TURKEY: President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told a naval ceremony yesterday that he will not permit what he called the seizure of natural resources in the eastern Mediterranean.

He added that Ankara would never accept such attempts “excluding our country and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.”

Turkey and Cyprus are both planning hydrocarbon research in the Mediterranean Sea for natural gas reserves, but Nicosia rejects co-operation until Ankara ends its occupation of Cypriot territory.

PAKISTAN: Police said yesterday that more than 150 people have been arrested on charges of arson, vandalism and violence during protests sparked by the acquittal of Christian woman Asia Bibi on blasphemy charges.

Senior officer Nayab Haider revealed that police are using video clips to identify others involved in assaults, torching property and vehicles and blocking roads.

Religious extremists, who initiated three days of nationwide protests demanding Ms Bibi’s execution, called them off after the government agreed to impose a travel ban on her and to review her case.

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: Dominican Foreign Minister Miguel Vargas took part in a ceremony opening his country’s new embassy in Beijing at the weekend after cutting links with Taiwan.

The two countries were “opening a very relevant chapter in the international relations of the Dominican Republic,” said Mr Vargas.

Dominican President Danilo Medina met Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday to celebrate their new ties and oversee the signing of 18 co-operation agreements.

POLAND: Mayors of several key cities, including Krakow and Gdansk, and more than 640 other towns and smaller localities were at stake in the second round of municipal elections yesterday.

The first round on October 21 saw the ruling Law & Justice party strengthen its showing in regional assemblies.

But it lost mayoral races outright in Warsaw, Poznan and Lodz to the Civic Platform pro-European Union coalition, highlighting deep divisions between Poland’s cities and a conservative rural heartland.