Baghdad, Iraq -- Iraq is working to complete the necessary preparations for the visit of Prime Minister Muhammad Shiaa Al-Sudani to Moscow in the next few weeks, said Minister of Foreign Affairs, Fuad Hussein."Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Fuad Hussein, met with Sergey Lavrov, on the sidelines...

Ukrainian officials said the Palau-flagged Resilient Africa vessel was carrying 3,000 tons of wheat when it left Ukraine's Chornomorsk port on Tuesday. It was destined for Israel, according to marine traffic websites, representing the first successful Black Sea voyage since Russia pulled out of a UN-backed deal to export Ukrainian...

MOSCOW, RUSSIA – The cooperation between Moscow and Tehran is reaching new highs, Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu said on Wednesday.“We are determined to implement the entire set of our planned activities despite opposition from the US and its Western allies,” Shoigu said during talks with Iranian Defense Minister Mohammad-Reza...

Beijing, China - China's top diplomat Wang Yi will begin a four-day visit to Russia for security talks on Monday, his foreign ministry said, the latest in a series of high-level visits and phone calls between the two sides.China and Russia are strategic allies, with both countries frequently touting their...

Istanbul, Turkey - President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday accused the European Union of pulling away from Turkey, whose efforts to join the bloc have stalled amid criticism of Ankara's efforts to address democracy and rule of law concerns.Erdogan secured a pledge from Brussels to resurrect the membership talks first started...

Moscow, Russia--The UAE and Russia are looking to strengthen the bilateral cooperation in higher education, scientific research, space, and engineering between the two countries.In this regard, Ahmad Belhoul Al Falasi, Minister of Education, and Valery Falkov, Minister of Science and Higher Education of Russia, held discussions in Moscow.Al Falasi, accompanied...

Dubai, UAE -- The talks between Turkey and China to build a nuclear power plant in eastern Thrace are progressing and a deal is possible in a few months, Turkish Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar said Thursday.Middle East Eye reported that Bayraktar told reporters that senior officials from the Chinese government visited...

Putin first raised the idea of creating "a gas hub in Turkey for supplies to other countries" during talks with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the Kazakh capital Astana last October. Erdogan then instructed his government to start immediate preparations for "an international distribution center" in Turkey.

Moscow, Russia--Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un discussed the possibility of sending a North Korean into space, Russian news agencies quoted Putin's spokesman as saying.President Putin and the North Korean leader held talks on Wednesday at a spaceport in Russia's far east."We talked about the fact that if the North Korean...

"We are confident that the Russian army and people will win a great victory in the just fight to punish evil groups who pursue hegemony, expansion, and ambition," Kim told Putin, raising a toast during an official dinner following one-on-one talks.

The IEA said world oil demand remains on track to grow by 2.2 million bpd to 101.8 million bpd this year, partly due to resurgent Chinese consumption and jet fuel. But the extension of Saudi and Russian output cuts "will lock in a substantial market deficit" through the last three...

Geneva, Switzerland - The de-globalization of international trade is far from being a reality, but "the first signs of fragmentation" are appearing, the WTO warned on Tuesday, concerned of the effects of the phenomenon on growth and development.The idea of "de-globalization" has gained traction since the war in Ukraine and pandemic-related...

The IEA's annual World Energy Outlook, due out next month, will show that "the world is on the cusp of a historic turning point," executive director Fatih Birol wrote in the FT.

A Russian news agency said that Kim's had crossed the border into the Primorsky region, with images showing a train with dark green carriages being pulled along a track by a Russian Railways locomotive. According to Kremlin spokesman, Kim will meet Putin in the Far East later this week. North...

Tehran, Iran-- Iran and Russia are looking to build a research spacecraft within two years and in this connection top universities from Iran and Russia have signed an agreement.In an interview with Tasnim news agency, the president of the University of Tehran said the academic center has recently signed an...

Speaking at the Eastern Economic Forum (EEF), Russia's Minister of Economic Development Maxim Reshetnikov said that his country has offered the complete cancellation of tourist visas to Kuwait, Oman, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Malaysia. "We are exploring the topic of making the transition to visa-free travels," he added.

