AFP news

They were to discuss a proposal by the European Commission, unveiled just two days earlier, that would set a cap on gas prices at 275 euros per megawatt hour.

The 75-year-old was scheduled to be sworn in at 5 pm (0900 GMT), becoming the country's fourth leader in as many years.

The authorities have grown increasingly heavy-handed in their response, as the demonstrations have spread across the country and swelled into a broad movement against the theocracy that has ruled Iran since 1979.

The government supports the trade and cooperation agreement (TCA) struck with the EU, he told the influential cross-party Treasury Committee in parliament.

The dramatic rescue captured on camera Wednesday evening revived hopes that survivors could still be pulled alive from the wreckage days after the strong tremor that hit the West Java town of Cianjur on Monday, killing at least 271 people.

The numbers are relatively small when compared with China's vast population of 1.4 billion and the caseloads seen in Western countries at the height of the pandemic.

The research, which was jointly published by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said the decline was a major setback in eliminating the deadly disease.

The protest in the north of Mitrovica -- long a flashpoint between Serbs and ethnic Albanians -- took place as Serbian and Kosovar officials try to find a solution to a row over number plates.

Working with Europol, the FBI and other law enforcement worldwide, suspects were nabbed in the Netherlands, Australia, France and Ireland, while servers were shuttered in the Netherlands and Ukraine.

There has been fevered talk of the platform's imminent demise since billionaire Elon Musk took over last month and began firing vast numbers of staff.

On Monday, Mali declared that all NGOs financed or supported by France would be banned -- a move that strikes at vital aid work in the deeply troubled country.

Musicians from the continent's francophone countries are now looking to cash in on the boom.

The Democratic Republic of Congo's President Felix Tshisekedi had been meeting Rwandan Foreign Minister Vincent Biruta in Luanda on Wednesday as tensions soared between the neighbours amid bloody militia violence on their border.

The Brazilians have arrived in Qatar hoping for a repeat of what happened at the last World Cup held in Asia two decades ago, when they won their fifth title in Japan.

It said 400 loudspeakers had been installed in different parts of Kabul "so the people could listen to the Azan at the same time".

The unanimous ruling by the Supreme Court torpedoed the Scottish nationalist government's push to hold a second plebiscite next year.

The veteran Portugal forward set the stage for his Old Trafford exit last week with an outspoken interview on TalkTV, in which he said he felt "betrayed" by the club and had no respect for new manager Erik ten Hag.

Turkey vows intent 'stronger than ever' to secure Syrian border

It is also the seat of a branch of the Ukraine Orthodox Church that was previously under Moscow's jurisdiction but severed ties after Russia invaded Ukraine in February.

In videos shared on Weibo and Twitter that AFP has verified, hundreds of workers can be seen marching on a road in daylight. Some were confronted by riot police and people in hazmat suits.

They distributed video of emergency service workers trying to free a man trapped waist-deep in the rubble of what appeared to be the destroyed maternity ward.

Ten crews of Ukrainian service personnel and engineers underwent a six-week training programme in the UK, as part of the "first helicopter capability the UK has donated to Ukraine", the ministry said.

Customers are plumping for environmentally-friendlier travel and taxi drivers are switching to machines that, above all, are less expensive to buy and operate.

The twin blasts struck half an hour apart, police said, noting that explosives experts were at the scene with police and forensic scientists "collecting evidence and scanning the area for suspects."

China is the last major economy still attempting to stamp out the domestic spread of Covid-19, and has continued to shut down entire cities, seal off neighbourhoods and impose mandatory tests on millions.

The social media giant symbolized by the blue bird has laid off half of its 7,500 employees, while several hundred others have resigned, creating doubts over its future.

As infections in Beijing surge, residents are increasingly fed up with navigating vague, shifting restrictions and exhausted by the uncertainty of how long they might last.

The shallow tremor struck about 170 kilometres (105 miles) east of Istanbul, the country's largest city, where it was strongly felt.

One Nigerian student, who requested anonymity, said he expected to arrive in the country whose football teams compete in European tournaments.