WORLD

The dollar index was down slightly at 103.29 in early trade, extending losses after Powell's comments on Tuesday, making oil cheaper for those holding other currencies.

If there aren't enough rescuers, volunteers say they will have to step in and do the hard work themselves.

Israel said on Monday that it had received a Syrian request for assistance with earthquake relief for the Arab state and that it was prepared to oblige, in what would be rare cooperation between the enemy neighbours.

Briere, who was sentenced to eight years in jail for espionage, is one of seven French and more than two dozen foreign nationals who campaigners say Iran has jailed in a strategy of hostage-taking to extract concessions from the West.

An EU-wide ban on Russia oil products -- like diesel, gasoline and jet fuel -- came into effect Sunday alongside a Group of Seven (G7) price cap on the same items.

The secretary-general laid out his priorities for the year in a gloomy speech to the United Nations General Assembly that focused on Russia's invasion, the climate crisis and extreme poverty.

The mission has been in Islamabad since Jan. 31 to sort out the differences over fiscal policy that has stalled the release of more than $1 billion from $6.5 billion bailout package signed in 2019.

ChatGPT, created by San Francisco company OpenAI, has caused a sensation for its ability to write essays, poems or programming code on demand within seconds.

The magnitude 7.8 quake rippled through both countries early on Monday, toppling entire apartment blocks, wrecking hospitals, and leaving thousands more people injured or homeless.

The Biden administration's top diplomat spoke to Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu by phone following the earthquake that killed more than 2,700 people across a swathe of Turkey and northwest Syria.

Free speech campaigners have highlighted what they say is a pattern of rising government censorship of Pakistan's printed and electronic media.

Harris will travel to Munich, Germany, from Feb. 16 to 18 to attend the Munich Security Conference as Ukraine, still waiting on promised longer-range Western missiles and battle tanks, readies itself for a new Russian offensive that could begin next week.

Ukraine is itself planning a spring offensive to recapture lost territory, but awaiting delivery of promised longer-range Western missiles and battle tanks, with some analysts saying the country was months away from being ready.

The military police prison in the town of Rajo near the Turkish border holds about 2,000 inmates, with about 1,300 of them suspected to be IS fighters, said the source.

Brent crude futures rose 82 cents, or 1.01%, to $81.81 per barrel by 0300 GMT, while West Texas Intermediate futures rose 82 cents, or 1.11%, to $74.93 per barrel.

Arakhamia said Ukraine's armed forces should not be overseen by politicians during wartime, but by people with a background in defence or security.

President Vladimir Putin offered Russian assistance on Monday to Syria and Turkey after a major earthquake of magnitude 7.8 killed more than 500 people and injured thousands in the two countries.

Hamas Islamists confirmed its fighters were among the dead, saying in a statement the Gaza-based group was mourning members of its military wing killed "in an armed clash with the Zionist occupation".

Since taking office in 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government has broadly stuck to its borrowing targets but has come under sharp criticism for not creating enough jobs, especially for young people.

Police, who called the shooting a terrorist attack, have said it was carried out by a 13-year-old, prompting widespread shock and underlining fears of so-called "lone wolf" attacks by individuals with no links to political or militant groups.

Iran said the IAEA's position on Tehran's nuclear work was not correct.

Since the Taliban returned to power in Kabul, Pakistan has witnessed a dramatic uptick in attacks in regions bordering Afghanistan, where militants use rugged terrain to stage assaults and escape detection.

Maduro received Abdollahian on Friday evening in the Miraflores presidential palace after the Iranian minister arrived from Managua, Nicaragua.

US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin called the operation a "deliberate and lawful action" that came in response to China's "unacceptable violation of our sovereignty."

Russian troops are also trying to capture the coal mining city of Vuhledar, some 120 kilometres (75 miles) southwest of Bakhmut, also in the eastern region of Donetsk.

The nation's most recent military leader governed for nearly a decade after seizing power in a bloodless coup in 1999.

Ankara summoned the ambassadors of nine countries on Thursday to criticise their decisions to temporarily shut diplomatic missions and issue security alerts.

The rusting Soviet-era hulks have led the Ukrainian fight-back against Russian forces, firing directly at enemy positions unseen a short distance away or deep behind their lines.

Tiba al-Ali, 22, was killed by her father on January 31 in the southern province of Diwaniyah, interior ministry spokesman Saad Maan had said on Twitter on Friday.