Middle East & North Africa

BAGHDAD, Jan 2 (NNN-NINA) – Iraq’s Ministry of Oil said, Iraq exported 88.21 million barrels of oil in Dec, 2020, bringing in revenues of more than 4.2 billion U.S. dollars.

The average selling price in Dec, 2020, was 47.76 dollars per barrel, according to a ministry statement, citing statistics of the State Organisation for Marketing of Oil.

About 85 million barrels were exported from Iraq’s central and southern oil fields, via the Port of Basra, while about 3.16 million from the northern province of Kirkuk, via the Turkish port of Ceyhan on the Mediterranean.

ALGIERS, Jan 2 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Algeria’s president signed the country’s new constitution into law, his office said, after the document was approved in a November referendum on record low turnout as its leader received treatment abroad for Covid-19.

President Abdelmadjid Tebboune, who returned to Algeria this week after two months in Germany, had promoted the new constitution as the “cornerstone of the new Algeria”, as he sought to turn the page on the long-running Hirak mass protest movement.

TEHRAN, Jan. 1 (Xinhua) -- A gas explosion in a residential building in the Iranian southwestern city of Ahvaz on Friday injured 12 people, semi-official Mehr news agency reported.

Two floors of the building were damaged in the incident, according to the report.

Following the incident, a rapid reaction team and two rescue teams from the Iranian Red Crescent Society were sent to the area.

KUWAIT CITY, Jan. 1 (Xinhua) -- Kuwaiti Emir Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah expressed on Friday his optimism for the upcoming Gulf summit, the Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) reported.

The Emir made the remarks during his meeting with Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Sheikh Ahmad Nasser Al-Mohammad Al-Sabah who made a Gulf tour recently, KUNA said.

ADDIS ABABA, Jan. 1 (Xinhua) -- Chairperson of the African Union (AU) Commission Moussa Faki Mahamat on Friday called on the African continent to ensure economic recovery from the brunt of COVID-19 pandemic as the New Year begins.

"As we mark the end of the year 2020, we also mark the end of one of the most extraordinary and challenging years in living memory," the chairperson of the 55-member pan-African bloc said in a statement.

SANAA, Jan. 2 (Xinhua) -- Three people were killed when artillery shelling hit a wedding in Yemen's Red Sea port city of Hodeidah, Houthi rebel-run al-Masirah TV reported on Saturday.

The shelling, which was launched on Friday evening, also wounded seven other people in the marriage ceremony in Al-Hawak district, south of the port city, the television cited a statement by the Houthi-controlled health ministry as saying.

BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraqi explosives experts were working to defuse a large mine discovered on an oil tanker in the Persian Gulf and evacuate its crew, authorities said Friday.

The statement came a day after two private security firms said sailors feared they had found a limpet mine on the MT Pola, a Liberian-flagged tanker in the waters off the Iraqi port of Basra. A limpet mine is a type of naval mine that attaches to the side of a ship, usually by a diver-member of special forces. It later explodes, and can significantly damage a vessel.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran plans to enrich uranium up to 20% at its underground Fordo nuclear facility, international inspectors said Saturday, pushing its program a technical step away from weapons-grade levels as it increases pressure on the West over its tattered atomic deal.

The International Atomic Energy Agency acknowledged Iran had informed its inspectors of the decision after news leaked overnight Friday.

ADEN, Jan 1 (NNN-AGENCIES) — At least 26 people were killed when explosions rocked Yemen’s Aden airport moments after a new unity government flew in, in what some officials charged was a “cowardly” attack by the Houthi rebels.

Although all government ministers were reported to be unharmed in Wednesday’s attack, more than 50 people were wounded with the casualty toll feared likely to rise.

The International Committee of the Red Cross said one of its employees was among those confirmed dead, with another three wounded.

TRIPOLI, Jan 1 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The recent visit of a high-level Egyptian security delegation to Libya’s capital Tripoli reflects Cairo’s openness to all Libyan parties with the goal of reaching a solution to the Libyan conflict, Egyptian experts said.

On Sunday, a high-level Egyptian delegation, headed by Undersecretary of Egypt’s Intelligence Service, Ayman Badie, visited Tripoli for talks with senior officials of the UN-backed Libyan government.