WORLD

Former separatist commander and nationalist blogger Igor Girkin, better known by his alias Igor Strelkov, has been detained after sharply criticising Russian President Vladimir Putin, his lawyer said on Friday.

It took three tries for the group of Ukrainian soldiers to fire a huge shell from a Soviet-era howitzer at a Russian position in Bakhmut.

Middle East powerhouses Saudi Arabia and Iran have summoned Swedish diplomats to denounce Stockholm's permission for protests that desecrate the Koran on free speech grounds.

The old priest painted a warning on the cracked walls of his shack: "Twelve children were born here!

The world's biggest rice exporter India has banned some overseas sales of the grain "with immediate effect", the government said, in a move that could drive international prices even higher.

Tall, chimney-like towers rise from centuries-old adobe houses in Iran's desert city of Yazd, drawing in a pleasant breeze for residents of one of the hottest cities on earth.

The Russian high-explosive bombs started falling around the frontline Ukrainian chemical plant about three months ago.

Smoke was rising from the blackened ruins of a residential building in Mykolaiv on Thursday after a Russian missile hit the centre of the southern Ukrainian city, killing at least two and injuring 19 including several children.

A scan revealed that Samantha Casiano's unborn child had serious health defects and would not survive outside the womb for more than a few hours.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday he is still "open for negotiations" on a key clause of his hard-right government's controversial judicial reforms, as protests intensified ahead of final votes on the bill.

Russian President Vladimir Putin decided against attending an upcoming BRICS summit in Johannesburg in person because he did not want to "jeopardise" the talks, a top South African diplomat said Thursday.

Vitaliy Bylenko looked ruefully at the mountains of grain in his barn, contemplating the growing obstacles to shifting the stockpiles after Russia this week exited a deal allowing Black Sea exports.

Russia said Wednesday it would consider cargo ships travelling to Ukraine through the Black Sea potential military targets, following its decision to exit a landmark deal that permitted the export of grain from Ukraine.

Goldman Sachs reported a dive in profits Wednesday on weak merger and acquisition activity, but shares rallied as executives said an improvement could be near.

Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi granted a pardon Wednesday to researcher Patrick Zaki, state media said, a day after Zaki's three-year jail term sparked an outcry from local rights groups and Western governments.

Hundreds of Israeli activists marched from Tel Aviv towards Jerusalem on Wednesday to protest against the hard-right government's planned judicial overhaul, which they fear threatens liberal democracy.

The United States on Wednesday announced a new $1.3 billion military aid package for Ukraine featuring air defense systems, anti-tank missiles, drones and other equipment.

Ukraine expects its fight to regain land lost to the Russian invasion to be long and grinding, a senior presidential aide in Kyiv told AFP Wednesday.

Protesters set fire to Sweden's embassy in the Iraqi capital Baghdad early Thursday, an AFP journalist said, ahead of a planned burning of a Koran in Sweden.

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan ended a Gulf trip aimed at securing investments by signing agreements worth more than $50 billion in the United Arab Emirates, Emirati state media said Wednesday.

Russian President Vladimir Putin will not attend a BRICS nations summit in South Africa next month, the country's presidency said on Wednesday, ending months of speculation.

Security officials shot in the air and used firehoses Wednesday to disperse dozens of Afghan women protesting against an order by Taliban authorities to shut down beauty parlours, the latest curb to squeeze them out of public life.

Indian conglomerate Tata Group announced plans Wednesday to build a GBP4 billion ($5.2 billion) electric car battery factory in Britain to supply its Jaguar Land Rover brands, bolstering the country's efforts to phase out fossil fuel vehicles.

Arresting Vladimir Putin would amount to a declaration of war on Russia, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa wrote in court papers released on Tuesday as the country wrangles over hosting the Russian leader.

Germany has made strides in expanding its onshore wind power capabilities this year but needs to pick up the pace to meet key targets for the decade, a sector study said Tuesday.

Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida visited gas-rich Qatar on Tuesday to wrap up a Gulf tour centred on energy security and cooperation with Tokyo's main suppliers.

Thousands of Israeli protesters crowded railway stations and blocked roads on Tuesday in the run-up to a parliament vote on the government's judicial reform agenda opponents say would "dismantle democracy".

Spain's competition watchdog said Tuesday it has slapped US tech giants Amazon and Apple with fines totalling 194 million euros ($218 million) for collusion in the sale of products.

Concerns about a possible influx of Sudanese refugees to the West are misplaced, a senior US official told AFP on Tuesday, as millions in the war-torn nation flee their homes.