BEIRUT -- The Lebanese Civil Defense on Thursday received two emergency rescue robots donated by China, the Chinese embassy in Lebanon said in a statement.
The robots, donated by the Shenyang Institute of Automation of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (SIACAS), were handed over to the Lebanese Civil Defense at a ceremony held at the American University of Beirut (AUB). (Lebanon-China-Robots Donation)
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BAGHDAD -- Iraq has registered up to 119 cases of viral hemorrhagic fevers (VHF), including 18 deaths, since the beginning of this year, the Iraqi Ministry of Health said on Thursday.
The ministry's spokesman Sayf al-Badr told the official Iraqi News Agency that 35 of the detected VHF cases were registered in the southern Dhi Qar province, followed by Basra with 18 cases, and the rest are spread across the other provinces. (Iraq-VHF-Cases)
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TEHRAN -- The Iranian Foreign Ministry on Thursday rejected any "official and unofficial" links between Iran and the Azerbaijani citizens arrested for allegedly working for the Iranian special service.
The ministry's spokesman Nasser Kanaani made the remarks in a statement published on the Iranian Foreign Ministry's website, in response to a Tuesday statement by the Azerbaijani Interior Ministry that it had "arrested at least nine citizens allegedly working for the special services of Iran and Armenia." (Iran-Azerbaijan-Spy Charges)
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TEHRAN -- A senior Iranian banking official said on Thursday Russia's second-largest bank VTB plans to set up a representative office in Tehran and two Iranian banks are laying the groundwork to set up branches in Russia, as both countries have stepped up financial cooperation in the face of tough U.S. sanctions.
Deputy Governor for International Affairs of the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) Mohsen Karimi noted that Iran had requested Russia's Central Bank to name a bank as the agent for cooperation between the two countries' central banks, as the bilateral financial activities were increasing, Iran's official news agency IRNA reported. (Iran-Russia-Banking Relations)
