Middle East & North Africa

TEHRAN, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- Iran's nuclear chief dismissed claims that the country had increased its production of highly enriched uranium as "media hype," the Iranian Students' News Agency reported Wednesday.

Mohammad Eslami, president of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, made the comments on the sidelines of a cabinet meeting, responding to a statement by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) summarizing a confidential report leaked to Reuters.

RAMALLAH, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- At least six Palestinian youths were killed as a result of an Israeli drone strike on the Nour Shams refugee camp in the city of Tulkarm in northern West Bank, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry and security sources on Wednesday.

The Health Ministry said in a press statement that the six youths were transported to the government hospital in the city, along with other persons seriously wounded.

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkey has hit more than 70 sites allegedly linked to Kurdish groups in Syria and northern Iraq during airstrikes launched this week in retaliation for the deaths of 12 Turkish soldiers in Iraq, the defense minister said Wednesday.

At least 59 Kurdish militants were killed in the strikes as well as in land clashes, Yasar Guler said in a video message to top military officials which was posted on X, formerly Twitter.

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Sweden edged closer toward joining NATO on Tuesday after the Turkish parliament’s foreign affairs committee greenlighted a protocol for the Nordic country’s membership in the military alliance.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan dropped his objection to Sweden’s membership during a NATO summit in July, but it took him several months to send the bill to parliament for ratification and weeks for the parliamentary committee to give its consent.

RAFAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israel launched heavy strikes across central and southern Gaza overnight and into Wednesday after broadening its offensive against Hamas to more areas where the military had told Palestinians to seek shelter earlier in the war.

Residents reported heavy bombing in the built-up Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza, in the southern city of Khan Younis and in the southern town of Rafah, areas where tens of thousands have sought refuge as much of northern Gaza was pounded to rubble.

BAGHDAD, Dec 26 (Reuters) - Iraq's government on Tuesday condemned overnight U.S. air strikes on Iraqi military positions that it said killed one serviceman and wounded 18 people, calling them a "clear hostile act".

The United States carried out retaliatory air strikes on Monday in Iraq after a one-way drone attack earlier in the day by Iran-aligned militants that left one U.S. service member in critical condition and wounded two others.

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — The Turkish parliament’s foreign affairs committee gave its consent to Sweden’s bid to join NATO on Tuesday, drawing the previously nonaligned Nordic country closer to membership in the Western military alliance.

Sweden’s accession protocol will now need to be approved in the Turkish parliament’s general assembly for the last stage of the legislative process in Turkey. No date has been set.

RAFAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israeli forces on Tuesday expanded their ground offensive into urban refugee camps in central Gaza after bombarding the crowded Palestinian communities and ordering residents to evacuate. Gaza’s main telecom provider announced another “complete interruption” of services in the besieged territory.

BAGHDAD, Dec. 25 (Xinhua) -- The Iraqi government on Monday condemned an attack by a bomb-laden drone on an airbase housing the U.S.-led coalition forces near Erbil Airport in Iraq's northern semi-autonomous Kurdistan Region.

Yahya Rasoul, the military spokesman of the Iraqi prime minister, said in a statement that the attack occurred near the civil Erbil Airport, injuring several people and affecting the operation of the airport.

Calling the attack a "terrorist act," Rasoul added "such criminal acts aim to harm Iraq's interests," according to the statement.

GAZA, Dec. 25 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian refugees in Gaza endured a night of horror on Christmas Eve as Israeli airstrikes hit residential areas, killing and wounding many.

Residents of al-Maghazi and al-Bureij refugee camps in the central Gaza Strip told Xinhua that they fled their homes at dawn on Monday after a "hellish night."