Briefly

IRAN

Annual drills held as nuclear talks approach

Iran's military launched an annual exercise near the mouth of the Gulf on Sunday, Iranian state television reported, a few weeks before the resumption of talks between Teheran and world powers to revive a landmark 2015 nuclear deal. "The military exercise in Iran's coast on the Gulf of Oman is to display the country's military might and readiness to confront our enemies," Admiral Mahmoud Mousavi, the spokesman for the Zolfaqar-1400 drill, told state television. The exercise covers an area from the eastern parts of the Strait of Hormuz to the northern parts of the Indian Ocean and parts of the Red Sea, state television reported. About a fifth of oil that is consumed globally passes through the strategic Strait of Hormuz waterway in the Gulf.

UNITED STATES

Poll: Musk should sell 10% of Tesla stock

Twitter has spoken－after Elon Musk asked his more than 62 million followers in a poll if he should sell 10 percent of his Tesla shares. By Sunday, a majority had voted "yes". "I was prepared to accept either outcome," said Musk, who regularly takes to social media to make unexpected announcements or surprising comments. He did not specify when or how he plans to sell the shares. Musk's Twitter poll on Saturday night followed a proposal by US Congressional Democrats to tax the super wealthy more heavily by targeting stocks, which are usually only taxed when sold. Musk had already criticized the proposal at the end of October. He owns about 17 percent of Tesla's outstanding shares currently worth $208.37 billion as of June 30, according to Bloomberg.

MIDDLE EAST

6 Palestinian activists hacked by NSO spyware

Security researchers disclosed on Monday that spyware from the notorious Israeli hacker-for-hire company NSO Group was detected on the cellphones of six Palestinian human rights activists, half affiliated with groups that Israel's defense minister controversially claimed were involved in terrorism. The revelation marks the first known instance of Palestinian activists being targeted by the military-grade Pegasus spyware. Its use against journalists, rights activists and political dissidents in many countries has been documented since 2015. A successful Pegasus infection surreptitiously gives intruders access to everything a person stores and does on their phone, including real-time communications.

Agencies - Xinhua