WORLD

There are signs that Burkina Faso, like its neighbour Mali, is turning towards Russia as a partner.

Finance Minister Nureddin Nebati asked clothing and shoe stores to launch their discount season well ahead of usual March after grocers had done the same.

While Kuwait has the region's liveliest parliament and tolerates criticism to a degree rare among Gulf Arab states, the emir has final say in state affairs and criticising him is a jailable offence.

For Qatar-owned PSG, Messi and Kylian Mbappe both scored and Neymar missed a penalty before they withdrew on the hour-mark alongside Ronaldo, who was representing a composite Saudi side, to leave the world's four best-paid players watching from the bench in Riyadh.

The official declined to say when the visit took place. The Washington Post, which first reported the visit, said it took place at the end of last week.

The 59 Bradleys included in the latest U.S. package come after a previous 50 announced earlier in January.

Iran is accused by campaigners of holding over two dozen foreign nationals, some for years on end, in a deliberate strategy of "hostage diplomacy" aimed at extracting concessions from the West.

A corruption scandal involving European Parliament members that erupted last month sent shockwaves through EU circles in Brussels, with MEPs accused of taking bribes from Morocco and Qatar.

Berlin has veto power over any decision to export the tanks and Chancellor Olaf Scholz's government has appeared reluctant so far to authorise that for fear of provoking Russia.

A skilled camel herder can use his voice alone to soothe an animal, make it kneel and even signal a change in direction as they trudge together through the desert sands, said the UN cultural agency.

Saudi Arabia's foreign minister said on Wednesday progress was being made towards ending the Yemen conflict, in which Riyadh leads a military coalition, but more work was needed, including reinstating a truce and transitioning to a permanent ceasefire.

Germany will allow German-made tanks to be sent to Ukraine to help defend against Russia if the United States agrees to send its own tanks, a Berlin government source told Reuters.

The United States is finalizing a $20 billion package for Turkey that is expected to include around 40 new F-16 fighter jets.

Jihadist rebel fighters raided several Syrian army posts on Wednesday, rebels and army officials said, in a flare-up of hit-and-run attacks this year in the last opposition-held bastion in northwestern Syria.

Saudi Arabia's finance minister said on Wednesday the kingdom is changing the way it provides assistance to allies, shifting from previously giving direct grants and deposits unconditionally.

Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Syria policy, energy cooperation and regional security issues will also be on the agenda, U.S. and Turkish officials said.

The traditional alliance between Saudi Arabia and the United States has frayed under President Joe Biden's administration.

The 99-year-old former secretary of state and apostle of realpolitik has for months advocated a ceasefire in the Ukraine war that would in effect accept some military gains by Russia.

The Ukraine conflict, which has forced Russians out of the Davos meetings, is again dominating the conversation and likely to be at the heart of Tuesday's special address by European Union chief Ursula von der Leyen.

Police said some 12,000 people took part in the demonstration in the eastern French city, with the rally marching towards the parliament where a monthly plenary session was being held.

Beijing's rolling back

CARE, Save the Children, and International Rescue Committee (IRC) suspended their operations in late December in protest at a government order banning Afghan women from aid work, the latest rollback of women's rights in the country.

The hanging of an effigy of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan showing him dangling by his legs from a rope in Stockholm does not warrant a criminal investigation, prosecutors said Monday.

The Kremlin said on Monday that tanks Britain plans to send to Ukraine "will burn", warning the West that supplying a new round of more advanced weapons to Ukraine would not change the outcome of the war.

A prominent Pakistani lawyer and human rights activist known as a vocal critic of both the military and Islamist militants was shot dead on Monday at a court in the northwestern city of Peshawar, police said.

Dramatic rescue efforts unfolded at a tower block in the eastern city of Dnipro, shattered by a Russian missile strike that left 30 people dead and an estimated 34 people missing.

Mursal Nabizada had been a member of parliament in the US-backed government that was overthrown by the Taliban in August 2021.

Russia said on Friday that its forces had taken control of Soledar, a rare success for Moscow after months of battlefield reverses.

Relatives said both father and son worked in construction and had been driving together to their jobs.