MOSCOW, September 29. /TASS/: The Kremlin expects that Belarus will make an independent and timely decision on recognizing Crimea as part of Russia, Putin’s press secretary Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday.

The spokesman said that this issue was not on the agenda of the recent bilateral talks in Sochi between Presidents Vladimir Putin of Russia and Alexander Lukashenko of Belarus.

BAGHDAD, Sept 29 (NNN-NINA) – A total of 133 people, mostly security members, were wounded yesterday, as the Iraqi parliament reconvened, after nearly two months of suspension, the Iraqi Joint Operations Command said, in a statement.

The media office of the Iraqi Joint Operations Command (JOC), said in the statement that, clashes between protesters and the security forces resulted in the wounding of 122 security members and 11 protesters.

KYIV, Sept 29 (Reuters) - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy will hold an emergency meeting with top security, political and defence officials on Friday, following the Kremlin's announcement of plans by Russia to annex four Ukrainian regions.

The Kremlin said on Thursday that Russian President Vladimir Putin would sign documents on Friday proclaiming Moscow's annexation of regions where Russia organised what Kyiv and the West said were sham referendums staged at gunpoint on Russian-held Ukrainian territory.

BEIRUT, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) -- The Lebanese parliament on Thursday failed to elect a new president for Lebanon to replace incumbent President Michel Aoun when his term ends on Oct. 31.

The first round of voting was attended by 122 parliament members, with 36 votes for Michel Mouawad, 11 for Salim Edde, 63 blank votes, and 12 uncounted votes.

A second round didn't take place because the session lost the quorum.

Parliamentary speaker Nabih Berri said he would call for another session once a consensus is reached on a presidential candidate.

MOSCOW, September 29. /TASS/: Russia’s COVID-19 case tally rose by 38,739 over the past day to 20,948,470, the anti-coronavirus crisis center reported on Thursday.

A day earlier, 40,017 daily cases were recorded.

As many as 3,154 people were hospitalized with COVID-19 in Russia over the past day, down 4.4% from a day earlier. The number of hospitalized patients increased in 32 regions, while in 46 regions the figure decreased. The situation remained unchanged in seven regions. A day earlier, 3,300 people were rushed to hospitals.

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Some 200 environmental and land defense activists were killed around the world in 2021, including some 54 in Mexico, which assumed the position of the deadliest country in the annual report by nongovernmental organization Global Witness.

More than three-quarters of the killings took place in Latin America, where Colombia, Brazil and Nicaragua also logged double-digit death tolls.

It was the third consecutive year of increases for Mexico and a jump from 30 such activists killed in 2020.

RAMALLAH, Sept 29 (NNN-XINHUA) – Three Palestinians were killed and 10 others injured yesterday, during clashes with Israeli soldiers in the northern West Bank city of Jenin, Palestinian medics and eyewitnesses said.

Of the injured, two were in critical condition, said the Palestinian Ministry of Health in a press statement.

Palestinian eyewitnesses said that, the regime forces, backed by armoured vehicles, stormed the city and its refugee camp, amid the intensive fire of live ammunition and tear gas canisters in all directions.

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Brazil’s presidential election Sunday is being contested by 11 candidates but only two stand a chance of reaching a runoff: former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and incumbent Jair Bolsonaro.

Both are political titans, and eight of 10 Brazilians will vote for one of them, according to pollster Datafolha. That leaves little space for challengers and means that in lieu of fresh proposals and detailed programs, the two frontrunners have mostly harped on their experience and railed against each other.

HELSINKI/VAALIMAA, Finland, Sept 29 (Reuters) - Finland said on Thursday it would close its border to Russian tourists at midnight, shutting off the last remaining direct land route to the European Union for them as thousands of Russians seek to avoid conscription into the war in Ukraine.

The government said the move would lead to a significant drop in cross-border traffic after almost 17,000 Russians crossed the border into Finland during the weekend.

KAMPALA, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) -- The Ugandan parliament on Thursday passed a bill that will permit the donation and transplant of human organs.

The Uganda Human Organ Donation and Transplant Bill 2021 is aimed at regulating the donation of organs, cells and tissues as well as their transplant.

Minister of Health Ruth Aceng said in a televised plenary session that the demand for organ transplants was high, yet there was no law in place.

ANKARA, September 29. /TASS/: Turkey’s state bank Ziraat bankasi has suspended the service of cards of the Russian Mir payment system in Turkey, Reuters reported citing chief executive Alpaslan Cakar on Thursday.

29 Sep 2022; MEMO: The Israeli army has green lighted the use of armed drones to carry out assassinations against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, Israeli media reported on Thursday, Anadolu News Agency reports.

Army Chief, Aviv Kochavi, gave his approval to use the armed drones for assassinations and "to carry out strikes should armed gunmen be identified as posing imminent threats to the troops," reported The Jerusalem Post.