DHAKA, 03 June 2022, (TON): China has urged Bangladesh to uphold independence and reject the Cold War mentality and bloc politics.

According to a June 2 press release “the remarks were made by Liu Jinsong, the director general of the Department of Asian Affairs of the Foreign Ministry of China when Bangladeshi ambassador to China Mahbub Uz Zaman met him.”

Liu Jinsong’s comment came a year after China's Ambassador to Bangladeshi Li Jiming’s urge to Bangladesh not to join the Quad alliance, an alliance comprising India, the United State, Japan and Australia.

The June 2 release of Chinese foreign ministry quoted Liu Jinsong as saying “the release ‘China believes that countries in the region, including Bangladesh, will bear in mind the fundamental interests of their own countries and the region, uphold independence, reject the Cold War mentality and bloc politics, safeguard true multilateralism and defend the hard-won environment for peace and development in the region.”

NEW YORK, 02 June 2022, (TON): The UN welcomed the resumption of commercial flights from Sanaa airport in Yemen to Egypt.

But Stephane Dujarric, the spokesperson for Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, warned that the humanitarian situation in the war-ravaged country remains dire, as he called on donors to pledge and to convert the pledges into cash.

The first flight to Cairo, under the terms of a UN-brokered two-month truce, took off on Wednesday morning. It was the seventh international flight overall to depart from Sanaa during the truce, which is due to expire on June 2.

Intensive efforts by Hans Grundberg, the secretary-general’s envoy for Yemen, continue as he attempts to persuade all sides to extend it. Dujarric described the preliminary signs from the truce negotiations as positive.

He added “so far a total of 2,495 Yemenis have flown from Sanaa to Amman in Jordan or Cairo. He thanked the Egyptian government for its invaluable support in bringing about this important achievement.”

ISTANBUL, 02 June 2022, (TON): Turkey will no longer hold high-level talks with neighboring Greece, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said amid rising tensions between the traditional rivals.

Ankara resumed negotiations with Athens last year following a five-year break to address differences over a range of issues such as mineral exploration in the eastern Mediterranean and rival claims in the Aegean Sea.

Erdogan told a meeting of his party’s lawmakers in Ankara “we broke off our high-level strategy council meetings with Greece.”

He added “don’t you learn any lessons from history? Don’t try to dance with Turkey.”

The talks had made little headway, but were a means for the two countries to air out their grievances without resorting to a potential armed standoff as had occurred as recently as two years ago.

WASHINGTON, 02 June 2022, (TON): The White House said “US and Israeli officials committed to coordinating efforts to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons in a meeting of senior officials."

The White House said “the officials also discussed economic and diplomatic steps to achieve their goals and reviewed ongoing cooperation between the US and Israeli militaries in Tuesday’s meeting.”

WASHINGTON, 02 June 2022, (TON): At least three people were killed by a gunman at a hospital campus in Tulsa, Oklahoma, police said “as Americans still grappled with grief and anger over the shooting at a Texas school just over a week ago.”

The gunman, who was armed with a rifle, was also killed in the incident, police said, without clarifying if he was shot by law enforcement agents or turned his weapon on himself.

Tulsa police tweeted from their official account “we can confirm 4 people are deceased, including the shooter, in the active shooting situation at St.”

Tulsa police tweeted from their official account “Francis hospital campus, officers are still clearing the building. More info to follow.”

US President Joe Biden has been briefed on the Tulsa shooting, the White House said in a statement, adding that the administration has offered support to local officials.

RIYADH, 02 June 2022, (TON): Prince Faisal bin Farhan, Saudi Arabia’s minister of foreign affairs, and Qatari counterpart Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani discussed ways to support and enhance deep-rooted relations and cooperation to serve the two nations’ interests and achieve more stability and prosperity for their and peoples.

In a meeting held on the sidelines of the 152nd session of the Ministerial Council of the Gulf Cooperation Council, the pair discussed ways to support all means that contribute to the stability of the region and keeping international peace and security,  exploring opportunities to enhance bilateral coordination in political, security and economic fields.

The ministers also exchanged views on the latest regional and international developments.

The ministerial council was held in Riyadh, where Prince Faisal said “the Gulf nations stand united on the issue of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.”

WASHINGTON, 02 June 2022, (TON): A US congressional group that supports regime change in Syria has called on President Joe Biden to impose sanctions on key figures accused of involvement in events captured in a recently discovered video that appears to show the mass killing of Syrian civilians in the Tadamon neighborhood of Damascus almost a decade ago.

The Friends of a Free, Stable and Democratic Syria Caucus, along with Citizens for a Secure and Safe America, held an online webinar, attended by Arab News.

During it, part of the graphic video said to show the massacre of 228 Syrian civilians, including seven women and 12 children, on April 16, 2013 was played.

According to C4SSA “an organization that believes a free, democratic and secular Syria will lead to a safer and more secure America, the congressional group sent a letter to Biden in which they urged him to impose sanctions against the individuals who have been documented to have participated in this heinous act of inhumanity.”

BEIJING, 02 June 2022, (TON): China’s support for Russia through oil and gas purchases is irking Washington and raising the risk of US retaliation, foreign observers say, though they see no sign Beijing is helping Moscow evade sanctions over its war on Ukraine.

Beijing’s importance as a lifeline to Russian President Vladimir Putin rose after the 27-nation European Union, the main market for fossil fuels that supply most of Moscow’s foreign income, agreed to stop oil purchases.

President Xi Jinping’s government declared ahead of Russia’s Feb. 24 attack that it had a no limits friendship with Moscow and has kept the West guessing about whether it might bail Putin out.

China rejects the sanctions as illegal because the United States, Europe and Japan cut off Russia from their markets and the global banking system without working through the United Nations, where Beijing and Moscow have veto power.

CAIRO, 02 June 2022, (TON): Egypt’s military has said “it is carrying out joint naval and aerial exercises in Saudi Arabia.”

The Red Wave-5 naval training in the Red Sea includes the forces of Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Djibouti, Sudan and Yemen.

The Faisal-12 aerial exercises involve the Egyptian and Saudi air forces.

COPENHAGEN, 02 June 2022, (TON): Traditionally euroskeptic Denmark votes in a referendum on whether to overturn its opt-out on the EU’s common defense policy after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The vote comes on the heels of neighboring Finland’s and Sweden’s historic applications for NATO membership, as the Ukraine war forces countries in Europe to rethink their security policies.

More than 65 percent of Denmark’s 4.3 million eligible voters are expected to vote in favor of dropping the exemption, an opinion poll published on Sunday suggested.

Analysts’ predictions have, however, been cautious, given the low voter turnout expected in a country that has often said “no to more EU integration, most recently in 2015.”

Polls open at 8:00 a.m. and close at 8:00 p.m. Final results are due around 11:00 p.m.

Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen urged Danes “we must always cast our ballots when there is a vote.”

She said “I believe with all my heart that we have to vote ‘yes’. At a time when we need to fight for security in Europe, we need to be more united with our neighbors.”