DUBAI, 16 November 2022, (TON): The US Navy’s Fifth Fleet said “it had intercepted a fishing vessel smuggling massive amounts of explosive material while transiting from Iran along a route in the Gulf of Oman that has been used to traffic weapons to Yemen’s Houthi group.”

US forces found over 70 tons of ammonium perchlorate which is commonly used to make rocket and missile fuel as well as explosives, the Fifth Fleet said in a statement.

The Coalition battling the Iran-aligned Houthis in Yemen since 2015 has repeatedly accused Iran of supplying the group with weapons, a charge Tehran denies.

INDONESIA, 16 November 2022, (TON): Now is the time to end Russia’s destructive war and save thousands of lives, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told the G20 summit in Bali via video address.

He said “I am convinced now is the time when the Russian destructive war must and can be stopped.”

Wearing his now-familiar army green T-shirt and speaking in Ukrainian, Zelensky addressed leaders including China’s Xi Jinping and US President Joe Biden.

RIYADH, 16 November 2022, (TON): The general supervisor of the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center, Dr. Abdullah Al-Rabeeah, on Tuesday met EU ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Patrick Simonet, in Riyadh.

During the meeting, they discussed ways to increase support and further develop cooperation and coordination on humanitarian and relief issues, and the envoy noted how much the EU valued its partnership with the Kingdom in helping the world’s needy.

Earlier, Al-Rabeeah held talks with the director general of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN, Qu Dongyu, which focused primarily on matters of food security, nutrition, and early recovery.

LONDON, 16 November 2022, (TON): UK Counter Terrorism Policing have said “they are monitoring threats from extremists against migrants and refugees after an attack by a man with far-right beliefs on a processing facility on Oct. 30.”

Andrew Leak, who had previously tweeted about burning Muslim children alive, killed himself after throwing homemade explosives at the Western Jet Foil Asylum Processing Centre in Dover.

The number of people trying to enter the UK via the English Channel has risen significantly in the past few years, driven in part by people seeking safety from countries including Iran and Afghanistan.

AMMAN, 16 November 2022, (TON): The UN relief agency has warned of a major disruption to services for Palestinian refugees unless it receives an immediate cash injection.

Philippe Lazzarini, commissioner general of the financially troubled UN Relief and Works Agency, said that in the coming weeks, UNRWA urgently needed between $50 million and $80 million to be able to end the year and keep schools, health centers, and other basic services running.

The official was addressing a news conference on the sidelines of the biannual UNRWA Advisory Commission meeting in the Jordanian capital Amman.

AMMAN, 16 November 2022, (TON): King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia of Sweden arrived in Amman on Tuesday for a state visit to Jordan.

The king and queen were received at Queen Alia International Airport by Jordan’s Prince Ali bin Al-Hussein, Princess Rym Al-Ali, Royal Court Chief Yousef Issawi, Amman Mayor Yousef Shawarbeh, and a number of other officials.

They later attended a lunch banquet hosted in their honor by Senate President Faisal Fayez and Lower House Speaker Ahmad Safadi.

Coinciding with the state visit, the Jordanian Businessmen Association announced the formation of a Jordanian-Swedish business council.

NEW DELHI, 16 November 2022, (TON): The commerce ministry said “the next round of talks between India and the UK on a proposed free trade agreement, which aims at boosting trade and investments between the two regions, is proposed to be held in the coming months.”

India and Britain launched negotiations for the free-trade agreement in January with an aim to conclude talks by Diwali, but the deadline was missed due to political developments in the UK.

There are 26 chapters in the agreement, which include goods, services, investments and intellectual property rights.

According to sources, the ministry has now fixed an internal deadline to conclude the talks on the trade agreement by March next year.

DHAKA, 16 November 2022, (TON): Calling the fire fighters as the the friend of worst time, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said “her government is working to make the Fire Service and Civil Defence into a topmost efficient service providing organization.”

She said "we are taking measures to transform the Fire Service and Civil Defence into the highest service providing organisation with complete ability.”

The prime minister virtually joined the inaugural program held at the Fire Service and Civil Defence Training Complex at Mirpur in the city from her official residence Ganabhaban.

DHAKA, 16 November 2022, (TON): The Embassy of the Republic of Korea is set to host the “Bangladesh-Korea Drone Road Show”, a half-day conference on UAVs and related software solutions.

A press release said “the program will be held at Sheraton Dhaka.”

This event will highlight Korea's drive towards developing new opportunities to cooperate with Bangladesh, in particular in the area of innovative technology.

Representatives of Korean government organizations, including the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport and Korea Institute of Aviation Safety Technology, leading Korean UAV technology companies, and local private and government organizations will participate in this event.

KYIV, 16 November 2022, (TON): Ukrainian officials blamed Russia for a missile attack on the capital Kyiv, saying residential buildings were hit as air raid sirens sounded across the country.

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said “there is an attack on the capital. According to preliminary information, two residential buildings were hit in the Pechersk district.”

He added “several missiles were shot down over Kyiv by air defense systems. Medics and rescuers are at the scene of the strikes. More details later.”

The deputy head of the president’s office Kyrylo Tymoshenko said in a statement online that the missiles had been fired by Russian forces.