LUXEMBOURG, June 10 (NNN-AGENCIES) — EU nations reached agreement on a long-stalled revision of the bloc’s rules to share the hosting of asylum seekers and migrants more equitably.

Sweden, which holds the bloc’s rotating presidency, announced the breakthrough after a fraught day of negotiations between EU interior ministers in Luxembourg.

The deal — which needed approval from a majority of countries representing at least 65 percent of the bloc’s population — comes after years of wrangling over asylum policy.

09 June 2023; MEMO: India, France and the United Arab Emirates have concluded the first-ever trilateral maritime exercise this week, the Indian Defence Ministry said on Friday, Anadolu Agency reports.

The trilateral cooperation "achieved another milestone in history" as the exercise, which was held on 7-8 June, concluded, the Ministry said.

QAMISHLI, Syria (AP) — The Kurdish-led authority in northeast Syria announced Saturday that hundreds of fighters with the Islamic State group held in prisons around the region will be put on trial after their home countries refused to repatriate them.

The statement by the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria said it still calls for the creation of an international tribunal to put those fighters on trial. It called on the United Nations, international rights groups and local organizations to help facilitate the trials.

ISTANBUL, June 9 (Reuters) - Turkish security forces seized $1 billion of counterfeit money in Istanbul and arrested six people involved in the operation, including one Ghanian and three Swedish nationals, the governor's office said on Friday.

Gendarmerie forces tracked the suspects to a storage space in Istanbul's Kagithane district, where they seized the fake $100 bills meant to be sent to African countries, the office said.

The suspects' homes were searched and their cash and jewellery confiscated. The Swedish and Ghanian consulates were notified.

AMMAN, June 10 (Xinhua) -- Jordan and Egypt Saturday inked an agreement aimed at bolstering cooperation in the realm of gas infrastructure.

As per the deal, Egypt will utilize the floating storage vessel located at Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Port in Aqaba, Jordan for gas processing. In return, Jordan will receive liquefied natural gas from Egypt and will, when required, pump back a portion of the natural gas through existing pipelines between the two nations.

The signing ceremony was attended by Jordanian Energy Minister Saleh Kharabsheh and his counterpart Tarek El-Molla.

MOSCOW, June 10. /TASS/: Russian forces neutralized an enemy subversive and reconnaissance group and destroyed up to 60 Ukrainian troops in the Krasny Liman area and an ammo depot in the Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR) over the past 24 hours, Defense Ministry Spokesman Lieutenant-General Igor Konashenkov reported on Saturday.

Islamabad, Jun 9 (PTI) Cash-strapped Pakistan on Friday hiked defence spending by 15.5 per cent and allocated over Rs 1.8 trillion, as the government unveiled a Rs 14.4 trillion budget for 2023-24 as it battled to fend off a looming default due to shrinking foreign reserves.

Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, who presented the budget in the National Assembly, the lower house of parliament, said the government will target a growth rate of 3.5 per cent in the coming fiscal year.

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — An explosion at a rocket and explosives plant in Turkey caused a building to collapse on Saturday, killing all five workers inside, an official said.

The explosion occurred at around 8:45 a.m. at the compound of the state-owned Mechanical and Chemical Industry Corporation, on the outskirts of the capital, Ankara, Gov. Vasip Sahin told reporters.

Sahin said the explosion was likely to have been caused by a chemical reaction during the production of dynamite. Prosecutors have launched a formal investigation, he said.

DAMASCUS, Jun 10 (NNN-SANA) – Syrian Prime Minister, Hussein Arnous, yesterday said, the country’s wheat yield this year is expected to reach one million tonnes.

Arnous made the remarks, during his visit to the central province of Hama, where an estimated 350,000 tonnes of wheat will be produced this year, said the report.

The prime minister noted that, the wheat quality this year is good, as shown by indicators, including the complete maturity of the grain and the specific weight in hard and soft varieties, which tell the plumpness of grains.

MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — Police in Somalia say nine people, including three soldiers, were killed in Friday night’s extremist attack on a beachside hotel in the capital, Mogadishu.

The police statement said 10 other people were wounded while 84 people were rescued from the hourslong assault that ended early Saturday morning.

Al-Qaida’s East Africa affiliate, al-Shabab, claimed responsibility for the attack. The Somalia-based extremist group is known for carrying out attacks on hotels and other high-profile locations in Mogadishu, usually starting with a suicide bombing.

HAVANA, June 10 (Reuters) - When the U.S. embassy in Havana reopened last May to Cubans seeking visas after a nearly five-year hiatus, the once proud 1950s vintage building was in shambles.

Pieces of its stone facade were crumbling from top floors, threatening passersby. A rusty perimeter fence, decrepit and obsolete, wobbled with the trade winds. Hurricane Irma had damaged lower windows, a guard post, and granite facing. Even the ambassador's dramatic perch - a balcony overlooking the Gulf of Mexico - was deemed unsafe.

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Four Indigenous children survived an Amazon plane crash that killed three adults and then braved the jungle for 40 days before being found alive by Colombian soldiers, bringing a happy ending to a search-and-rescue saga that captivated a nation but also prompted questions about their extraordinary survival.