WORLD

Damage from Russian attacks on Ukraine's infrastructure are increasing the amount of aid the country needs "front-loaded" ahead of the harsh winter months, the head of the International Monetary Fund said on Thursday.

Deadly violence has surged in the territory since March when Israel launched near-daily raids following a series of deadly attacks targeting Israelis.

Islamic State (IS) militant leader Abu al-Hassan al-Hashemi al-Quraishi was killed in an operation carried out by the rebel Free Syrian Army in mid-October in Syria's Daraa province, the U.S.

Squelching through thick mud on Tuesday, Petro, a Ukrainian soldier dug in not far from Russian positions in the Donbas, recounted matter-of-factly how his unit had to use buckets to clear out water-logged trenches.

The Iranian toll includes those who have taken to the streets as well as dozens of police, troops and Basij paramilitary force members who have died in clashes with demonstrators or who were killed elsewhere.

U.S. senators from Nebraska and Minnesota introduced legislation on Tuesday that would expand nationwide sales of E15, a gasoline with a higher blend of ethanol, after gaining support for the bill from an oil industry trade group for the first time, Senator Deb Fischer from Nebraska told Reuters.

The U.S. State Department has approved the potential sale of an anti-drone system to Qatar in a deal valued at $1 billion, the Pentagon said on Tuesday.

Two brothers were killed near the hub city of Ramallah and a third man was shot in the head in the town of Beit Ummar near the city of Hebron in clashes with Israeli forces, the Palestinian health ministry said.

Turkish officials said the army needed just a few days to be ready for a ground incursion into northern Syria, which has been attacked with howitzer long-range weapons and warplanes by the Turks for days.

For tens of thousands of World Cup fans, the home base in Qatar is a concrete complex on the edge of the desert.

A Norway-based Iran Human Rights group says more than 410 people have been killed in a government crackdown.

Turkey's army needs just a few days to be ready for a ground incursion into northern Syria and such a decision may come at a cabinet meeting on Monday, Turkish officials said, as Turkish forces bombarded a Kurdish militia across the border.

After years of tension, a handshake between Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan and Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi last week opened the door to a flurry of back-door diplomacy between intelligence officials, two sources told Reuters.

The first World Cup in the Middle East has become a showcase for the political tensions crisscrossing one of the world's most volatile regions and the ambiguous role often played by host nation Qatar in its crises.

Three Israeli soldiers were detained on Monday, the military said, after allegedly hurling an improvised bomb at Palestinians near the West Bank city of Bethlehem as revenge for the seizing of the body of a teenager last week.

A communications line created between the militaries of the United States and Russia at the start of Moscow's war against Ukraine has been used only once so far, a U.S.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday will announce new assistance to help restore Ukraine's power transmission ability in the face of Russian attacks targeting the country's energy grid, a senior State Department official said.

A U.S. push for Iran to be removed from a U.N. women's equality and empowerment body will be voted on Dec.

Kyiv plans to erect Christmas trees, minus lights, throughout the battered city in a defiant display of holiday spirit as the capital area's millions of residents suffer through blackouts due to Russian attacks, officials said.

Since Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, Moscow has said it does not target the civilian population.

The Islamic Republic of Iran has been torn by over two months of protests sparked by the death in custody of Kurdish-Iranian woman Mahsa Amini, 22.

Rapid advancements in China's military capabilities pose increasing risks to American supremacy in outer space, the head of the United States military's space wing said on Monday.

Saqafi and his friends bristle at European media suggestions that they are "fake fans" but readily acknowledge that they buy counterfeit team shirts for $3 or less, instead of the $90 which official kit costs.

A far-rightist on track to a key post in Israel's incoming government has warned his party not to try to move too quickly with its agenda, saying in a recording leaked on Sunday that some planned legislation could backfire.

Demonstrators in Kurdish-controlled Qamishli, in Hasakeh province, brandished photos of people killed during recent strikes in the semi-autonomous region, an AFP correspondent said.

At least four Syrian drug smugglers were killed and several were injured after a shootout at the weekend with Jordanian army patrols near the Syrian-Jordanian border, residents and security officials said on Sunday.

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak plans to promise on Monday to maintain or increase military aid to Ukraine next year, and to confront international competitors "not with grand rhetoric but with robust pragmatism".

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Sunday that Russia would surely launch new missile attacks on his country, and warned defence forces and citizens to be prepared to withstand a new week of strain on the power grid.

The diminutive superstar with magic in his boots insisted he was in fine shape physically ahead of his last World Cup.