YANGON, Sept 1 (NNN-MNA) – Myanmar imported about 35,000 tonnes of fertilisers over a period of seven days, the state-run newspaper, the Global New Light of Myanmar, reported yesterday.

The fertilisers imported on Aug 12-18, totalled 14.7 million U.S. dollars, the newspaper reported, citing the Ministry of Commerce data.

In July, the country imported over 250,000 tonnes of fertilisers, which were worth 92.4 million U.S. dollars, the media report said.

31 August 2023; MEMO: The European Commission is looking “very closely” at whether the terms of a controversial gas deal between Bulgaria and Turkiye breach the EU’s competition rules, Energy Intelligence reports.

According to the report, Bulgaria wants to book capacity of about one bcm of gas per year at Turkish LNG terminals and seal import deals with European and United States LNG producers.

QUITO, Ecuador (AP) — Ecuador’s fragile security situation was underscored Thursday by a series of car bombings and the hostage-taking of more than 50 law enforcement officers inside various prisons, just weeks after the country was shaken by the assassination of a presidential candidate.

Ecuador’s National Police reported no injuries resulting from the four explosions in Quito, the capital, and in a province that borders Peru, while Interior Minister Juan Zapata said none of the law enforcement officers taken hostage in six different prisons had been injured.

NEW YORK (AP) — The federal government will, for the first time, dictate staffing levels at nursing homes, the Biden administration said Friday, responding to systemic problems bared by mass COVID-19 deaths.

While such regulation has been sought for decades by allies of older adults and those with disabilities, the proposed threshold is far lower than many advocates had hoped. It also immediately drew ire from the nursing home industry, which said it amounted to a mandate that couldn’t be met.

ISLAMABAD, Sep 1 (APP): Caretaker Prime Minster Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar on Friday stressed the need to continue the GSP Plus scheme which served the interests of both Pakistan and the European Union.

The prime minister, in a meeting with EU Ambassador to Pakistan Riina Kionka, who called on him, emphasized the significant role of the GSP Plus scheme in boosting Pakistan’s exports to European markets

He expressed satisfaction over the positive trajectory of Pakistan-EU ties and lauded recent progress made in this regard.

JUBA, Sept. 1 (Xinhua) -- President of South Sudan Salva Kiir on Thursday night appointed James Morgan Pitia as the country's new minister of foreign affairs and international cooperation.

In a presidential decree broadcast on the state-owned television, the South Sudan Broadcasting Corporation, Kiir appointed Pitia who had previously served as the country's ambassador to Ethiopia and permanent representative to the African Union.

Kiir sacked acting foreign minister Deng Dau Deng who had been in charge of the ministry since March.

SOLNECHNOGORSK /Moscow Region/, September 1. /TASS/: Russian President Vladimir Putin said that he will soon meet with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping.

"Rather soon we will have some events and there will be a meeting with Chairman of the People’s Republic of China [Xi Jinping]," the Russian president said during an open lecture entitled "Conversations about what matters."

01 September 2023; MEMO: Israel has summoned the Belgian ambassador for dressing down after a minster said that “entire [Palestinian] villages are being wiped off the map by the Israelis.” A letter of protest has also been sent to the Belgium Foreign Ministry claiming that the remarks are “libelous and defamatory.”

The comments were made by Belgium’s Minister for International Development, Caroline Gennez. Speaking to the Flemish daily De Morgen, Gennez said:

30 August 2023; MEMO: Iraq is to kick-start the much-delayed cross-border railway line connecting it with neighbouring Iran. Citing a government source, the Shafaq News Agency reported today that Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani is to visit the southern province of Basra where he will lay the foundation stone for the 36 kilometre railway project.

31 August 2023; MEMO: A veteran Iranian weightlifter has been banned for life for shaking hands with an Israeli opponent at the 2023 World Master Weightlifting Championships in Poland after winning a silver medal, Anadolu Agency reports.

Mostafa Rajaei, who is in his early 40s, was seen shaking hands and posing for photographs with Israeli weightlifter, Maksim Svirsky, during the competition after they both had a podium finish.

ATLANTA (AP) — Former President Donald Trump pleaded not guilty on Thursday and sought to sever his case from other defendants who are accused along with him of illegally trying to overturn the results of the 2020 election in Georgia.

Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee had set arraignment hearings for Trump and the 18 others charged in the case for Sept. 6. A court filing waiving arraignment means Trump won’t have to show up for that.

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Unexplained Caribbean and European trips that cost taxpayers more than $90,000. A $600 sports coat paid for by an event organizer. A $45 office Christmas cake taken as his own.

These are among the perks that Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s former employees say he reveled in while using his office in ways that now have him facing a federal criminal investigation and potential ouster over allegations of corruption.