TEHRAN -- Iran on Saturday vowed retaliatory measures if Europe gives in to the U.S. pressures for extending a UN arms embargo on Iran, Tasnim news agency reported.
"We have warned the European countries that if they give in to the political and diplomatic pressures from the United States, Iran has effective measures in response," Abbas Mousavi, spokesman of the foreign ministry, told Tasnim. (Iran-Europe-UN Arms-Embargo)
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BAGHDAD -- A total of three paramilitary Hashd Shaabi members and one Islamic State (IS) militant were killed on Saturday in two incidents in the eastern province of Diyala, a provincial police source said.
In one attack, a roadside bomb exploded near a Hashd Shaabi force during an operation to hunt down IS militants near the town of Qara Tappa, some 110 km northeast of the provincial capital Baquba, Alaa al-Saadi told Xinhua. (Iraq-Attacks)
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DAMASCUS -- A total of 25 Turkish military vehicles entered northern Syria on Saturday as part of an ongoing operation to send military backup to Turkish points in the area, a war monitor reported.
The convoy, which includes logistics and military devices, reached the Turkish observation points in two batches, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. (Syira-Turkish Vehicles)
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CAIRO -- An Egyptian court turned down on Saturday an appeal by Muslim Brotherhood member Mahmoud Makawi Afifi, upholding a 20-year prison sentence by a criminal court over Afifi's involvement in violence that took place in 2012.
The case involved violence against protesters who were holding a sit-in in front of the Ittihadeya presidential palace in Cairo, during which journalist al-Husseini Abu-Deif was killed, official Ahram Online news website reported. (Egypt-Court-Muslim Brotherhood) Enditem
