TEHRAN, Dec. 14  — Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Saturday that BRICS can help lay the groundwork for “fair and balanced” cooperation at the global level.

He made the remarks at a meeting with visiting Speaker of the Ethiopian House of Representatives Tagesse Chafo in Tehran, according to a statement published on the website of his office.

Both Iran and Ethiopia officially joined BRICS in January 2024. Pezeshkian described BRICS as a multilateral framework and a valuable and strategic platform for expanding interactions, deepening economic and political ties, and confronting unilateral approaches in the international system.

“BRICS can provide a new communication model based on mutual respect for states’ national sovereignty, territorial integrity and diverse cultures and civilizations, and prepare the ground for fair and balanced cooperation at the global level,” he said.

Pezeshkian voiced Iran’s readiness to play a role in establishing and strengthening sustainable peace and security in the region, advocating for a world free from war, violence and conflict.

He added that individuals with deep insight into human nature prefer dialogue and cooperation over confrontation. He stressed that Iran was ready to expand its relations with Ethiopia in the economic, diplomatic, cultural and security fields, noting that the targeted use of existing institutional mechanisms could accelerate bilateral cooperation.

For his part, Chafo said Ethiopia is determined to increase economic exchanges and expand joint investments with Iran and make effective use of BRICS mechanisms, including its New Development Bank, to strengthen the foundations of economic and financial cooperation between the two countries. (Namibia daily news / Xinhua)

ANKARA, Dec. 13 — The Black Sea should not become “an area of confrontation” between Russia and Ukraine, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Saturday.

“The Black Sea should not be seen as an area of confrontation. This would not benefit Russia or Ukraine. Everyone needs safe navigation in the Black Sea,” Türkiye’s semi-official Anadolu Agency quoted Erdogan as saying.

Erdogan made the remarks aboard his plane back to Türkiye from Turkmenistan, where he met with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of an international peace forum and called for a “limited ceasefire” to halt attacks targeting energy and port facilities in the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

Recently, Ankara has been reiterating its concerns about the Russia-Ukraine conflict spreading into the Black Sea. In early December, Türkiye’s exclusive economic zone saw several drone attacks on Russia-flagged or Russia-bound tankers, for which Ukraine claimed responsibility.

On Friday, a missile struck a Turkish-owned civilian ship at Ukraine’s Chornomorsk port near Odesa, causing damage but no reported casualties. Ukrainian authorities have claimed it was “a Russian attack,” on which the Russian side has not commented yet. (Namibia Daily News / Xinhua)

BANGKOK, Dec. 13 — Thai Foreign Minister Sihasak Phuangketkeow said at a press conference Saturday that landmines causing Thai military casualties along the Thailand-Cambodia border were deliberately planted by Cambodia instead of an “accident,” expressing disappointment over U.S. President Donald Trump’s related social media remarks.

Sihasak said that the U.S. side may not have a full grasp of the facts or might have received inaccurate information.

He cited Cambodia’s seven documented instances of laying landmines along the border, as verified by independent observers, along with its premeditated BM-21 rocket attack on Thai civilian areas.

Countering Trump’s claim of an excessive response, the Thai foreign minister emphasized that his country’s response was proportional to the attacks it had endured.

Sihasak said that the Thai people were disappointed by Trump’s comment that the roadside bomb, which killed and injured multiple Thai soldiers, was an “accident,” noting that such remarks had hurt the feelings of the Thai people.

Sihasak also raised concerns that 6,000 to 7,000 Thai nationals were stranded on the Cambodian side of the Poipet border checkpoint, unable to return home.

He pointed out that Thailand had never hindered the repatriation of Cambodian citizens residing in the country, while Cambodia had repeatedly delayed the reopening of border crossings.

Thailand’s caretaker Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul and Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet said they held separate phone talks with Trump on Friday regarding their border conflict.

On the same day, Trump posted on social media that the two leaders had agreed to a ceasefire effective Friday evening. Anutin said in a social media post on Saturday that his country will continue its military operations until Thailand’s territory and people are no longer under threat. (Namibia Daily News / Xinhua)

NAIROBI, Dec. 13 — The seventh session of the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA-7) concluded late Friday with the adoption of eleven resolutions, three decisions and a ministerial declaration to advance the resilience of the planet and its inhabitants.

Adopted through consensus, the resolutions seek to boost the conservation of coral reefs, the sound management of minerals and metals essential to the energy transition, circularity, and the reduction of the ecological footprint of artificial intelligence.

