WORLD

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.

Millions of Ukrainians spent Thursday without power, after Russia launched attack drones at water and electricity facilities across the country.

The European Union is pressing ahead with a ninth sanctions package on Russia in response to Moscow's attack on Ukraine, European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said during a visit to Finland on Thursday.

Power cuts and trench foot: winter bites on Ukraine's Donbas front

Voria Ghafouri, an outspoken figure who appeared 28 times for Iran up until 2019, was arrested after a club training session over accusations that he spread "propaganda" against the Islamic republic, the Fars news agency reported.

Turkish drones are targeting key oil installations run by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in northeast Syria, three local sources said, in air strikes which drew strong condemnation from the United States overnight.

The Greek coastguard said the migrants were safe and that the fishing boat had sent a distress call after midnight on Monday.

There are signs that China and India are pulling back from buying Russian crude oil ahead of the Group of Seven nations' proposed price cap and a European Union ban on imports.

The special session on Iran's "deteriorating human rights situation" is due to kick off at 10:00 am (0900 GMT) in Geneva.

The sources said the talks were being mediated by the Gulf Arab state and did not include the United Nations.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy appealed to the United Nations Security Council on Wednesday to take action to stop Russian air strikes targeting vital infrastructure that have once again plunged Ukrainian cities into darkness and cold as winter sets in.