Briefly

IRAN

Teheran, Caracas sign 20-year agreement

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and his visiting Venezuelan counterpart Nicolas Maduro signed a 20-year partnership agreement on Saturday to boost cooperation in energy, economy, tourism, culture and politics, the Iranian state news agency IRNA reported. Raisi said that Iran has always sought to have ties with "independent countries" and that "Venezuela's resistance against imperialism and enemies was exemplary". Maduro, who arrived in Teheran on Friday in his first visit to Iran, said that a weekly flight from Caracas, Venezuela's capital, to Teheran would begin on July 18.

UNITED STATES

Average gas price hits a record $5 a gallon

The average price of premium gasoline at the pump has surpassed $5 a gallon for the first time in the United States, the American Automobile Association reported on Saturday. That record level, coming on top of months of soaring inflation, represents the latest bad news for President Joe Biden just five months before crucial midterm elections. A year ago the average price of gas in the US was just $3.07; since then it has shot up by 62 percent. The increase in gas prices follows a steady rise in oil prices.

Agencies Via Xinhua