In addition, delegates pledged to promote international cooperation to combat wildfires, strengthen the environmental dimension of antimicrobial resistance, protect glaciers, and address seaweed blooms.

UNEA-7 President Abdullah Bin Ali Al-Amri said the impact of these resolutions will be felt by communities if they lead to cleaner air and water, restored ecosystems, and the unlocking of green jobs.

The world’s highest decision-making body on the environment, the UNEA comprises 193 UN member states and meets biennially to set priorities for the global environmental agenda.

This year’s edition, which took place against a backdrop of geopolitical headwinds, resolved to strengthen multilateral environmental agreements and frameworks to advance an inclusive green agenda.

Inger Andersen, the executive director of the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), said that UNEA-7 set the stage for revitalized action on the triple planetary crisis of climate change, nature loss, pollution and waste.

“We must hurry down this path to make good on our collective promise to deliver real solutions for a resilient planet and resilient people,” Andersen said.

Matthew Samuda, Jamaica’s minister of water, environment and climate change, was elected as the president of UNEA-8, which will be held in December, 2027, at UNEP headquarters in Nairobi.

“We must work to strengthen the science-policy interface, scale up financing for adaptation and resilience, and accelerate the transition to sustainable production and consumption systems,” he said. (Namibia Daily News /Xinhua)

BANGKOK, Dec. 13– The Royal Thai Army (RTA) said on Saturday that Cambodia had launched BM-21 rocket strikes targeting civilian areas in Thailand’s Sisaket province, leaving four people injured.

The attack took place as local residents were rushing to bomb shelters immediately after hearing air raid warnings, said the statement released on social media.

The RTA strongly condemned the Cambodian military’s actions, stating that the incident constitutes clear evidence of Cambodia’s use of weapons to target civilian zones that are unrelated to military operations.

In an official statement released on Saturday, the country’s military reiterated that its operations on the Thailand-Cambodia border were strictly under universal principles, and Thailand’s security readiness and capability were maintained for defense and situation control.

In the statement, Thai officials emphasized that the primary goals of the operations were the protection of the lives of its people and national security, with no intention to escalate the conflict or threaten civilians.

As the situation in the border area arose from military capacity enhancement that affected the safety of the Thai people and critical infrastructure, Thailand was therefore compelled to implement countermeasures that were limited in scope, target-specific, and use force only as necessary to terminate the threat, the statement said. (Namibia Daily News / Xinhua)

UVIRA, DR Congo, Dec. 13 — Along the road linking Bukavu to Uvira in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the marks of war remain stark and unmistakable following a series of offensives by the March 23 Movement (M23) rebels, who recently claimed they had taken control of the strategic city of Uvira.

Charred military vehicles lie twisted along the roadside. Buildings are scarred by bullet impacts. Abandoned military positions and shards of metal litter the asphalt.

Together, they bear witness to the intensity of clashes between the M23 and the Armed Forces of the DRC (FARDC) along this vital artery connecting the northern and southern parts of South Kivu province.

“WE FLEE WITH WHATEVER WE COULD CARRY” Since Dec. 2, South Kivu province has been engulfed in fighting on multiple fronts. The M23 said Wednesday that it had seized control of Uvira city, triggering a wave of internal displacement across the province.

Around 500,000 people have been “on the move” since Dec. 2, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. DRC authorities said more than 400 people have been killed since the new round of fighting began.

At the same time, Burundi announced the closure of its border posts with the DRC, all located in South Kivu province, a move that has further deepened an already severe humanitarian crisis.

From Kamanyola, a town about 50 kilometers south of Bukavu, South Kivu’s capital city, the road offers an early glimpse of what lies ahead.

Along its edges, military vehicles remain where they were left, burned out, torn open and abandoned. In some stretches, travel has become hazardous, with unexploded ordnance still visible near the roadway.

The signs of conflict accumulate with every passing kilometer: twisted metal, makeshift shelters, and civilian and military vehicles riddled with shrapnel or deserted in haste, revealing a population caught off guard as the territory descended into chaos within hours.

In Luvungi, a resident recalled the first moments of the fighting as he returned home. “The bombardments started early Tuesday morning.

We fled with whatever we could carry,” he said anonymously. Now back with his family, he believes the situation has eased somewhat.

