WASHINGTON D.C.: “Margh bar diktator” — or “death to the dictator” — has become the rallying cry of a massive wave of protests that have consumed nearly the entire Islamic Republic of Iran.

Though the news media remains under the tight control of the state’s internal security apparatus, grainy cell phone video of protests from schools, strikes at energy facilities, and rallies along main roads from Tehran to Ahvaz are shaking the rule of Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as never before.

CAIRO: Customs officers at the General Administration of Air Exports at Cairo Airport foiled an attempt to smuggle sea snakes to the UAE.

The seized animals were shown to the Lakes and Fish Resources Protection and Development Agency. The agency confirmed that the parcels did does not have an export approval or a CITES certificate, which regulates the trade in specimens of species.

Ahmed Abdel Mohsen El-Shahawi, director-general of the Air Exports and Imports Customs, issued a customs seizure report and notified authorities.

AL-MUKALLA: Yemeni military leaders have launched the final push to expel Al-Qaeda militants from Abyan, deploying hundreds of soldiers and armored personnel carriers as reinforcements.

The APCs, armed vehicles and support trucks were seen traveling from the city to the nearby southern province.

Brig. Mohsen Al-Wali, the general commander of Security Belt forces, said the reinforcements would boost operation “East Arrows” to battle the Al-Qaeda remnants, who are believed to be sheltering in the mountainous Al-Mahfad area.

AL-MUKALLA: Yemen’s leader has promised to liberate his country from the Houthis, pay public wages and restore deteriorating public services in his new year message.

“Your armed and security forces, popular resistance, and patriotic alignment will remain our exemplar for restoring the state, putting a stop to the coup, and defending the republican system,” said Rashad Al-Alimi, the chairman of Yemen’s Presidential Leadership Council, in a message on Twitter.

ANKARA: Turkiye, Russia and Syria are to hold a meeting of foreign ministers later this month following landmark talks between the three countries’ defense ministers in Moscow that signaled a warming of relations between Ankara and Damascus.

TRT, the Turkish state broadcaster, announced on Saturday that Russian and Turkish foreign ministers discussed preparations for the new meeting, most likely in the second half of this month. The location has yet to be determined.