U.S. President Barack Obama is promising to sanction any new legislation US lawmakers bring forward when it comes to sanctions against Iran.

At the same time, Obama is welcoming a new agreement to start implementing an interim deal on Iran's nuclear program starting a week from now.

Under the deal, Iran will start eliminating its stockpiles of higher-level enriched uranium.

The Iranian side is also going to begin dismantling some of its enrichment infrastructure.

In doing this, sanctions that have been imposed on Iran will be eased.

The interim step is meant to lay the ground work for negotiations among the 5 permanent members of the UN Security Council, plus Germany, to creating a long-term nuclear agreement.

 

2nd batch of Chinese aid arrives in Syrian capital

A 2nd batch of Chinese humanitarian assistance has arrived in Syria.

Around 100 tons of aid, including much needed blankets, arrived in Damascus on Sunday.

The current batch of aid is worth over 3-million US dollars.

The Syrian Red Crescent Society is being tasked with distributing the aid.

Over 4-million people are believed to be internally-displaced within Syria because of the lingering conflict.

 

Tribal clashes leave 27 dead, 72 wounded in Libya

Tribal fighting in Libya has left over two dozen dead in southern Libya.

27 are dead and 72 wounded in the city of Sabha and its surrounding areas.

The fighting broke out between tribal factions following an armed assault on a military base on Friday.

That attack saw a number of soldiers killed, including the city of Sabha's revolutionary commander.

The Libyan government has formed a committee to deal with the situation.

The committee is going to try to approach tribal elders to see if they will help bring the conflict to an end.

 

Iraq PM rules out military assault on Falluja

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki is ruling out a military assault on Fallujah, a key Iraqi city which has been besieged by al-Qaida linked militants.

Fighters belonging to the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant took over Fallujah and parts of the nearby city of Ramadi nearly two weeks ago.

Iraqi security forces have since regained control of Ramadi.

However, Fallujah remains unscured, prompting thousands to flee the city. 

The Iraqi military does have the city surrounded.

 

Israelis mourn ex-PM Sharon

Thousands of Israelis have been taking time to line up outside the Israeli Knesset to pay their last respects to Ariel Sharon.

The former Israeli Prime Minister died over the weekend after lingering in a stroke-induced coma for the past 8-years.

Sharon's coffin has been placed in the main foyer of the Israeli Parliament.

An official memorial service is scheduled to take place later on this Monday.

Dignitaries, including US vice-President Joe Biden and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, are expected to attend.

 

Sheikh Hasina sworn in for second straight term as prime minister

Sheikh Hasina has been sworn-in for her second straight term as Bangladesh's prime minister.

Former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, leader of the opposition BNP, was absent from the swearing-in ceremony at the presidential residence in Dhaka.

Hasina has taken the oath of office a week after her Awami League party won an election, which was marred by street fighting, low voter turnout and an opposition boycott.

At least 18 people were killed in election day violence.

More than 100 polling centres were also set on fire. 

The BNP is vowing to continue trying to force Hasina to step down.

 

China's securities watchdog to enhance IPO supervision

China's securities watchdog has announced a new set of measures to tighten the supervision of the Initial Public Offering process. 

The China Securities Regulatory Commission is going to launch spot checks on the IPO road shows of new issues.

Issuers and major underwriters may face suspensions if illegal manueuvers are discovered. 

Under the new rules, issuers also have to publish investment risk reports during the three weeks before subscription if the price ceiling exceeds the average PE ratio in the secondary market.

Moon rover, lander wake after lunar night

China's moon rover "Yutu" (Jade Rabbit) and the Chang'e-3 lander have just "woken up" after a period of dormancy that lasted two weeks, or one lunar night, in a move designed to ride out harsh climactic conditions.

Yutu has finished necessary setting procedures and entered a normal working mode following orders from the Beijing Aerospace Control Center according to a statement issued by the center on Sunday. 

It has started its rove around the moon surface and scientific missions. 

Chang'e-3 has also been awakened automatically and is currently in normal condition.

 

China succeeds in first-time 300-meter saturation diving

China succeeded in its first 300-meter saturation dive on Sunday morning as three divers returned safe and sound from deep water to the living chamber on their ship.

The diving bell actually reached a depth of 313.5 meters under the South China Sea, according to Guo Jie, on-site chief director of the experiment. 

He says saturation diving technology enables human beings to withstand high water pressure by saturating human tissue with inert gas.

China is now working to develop saturation diving technology that would work at a depth of 500 meters under the sea.