Annual inflation in Egypt hit 39.7 percent in August, official figures showed, an all-time high for the country as it grapples with a punishing economic crisis. It comes after an unrelenting economic crisis that has seen the currency shed half its value against the US dollar since early last year.

G20 leaders have been deeply riven over the Ukraine war since Moscow's invasion last year, with Russian President Vladimir Putin skipping the summit entirely to dodge political opprobrium. Leaders of the Group of 20, which brings together Russia and China as well as some of Ukraine's most ardent backers, have...

The African Union joined the G20, boosting Africa's voice, while a new initiative aims to connect Europe, the Middle East, and India through infrastructure.

NEW DELHI, INDIA- Indian prime minister and G20 host Narendra Modi said on Saturday the body had reached consensus on its leaders' declaration and announced its adoption."Because of our team's hard work, and with your support, there is a consensus on the New Delhi G20 Leaders' Summit declaration," he said."I...

Moscow, Russia-- Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Saturday on the 75 anniversary of the country's founding and called for stronger ties "on all fronts"."I am convinced that thanks to our joint efforts we will continue to strengthen... bilateral ties on all fronts", Putin said...

Tehran, Iran--Russia’s largest lender, SBERBANK, is presenting a new service that allows its clients to transfer money to the Islamic Republic of Iran, the bank announced on Thursday.The service is available to both individuals and businesses using their Sber accounts, according to the bank.  “The money transfer service to Iran...

Washington, US - The REPO (Russian Elites, Proxies and Oligarchs) task force, set up to search and freeze Russia-related assets, estimates the overall value of sovereign Russian assets, blocked by the West, at $280 billion.“The total value of assets <…> is estimated at around $280 billion, the majority of which is held in the European Union,” the US Department of the Treasury said...

Tehran, Iran -- Russia’s largest lender, SBERBANK, is presenting a new service that allows its clients to transfer money to Iran.The service is available to both individuals and businesses using their Sber accounts, Tasnim reported.“The money transfer service to Iran is new to us and the demand for it has...

DUBAI, UAE – Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in a telephonic conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin has expressed readiness to build an economic partnership with the BRICS countries.The Saudi Press Agency said the two sides had discussed various issues at the BRICS summit, where Saudi Arabia was...

The G20, which accounts for about 85 percent of the world's economy and greenhouse gas emissions, will meet in New Delhi in the absence of China and Russia's leaders, as the invasion of Ukraine, trade and the future of fossil fuels stir tensions.

The Saudi production cut of one million barrels per day which first took effect in July will continue "for another three months until the end of December 2023", the kingdom's energy ministry said in a statement. Russia's export cut of 300,000 bpd will continue for the same period, Deputy Prime...

Since pulling out of the deal, which aimed to ensure safe grain exports via the Black Sea, Russia has been keen to ally African concerns about the impact of the deal's collapse on food security. Putin said Russia was ready to return to the deal "as soon" as restrictions on...

Dubai, UAE--Oil prices rose to their highest in over half a year and snapped a two-week losing streak, buoyed by expectations of tightening supplies.A Middle Eastern country is widely expected to extend a voluntary 1 million barrels per day oil production cut into October, prolonging supply curbs engineered by the...

According to an Iranian media outlet, a batch of advanced Yak-130 training aircraft flew into the Shahid Babaei Air Base in Isfahan in central Iran, part of the Islamic republic's arms contracts with Russia. The army's public relations department said that jets will improve the training and combat capability of...

Ukrainian foreign ministry spokesman Oleg Nikolenko wrote on Facebook that the foundation should support efforts to isolate Russia and Belarus as "millions of Ukrainians suffer from an unprovoked war and the Russian regime is not punished for its crimes". Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson also said he disagreed with the...

MOSCOW, RUSSIA - Russian President Vladimir Putin will host his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday, the Kremlin said, amid hopes the two can restore a deal ensuring safe passage for grain shipments.Russia pulled out from the UN-backed grain agreement that Turkey helped broker in July, effectively revoking safe navigation...

Washington, United States - NASA has spotted a small new crater on the Moon that was likely caused by a Russian probe crash landing on the surface around two weeks ago.The finding was made by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) by comparing before and after images of the estimated impact point,...

