TEHRAN, May 24 (Xinhua) -- The Iranian nuclear chief on Wednesday denied The Associated Press's claim that Iran is building a nuclear facility "so deep in the earth," Iranian Students' News Agency reported.

"Iran is working according to the regulations of the International Atomic Energy Agency and the safeguards agreements and whenever it plans to carry out any activity, it informs the agency of the arrangements and acts based on them," President of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran Mohammad Eslami told reporters on the sidelines of a cabinet meeting.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — The head of the Russian private army Wagner says his force lost more than 20,000 men in the drawn-out battle for Bakhmut, with about half of those who died in the eastern Ukrainian city being Russian convicts recruited to fight in the 15-month-old war.

The figure stood in stark contrast to the widely disputed claims from Moscow that just over 6,000 of its troops were killed throughout the war as of January. By comparison, official Soviet troop losses in the 1979-89 Afghanistan war were 15,000.

MOSCOW, May 24. /TASS/: Russia, together with other countries, will assuredly achieve a fair world order, whereas the model under which certain countries develop at the expense of others will become a thing of the past, Russian President Vladimir Putin said, greeting the participants in the 11th International Meeting of High-Level Officials Responsible for Security Issues.

MOSCOW, May 24. /TASS/: Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova on Wednesday took a dig at threats by the US State Department to levy restrictions on Georgia over its move to resume flights with Russia.

"There’s no other way to call [the statements by the State Department] than interference in the internal affairs of sovereign states," the diplomat said at a news conference. "We regard such mentoring statements from Washington as interference in the internal affairs of sovereign states and in their relations with third countries and overt pressure."

24 May 2023; MEMO: The Palestinian Authority prime minister said on Tuesday that Washington is running the Arab-Israeli conflict, not looking for solutions. Mohammad Shtayyeh also told the conference of the Palestinian Journalists' Syndicate that he laments the absence of the International Quartet of the UN, the US, the EU and Russia.

MOSCOW, May 24. /TASS/: The crew of the Russian naval ship Ivan Khurs repelled an attack by Ukrainian surface drones in the Bosporus Strait waters within Turkey’s exclusive economic zone, Defense Ministry Spokesman Lieutenant-General Igor Konashenkov reported on Wednesday.

TOKYO, May 24 (Xinhua) -- A Japanese court on Wednesday rejected a call by local residents to halt the restart of a nuclear reactor in the northeast prefecture of Miyagi on grounds they believed emergency evacuation plans were flawed.

The Sendai District Court ruled that the plaintiffs' claims to halt the planned restart of the Onagawa nuclear plant's No.2 reactor in February 2024 were not relevant as a serious accident is unlikely.

24 May 2023; MEMO: Lebanon is likely to be placed on a "grey list" of countries under special scrutiny over unsatisfactory practices to prevent money laundering and terrorism financing, three sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.

Being added to the list would be another major blow to a country in a financial tailspin since 2019 and struggling to secure a deal with the International Monetary Fund.

MOSCOW, May 24 (Reuters) - Yevgeny Prigozhin, the founder of the Wagner mercenary group, warned that Russia could face a revolution similar to those of 1917 and lose the conflict in Ukraine unless the elite got serious about fighting the war.

Russia's most powerful mercenary said his political outlook was dominated by love for the motherland and serving President Vladimir Putin, but cautioned that Russia was in danger of turmoil.

BEIJING, May 24. /TASS/: Russia and China will stand together to repel the collective West’s attempts to maintain its global dominance, and will push back hard against such dangerous ambitions, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said on Wednesday.

23 May 2023; MEMO: Germany has informed Lebanon it has issued an arrest warrant for Central Bank Governor, Riad Salameh, on corruption charges, including forgery, money laundering and embezzlement, a senior judicial source told Reuters on Tuesday.

A second source familiar with the matter confirmed the arrest warrant to Reuters. Salameh has denied any wrongdoing.

24 May 2023; MEMO: Turkiye's National Intelligence Agency (MIT) has uncovered and arrested eleven people said to be part of an Israeli Mossad cell spying on individuals and entities related to Iran, Sabah reported on Tuesday. According to the Turkish newspaper, the mission was accomplished in cooperation with the Chief Public Prosecutor's Office in Istanbul.