AL-MUKALLA, 31 October 2022, (TON): A mortar shell fired by the Iran-backed Houthis into residential areas in Yemen’s city of Taiz seriously injured three children, less than a day after the Houthis killed two servicemen and injured one in another strike in Yemen’s southern province of Lahj.

Three children who live close to an old airfield west of Taiz were reportedly shepherding their sheep when a Houthi mortar bomb fired from the city’s outskirts struck the ground, seriously wounding them.

Maher Al-Abasi, a local human rights activist who saw the children, told Arab News that one child was evacuated right away to an intensive care unit at Rawada hospital as doctors severed one of the other children’s legs to save them.

RIYADH, 31 October 2022, (TON): Ukraine’s Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Anatolii Petrenko told “Russia’s withdrawal on Saturday from the UN-brokered Black Sea Grain Initiative is politically irresponsible and undermines the humanitarian situation in the Middle East and North Africa.”

Russia suspended its participation in the deal after what it said was a major Ukrainian drone attack on its naval fleet in Crimea.

Petrenko said “It’s crucial to underscore that Russia concluded this grain initiative with the UN and Turkiye.” As such, its withdrawal “shows its inconsistency and unreliability to its commitments.”

LONDON, 31 October 2022, (TON): King Charles III announced Sunday he would hold a reception ahead of next month’s COP27 climate summit after being advised not to attend by the government.

Buckingham Palace said the event on November 4 would gather over 200 “international business leaders, decision makers and NGOs” two days before the summit begins in Egypt.

The Palace said the event was to mark the end of the UK’s hosting of COP26.

Charles has long backed environmental causes and spoke at the COP26 event in Glasgow in 2021.

But Downing Street said Friday that the monarch will not go to COP27 after the previous UK government led by Liz Truss advised him it was not the right occasion for him to attend.

DUBAI, 31 October 2022, (TON): Emirates News Agency reported “the Asian Development Bank has announced plans to launch several flagship initiatives at the COP27 climate conference.”

The bank said “the conference comes at a critical time as Asia and the Pacific deal with the ramifications of increasingly intense weather events caused by climate change.”

It pointed out that COP27 provided an opportunity for the global community to come together to decarbonize on a large scale while also significantly expanding concessional and grant resources to developing countries.

RIYADH, 31 October 2022, (TON): The Saudi Development and Reconstruction Program for Yemen held a workshop in Riyadh with the UN Development Program with the aim of boosting cooperation between the two entities.

Dr. Nahid Hussein, deputy resident representative of the UN Development Program in Yemen, and Hassan Al-Attas, assistant general supervisor of the SDRPY, led the workshop.

The workshop reviewed the state of the Yemeni fishing industry and explored ways to collaborate in supporting industries related to food security in Yemen.

WASHINGTON, 31 October 2022, (TON): US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said “Russia’s halting of its participation in the United Nations-brokered Black Sea Grain Initiative grain deal is weaponizing food by exacerbating humanitarian crises.”

Blinken said in a statement “any act by Russia to disrupt these critical grain exports is essentially a statement that people and families around the world should pay more for food or go hungry.”

Russia suspended participation in grain deal after what it said was a major Ukrainian drone attack on its fleet in Crimea.

US President Joe Biden denounced the move as “purely outrageous” and said it would increase starvation.

DHAKA, 31 October 2022, (TON): Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen sought a pro-active role from Thailand in particular, and from the Asean in general, for ensuring an expeditious and sustainable repatriation of the Rohingya people to their homeland in Myanmar.

Momen also requested participation of the Thai foreign minister and deputy prime minister at the Indian Ocean Rim Association Ministerial meeting in Dhaka next month.

The issues were discussed when visiting Permanent Secretary-designate of Thailand Sarun Charoensuwan met Momen at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

DHAKA, 31 October 2022, (TON): A flag meeting between members of Border Guard Bangladesh and Myanmar's Border Guard Police at commander level is underway over the prevailing unrest along the border, in Teknaf upazila of Cox's Bazar.

Lieutenant Colonel Khalid Mohammad Iftekhar, commanding officer of BGB-2 Battalion, said “they would discuss the issues related to the border security and prevailing tension.”

The BGB would give more details once the meeting was over, he told Dhaka Tribune.

On September 16, a Rohingya boy was killed and five others were injured as a mortar shell fired by the Myanmar army exploded at a Rohingya camp located on the zero point of the border.

DHAKA, 31 October 2022, (TON): Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen sought a pro-active role from Thailand in particular, and from the Asean in general, for ensuring an expeditious and sustainable repatriation of the Rohingya people to their homeland in Myanmar.

Momen also requested participation of the Thai foreign minister and deputy prime minister at the Indian Ocean Rim Association Ministerial meeting in Dhaka next month.

The issues were discussed when visiting Permanent Secretary-designate of Thailand Sarun Charoensuwan met Momen at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

CAIRO, 31 October 2022, (TON): Global developments should not affect the pursuit of solving Arab issues, said Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit at the opening session of the foreign ministers’ preparatory meeting for the 31st Arab Summit, to be held in Algeria on Nov. 1-2.

He said “we all aspire that this summit will be a milestone on the road to revitalizing joint Arab action, renewing its blood and enhancing its effectiveness.”

He added “the summit was taking place after nearly three years of interruption due to the COVID-19 pandemic and amid major developments on the international and regional stage.”

He stressed that the summit is the most important mechanism of joint Arab action as it sets its regulatory framework, formulates the vision within which it acts, and determines strategic objectives.