WORLD

EU officials and diplomats say a joint approach would be more efficient than member states placing individual orders. Larger orders would also help industry invest in extra capacity, they said.

The strike targeted a meeting that included Syrian regime officers and was "the deadliest Israeli attack in the Syrian capital" since the civil war began, said Rami Abdel Rahman of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

French-Iranian actor Golshifteh Farahani, who is serving on the jury for the top prizes with president Kristen Stewart, said as the festival kicked off Thursday that cinema was a crucial fuel for the freedom movement.

Ukraine is becoming increasingly adept at shooting down Russian missiles and drones fired at cities far from the front lines.

Biden last month said "no" when asked if he would approve Ukraine's request for Lockheed-Martin-made F-16s.

The 7.8-magnitude tremor that struck southeastern Turkey and northern Syria on February 6 has killed more than 44,000 people, with the likelihood of finding survivors two weeks on extremely remote.

The UAE told council counterparts in the note sent on Sunday that it will now work on drafting a formal statement - known as a presidential statement (PRST) - which the 15-member council has to agree by consensus.

The meeting will be chaired by the African Union's pointman on Libya, Republic of Congo President Denis Sassou Nguesso, Faki said.

Bakhmut, in the frontline Donetsk region, had a pre-war population of 70,000 but now Ukrainian officials estimate fewer than 5,000 civilians remain.

The benchmarks closed lower by about 4% last week after the United States reported higher crude and gasoline inventories.

A senior U.S. delegation visited Saudi Arabia this week for defence talks with the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council, headquartered in Riyadh, that was postponed from October when a row erupted between Washington and Riyadh over oil policy.

After a 30% contraction in its economy in 2022, Ukraine will need $38 billion by the end of year to cover its budget deficit alone.

The focus on high-volume, less costly weapons underscores how the war in Ukraine has reshaped strategic thinking in European capitals about how future conflicts could be fought.

Without support from the powerful Kurdish Democratic Party (KDP) which helped him come to power and holds 31 seats in parliament, he would find it difficult to advance his agenda.

Many in the Syrian border region town of Samandag listened to their relatives and friends slowly die under the rubble as they waited for rescuers who came too late.

Netanyahu's government on Sunday authorized nine Jewish settler outposts in the occupied West Bank and announced mass construction of new homes in established settlements.

Zelenskiy recalled his own experience as an actor, urging colleagues to "break the fourth wall" by directly addressing their audiences.

Eleven days after the quake -- now one of the 10 deadliest in the past 100 years -- Turkish rescuers pulled a 17-year-old girl and a woman in her 20s out of the rubble.

Senior Ukrainian officials are also expected to address the conference, which begins on Friday and runs until Sunday at the luxury Bayerischer Hof hotel in the southern German city.

US envoy Karen Decker tweeted that several of her posts earlier in the week went "awry" despite her "best intentions" when she suggested Afghan women could learn from examples such as pop culture icons Beyonce and Lizzo.

Lebanon's cash-strapped banks have imposed strict restrictions on withdrawals, barring depositors from accessing their savings, especially those in US dollars.

Sultan Al-Jaber reiterated his commitment to tackling global warming, amid criticism over his appointment.

The UAE has been providing relief to both Turkey and Syria since the first day of the deadly earthquakes.

Last week's tragedy killed nearly 40,000 people across swathes of southeast Turkey and northwest Syria, becoming the area's deadliest natural disaster in centuries.

Zawahiri's death piled pressure on the group to choose a strategic leader who can carefully plan deadly operations and run a jihadi network, experts on al Qaeda say.

The 15-member council is likely to vote on Monday on the text, drafted by the United Arab Emirates in coordination with the Palestinians, diplomats said.

It said the balloons may have been carrying corner reflectors and reconnaissance equipment but did not specify when they flew over the capital, although air alerts were issued in Kyiv on Wednesday.

G20 finance and central bank chiefs meet in India next week at the first-year anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine to discuss rising debt troubles among developing countries, the regulation of cryptocurrencies and the global slowdown.

An Iranian chess player, who moved to Spain after she competed without a hijab and had an arrest warrant issued against her back home, has no regrets over her bold gesture in support of the protest movement against her country's clerical leadership.