CAIRO, Jan. 4 (Xinhua) -- The principles of the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) are almost identical to those of the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), as they both seek to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all, former Egyptian Prime Minister Essam Sharaf told Xinhua in a recent interview.

"The BRI is a practical implementation of the SDGs and turns them from local to international, for the UN set the goals but did not outline a cooperation mechanism between states to achieve them," said Sharaf.

TEHRAN, Jan. 4 (Xinhua) -- The deputy commander of Iran's Navy said an Iranian naval fleet will be sent to the Atlantic Ocean for a five-month mission in early 2019, official IRNA news agency reported Friday.

"The Atlantic Ocean is a long route, and it is likely that the mission would take five months to complete," Touraj Hassnai Moqaddam told IRNA.

"Iranian Sahand destroyer will accompany the fleet," he added, without providing more details.

SOLANA BEACH, Calif. (AP) — Authorities are holding a man they say tried to rob a San Diego County bank, then told frightened customers to call 911, stripped to his underwear and awaited arrest.

Thirty-five-year-old Clint Gray was arrested Thursday at a Wells Fargo branch in Solana Beach. It’s not known if he has an attorney.

Derek Stevenson tells the San Diego Union-Tribune that he was one of three customers inside the bank when the man entered shortly after the branch opened, shouted that it was a robbery and ordered everyone to the ground.

05 Jan 2019; DW: The quarter-ton bluefin tuna sold for more than double the previous record. The buyer was a Japanese sushi entrepreneur who calls himself the "Tuna King."

A 278-kilogram (610-pound) bluefin tuna sold for a record 333.6 million yen ($3.1 million, €2.7 million) in the first auction of Japan's new Toyosu market.

The fish, valued at 1.2 million yen per kilogram, was caught off the coast of Japan's main island of Honshu. The buyer was Kiyoshi Kimura, president of the Sushi Zanmai restaurant chain.

Thiruvananthapuram, Jan 4 (PTI) The Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) Friday decided to seek an explanation from the head priest of Sabarimala temple, for his decision to perform purification rituals after two women of menstrual age entered the shrine.

"We have decided to seek explanation from the Thanthri about the circumstances that led him to perform the rituals.

His act was against the Supreme Court order," Board president A Padmakumar told PTI.

BEIJING, Jan. 4 (Xinhua) -- China stands ready to work with India to enhance communication and coordination on international affairs, to jointly safeguard the overall interests of the two countries and developing countries around the world, a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Friday.

Spokesperson Lu Kang made the remarks at a press briefing in response to a question regarding comments on China-India relations made by an Indian official.

New Delhi, Jan 4 (PTI) There were heated scenes in the Lok Sabha as Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman accused the Congress and its president Rahul Gandhi of insulting her and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"Nobody has a right to call me or the prime minister a thief and a liar," said a visibly angry Sitharaman, whom speaker Sumitra Mahajan tried to calm down.

The defence minister was responding to Gandhi who said that he wanted to speak as his name was taken by Sitharaman during her reply to a debate on Rafale deal.

Amaravati (Maha), Jan 4 (PTI) Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad on Friday appealed people to shun the BJP if they wanted to safeguard the Constitution.

Addressing a rally here, Azad, who was earlier denied permission to hold rallies in Pune and Mumbai, said voters should be wary of BJP's "misleading tactics".

"The fight in 2019 is between a paper tiger and a jungle tiger. They spread rumours that Azad has been bought...

but no currency can buy me," he said.

New Delhi, Jan 4 (PTI) The Supreme Court Friday directed the Centre to place on affidavit steps taken since September last year to set up a search committee for the Lokpal.

The apex court asked Attorney General K K Venugopal to file the affidavit on the matter by January 17.

"You have to ensure on affidavit the steps taken on the issue of setting up of a search committee for the Lokpal," a bench comprising Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice S K Kaul said.

WASHINGTON (AP) — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi had only been in office for a few hours when a handful of Democrats defied her persistent calls not to begin the new Congress by talking about impeachment.

Just after Pelosi was sworn in Thursday, longtime Democratic Reps. Brad Sherman of California and Al Green of Texas introduced articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump. That evening, newly elected Rep. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan riled up a supportive crowd by calling the president a profanity and predicting that he will be removed from office.

05 Jan 2019; DW: Concerns are mounting that violence will erupt in DR Congo over last Sunday's contested election. The vote was marred by delays, irregularities and voting problems.

US President Donald Trump deployed 80 US military personnel to Gabon in response to possible violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo following a disputed election.

New Delhi, Jan 4 (PTI) Congress president Rahul Gandhi Friday said if his party comes to power in 2019, a criminal investigation will be launched into the Rafale deal and the accused will be punished.

Speaking to the media outside Parliament ahead of the government's reply, he urged Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to answer the questions raised by the Congress on the multi-million dollar fighter jet deal.