Moscow, Russia - Turkey's foreign minister said on a visit to Moscow on Thursday that reviving a deal to ship Ukrainian grain across the Black Sea was "critical" for food security."We underlined its critical role for global food security and stability in the Black Sea," Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said...

According to TASS, quoting a diplomatic source, Turkey's Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan will propose to Russia at the upcoming talks in Moscow to resume the grain deal in its original format. The source said that Turkey is all for restarting the grain corridor in its original "format involving parties to...

Moscow, Russia -- Moscow considers threats by European Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell to take medical supplies away from the Russian people as inadmissible and neo-Nazist, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said at a briefing."EU restrictions are above all an instrument of intimidation...

Prigozhin, 62, was buried on Tuesday in a private ceremony in his native Saint Petersburg, more than two months after he staged a short-lived mutiny that posed a serious challenge for the Kremlin. Authorities said the Western-sanctioned businessman died when his private jet went down along with nine other people...

TEHRAN, IRAN – The CEO of SAIPA Auto Making Company, Iran’s second-largest car manufacturing company, said a contract has been inked for exporting 120,000 passenger and commercial vehicles to Russia.Mohammad Teymouri pointed to his visit to Russia’s car market last week and stated that a contract was concluded for exporting...

The South Pars gas field is one of the world's largest natural gas condensate fields. Iran shares the gas field with energy giant Qatar and there are 24 platforms on the side of the Islamic republic which has been developing it in the Gulf since the 1990s.

Moscow, Russia -- Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) member states have invited observers from Saudi Arabia, Iran, China and Mongolia to monitor the Combat Brotherhood-2023 drills in Belarus, CSTO Joint Staff Chief Colonel General Anatoly Sidorov said at a briefing.Saudi Arabia, Iran, China and Mongolia are not the members of...

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is to visit Russia "soon" for talks with Vladimir Putin on reviving a deal to ship grain across the Black Sea, his party spokesman said. The meeting will take place in Russia's Sochi city, Erdogan's ruling party spokesman Omer Celik said, adding Turkey hoped to...

Tehran, Iran -- Iran became the eighth largest steel supplier in the world in the first half of 2023 as the country kept increasing its output despite supply and price hike in international markets caused by the Ukraine War.Figures from the World Steel Association (WSA) showed that Iran’s steel output...

Tehran, Iran--Iran and Russia are independent countries whose military cooperation is not subject to the dictates of the United States and its allies, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister says.Russia's military cooperation with Iran will not succumb to geopolitical pressure, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said.Ryabkov said in response to a...

The rebels "detonated tunnels they had dug beneath army positions and simultaneously launched an assault from other tunnels", said Rami Abdel Rahman, who heads the Britain-based Observatory. The attack, which also wounded 20 soldiers, came as Syria and its main military ally Russia bombarded the mountainous Jabal al-Zawiya area of...

Florida, US--NASA and SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft blasted off on Saturday carrying four astronauts to the International Space Station.The Crew-7 mission is commanded by American Jasmin Moghbeli and includes Andreas Mogensen of Denmark, Satoshi Furukawa of Japan and Konstantin Borisov of Russia.The Dragon spacecraft carried by a Falcon 9 rocket lifted...

The foreign minister said that his country does not see any alternative to the original initiative because in his words they carry risks. He completely dismissed an alternate route reportedly being considered by the US. Last month, Russia pulled out of a landmark deal that enabled Ukraine to export more...

The Kremlin dismissed rumors it orchestrated the death of Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin, presumed dead in a plane crash two months after leading a mutiny in Russia. It announced by decree that paramilitary fighters will have to swear an oath to the Russian flag, as part of measures to rein...

Both the Syrian army and Russian air force "carried out several air and artillery strikes targeting terrorist headquarters in the countryside of Aleppo, Latakia and Hama," a statement said, after "repeated attacks" on regime-held areas in the provinces. The strikes left dozens of fighters "dead or wounded", the defence ministry...

"There were 10 people on board, including three crew members. According to preliminary information, all those on board died," Russia's ministry for emergency situation had said shortly before. It said it was conducting search operations.

Istanbul, Turkey - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Russian President Vladimir Putin are likely to discuss a deal on supplying Russia's flour to African countries, according to TASS."Both leaders spoke earlier about plans to process Russian grain into flour in Turkey and sending it to the poor nations of...