DUBAI/MOSCOW (Reuters) - Iran, China and Russia began joint naval drills on Friday in the Indian Ocean and Gulf of Oman, in what Moscow said was an unprecedented exercise in naval cooperation and training.
Waters around Iran have become a focus for international tensions, with the United States exerting pressure for Iranian crude oil sales and other trade ties to be cut off.
ADDIS ABABA, Dec. 26 (Xinhua) -- The Ethiopian and Eritrean leaders on Thursday vowed to cement recent gains in the rapprochement of bilateral ties as the two former arch-rivals seek to deepen socio-economic integration.
This came on Thursday as the visiting Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki arrived in Ethiopia, accompanied by Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, and laid a foundation stone for the construction of a new Eritrea Embassy facility in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa.
BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraq’s president refused on Thursday to designate a prime minister candidate nominated by the Iran-backed parliamentary bloc and offered to resign, plunging the country into further political uncertainty amid nearly three months of unprecedented mass protests.
President Barham Salih said in a statement issued by his office that he would not name the governor of the southern Basra province, Asaad al-Eidani, as the country’s next prime minister “to avoid more bloodshed and in order to safeguard civil peace.”
JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday scored a landslide victory in a primary race for leadership of the ruling Likud party, giving the embattled leader an important boost ahead of the country’s third election in less than a year.
TEHRAN, Iran, Dec 27 (NNN-TASNIM) – Iran begins extraction of natural gas from an offshore rig, at South Pars gas field in the Gulf, on Thursday, Press TV reported.
The extraction of gas will add some 14.2 million cubic metres a day, to its current output of more than 800 million cubic metres a day, according to the report.
The gas produced in the field will be transferred through a five-kilometre pipeline, to a refinery in the Phase 12 of the South Pars.
The South Pars/North Dome field is a natural gas condensate field, located in the Gulf.
ANKARA, Dec 27 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan paid a surprise visit to Tunisia on Wednesday to discuss cooperation for a possible ceasefire in neighboring Libya, where Ankara supports the internationally recognized government.
Erdogan, speaking at a joint news conference with Tunisia’s President Kais Saied, also reaffirmed Ankara’s willingness to send troops to Libya if it received such a request.
TUNIS, Dec 27 (NNN-Xinhua) — Interior Minister of the UN-backed government of Libya Fathi Bashagha on Thursday revealed that a Turkish-Tunisian-Algerian alliance was formed to support the Libyan government.
“There will be a great cooperation with Turkey, Tunisia and Algeria, and we will be in one alliance,” said Bashagha at a press conference in Tunis.
The Libyan official didn’t give any details about the nature of this alliance. He stressed that this alliance “would serve the Libyan people, their security and stability.”
27 Dec 2019; MEMO: In a rare display of public opinion in Dubai, a small demonstration has been held to protest against Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s controversial citizenship law passed earlier this month.
Writer and human rights activist Iyad El-Baghdadi pointed out that the protestors could potentially be deported by the UAE authorities due to the fact that political demonstrations are outlawed in the country.
26 Dec 2019; MEMO: Crude oil prices were up early Thursday on a higher note as the global oil market awaits additional production cuts by OPEC and allies to take effect beginning on new year, Anadolu reports.
International benchmark Brent crude was trading at $67.44 per barrel at 0630 GMT for a 0.36% gain on Thursday after closing Tuesday at $67.20 a barrel.
26 Dec 2019; MEMO: Nearly 130,000 civilians have been displaced in Syria’s northwestern province of Idlib, the World Health Organization said Wednesday, Anadolu reports.
Some 12 million people are in need of medical assistance in Syria as regime and Russian jets pound civilian settlements, according to a statement.
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