RUSSIA: President Vladimir Putin will host his Iranian counterpart this week for the signing of a broad partnership pact between Moscow and Tehran, the Kremlin said today.

The agreement on “comprehensive strategic partnership” between the countries will be signed during Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian’s visit to Moscow on Friday, the Kremlin said.

NIGERIA: At least 40 farmers were killed in an attack by Muslim militants in north-east Nigeria’s Borno state, a government official said today.

The attack on Sunday was suspected to have been carried out by extremists from the Boko Haram group and its breakaway faction that is loyal to the Islamic State group in Borno’s Dumba community, said Borno state governor Babagana Umara Zulum.

CHINA: A Chinese-owned fishing vessel hijacked off the Somali coast in November has been set free with its 18-member crew, the Chinese embassy in Somalia said today.

The embassy said in a social media statement that the crew was rescued today following “the unremitting efforts of the Chinese government.

“The Chinese side strongly condemns this vicious action which threatened the safety of the crew and international navigation security and will continue to firmly safeguard the lawful rights of Chinese citizens and enterprises overseas,” the statement said.

MYANMAR: An overnight landslide at a jade mining area in northern Myanmar has killed at least a dozen people and left many others missing, according to media reports today. They said about 50 houses were buried or damaged.

The accident occurred early today in Kachin state’s Hpakant township, a remote mountainous region at the centre of the lucrative jade mining industry, about 600 miles north of Myanmar’s biggest city, Yangon.