Reuters

Nearly 2,800 shelters and more than 90 facilities including hospitals and learning centres were destroyed in the fire on March 5, leaving more than 12,000 people without shelter, officials said.

Meanwhile, Israel is keeping up a campaign of veiled threats to attack Iran alone if it deems nuclear diplomacy a dead end.

The downgrade of Nissan Motor's credit rating from investment grade to junk by S&P Global on Tuesday marks the start of a cycle that could see as much as $55 billion of so-called "fallen angels" this year, said fund managers.

The chief of Lithuania's military intelligence said Russia has enough resources to continue the war in Ukraine for two more years at the current intensity.

Russia's first missile blitz on Ukrainian cities in weeks was met with defiance and disgust over the targeting of civilians, while Ukrainian forces defending the eastern town of Bakhmut continued to thwart Russian attempts to break through.

Police declined to say how many people had been killed but said the gunman was believed to be among the dead.

Despite those temporary measures, lower crop yields because of warmer-than-usual temperatures last year and this year were likely to keep inflation elevated in the near-term period.

Oil fell for a fourth session on Friday, heading for its biggest weekly loss in five weeks on worries about the prospect of steep interest rate hikes in the United States slowing growth and hitting fuel demand.

Sheikh Tahnoun bin Zayed Al Nahyan, one of the most powerful members of Abu Dhabi's royal family, was named chair of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA).

The Netherlands' government on Wednesday said it plans new restrictions on exports of semiconductor technology to protect national security, joining the U.S.

Boeing declined comment on any commercial discussions. Airbus said it never comments on talks with customers.

Islamabad has been hosting an IMF mission since early February to negotiate the terms of a deal, including the adoption of policy measures to manage its fiscal deficit ahead of the annual budget due around June.

The clashes erupted in the eastern city of Lahore ahead of a Khan's planned rally to kick-start his election campaign, but which the government then banned.

The United States is concerned that escalating tensions in the West Bank could distract Israel and the United States' attention from Iranian activities, a U.S.

Russia unleashed a new wave of air strikes across Ukraine on Thursday, killing at least six people and knocking out power, including to the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station.

The U.S. Treasury Department in a statement said it imposed sanctions on two senior Iranian prison officials it accused of being responsible for serious human rights abuses against women and girls.

The Nation Alliance of six opposition parties from widely varied backgrounds named Kemal Kilicdaroglu, leader of the Republican People's Party (CHP), as their candidate this week.

The last quarterly board meeting in November passed a resolution ordering Iran to urgently cooperate with a years-long IAEA investigation into uranium particles found at three undeclared sites.

The U.N. envoy in Afghanistan warned on Wednesday that a Taliban administration crackdown on women's rights is likely to lead to a drop in aid and development funding in the country, where women fear being cut from public life as much as violent death.

Waving signs that read "harming women's rights, not on our shift" and "women's struggle," protesters demonstrated against the legislation, which Netanyahu proposed with his right-wing and religious allies last month.

Brent crude futures had edged up by 2 cents to $82.68 per barrel by 0400 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures eased by 1 cent to $76.65 a barrel.

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin travelled to Egypt on Wednesday to tell Cairo it wanted to deepen security and other ties but was concerned about human rights in country where activists say government critics are regularly rounded up.

Officials briefly floated the idea of delaying elections - before backtracking and pressing ahead with a date of May 14, a decision some find hard to comprehend.

Quad includes the United States and India besides Australia and Japan. Australia is due to host a Quad leaders summit in Sydney later this year.

Facing fields full of mines and short of cash, many Ukrainian farmers are likely to sow a smaller area this spring than they did following Russia's invasion, in what could be a further blow to global food supplies after disruptions last year.

Japan's big companies are expected to deliver the largest pay rise in 26 years in next week's "shunto" wage negotiations, offering policymakers hope the country might finally emerge from its deflationary doldrums.

The Swiss bank is pushing to roll out the wealth business in China by the first half of this year, according to the memo which was confirmed by a company spokesperson, targeting a 27 trillion yuan market.

U.S.-led international sanctions on Russia have begun to erode the dollar's decades-old dominance of international oil trade as most deals with India - Russia's top outlet for seaborne crude - have been settled in other currencies.

Turkey's residents have also increasingly favoured buying gold to shield themselves from rampant inflation and a steep decline in the value of the Turkish lira in recent years.