WORLD

An Iranian chess player arrived in Spain on Tuesday after receiving what a source close to her said were warnings not to return to Iran for competing without a hijab at an international tournament in Kazakhstan.

The talks came less than a week after the defence chiefs of Turkey and Syria held landmarks negotiations in Moscow -- the first such meeting since 2011.

The United States said Tuesday it still did not consider Nicolas Maduro to be the legitimate president of Venezuela and would maintain sanctions after the fledgling opposition dissolved its "interim government."

Russia's defence ministry on Wednesday blamed the illegal use of mobile phones for a deadly Ukrainian missile strike that killed 89 servicemen, raising the reported death toll significantly.

The move was condemned by Palestinians as provocative and despite warnings, it could lead to violence.

The European Parliament said on Monday it had begun a procedure to waive the immunity of two of its members after a request from Belgian judiciary investigating a European Union-Qatar corruption scandal.

Here is a run-down of the countries that have imposed mandatory Covid tests and other rules on arrivals from China:

Over the past decade, Egypt has recovered about 29,000 antiquities found to have been taken abroad through illegitimate means.

A teenager accused of attacking three policemen with a machete on New Year's Eve near Times Square was charged with attempted murder and attempted assault, New York police said on Monday, in an incident the New York Times said was linked to Islamic extremism.

Russia acknowledged that dozens of its troops were killed in one of the Ukraine war's deadliest strikes, angering Russian nationalists, including lawmakers, and drawing demands for commanders to be punished for housing soldiers alongside an ammunition dump.

A Russian missile attack destroyed an ice arena in the town of Druzhkivka in Ukraine's Donetsk region on Monday, Ukraine's ice hockey federation said, following earlier reports of a missile hitting the town and injuring two people.

U.S. President Joe Biden's national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, is planning a trip to Israel this month after the formation of a new government topped by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a White House official said on Monday.

This is the second time in less than seven months that Israel has hit Damascus International Airport -- where Iranian-backed armed groups and Lebanese Hezbollah fighters are present.

The Taliban-led administration is facing increased isolation over policies in recent days restricting women from access to public life.

Russia has been targeting Ukraine's critical infrastructure in a series of drone attacks early on Monday on Kyiv and the region surrounding it, officials said.

Following their 2021 election victory, the Liberals quietly introduced the Prohibition on the Purchase of Residential Property by Non-Canadians Act.

Now, even after the recent reopening of the world's biggest gambling hub, tourists are few and many businesses are shuttered, underlining analysts' views that a recovery will be uneven and take some time.

Although Sadr won a parliamentary majority in a 2021 election, he chose to withdraw in August after his failed, year-long bid to form a cabinet without rivals close to Iran.

The militia said 17 of its fighters had died in Turkish chemical weapons attacks in the mountains and caves of northern Iraq.

Benjamin Netanyahu will need all his experience as Israel's longest-serving prime minister as he returns at head one of the most right-wing governments in the country's history, facing division at home and unconcealed alarm abroad.

On Saturday, Afghanistan's hardline Islamist rulers banned women from working in non-governmental organisations.

Olekskiy Kuleba, governor of Kyiv region, said on Telegram that an "attack by drones" was under way.

His death after a long battle with cancer was caused by "multiple organ failure," the Albert Einstein hospital in Sao Paulo said in a statement, confirming the news from the legend's family.

Paris-born activist and philanthropist Osman Kavala was sentenced to life in jail without the possibility of parole in April on the charge of trying to topple the government by financing street protests in 2013.

On Wednesday, the Ukranian army took AFP journalists on a tour in eastern Ukraine to see one of its French cannons in action.

Zelenskiy, in an annual speech held behind closed doors because of Russia's war, said Ukraine's military resistance against the Kremlin had reinvigorated a belief in values across the world.

The ban on female aid workers was announced by the Islamist Taliban-led administration on Saturday.

Fending off criticism, Netanyahu has repeatedly pledged to promote tolerance and pursue peace. "

The scale of the latest outbreak and doubts over official data prompted some countries to enact new travel rules on Chinese visitors, even as China began dismantling the world's strictest COVID regime of lockdowns and testing.