WORLD

Investors were inclined to take money off the table after recent strong gains, and with many global markets off on Good Friday, when potentially pivotal U.S. monthly payrolls data is due.

During a visit to Warsaw on Wednesday, Zelenskiy said Poland had been instrumental in getting Western allies to send battle tanks to Ukraine and he believed it could play the same role in a "planes coalition".

The contract -- which includes investments in oil, gas and solar production -- was signed in September 2021 but a new government took office in Iraq last year and its demands did not please TotalEnergies.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy arrived in neighbouring Poland on Wednesday, a Polish presidential aide said, for an official visit to a close ally that has galvanised Western military and political support for Kyiv.

Many blamed the government and its stuttering response to Turkey's worst disaster of its modern era for a death toll that has now surpassed 50,000.

Border of Steel is one of eight new storm brigades totalling 40,000 soldiers that Ukraine wants to use during a counter-offensive against Russian occupiers in coming weeks or months.

Ukraine accuses Russia of having abducted and forcibly deported more than 16,000 children since it began its invasion more than a year ago.

Finland formally joined NATO on Tuesday, its flag unfurling outside the military bloc's Brussels headquarters, in a historic policy shift away from non-alignment that was brought about by Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Some surveys put Ince's support at more than 5%, with one by Panoramatr giving him 10% last month.

Seven-year-old Saad Umer joined a crowd in a poor neighbourhood in the Pakistani city of Karachi rushing to get a handout of flour and a little cash from a charity trying to help the most vulnerable cope with runaway prices.

The deal was described as temporary but signals the end of independent oil exports by northern Iraq's Kurdish regional government and marks a clear limit to its autonomy.

CENTCOM named him as Khalid 'Aydd Ahmad al-Jabouri in a statement, saying he was responsible for planning Islamic State attacks in Europe and Turkey and developed the group's leadership structure in Turkey.

The plans to overhaul the judiciary caused one of the biggest domestic crises in Israel's 75-year history, triggering a wave of protest that forced the government to call a temporary halt to allow more discussion.

Ukraine this week received the first $2.7 billion tranche under the program, which is a part of a bigger $115 billion global package of support.

The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) had said earlier in the day that UN women employees had been blocked from work in eastern Nangarhar province.

Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip, called on Palestinians in the West Bank "to go en masse to the Al-Aqsa mosque to defend it".

A few photographers were allowed to capture the drama of the 76-year-old's initial presence in the stiflingly hot room, as the one-time White House resident wearing a blue suit and red tie greeted their lenses with steely eyes.

"The question of our counter-attack is under active discussion by American and European political circles - perhaps to excess," said Serhiy Zgurets, director of the publication Defense Express.

After March's banking sector-sparked turmoil, markets have enjoyed a few bright weeks on optimism the Federal Reserve will temper its interest rate hikes earlier than thought.

Under Pakistan's constitution, elections should have been scheduled within 90 days -- a deadline just days away.

Jerzy Nowak, president and co-owner of Air Res Aviation, said his company's initial investment in the drone project amounted to around $200,000.

Fire service official Rashid Bin Khalid told Reuters 50 fire units were working to douse the fire, the cause of which was not known immediately.

The strike in northwestern Syria on Monday killed senior IS leader Khalid Aydd Ahmad al-Jabouri, US Central Command said.

The Ukrainian leader travelled to Yahidne, where he gave an emotional speech recalling how villagers were kept captive in a space less than 200 square metres during the first month of Russia's February 2022 invasion.

Completing the ratification in well under a year still makes this the fastest membership process in the alliance's recent history.

The alliance was formed at the start of the Cold War to protect Western Europe against the threat of Soviet aggression but its remit and reach have expanded over time.

For refugees, barred from seeking regular work, the project provides them with a way to supplement handouts from the United Nations.

Farmers are wrestling with a rare double whammy: a lethal condition called lumpy skin disease in their cows and a drawdown in market-ready cattle stock after the coronavirus pandemic slowed breeding.

The mosque has numerous boarded-up broken windows and walls pitted by shrapnel. A rocket exploded nearby two days earlier.