AFP news

Ukraine -- which had pleaded for heavy Western tanks for months -- welcomed the twin announcements, with President Volodymyr Zelensky urging they be delivered quickly.

Emirati astronaut Sultan al-Neyadi said Wednesday that he will not be required to fast during Ramadan while on his upcoming space mission.

Thousands of incidents were logged by the tracking website Downdetector, with complaints spiking in the hour from 0700 GMT and particularly affecting users in Asia and Europe.

Iraq has 13 million employment-aged women "yet only around one million are working", said ILO country coordinator Maha Kattaa, presenting a report in July last year.

"No other nation could have done what we did that night to avoid a horrible outcome," Pompeo wrote.

The outage started around 7:30 am (0230 GMT) on Monday, a failure linked to a cost-cutting measure as Pakistan grapples with an economic crisis.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned Sweden on Monday that it should not expect his backing to join NATO following the burning of the Koran outside Ankara's embassy in Stockholm.

The prime minister submitted the cabinet's resignation to Crown Prince Sheikh Meshal al-Ahmad al-Jaber Al-Sabah, the official KUNA news agency said.

In a statement after their session, the Moroccan legislators called the European resolution "an unacceptable attack against the sovereignty, dignity and independence of judicial institutions in the kingdom."

Arab nations have generally been reluctant to tackle the subject, given that Nazi Germany's mass murder of Jews in gas chambers and on death marches was a key factor leading to the 1948 creation of the state of Israel.

That industrial hub has become the epicenter of the grinding war in eastern Ukraine, involving mass artillery strikes, slow advances and high casualties for both sides.

Addressing MPs, Raisi tried to reassure Iranians over the economy which faces a serious crisis due primarily to US sanctions, mainly on oil exports.

Leader of the ultra-Orthodox Jewish party Shas, Deri played a pivotal role in Netanyahu's return to power following Israel's November 1 elections.

"Russian losses are beginning to approach around 180,000 dead or wounded soldiers," Norwegian Chief of Defence Eirik Kristoffersen said in an interview with TV2, without specifying how the numbers were calculated.

The death toll came a week after China said nearly 60,000 people had died with Covid in hospitals in just over a month -- but there has been widespread scepticism over official data since Beijing abruptly axed anti-virus controls last month.

Regional heavyweights Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates were not represented at all at the gathering -- a preparatory session ahead of a foreign ministers' meeting in Cairo.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has announced that Turkey's elections will be held on May 14 -- a month earlier than scheduled -- as the opposition still searches for a unified candidate to stand against him.

There are signs that Burkina Faso, like its neighbour Mali, is turning towards Russia as a partner.

Adani Enterprises will offer investors 200 billion rupees' ($2.5 billion) worth of new shares at a discount, as it looks to lower its ballooning debt and further fuel expansion.

For Qatar-owned PSG, Messi and Kylian Mbappe both scored and Neymar missed a penalty before they withdrew on the hour-mark alongside Ronaldo, who was representing a composite Saudi side, to leave the world's four best-paid players watching from the bench in Riyadh.

Iran is accused by campaigners of holding over two dozen foreign nationals, some for years on end, in a deliberate strategy of "hostage diplomacy" aimed at extracting concessions from the West.

A corruption scandal involving European Parliament members that erupted last month sent shockwaves through EU circles in Brussels, with MEPs accused of taking bribes from Morocco and Qatar.

A skilled camel herder can use his voice alone to soothe an animal, make it kneel and even signal a change in direction as they trudge together through the desert sands, said the UN cultural agency.

The announcement sets the stage for a vote that could either extend Erdogan's Islamic style of rule into a third decade or turn the country on a sharply more secular -- and potentially predictable -- course.

The United States is finalizing a $20 billion package for Turkey that is expected to include around 40 new F-16 fighter jets.

"We want to lessen our dependence on oil... We want to diversify our economy, it is important, it is essential," Al-Ibrahim told AFP at the World Economic Forum.

The Washington state-based company, which industry trackers say has more than 220,000 workers, trimmed its ranks of employees twice last year.

The 99-year-old former secretary of state and apostle of realpolitik has for months advocated a ceasefire in the Ukraine war that would in effect accept some military gains by Russia.

The Ukraine conflict, which has forced Russians out of the Davos meetings, is again dominating the conversation and likely to be at the heart of Tuesday's special address by European Union chief Ursula von der Leyen.