CAIRO, 08 June 2022, (TON): Egypt’s Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry has called for economic integration between his country, Iraq and Jordan.

This would be of both economic and political benefit, he said during a press conference with his Iraqi and Jordanian counterparts in Baghdad.

He added “economic integration among us is important for … joint projects, and benefits the peoples of these countries in terms of providing job opportunities and advancing the economy.”

VIENNA, 08 June 2022, (TON): The United States blamed Iran for both sides’ failure so far to reach an agreement on reviving the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, saying Iran’s demands on sanctions-lifting were preventing progress.

“What we need is a willing partner in Iran.

A US statement to a meeting of the UN nuclear watchdog’s Board of Governors said “in particular, Iran would need to drop demands for sanctions lifting that clearly go beyond the JCPOA and that are now preventing us from concluding a deal.”

LONDON, 08 June 2022, (TON): US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Qatar’s foreign minister and discussed issues of concern including the challenges posed by Iran.

Blinken and Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani also discussed the importance of advancing towards a reality where Israelis and Palestinians alike can enjoy equal measures of security, freedom, and prosperity.

State Department Spokesperson Ned Price said “the importance of international support for Ukraine was also discussed.”

ANKARA, 08 June 2022, (TON): Turkey called on Greece to withdraw its armed forces from Aegean islands, warning that his country will challenge the status of the islands if it fails to demilitarize them.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said during a joint news conference with his North Macedonian counterpart “Greece has been building a military presence on the Aegean islands in violation of the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne and the 1947 Paris Treaty.”

He said “the islands were ceded to Greece on condition that they be kept demilitarized.”

He said “the agreements are there but Greece is violating them. It’s arming them. If Greece does not stop this violation, the sovereignty of the islands will be brought up for discussion.”

“It’s that clear. You will abide by the agreements.”

NEW YORK, 08 June 2022, (TON): US authorities moved to seize two luxury jets a $60 million Gulfstream and a $350 million aircraft believed to be one of the world’s most expensive private airplanes after linking both to Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich.

A federal magistrate judge signed a warrant authorizing the seizure of the Gulfstream and a Boeing jet that authorities said was worth less than $100 million before a lavish customization.

The action takes place just days after the United States announced new sanctions and penalties on Russian oligarchs and elites, Kremlin officials, businessmen linked to President Vladimir Putin and their yachts, aircraft and firms that manage them.

President Joe Biden promised after Russia’s February invasion of Ukraine to pursue Russian elites’ ill-gotten gains.

SEOUL, 08 June 2022, (TON): US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman warned of a forceful response if North Korea carries out its first nuclear test explosion in nearly five years as she traveled to Seoul to meet with South Korean and Japanese allies and discuss the escalating standoff.

US and South Korean officials have said “North Korea is all but ready to conduct another detonation at its nuclear testing ground in the northeastern town of Punggyeri, which last hosted a test in September 2017.

While the Biden administration has vowed to push for additional international sanctions if North Korea goes on with the nuclear test, the prospects for meaningful new punitive measures are unclear with the United Nations Security Council divided over Russia’s war on Ukraine.

Sherman said “any nuclear test would be in complete violation of UN Security Council resolutions. There would be a swift and forceful response to such a test.”

DUBAI, 08 June 2022, (TON): Japan State Minister for Foreign Affairs ODAWARA Kiyoshi held a meeting with Dr. Sultan Al Jaber, Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology, Special Envoy to Japan, CEO of Abu Dhabi National Oil Company.

Odawara expressed his intention to continue strengthening Japan-UAE cooperation in a range of fields, under the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Initiative.

The two countries will celebrate their 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations this year.

Al Jaber stated that the strategic partnership between Japan and the UAE is robust, and that he intends to deepen the coordination.

The two ministers exchanged views on cooperation on climate change the Joint Crediting Mechanism.

KYIV, 08 June 2022, (TON): Ukraine accused Russian forces of detaining some 600 people, mainly journalists and pro-Kyiv elements in the southern region of Kherson, which Moscow’s military now holds in its grip.

Tamila Tacheva, the Ukraine presidency’s permanent representative in the Crimea, said “according to our information, some 600 people are being held in specially converted basements in the region of Kherson.”

Tacheva said the bulk of those being held were journalists and militants who organized pro-Ukrainian gatherings in Kherson and the region around it after it was occupied by Russian forces in the wake of the invasion launched in late February.

Tacheva added without giving further details “according to our information, they are being held in inhuman conditions and are victims of torture.”

WARSAW, 08 June 2022, (TON): Some residents of the devastated Ukrainian city of Mariupol who managed to escape are saying they were given no choice but to travel to Russia in what the Kyiv government regards as deportations.

After spending weeks in a Mariupol basement and following the death of her father, who was killed in a rocket attack, Tetiana decided to leave her city to try to save her nine-year-old daughter.

With no mobile network or any possibility of communicating, she took advantage of a lull in the shelling to go to an assembly point arranged by pro-Russian authorities to find out about ways out.

There, she was told going to Russia was the only option.

LONDON, 08 June 2022, (TON): Greece’s prime minister said “his country has experienced an unprecedented barrage of Turkish violations of its airspace and is ready to defend its sovereignty and sovereign rights.”

Kyriakos Mitsotakis was quoted as saying by the Athens News Agency “we had an unprecedented barrage of overflights and a constant return to unthinkable assertions of supposedly reduced sovereignty of the Greek islands.”

He described the development as unpleasant because he thought that Greece and Turkey had found a framework for mutual understanding after he met with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

He said “Turkey’s provocative rhetoric can lead us nowhere.”