Baghdad (AFP) - Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi sought to reassure Saudi Arabia Sunday that Iraq is not a "gateway for Iran" and will not take part in regional conflicts between the two countries.

"Iraq is not a gateway for Iran," Abadi said in an interview with Iraqiya state TV.

"We do not want to enter in to regional conflicts, and if there are regional conflicts between Saudi Arabia and Iran," Baghdad will not be involved, the premier said.

Iran -- which like Iraq is mostly Shiite Muslim -- and Sunni-majority Saudi Arabia are involved in political and military battles for influence in countries around the Middle East.

Ties between Baghdad and Riyadh have steadily improved since Abadi took office last year after reaching a low ebb under his predecessor Nuri al-Maliki, who accused Saudi Arabia of backing militants in Iraq while it criticised him as sectarian.

Saudi Arabia has named an ambassador to Iraq and announced in January that it would reopen an embassy in the country for the first time in 25 years.

But Baghdad has much closer and longer-standing ties with neighbouring Iran, which is playing a major role in Iraq's battle to regain swathes of territory from the Islamic State (IS) jihadist group.

Tehran has provided weapons to Iraq, and Shiite militias that are among Baghdad's most effective forces have close operational and ideological ties to Iran.

Qassem Suleimani, Tehran's top officer responsible for foreign operations, has along with other Iranians advised Iraqi forces on the ground during multiple operations.

Hadi al-Ameri, the commander of the powerful Badr militia, said earlier this year that Suleimani "is here whenever we need him."

A US-led coalition of dozens of countries is also aiding Iraq in its war against IS, carrying out air strikes against the jihadists and providing training and arms to Iraqi forces.

Aden (AFP) - A UN-chartered ship loaded with humanitarian supplies bound for Yemen was targeted by shelling as it approached the country's main southern port of Aden on Sunday, an official said.

The provincial government official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, blamed Shiite Huthi rebels who control several neighbourhoods in Yemen's second city for not allowing the ship to dock at Aden's port, which is controlled by pro-government fighters.

"The Huthis fired shells at a ship chartered by the UN that was carrying 7,000 tonnes of food... when it was within a nautical mile of Aden's port," the official said, adding that the vessel itself was not hit.

"The ship was forced to turn back and by night time it was about five to eight nautical miles from Aden," he added.

According to the official, the vessel had set off from Djibouti, which the UN uses as a hub for humanitarian aid bound for Yemen.

The incident was confirmed by a port official, who also declined to be identified.

"The Huthi fire forced the ship to turn back as it approached the port," the port official said.

He accused the rebels of "imposing a food blockade on areas of Aden under the control of the Popular Resistance Committees", which are a collection of pro-government fighters, Sunni tribes and southern separatists.

Saudi Arabia has been leading an air war since March 26 targeting Iran-backed Huthi Shiite rebels in Yemen and allied forces loyal to former leader Ali Abdullah Saleh, in an effort to restore UN-backed President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi to power.

Clashes have also raged on the ground between the rebels, who seized the capital Sanaa last year, and local militia fighting their advance, especially in southern Yemen.

The Yemen conflict has killed almost 2,000 people and wounded 8,000, according to the World Health Organization.

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Beijing Rolls Out Harshest Smoking Ban in China

The toughest anti-smoking legislation in China's history came into effect on Monday in Beijing, with unprecedented fines and a hotline to report offenders but fears of weak enforcement.

The law makes smoking in offices, restaurants, hotels and hospitals illegal, with venues where the ban is flouted subject to fines of up to 10,000 yuan ($1,600).

Venues which repeatedly ignore the law could have their licenses revoked, while individuals caught smoking in prohibited zones could be fined as much as 200 yuan.

As well as indoor smoking, the law prohibits lighting up in some open-air spaces close to schools, hospitals, and sports venues.

Despite a government awareness campaign that saw posters detailing the law displayed in restaurants and offices around the city, many doubt authorities will implement it effectively.

Nightclubs had been singled out as a potential problem area, Zhang Jianshu, president of the Beijing Tobacco Control Association, told the China Daily newspaper.

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A giant 'no smoking' banner is seen at the National stadium, better known as the 'Bird&# …

"The key lies in the business owners," the paper quoted Zhang as saying Monday. "They have the responsibility to ensure no smoking within their establishments."

The measure "fails to make clear who is ultimately responsible," for implementation, leaving the possibility that authorities will "pass the buck to each other", state-run newspaper Beijing Youth Daily said.

Health commission inspectors will be in charge of enforcing the law, carrying out spot-checks and acting on tip-offs from the public.

Posters in the capital advertise a hotline number for tip-offs, and the city government has launched a social media account allowing observers to upload images of smokers caught in the act.

But some restaurants visited by AFP on Monday were unaware of the regulations.

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Despite a government awareness campaign that saw posters detailing the law displayed in restaurants …

"I haven't heard of the specific law banning smoking, but we follow all rules and regulations," said a Beijing noodle shop manager surnamed Chen.

Some eateries said they wanted to enforce the law, though it could hurt business.

"We normally allow people to smoke inside at night, but we're going start stopping them from tonight," said Zhang Lin, a manager at a Japanese restaurant. "Some people might be very unhappy though, and after all, the customer is god."

Other businesses had set up outdoor seating in order to provide space for people to smoke. But waiters said they were unsure what would happen during Beijing's freezing winter months.

The law -- limited to the capital -- is not China's first such effort.

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China's state-run tobacco industry provides the government with colossal amounts of money -- 911 …

A similar nationwide measure was passed in 2011, albeit without financial sanctions, and implementation was lacklustre.