But with the Burundian border still closed, returning home has sometimes become the only remaining option. From Luvungi to Luberizi, and through several villages lining the road toward Uvira, scenes of war scars repeat themselves.

Life remains largely at a standstill despite the cautious return of some displaced residents, who move carefully, as if hoping that silence might take hold.

FRAGILE CALM UNDER WATCH At the entrance to Uvira, a fragile calm appears to have settled after days of heightened tension.

Daily activity remains severely disrupted, but the city is not entirely frozen, as residents slowly reemerge, stepping cautiously out of their homes as if testing the air.

A handful of shops have reopened and markets are tentatively reorganizing. This hesitant return is unfolding under a heavy military presence, with M23 fighters deployed around key sites across the city and stationed at major intersections.

Uvira is functioning again, but under close watch, several residents told Xinhua. Uvira, South Kivu’s second-largest city, served as the provisional administrative center after the provincial capital Bukavu fell to the M23 in February.

In several neighborhoods of Uvira and in nearby villages, the bodies of unidentified individuals have been recovered in recent days, according to the International Committee of the Red Cross, which is overseeing the operations.

The precise circumstances surrounding the deaths remain difficult to establish, amid restricted access to certain areas and limited verifiable information on the ground. Speaking to Xinhua in Uvira, M23 spokesperson Lawrence Kanyuka said investigations would be conducted to determine the exact causes of the deaths.

The fighting did not directly pit M23 forces against FARDC inside the city itself, he said, adding that most Congolese troops had already withdrawn from Uvira by the time rebel fighters arrived.

At the regional level, the situation remains highly volatile. Addressing the United Nations Security Council on Friday, Jean-Pierre Lacroix, UN under-secretary-general for peace operations, said the DRC continues to face a deep security and humanitarian crisis, with civilians bearing the brunt of the violence.

He warned that the latest M23 offensive in South Kivu had “revived the specter of a regional conflagration with incalculable consequences.” Recent developments posed “a serious risk of fragmentation of the DRC, particularly in its eastern part,” he said, adding that “the conflict is becoming increasingly regionalized.”

Lacroix said the direct or indirect involvement of forces and armed groups from neighboring countries, combined with cross-border movements of displaced civilians and fighters, significantly heightened “the risk of regional escalation.”

Such a trajectory, he noted, threatens not only eastern DRC but the entire Great Lakes region. Between Dec. 5 and Dec. 9, about 38,000 asylum seekers from eastern DRC crossed into Burundi to escape the violence, Burundi’s National Radio and Television reported on Wednesday.

According to the DRC government, the presence of hostile forces in Uvira prompted the closure of the border with Burundi, cutting off a vital supply corridor for food, fuel and basic goods, and raising fears of shortages.

On Friday, Kinshasa said it would start discussions with Burundi on the possible establishment of a temporary humanitarian corridor. (Namibia Daily News / Xinhua)

TEHRAN, Dec. 13– Iran has seized a foreign oil tanker carrying 6 million liters of smuggled diesel in the Gulf of Oman, state-run IRIB news agency reported Friday.

The tanker was confiscated by Iranian judicial officers on Thursday in Iran’s territorial waters near the southern port city of Jask as part of efforts to combat the main fuel smuggling networks and smugglers, the IRIB quoted Mojtaba Ghahremani, chief justice of the southern Hormozgan province, as saying.

He said the vessel lacked the required maritime documents and the bill of lading for its fuel cargo, adding that it had turned off all its navigation and navigational aid systems.

Ghahremani noted that there were 18 crew members on board the oil tanker, identifying them as nationals of India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. (Namibia Daily News / Xinhua)

MADRID/ROME, Dec. 13 — U.S. operations in international waters targeting alleged drug-trafficking activities pose a challenge to international law and raise questions about the West’s consistency in applying its principles, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has said.

In an exclusive interview published Friday by the Italian magazine L’Espresso, Sanchez said the United States has carried out killings in international waters without judicial process, under the justification of combating drug trafficking.

Sanchez said that such a challenge to international law is deeply concerning and reinforces external criticism that the West applies its principles inconsistently.

In recent months, the U.S. government has intensified counter-narcotics operations in the Caribbean and waters near Venezuela, citing efforts to curb drug smuggling amid ongoing tensions between Washington and Caracas.

Sanchez urged all parties to resolve disputes through peaceful and political means to avoid further escalation. (Namibia Daily News / Xinhua)