Middle East & North Africa

NICOSIA, Sept. 4 (Xinhua) -- Cyprus, Greece and Israel agreed on Monday to intensify cooperation on an energy corridor from the Eastern Mediterranean to Europe, leaders of the three countries said after meeting in Nicosia.

"In light of the growing need for energy diversification and interconnectivity due to geopolitical developments, we reaffirmed the common interest to advance prospects for a reliable energy corridor from the Eastern Mediterranean basin to Europe," they said in a joint statement.

TEHRAN, Sept. 4 (Xinhua) -- Iran on Monday blamed Western states' "miscalculations about the riots in Iran" for the failure to conclude talks on the revival of a 2015 nuclear deal in September last year.

At a weekly press conference in the Iranian capital Tehran, Foreign Ministry Spokesman Nasser Kanaani said the final draft resolution of the talks was ready to be concluded in September 2022 to prepare the ground for all sides' return to the deal, the Iranian Students' News Agency reported.

ISTANBUL (AP) — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan met with Vladimir Putin on Monday, hoping to persuade the Russian leader to rejoin a deal allowing Ukraine to safely export grain. Moscow withdrew from the agreement in July. But Putin made it clear that the initiative would not be restored right now.

Here’s what’s at stake:

WHAT WAS THE OUTCOME OF THE TALKS?

Putin poured cold water over hopes for a revival of the grain initiative, saying the West must first meet its demands on facilitating Russian agricultural exports.

BAGHDAD, Sept 3 (NNN-NINA) – A total of 18 people were killed and 15 others wounded, after two buses carrying Shiite pilgrims collided on Friday night, in Iraq’s central province of Salahudin, local sources said yesterday.

One of the buses, heading to the Shiite holy city of Samarra, about 120 km north of Iraq’s capital Baghdad, collided with the other bus returning from the city, a traffic police, who asked to remain anonymous said, adding, the accident took place on the main road near the town of Balad, some 80 km north of Baghdad.

AMMAN, Sept 3 (Reuters) - Senior U.S. officials visited Syria's eastern oil-rich Deir al Zor province on Sunday in an attempt to defuse an uprising by Arab tribes against Kurdish rule that is destabilising northeast Syria, U.S. officials, security sources, and residents said.

SANAA, Sept. 3 (Xinhua) -- A massive explosion rocked a gas station in the Houthi-controlled Yemen's capital of Sanaa on Sunday night, igniting a significant fire, reported by authorities and witnesses.

The blast occurred at the Mufazer gas station, which is situated in front of the al-Khurafi military camp in the northeastern part of the capital. Houthi forces cordoned off the area, with civil defense teams swiftly responding to the incident.

KUWAIT CITY, Sept. 3 (Xinhua) -- Kuwait's Crown Prince issued Sunday a decree appointing Adel Al-Mane as minister of education and Fahad Al-Jarallah as minister of finance, Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) reported.

The decree was issued on the proposal of Prime Minister Fahd Abdul Aziz Hassan Al-Jarallah, said the report, adding the appointment takes immediate effect.

The two ministers took the oath at the Bayan Palace in front of the Deputy Emir of Kuwait and Crown Prince Sheikh Mishal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah.

JERUSALEM, Sept. 3 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons announced on Sunday that they would stage a hunger strike to protest a decision to cut the frequency of their family visits.

The hunger strike, which will start on Thursday, demands a reversal of the decision by Israel's far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir to reduce family visits from once a month to once every two months, according to the Supreme Emergency Committee of the Prisoner National Movement.

ISTANBUL (AP) — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will meet with Vladimir Putin on Monday, hoping to persuade the Russian leader to rejoin the Black Sea grain deal that Moscow broke off from in July.

Here are some key things to know and what’s at stake:

WHERE WILL THE TALKS BE HELD?

The meeting in Sochi on Russia’s southern coast comes after weeks of speculation about when and where the two leaders might meet.

Erdogan previously said that Putin would travel to Turkey in August.

01 September 2023; MEMO: Former Brazilian President, Jair Bolsonaro, and his wife, Michelle, chose to remain silent when they appeared before Federal Police on Thursday to testify in an investigation into jewellery gifts that they received from Arab heads of state and never declared, Reuters reports.