Middle East & North Africa

CAIRO (AP) — Israeli and Palestinian officials were meeting Sunday in the Egyptian resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh in a bid to ease tensions between the sides and rein in a spiral of violence ahead of a sensitive holiday period beginning this week.

The meeting was the second attempt by the sides, shepherded by regional allies Egypt and Jordan as well as the U.S., to end a year-long spasm of violence that has seen more than 200 Palestinians killed by Israeli fire and more than 40 Israelis or foreigners killed in Palestinian attacks.

Tehran, IRNA – Cooperation between Iran and Russia has helped undermine the dominance of the United States in the world, according a group of Russian intellectuals, academics, Iranologists and researchers who gathered in Moscow to discuss the need to stand up against US bullying in global politics.

The meeting dubbed “New World Order and Confronting Unilateralism” was held in the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences (Iv Ran).

Bandar Abbas, IRNA – Two domestically-built landing crafts weighing 800 tons each were launched in one of the shipbuilding companies in Bandar Abbas, Deputy Head of Hormuzgan Ports and Navigation Organization for Navigation Affairs announced.

"These vessels are identical, with a length of 53 meters, a width of 14.50 meters and have a 2.25 meter water intake," Esmaeil Makkizadeh said on Saturday.

Shiraz, IRNA – Iran has sentenced two people to death in connection with the terror attack that left more than two dozen civilians dead in the city of Shiraz, southern Fars Province, in October 2022.

The ruling was announced on Saturday by Kazem Mousavi, the director general of the Justice Department in Fars Province.

Two main defendants involved in the attack were found guilty of “corruption on earth” and taking action against national security, Mousavi said, adding that they will be executed in public, without giving the exact date.

London, IRNA – The Iranian embassy in Vienna has condemned certain Austrian media outlets for raising unfounded allegations on child abuse in Iran.

The Iranian embassy in Vienna issued a statement, which was uploaded on its Twitter account, warning that Austrian media disappointed of their failed attempts to distort realities and angry with Iran’s progresses and its expansion of regional interactions continue to publish such lies.

The statement added that but they could not conceal facts forever from the public opinion in the West.

Tehran, IRNA – Spokesman of the Iranian Foreign Ministry Nasser Kanaani has criticized France for its lack of commitment to human rights principles.

In a tweet posted on Sunday, Kanaani referred to an ongoing police crackdown on anti-government protests in France as he urged the government in Paris to stop using human rights for political purposes.

“Efforts by the French police to resort to violence against protests by citizens of this country is unacceptable,” he said in his Farsi tweet.

19 Mar 2023; AA: Russia will continue seeking answers over last year's explosions that hit the Nord Stream pipelines despite Denmark's refusal to give access to the probe, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Saturday.

In a comment on the ministry's website, Zakharova said Denmark's decision shows that it "acts on instructions of overseas masters."

19 Mar 2023; AA: The leaders of Serbia and Kosovo have agreed on how to implement an EU-backed deal to normalize ties, the bloc's foreign policy chief said on Saturday.

The agreement came after 12 hours of talks between Kosovar Prime Minister Albin Kurti, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and EU officials in Ohrid, North Macedonia.

18 Mar 2023; AA: For the second time in a week, British and German fighter jets intercepted a Russian aircraft close to Estonian airspace on Friday as NATO carries out joint air policing efforts in the region.

18 Mar 2023; MEMO: Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu is visiting Cairo today by invitation of Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shoukry, a Turkish Foreign Ministry statement issued on Friday announced.