WASHINGTON, 06 June 2022, (TON): For some Afghans who were evacuated as their country fell to the Taliban last summer, the journey to the United States has stalled, and perhaps ended.

While more than 78,000 Afghans have arrived in the US for resettlement since August, the future for those who have been flagged for additional security vetting and diverted to Camp Bondsteel, in the small nation of Kosovo, remains up in the air.

The US won’t force the dozens there to return to Afghanistan, where they could face reprisals.

According to photos sent to Press “their frustration is growing. Some Afghans at the base, which has been shrouded in secrecy, took the unusual step this week of staging a protest, holding up signs with messages such as we want justice.”

KYIV, 06 June 2022, (TON): Russia struck Ukraine’s capital Kyiv with missiles early for the first time in more than a month, while Ukrainian officials said “a counter-attack on the main battlefield in the east had retaken half of the city of Sievierodonetsk.”

Dark smoke could be seen from many miles away after the attack on two outlying districts of Kyiv.

Ukraine said “the strike hit a rail car repair works; Moscow said it had destroyed tanks sent by Eastern European countries to Ukraine.”

At least one person was hospitalized though there were no immediate reports of deaths. The strike was a sudden reminder of war in a capital where normal life has largely returned since Russian forces were driven from its outskirts in March.

Ukrainian presidential adviser Mikhailo Podolyak tweeted “the Kremlin resorts to new insidious attacks. Today’s missile strikes at Kyiv have only one goal kill as many as possible.”

LAGOS, 06 June 2022, (TON): The government and police said “gunmen with explosives stormed a Catholic church and opened fire in southwest Nigeria, killing many worshippers and wounding others.”

The violence at St. Francis Catholic Church in Owo town in Ondo State erupted during the morning service in a rare attack in the southwest of Nigeria, where jihadists and criminal gangs operate in other regions.

Pope Francis said in a statement “he had learned of the death of dozens of faithful, many children, during the celebration of the Christian holiday of the Pentecost.

He said “while the details of the incident are being clarified, Pope Francis prays for the victims and for the country.”

No group claimed responsibility for the attack.

RIYADH, 06 June 2022, (TON): OIC’s secretary-general said “Mediation is of great importance to the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and the world is in dire need of it to resolve conflicts.”

Speaking at the fourth OIC conference on mediation titled “Experiences and Prospects,” Hissein Brahim Taha said member states have a strong commitment to resolving conflicts in a peaceful and lasting manner because 60 percent of the conflicts in the world occur in the OIC zone.

Taha said “this conference is being held at a critical juncture, and at a time when the world is in dire need of mediation, dialogue, and negotiations to resolve conflicts.”

He added “the OIC had succeeded in mediating conflicts in southern Philippines, southern Thailand, Sudan, Chad, and Afghanistan.”

SEOUL, 06 June 2022, (TON): A South Korea defense ministry official said “South Korea and the United States fired eight surface-to-surface missiles early on Monday off South Korea’s east coast after North Korea launched a barrage of short range ballistic missiles.”

The action is a demonstration of “the capability and readiness to carry out precision strike against the source of North Korea’s missile launches or the command and support centers, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency cited the South Korean military as saying.”

South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol, who took office last month, has vowed to take a tougher line against the North and agreed with US President Joe Biden at a May summit in Seoul to upgrade joint military drills and their combined deterrence posture.

Yonhap reported “the militaries of South Korea and the United States fired eight surface-to-surface missiles over a period of about 10 minutes starting 4:45 a.m. in response to the eight missiles fired by the North.”

BEIRUT, 06 June 2022, (TON): Lebanon warned Israel on Sunday against any aggressive action in disputed waters where both states hope to develop offshore energy, after a ship arrived off the coast to produce gas for Israel.

President Michel Aoun said “any activity in the disputed area would amount to an act of aggression and a provocation, after the arrival of the natural gas storage and production ship operated by London-based Energean.”

Israel says the field in question is within its exclusive economic zone, not in disputed waters.

But in a statement, the Lebanese presidency said “Aoun discussed with caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati the vessel’s entry into the disputed maritime area with Israel, and asked the Army Command to provide him with accurate and official data to build upon the matter.”

JEDDAH, 06 June 2022, (TON): Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Ministry, in cooperation with the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, hosted the Fourth OIC Conference on Mediation in Jeddah.

The two-day conference is being held in the Kingdom for the first time. The previous three rounds were held in Turkey.

Under the slogan “Experiences and Prospects,” the event was attended by the members of the diplomatic corps, heads of delegations and representatives of OIC member states.

The two-day conference includes five different sessions with more than 20 expert panelists in the field of mediation from around the world.

They will discuss various issues, including the role of the OIC and its member states in the field of mediation, partnerships with international and regional organizations, as well as mediation from a humanitarian perspective.

BEIJING, 06 June 2022, (TON): China launched a spacecraft carrying three astronauts to the Chinese space station, due to be completed by the end of the year, as construction entered a pivotal stage.

A live broadcast by state television showed “a Long March-2F rocket transporting the Shenzhou-14, or “Divine Vessel” in Chinese, blasted off from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China at 10:44 a.m.”

Construction of the space station began last year with the launch of the first and largest of its three modules Tianhe the living quarters of visiting astronauts.

The modules Wentian and Mengtian are to be launched in July and October, respectively, docking with Tianhe to form a T-shaped structure.

AMMAN, 06 June 2022, (TON): The Jordanian army said “two Jordanian pilots were killed on Sunday in a plane crash in northern Jordan during training exercises.”

The training plane crashed in empty land in the Ramtha area near the border with Syria, the army added in a statement.

It identified the dead pilots as Major Bilal Mashhour Ahmed Al-Shoufein and Captain Baha Muhammad Mustafa Abu Ghanmi.

MOSCOW, 06 June 2022, (TON): President Vladimir Putin warned the United States in an interview broadcast on Sunday that Russia would strike new targets if the West supplied longer-range missiles to Ukraine for use in high-precision mobile rocket systems.

The United States has ruled out sending its own or NATO forces to Ukraine but Washington and its European allies have supplied weapons to Kyiv such as drones, Howitzer heavy artillery, anti-aircraft Stinger and anti-tank Javelin missiles.

President Joe Biden last week said Washington would supply Ukraine with M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, or HIMARS, after he received assurances from Kyiv that it would not be used to target Russia.

Putin said “the arms shipments were nothing new and changed nothing but cautioned that there would be a response if the United States supplied longer-range munitions for the HIMARS systems which have a maximum range of up to 300 km (185 miles) or more.”