and countries in the region.”

He hoped to move it forward during Joe Biden’s visit next month. The US president is visiting the region from July 13-16, with stops in the occupied West Bank, Israel and Saudi Arabia.

Gantz said “the defense alliance was already operative and has already enabled the successful interception of Iranian attempts to attack Israel and other countries.”

As tensions mount over Tehran’s nuclear program, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Israel and parts of Iraq have been hit by drone and missile strikes by Iranian-backed militias.

CAIRO, 21 June 2022, (TON): “Rival Libyan factions failed to reach an agreement after wrapping up a third round of U.N.-mediated talks in Egypt” the United Nations said, further complicating international efforts to find a way out of the country’s decade-old chaos.

According to the U.N. special adviser on Libya, Stephanie Williams “lawmakers from Libya’s east-based parliament and the High Council of State, based in the capital of Tripoli in the country’s west, concluded their final round of negotiations on constitutional amendments for elections in Cairo without a breakthrough.”

The talks, which stared on June 12, had sought to establish a constitutional framework for elections in Libya, but the two sides failed to agree on the measures governing the transitional period leading to the vote, William said in a statement.

She called on Aguila Saleh, the influential parliament speaker, and Khaled al-Meshri, head of the Tripoli-based council to convene within 10 days to try and bridge the gaps between the two sides. She did not elaborate.

RIYADH, 21 June 2022, (TON): Bloomberg reported “Germany is bringing back coal plants and providing funds to secure gas for the winter as it seeks to counter the impact of Russian supply cuts.”

The measures taken by the European country would cost it around €15 billion.

The move will hamper Berlin’s climate efforts, which earlier sought to eliminate coal completely by 2030 from its energy mix.

DHAKA, 21 June 2022, (TON): “The inauguration of the Padma Bridge is going to be an unforgettable moment for the country's development” says Ambassador and Head of Delegation of the European Union to Bangladesh Charles Whiteley.

In a message on Monday, the EU envoy conveyed warmest congratulations to Bangladesh on the momentous occasion of the opening of the Padma Bridge on the 25th of June.

He said “the Padma Bridge will add over 1.2% to the GDP of the country.”

Ambassador Whiteley said “we look forward to using the bridge ourselves and to seeing what it does to facilitate people to people, family and commercial links. Congratulations, Bangladesh.”

DHAKA, 21 June 2022, (TON): Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina today said her government is mobilising every possible support to reduce sufferings of the flood affected people, apprehending that the ongoing flooding might be continued till September next.

She told Japanese Ambassador in Dhaka "the government is arranging everything to reduce sufferings of the flood affected people.”

PM's Press Secretary Ihsanul Karim briefed newsmen after the meeting.

The premier said "this time the fury of the flood is little bit higher. It may continue till September."

She added “but we have to live with the nature.”

The Japanese Ambassador said that today is the World Refugee Day and Japan wants early repatriation of the Rohingya refugees.

KYIV, 21 June 2022, (TON): Ukraine acknowledged difficulties in fighting in the east of the country as Russian forces captured territory along a frontline river and intensified pressure on two key cities ahead of an EU summit expected to welcome Kyiv’s bid to join the bloc.

The governor of the Luhansk region, scene of the heaviest Russian onslaughts in recent weeks, said the situation was extremely difficult along the entire front line there and the Russian army had gathered sufficient reserves to begin a large-scale offensive.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had predicted Moscow would escalate attacks ahead of the EU summit on Thursday and Friday. In his customary nighttime address to the nation, he was defiant, while also referring to difficult fighting in Luhansk for Sievierodonetsk and its sister city Lysychansk.

He said “we are defending Lysychansk, Sievierodonetsk, this whole area, the most difficult one. We have the most difficult fighting there.”

“But we have our strong guys and girls there.”

Luhansk governor Serhiy Gaidai said Russian forces controlled most of Sievierodonetsk, apart from the Azot chemical plant, where hundreds of civilians have been sheltering for weeks, and said “the road connecting Sievierodonetsk and its sister city Lysychansk to the city of Bakhmut was under constant shell fire.”

RIYADH, 21 June 2022, (TON): The minister of state for foreign affairs, Cabinet member, and climate affairs envoy, Adel Al-Jubeir, received the Belgian ambassador to the Kingdom, Dominique Mineur, in Riyadh.

Mineur made her farewell to Al-Jubeir to mark the end of her tenure as her country’s ambassador to the Kingdom.

The minister said that he valued the good efforts made by ambassador Mineur in strengthening ties between the two countries, wishing her every success.

RIYADH, 21 June 2022, (TON): The minister of state for foreign affairs, Cabinet member, and climate affairs envoy, Adel Al-Jubeir, received the Belgian ambassador to the Kingdom, Dominique Mineur, in Riyadh.

Mineur made her farewell to Al-Jubeir to mark the end of her tenure as her country’s ambassador to the Kingdom.

The minister said that he valued the good efforts made by ambassador Mineur in strengthening ties between the two countries, wishing her every success.