Environmental and safety laws in China are often openly flouted because of limited official oversight, or corruption in the form of bribes to law enforcers.

Cigarettes remain cheap, with packs often costing less than 5 yuan, and some Chinese experts say the Beijing law still does not go far enough.

"The new regulation should require tobacco producers to print a warning on cigarette packages," Jiang Huan, vice-director of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, was quoted as saying by the China Daily.

A barrier to imposing similar measures across the country is the continued clout of China's state-run tobacco industry, which provides the government with colossal amounts of money -- 911 billion yuan in taxes and profits in 2014, an increase of 12 percent year-on-year.

China's tobacco regulator shares offices and senior officials with the state-owned China National Tobacco Corp, which is by far the world's biggest cigarette producer and has a near monopoly in the country.

An internal investigation of the Transportation Security Administration revealed security failures at dozens of the nation’s busiest airports, where undercover investigators were able to smuggle mock explosives or banned weapons through checkpoints in 95 percent of trials, ABC News has learned.

The series of tests were conducted by Homeland Security Red Teams who pose as passengers, setting out to beat the system.

According to officials briefed on the results of a recent Homeland Security Inspector General’s report, TSA agents failed 67 out of 70 tests, with Red Team members repeatedly able to get potential weapons through checkpoints.

Officials would not divulge the exact time period of the testing other than to say it concluded recently.

Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson was apparently so frustrated by the findings he sought a detailed briefing on them last week at TSA headquarters in Arlington, Virginia, according to sources. U.S. officials insisted changes have already been made at airports to address vulnerabilities identified by the latest tests.

“Upon learning the initial findings of the Office of Inspector General's report, Secretary Johnson immediately directed TSA to implement a series of actions, several of which are now in place, to address the issues raised in the report,” the DHS said in a written statement to ABC News.

Homeland security officials insist that security at the nation’s airports is strong – that there are layers of security including bomb sniffing dogs and other technologies seen and unseen. But the officials that ABC News spoke to admit these were disappointing results.

This is not the first time the TSA has had trouble spotting Red Team agents. A similar episode played out in 2013, when an undercover investigator with a fake bomb hidden on his body passed through a metal detector, went through a pat-down at New Jersey's Newark Liberty Airport, and was never caught.

At the time, the TSA said Red Team tests occurred weekly all over the United States and were meant to “push the boundaries of our people, processes, and technology.”

“We know that the adversary innovates and we have to push ourselves to capacity in order to remain one step ahead,” a TSA official wrote on the agency’s blog in March 2013. “[O]ur testers often make these covert tests as difficult as possible.”

In a 2013 hearing on Capitol Hill, then-TSA administrator John Pistole, described the Red Team as “super terrorists,” who know precisely which weaknesses to exploit.

“[Testers] know exactly what our protocols are. They can create and devise and conceal items that … not even the best terrorists would be able to do,” Pistole told lawmakers at a House hearing.

More recently, the DHS inspector general’s office concluded a series of undercover tests targeting checked baggage screening at airports across the country.

That review found “vulnerabilities” throughout the system, attributing them to human error and technological failures, according to a three-paragraph summary of the review released in September.

In addition, the review determined that despite spending $540 million for checked baggage screening equipment and another $11 million for training since a previous review in 2009, the TSA failed to make any noticeable improvements in that time.

ABC News’ David Kerley contributed to this report.

TSA agents fail 67 out of 70 security tests

Undercover investigators were 95 percent successful at smuggling mock explosives or weapons through checkpoints.
DHS chief fumes

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — Authorities in Bangladesh filed murder charges Monday against dozens of people for their roles in the 2013 collapse of a garment factory building that killed more than 1,100 people.

The charges were filed against 41 people, including the building's owner, Sohel Rana, and his parents and more than a dozen government officials, for their direct role in the deaths of 1,137 people in the collapse of Rana Plaza, said the lead investigator, Bijoy Krishna Kar of the Criminal Investigation Department.

Investigators initially had said the accused, who also include the owners of the five factories that the building housed, would be charged with culpable homicide, but they later changed their plans due to the gravity of the accident, Bangladesh's worst industrial disaster.

If convicted of murder, the defendants could face the death penalty. The maximum punishment for culpable homicide is seven years in jail.

Investigators said the shift from the culpable homicide charges came after the investigation found that Rana, his staff and the management of the five factories had forced the workers to enter the building despite their unwillingness to work on the day of the accident after the building developed major cracks a day earlier.

The police report called the deaths a "mass killing." About 2,500 people were injured in the disaster.

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Bangladeshi property tycoon Sohel Rana (centre), seen wearing police-issue body armour, is escorted …

Kar, who submitted the charges to a court in Dhaka, Bangladesh's capital, said a hearing would take place June 28 to decide on further proceedings.

In a separate case, the accused will also face charges of violating safety rules in building Rana Plaza because additional floors were added to the original five-story building, which was basically meant for office and shopping malls. Later, illegally built upper floors were transformed into factories.

The April 2013 collapse of Rana Plaza, located just outside Dhaka, highlighted grim conditions in Bangladesh's garment industry. Extremely low wages in the poor South Asian country have led global brands and retailers to prefer Bangladesh over China and other developing countries.

The building collapse triggered an uproar at home and abroad for reforms in a sector that helps Bangladesh earn more than $20 billion a year from exports, mainly to the United States and Europe.

Related video:

Murder charges in Bangladesh factory collapse

Forty-one people face murder charges for their roles in a 2013 building collapse that killed 1,137 workers, officials say.
'Mass killing'