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Russia denounces oil price cap agreed by EU, G7

Russia on Saturday denounced a $60 price cap on its oil agreed by the EU, G7 and Australia, even as Ukraine suggested it was not tough enough and might have to be revisited.

"We will not accept this price cap," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told domestic news agencies, adding that Russia, the world's second-largest crude exporter, was "analysing" the move.

The $60 oil price cap will come into effect on Monday or soon after, alongside an EU embargo on maritime deliveries of Russian crude oil.

The war has killed thousands of Ukrainian civilians and forced millions to flee

Women join protests in Iran's conservative southeast

Black-clad women in Iran's Sistan-Baluchistan province on Friday joined nationwide protests sparked by Mahsa Amini's death, in what a rights group called a "rare" move in the staunchly conservative region.

Online videos showed dozens of women on the streets of the provincial capital Zahedan holding banners that declared "Woman, life, freedom" -- one of the main slogans of the protest movement that erupted in mid-September.

Iran has for over six weeks been gripped by protests sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini

US-led forces resume normal patrols in Syria

A US-led coalition fighting jihadists resumed regular patrols in Kurdish-held areas of northeast Syria on Friday after earlier Turkish air strikes, an AFP correspondent and a Kurdish military source said.

Patrols were reduced following the Turkish strikes that began on November 20 in Kurdish-controlled areas of Syria and Iraq, in response to a deadly Istanbul bombing that Ankara blamed on Kurdish groups.

The Kurds denied responsibility.

Hundreds of American troops are in Syria as part of the fight against remnants of the Islamic State group.

US forces, patrolling near Rmeilan in Syria's northeastern Hasakeh province, work in cooperation with the Syrian Democratic Forces

OPEC set to stick or cut more amid plan to cap Russian oil price

Major oil producers are expected to stick to their current output strategy or even slash production further when they meet on Sunday in the face of falling prices, a Russian oil price cap and an embargo on Russian crude shipments.

At their last ministerial session in October the 13-nation Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries headed by Riyadh and its 10 allies led by Moscow, collectively known as OPEC+, agreed to reduce output by two million barrels per day (bpd) from November.

OPEC+'s October  ministerial session saw agreement to cut production by two million barrels per day from November

Concern rises as new Turkish media law squeezes dissent

A new law gives Turkey fresh ammunition to censor the media and silence dissent ahead of elections in which President Recep Tayyip Erdogan plans to prolong his two decades in office, journalists and activists say.

Since 2014, when Erdogan became president, tens of thousands of people, from high-school teens to a former Miss Turkey have been prosecuted under a long-standing law that criminalises insulting the president.

The law, passed in parliament in October, could see reporters and social media users jailed for up to three years for spreading what is branded "fake news".

A recent wave of arrests targeted journalists working for Kurdish media outlets

Doha Souq abandons tradition to become World Cup party base

Thousands of Moroccan fans poured into Doha's oldest market on Thursday to celebrate their country's success in becoming the only Arab nation to reach the World Cup second round.

Crowds gathered around a giant golden thumb sculpture in Souq Waqif market that has become a magnet for fans of winning teams to show national pride.

Argentinian, Tunisian and Saudi fans have also jammed the narrow alleys around the sculpture by French artist Cesar Baldaccini on earlier nights to blow horns, bang drums and make noise.

Morocco supporters in Doha's Souq Waqif celebrate their team's qualification for the last 16 of the World Cup

Moroccans rejoice at reaching World Cup last 16

Ecstatic Moroccans celebrated on Thursday after their team qualified for the knockout stages of the World Cup for the first time since 1986.

"We've waited 36 years," one fan cried after the Atlas Lions beat Canada 2-1 to storm into the round of 16 as winners of their group.

In 1986, the football-obsessed North African nation became the first African or Arab country ever to reach the knockout stages, before many of the current players were born.

Fans of the Morocco national football team celebrate in the capital Rabat after the squad qualified for the round of 16 of the Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup

Moroccans rejoice at reaching World Cup last 16

Ecstatic Moroccans celebrated on Thursday after their team qualified for the knockout stages of the World Cup for the first time since 1986.

"We've waited 36 years," one fan cried after the Atlas Lions beat Canada 2-1 to storm into the round of 16 as winners of their group.

In 1986, the football-obsessed North African nation became the first African or Arab country ever to reach the knockout stages, before many of the current players were born.

Moroccan fans celebrate in the capital Rabat after their team became the only one from an Arab nation to reach the World Cup second round

Tunnel found under United Nations school in Gaza

The United Nations said Thursday it discovered a "man-made cavity" under one of its schools in Gaza, the Palestinian territory controlled by Hamas, which boasts a network of tunnels, some of them used in past wars against Israel.

"The agency protested strongly to the relevant authorities in Gaza to express outrage and condemnation of the presence of such a structure underneath one of its installations," the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) said in a statement.

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) operates a network of 278 schools across the Gaza Strip serving more than 290,000 pupils

President urges Iranians to thwart 'enemy' on visit to Kurdistan protest hub

Iran's president paid a visit Thursday to Kurdistan province, the cradle of protests over Mahsa Amini's death, and urged people to thwart the "enemy" which his government accuses of stoking the unrest.

The Islamic republic has been gripped by protests that erupted when Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian of Kurdish origin, died in custody on September 16 after her arrest for an alleged breach of the country's dress code for women.

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said his country's "enemies miscalculated" over the protests