BAGHDAD, 24 April 2022, (TON): A senior Iraqi official said “regional rivals Iran and Saudi Arabia have resumed key talks in the Iraqi capital Baghdad after negotiations were suspended last month.”

The official said “talks resumed last Thursday in Baghdad.”

Iran’s news agency confirmed “a meeting attended by senior officials from the secretariat of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council and the head of the Saudi intelligence service.”

Shiite-majority Iran and the Sunni kingdom of Saudi Arabia support rival sides in several conflict zones across the region, including in Yemen, where the Huthi rebels are backed by Tehran, and Riyadh leads a military coalition supporting the government.

In 2016, Iranian protesters attacked Saudi diplomatic missions in Iran after the kingdom executed revered Shiite cleric Nimr al-Nimr.

Riyadh responded by cutting ties with Tehran.

HAVANA, 24 April 2022, (TON): Cuba’s foreign minister has called on the United States to fully comply with bilateral agreements between the two countries on migration and stop what he said are policies that prevent Cubans from travelling to the US and abroad.

Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez said the US should stop “violating the rights of Cubans to travel” in the region.

Rodriguez said in a tweet “Cuba reiterates that the US should cease hindering and violating the rights of Cubans to travel to third countries of the region and calls for comprehensive and non-selective compliance with the bilateral migration accords.”

His remarks came a day after the US and Cuba held their highest-level diplomatic talks in four years, after a severe disruption in ties during the administration of former President Donald Trump.

The discussions in Washington between senior Department of State officials and Cuba’s deputy foreign minister focused on migration, with the US side eager to rein in a growing number of Cubans trying to enter the US, sometimes without documentation.

Cuba’s foreign ministry said US policies and sanctions create “social and economic conditions that incentivize emigration”.

TOKYO, 24 April 2022, (TON): Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said “Japan is keeping a close eye on China’s behavior concerning Pacific island nations.”

The recent signing of a security agreement between China and the Solomon Islands has sparked regional concerns about Beijing’s outreach, as the agreement reportedly enables Chinese troops to be deployed to the Pacific nation.

Kishida told reporters “we exchanged views on recent developments concerning China in the Pacific island region."

He said “we are closely following what China does in the Pacific island region with interest.”

The United States has warned the Solomon Islands against any possible moves toward inviting a Chinese military presence while other nations in the Pacific, such as Australia and New Zealand, have also expressed concern.

In his meeting with Tuvalu Prime Minister Kausea Natano, the two agreed to aim for a “free and open” Indo-Pacific region where an assertive China is expanding its influence.

ISTANBUL, 24 April 2022, (TON): Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said “Turkey has closed its airspace to Russian civilian and military planes flying to Syria.”

The announcement marks one of the strongest responses to date by Turkey, which has cultivated close ties with Moscow despite being a member of the NATO defense alliance, to Russia’s two-month military assault on Ukraine.

“We closed the airspace to Russia’s military planes and even civilian ones flying to Syria.

They had until April, and we asked in March,” Turkish media quoted Cavusoglu as saying to reporters on a plane en route to Uruguay.

He said “permission had been given for three month periods until April, and then the flights stopped.”

Cavusoglu said he conveyed the decision to his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov, who then relayed it to President Vladimir Putin.

KYIV, 24 April 2022, (TON): Ukrainian officials accused Russia of thwarting a fresh attempt to evacuate civilians from Mariupol and killing eight people in a strike on the Black Sea port of Odessa, all but burying hopes of a truce for Orthodox Easter.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said an infant was among those killed in the strike that also wounded 18 people.

With the war poised to enter its third month on Sunday, Ukrainian authorities said “fierce battles were raging in the east and the UN said nearly 5.2 million people had fled the country.”

The country’s emergency services said a missile struck a 15-story residential building, in Odessa sparking a fire that took 90 minutes to extinguish.

LONDON, 24 April 2022, (TON): The Prime Minister spoke to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

President Zelenskyy updated the Prime Minister on the situation in the Donbas. Both leaders condemned ongoing attacks by Russian forces against civilian targets, including in Mariupol, Odessa and Lviv.

Ahead of the UN Secretary General’s meetings with President Zelenskyy and President Putin next week, both leaders agreed on the importance of establishing a ceasefire and humanitarian corridor to allow civilians to leave Mariupol.

The Prime Minister said that Russia would be held to account for its actions and that the UK government was helping collect evidence of war crimes.

He also updated the President on new UK sanctions designations against members of the Russian military and confirmed that the UK would be reopening its embassy in Kyiv next week, demonstrating our support and solidarity with the Ukrainian people.

RIYADH, 24 April 2022, (TON): Saudi authorities arrested 13,615 people in one week for breaching residency, work and border security regulations, according to an official report.

From April 14 to 20, a total of 8,752 people were arrested for violations of residency rules, while 3,197 were held over illegal border crossing attempts, and a further 1,666 for labor-related issues.

The report showed that among the 106 people arrested for trying to enter the Kingdom illegally, 47 percent were Yemeni, 48 percent Ethiopian, and 5 percent were of other nationalities.

A further 49 people were caught trying to cross into neighboring countries, and 13 were held for involvement in transporting and harboring violators.

TOKYO, 24 April 2022, (TON): Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi and U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel demonstrated the two nations’ solid alliance, as they embarked together on a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier after its military drill in waters near Japan earlier this month.

At a press conference held in the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln, Hayashi said “the vessel’s activities in the region embody a resolution of the United States to realize a free and open Indo-Pacific region, where security concerns have been growing over activities by China and North Korea.”

Hayashi and Emanuel were observing the U.S. carrier, whose strike group conducted a 10-day joint naval exercise through April 17 involving vessels and fighter jets of Japan’s Self-Defense Forces in the Sea of Japan and the East China Sea.

The drill came as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine fuels fears China could be emboldened to intensify its military activities in the Indo-Pacific region, while North Korea’s intercontinental ballistic missile testing has also put a renewed focus on threats from the country.

CAIRO, 24 April 2022, (TON): An aid worker and activists said “Tribal violence between Arabs and non-Arabs in Sudan’s war-ravaged Darfur region killed at least 8 people including a woman and a child.”

Adam Regal said “the clashes erupted Thursday with the killing of two people by an unknown assailant around the Kreinik area of West Darfur province, the spokesman for the General Coordination for Refugees and Displaced in Darfur charity.”

The following day, militias known as janjaweed attacked a camp for displaced people just to the south of Kreinik, burning down dozens of houses and forcing large numbers of people to flee.

He said “the violence, which lasted till late Friday, also wounded 16 others, including three in critical condition.”

Sudan’s Darfur region has seen bouts of deadly clashes between rival tribes in recent months as the country remains mired in a wider crisis following last year’s coup, when top generals overthrew a civilian-led government.

DHAKA, 24 April 2022, (TON): Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen has said “Japan and Singapore would like to take skilled manpower with communication skills from Bangladesh.”

He made the remark while speaking at a fresher reception of nursing staffers at Sylhet MAG Osmani Medical College and Hospital.

The foreign minister underlined the need for increasing communication skills of nurses as there was huge demand for skilled nursing staffers and caregivers in the developed world.

Dr Momen urged the concerned authorities to expedite the land acquisition process at the city's East Shahi Eidgah area to set up the second unit of Osmani Medical College Hospital.

He also underscored the need for an increasing number of physicians and nurses at all hospitals in the country to ensure quality medical treatment for all.