Refugee Shot at Bulgarian Border: Report

Bulgaria rejected accusations that its border guards shot a Syrian refugee in October, according to Zaman al-Wasl.

Bulgaria rejected accusations that its border guards shot a Syrian refugee in October after a video released Monday showed a man being fired at on the European country’s border with Turkey.

The US, SDF keep the pressure up on ISIS in Syria – analysis

The US wants the pressure to be kept on ISIS, but every time Ankara has an election cycle or a need to distract from some issue at home, it will use drone strikes and threats of conflicts in Syria.

In late November, the US said that Syrian rebels in the south of the country had killed an ISIS leader. He was actually killed in October, but it apparently took time to confirm the details.

US bargains over Iran’s unrest

The US has voiced willingness to end support for Iran’s protest movement if Tehran stops selling drones to Moscow and makes concessions on its nuclear program.

There is a long history of western powers fuelling public unrest in Iran, even pre-dating the establishment of the Islamic Republic. But what makes the on-going protests since mid-September unique is that Washington is also signalling interest in reaching an accommodation with Tehran under certain conditions.

Chinese leader urges GCC nations to adopt yuan, Shanghai exchange for oil and gas trade

Xi Jinping called China and Gulf nations ‘natural partners’ and urged regional leaders to be partners in promoting unity, development, and security

China’s president Xi Jinping urged Gulf nations to use the Shanghai Petroleum and National Gas Exchange as a platform to receive payments of oil and gas using the Chinese yuan instead of the US dollar during a historic summit with the heads of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states on 9 December.

The Saudi-Iran rivalry stumbles into Pakistan

Riyadh’s interest in Pakistan’s Gwadar port is of particular concern for Tehran and its vital oil trade with China.

A $10 billion Saudi Aramco refinery is being built near the port city of Gwadar in Pakistan, about 169 kilometers (km) east of Iran’s Chabahar port in the western Sistan and Balochistan province.

Syria refused Turkiye’s request to hold a meeting between Erdogan and Assad

Russia has offered to mediate and facilitate a meeting between Turkiye and Syria, with limited success

On 6 December, Orhan Miroglu, the head of the Justice and Development Party, reported that Damascus turned down Ankara’s proposal to set up a meeting between Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Al-Mayadeen news reported.