CAIRO, 02 December 2022, (TON): The fourth Arab Water Conference titled “Arab Water Security for Life, Development and Peace,” organized by Palestine, the Arab League and the Arab Water Experts Network in Cairo, kicked off on Nov. 30.

The two-day conference was held under the auspices of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, with the participation of ministers of water resources as well as delegations from Arab countries and concerned regional organizations.

The conference on Wednesday and Thursday included working sessions and presentations of scientific papers dealing with issues related to water scarcity, drought and climate change.

GENEVA, 02 December 2022, (TON): The UN appealed for record funds for aid next year, as the Ukraine war and other conflicts, climate emergencies and the still-simmering pandemic push more people into crisis, and some toward famine.

The United Nations’ annual Global Humanitarian Overview estimated that 339 million people worldwide will need some form of emergency assistance next year a staggering 65 million more people than the estimate a year ago.

UN aid chief Martin Griffiths told reporters “it’s a phenomenal number and it’s a depressing number.”

He said “if all the people in need of emergency assistance were in one country, it would be the third-largest nation in the world, after China and India.”

LONDON, 02 December 2022, (TON): Students at universities across the UK and beyond have called on their institutions to divest from companies complicit in Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine.

The move coincided with Tuesday’s International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, and has also garnered support from students in the US.

It is part of the ongoing #Divest4Palestine student movement, which is a growing campaign on campuses globally, said pro-Palestinian NGO Friends of Al-Aqsa.

The group is concerned with defending the human rights of Palestinians and protecting the Al-Aqsa Sanctuary in Jerusalem, considered sacred by Muslims.

LONDON, 02 December 2022, (TON): US President Joe Biden has been urged by two former diplomats to halt arms shipments to Israel if the weapons are used in an offensive capacity against Palestinians.

Describing the incoming administration of Benjamin Netanyahu as the most extreme government in the history of the state, Daniel Kurtzer, a former US ambassador to Israel, and Aaron David Miller, a US Middle East peace negotiator, wrote in the Washington Post that Biden should take the unprecedented and controversial decision to reconsider Washington’s military support for Israel.

They warned that Netanyahu’s government could seek to annex or “change the status of the West Bank,” and “build infrastructure for settlers that is designed to foreclose the possibility of a two-state solution,”

Adding “Israel should be told that, while the US will continue to support its ally’s legitimate security requirements, it will not provide offensive weapons or other assistance for malign Israeli actions in Jerusalem or the occupied territories.”

CAIRO, 02 December 2022, (TON): The Egyptian and Greek air forces carried out the joint air exercise MENA-II with the participation of multirole combat aircraft.

Egyptian military spokesman Gharib Abdel-Hafez said “the exercise comes within the framework of supporting and strengthening military cooperation relations with friendly and brotherly countries.”

The training included the implementation of a number of theoretical lectures to unify concepts, refine skills, and coordinate the management of joint operations in various methods of modern air combat.

BEIRUT, 02 December 2022, (TON): Lebanese Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati has urged the international community to cooperate to help end the Syrian refugee crisis as parliament failed for the eighth time to elect a new president, further exacerbating his country’s political and economic strife.

Parliamentary Speaker Nabih Berri has scheduled the ninth election session for next Thursday.

Mikati met the UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi on Thursday, and said: “The UN Human Rights Office and other relevant international organizations must coordinate with the Lebanese government through its competent bodies to solve this dilemma.

KYIV, 02 December 2022, (TON): Air raid alerts were issued across all of Ukraine following warnings by Ukrainian officials that Russia was preparing a new wave of missile and drone strikes.

Country’s border service wrote on Telegram messaging app “an overall air raid alert is in place in Ukraine. Go to shelters.”

DHAKA, 02 December 2022, (TON): The outgoing ambassador of China Li Jiming made a courtesy visit to leader of the opposition Raushan Ershad at a hotel at Gulshan in the morning.

Raushan Ershad hoped that China would continue its cooperation in the future as a development partner of Bangladesh, according to a press release of the Jatiya Party.

It said that they discussed on various bilateral issues between Bangladesh and China.

Political secretary to leader of the opposition Golam Mosih and central leader of the party Rahgir Al Mahi were present during the meeting.

LODZ, 02 December 2022, (TON): Europe’s largest security organization opened a meeting with foreign ministers and other representatives strongly denouncing Russia’s war against Ukraine, a conflict that is among the greatest challenges the body has faced in its nearly half-century of existence.

The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, which was founded to maintain peace and stability on the continent, has been a rare international forum along with the United Nations where Russia and Western powers have been able meet to discuss security matters.

The two-day meeting in Lodz, Poland, is the first such high-level meeting since Russia invaded Ukraine in February.

WASHINGTON, 02 December 2022, (TON): The US Federal Communications Commission said “it approved SpaceX’s bid to deploy up to 7,500 satellites, but put on hold some other decisions.”

SpaceX’s Starlink, a fast-growing network of more than 3,500 satellites in low-Earth orbit, has tens of thousands of users in the United States so far, with consumers paying at least $599 for a user terminal and $110 a month for service.

The FCC in 2018 approved SpaceX plans to deploy up to 4,425 first-generation satellites.

The FCC said “its decision will protect other satellite and terrestrial operators from harmful interference and maintain a safe space environment and protect spectrum and orbital resources for future use.”