The Iranian foreign ministry summoned Germany and France's envoys on Sunday to protest the EU's criticism of the execution of an opposition figure, describing it as a "unacceptable interference" in the affairs of Tehran,
Iraniam state media reported. After Iran's supreme court upheld his death sentence passed in June over his role in protests during the winter of 2017-18, among other charges, Ruhollah Zam was hanged on Saturday.
The Iranian foreign ministry's Europe director in turn told Germany's ambassador, Hans-Udo Muzel, that Tehran "condemned" the statement, which it deemed "an unacceptable interference in Iran's domestic affairs".
Iran also protested the "indulgence towards elements spreading violence and committing terrorist acts" against Iran shown by "some European countries". At least 25 people were killed during the unrest in December 2017 and January 2018 that was sparked by economic hardship.
On 12 December, Ramstein Air Base in Germany, America's central European military facility, a alert went of and
alerted its staff to a "real-world missile launch in the European theater" only to later assess the incident as "part of a training exercise" without providing any details as to what prompted the alarm.
According to several US defense officials cited by CNN, a Russian military exercise is believed to have recently triggered a ballistic missile launch alarm' at the US Ramstein Air Base in Germany.
Japan and South Korea are attempting to curb the spread of an infectious, deadly strain of bird flu that since November, wich has caused 9 million chickens, ducks and quails to be culled in South korea and Japan. Since July,
the "highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N8" outbreak has also been identified in wild birds and poultry in 12 other countries primarily in western Europe.
The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization said one of two separate worldwide bird flu epidemics was the outbreak in Japan and neighboring South Korea.
A big raid is currently ongoing in Bremen, Hamburg and Niedersachse at least 40 houses / apartment are getting searched by the police. Its a organized criminal motivated raid.
The raid also takes place in the state of Schleswig-Holstein. The Customs Investigation Office and the Hamburg State Criminal Police Office are carrying out the operation under the direction of the Hamburg Public Prosecutor's Office.
China's Ministry of Commerce has announced that Fujian Zhonghong Fishery Company has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Papua New Guinea Government
to build a $204 million "comprehensive multi-functional fishery industrial park" on the island of Daru under its Belt and Road Initiative. Daru is one of the few Torres Strait Islands that are governed by Papua New Guinea rather than Australia.
Former PNG government adviser Jeffrey Wall said it was a lot of money to spend in a small community not known for commercial fish stocks. For Australia and the USA the Daru island agreement between PNG and China is a threat as the Daru islands are not even 200KM away.
The Ministry of Industry and Trade of Vietnam and its South Korean counterpart have recently signed various agreements, including an exchange letter on the implementation of the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA)
on the accumulation of origin of textile materials between the two countries. They have also signed an action plan aimed at achieving the goal of increasing bilateral trade to $100 billion by 2023.
Both sides addressed options for expanding and promoting bilateral trade relations, encouraging market opening for agricultural products, and resolving technical issues affecting their import-export activities.
In China, the economic situation continues to brighten after the corona shock. Three key indicators released by the Beijing Bureau of Statistics on Tuesday confirm the sustained upward trend.
Production in industrial companies increased by 7 percent year-on-year in November, which slightly exceeded the growth of the previous month (6.9 percent). Retail sales also made another leap, increasing by 5 percent in November after a plus of 4.3 percent in October.
Investments in property, plant and equipment rose by 2.6 percent in the period from January to the end of November. All data were in line with analysts' expectations. As a result of the corona pandemic,