UNITED NATIONS, Nov. 21 (Xinhua) -- The UN General Assembly on Tuesday adopted a resolution on the Olympic Truce.

The resolution urges UN member states to observe the Olympic Truce individually and collectively throughout the period from the seventh day before the start of the Paris Olympic Games until the seventh day following the end of the Paris Paralympic Games in 2024.

The draft resolution was put to vote at the request of Russia. The resolution was adopted with 118-0 with two abstentions. Russia and Syria abstained.

MOSCOW, November 22. /TASS/: The Federation Council approved the law on the federal budget for 2024 and the planning period 2025-2026 at a plenary meeting on Wednesday,

The decision was made unanimously, 154 senators voted to approve the law.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea will partially suspend an inter-Korean agreement Wednesday to restart frontline aerial surveillance of North Korea, after the North said it launched a military spy satellite in violation of United Nations bans, Seoul officials said.

The South Korean announcement — which will likely infuriate North Korea — came hours after the North claimed to have placed a military reconnaissance satellite into orbit in its third such launch attempt this year.

PRETORIA, Nov 22 (NNN-SANEWS) –The BRICS group of nations has strongly called for an immediate and sustained humanitarian truce leading to a cessation of hostilities in the situation in the Middle East.

President Cyril Ramaphosa, as Chair of the BRICS group of nations, convened a BRICS Extraordinary Joint Meeting on Tuesday to exchange views on the current situation in Gaza and other Palestinian Occupied Territories as well as its spillover effects. 

WASHINGTON (AP) — A new plan from the Biden administration could significantly increase salaries for thousands of low-paid early childhood teachers caring for the country’s poorest children but might force some centers to reduce their enrollment.

LISBON, Nov 21 (Reuters) - Hundreds of police raided farms in Portugal's southern Alentejo region on Tuesday, arresting 28 people suspected of human trafficking and labour exploitation, police said.

The suspects are believed to be part of a crime ring that exploited migrants from countries including Romania, Moldova, Ukraine, India, Senegal and Pakistan after luring them to Portugal with a promise of a job as farmhands.

Police said they had carried out a total of 78 searches, which resulted in the seizure of evidence and the "identification of dozens of victims".

BEIJING, Nov 22 (APP): China welcomed the temporary ceasefire reached by the parties to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Mao Ning said on Wednesday.
Addressing a regular briefing held here, she hopes it will help ease the plight of the humanitarian crisis, de-escalate the conflict and ease tensions.
As per media reports, the Israeli cabinet on Wednesday approved the proposed hostage release deal with Hamas, which will also see a temporary halt in fighting.

BEIRUT, Nov. 21 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) on Tuesday condemned the targeting of journalists and civilians in a recent Israeli strike on southern Lebanon.

UNIFIL spokesperson Andrea Tenenti said in a statement that the UNIFIL was shocked and saddened to learn that a group of journalists was hit in south Lebanon, while extending condolences to the families and friends of those killed near Tayr Harfa.

ISTANBUL, November 22. /TASS/: The Western countries that have taken Israel’s side in its conflict with Palestine should refrain from participating in its crimes, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said.

"Before it’s too late, the governments of the countries that have sided with Israel should move to the side of international law, human rights, conscience and morality, and refrain from participating in these crimes. We need to side with those oppressed and save them from the steps that oppressors are taking," the Turkish leader told reporters upon return from Algeria.

BANGKOK (AP) — The United States and the Philippines are conducting joint air and maritime patrols in the South China Sea, which come as the two countries step up cooperation in the face of growingly aggressive Chinese activity in the area.

The Philippine Air Force said Wednesday its aircraft had taken part in joint patrols the day before in the vicinity of Batanes, the northernmost province of the Philippines, which is only about 200 kilometers (125 miles) from Taiwan, a self-governed island that China claims as its own.

MANILA, Nov 22 (NNN-PNA) – The Philippines’ Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), today confirmed that 17 Filipino seafarers were among the crew members of a cargo vessel, taken hostage by Yemen’s Houthi rebels in the Red Sea.

In a television interview, Foreign Affairs Undersecretary, Eduardo de Vega, expressed alarm over the ongoing hostage crisis involving the Filipinos and other nationalities working on the hijacked ship.

“We are alarmed. It is not the first time Filipino seafarers were held hostage,” de Vega said.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The helicopter-borne Houthi attack on an Israel-linked ship in the Red Sea highlights the danger now lurking in one of the world’s key shipping routes as the Israel-Hamas war rages, as well as the rebels’ tactics mirroring those of its chief sponsor, Iran.