WORLD

Once sidelined as a threat to the Kremlin, nationalists are emerging as a driving force behind what President Vladimir Putin has dubbed Russia's "special military operation" in Ukraine.

The eagerly-awaited three-day party unfolded in Iferouane, an oasis sandwiched between desert and mountains 1,200 kilometres (750 miles) from the Nigerien capital Niamey.

The Iuventa, owned by non-governmental organisation Jugend Rettet, was impounded and left to rot while prosecutors prepared a case currently in the pre-trial stage.

A team set up by the Pakistani government to probe the killing of a well-known Pakistani journalist in Nairobi said it found several contradictions in the version given by Kenyan authorities, and believes it was a case of pre-meditated murder.

Mining companies and governments in Africa are calling for stronger trade ties with the United States after a new climate law set out incentives for U.S.

"It's very concerning that the richest man in the world thinks that he can walk all over employee rights and doesn't have to follow the law. We intend to hold him accountable," said lawyer Shannon Liss-Riordan.

Russian forces took control of Kherson city and surrounding areas in late February and early March, and Posad-Pokrovske - with a prewar population of over 3,000 - ended up on the war's front line.

President Isaac Herzog on November 13 tapped Netanyahu to form a government with the backing of factions representing 64 out of 120 lawmakers in Israel's parliament.

The improvised wall - topped with concertina wire - was ordered built by Republican Governor Doug Ducey in August in an attempt to fill gaps in the U.S.-Mexico border used by migrants.

The United States is preparing to send Ukraine a $275 million military aid package offering new capabilities to defeat drones and strengthen air defenses, according to a document seen by Reuters on Thursday and people familiar with the package.

The violence in the Upper Nile State, which started in August, has killed an unknown number of people and displaced just over 9,000, some of whom are hiding in swamps, United Nations agencies said on Wednesday.

Last week Uganda said it had discharged its last Ebola patient from hospital, raising hopes for the end of an outbreak of the deadly haemorrhagic fever declared on September 20.

Four countries - Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Niger and Tanzania - accounted for just over half of all malaria deaths globally in 2021.

It stood in stark contrast to the low-key welcome extended in July to U.S. President Joe Biden, with whom ties have been strained by Saudi energy policy and the 2018 murder of Jamal Khashoggi that had overshadowed the awkward visit.

Nasser Al Khater, Chief Executive of the 2022 World Cup in Doha, confirmed to Reuters that a worker died, without providing specifics, and stated that "death is a natural part of life" while offering condolences to his family.

Russia pummelled power facilities across Ukraine in the latest big wave of attacks on Monday at a time of the year when energy consumption usually rises because winter is setting in.

The Israeli military said that security forces had conducted counterterrorism activity near the city of Jenin.

"Mohsen Shekari, a rioter who blocked Sattar Khan Street in Tehran on September 25 and wounded one of the security guards with a machete, was executed this morning," the judiciary's Mizan Online website said.

Then fighting escalated in September as Ukrainian troops were clawing back territory. Now there is relentless crossfire over the river.

China considers Taiwan its territory and has never renounced using force to bring it under its control.

Three years into the pandemic, many in China had been itching for Beijing to start to align its rigid virus prevention measures with the rest of the world, which has largely opened up in an effort to live with the disease.

The execution was announced just as the US pointman on Afghanistan, Thomas West, met in Abu Dhabi with a Taliban delegation led by their defense minister Mohammad Yaqoob, the son of the group's founder Mullah Omar.

Hopes are high that rockets like this could carry satellites as early as next year, in what could be the first satellite launch from a spaceport in continental Europe.

Perez, who was forced to resign in 2015, was found guilty of racketeering and fraud targeting the customs system, Judge Irma Jeannette Valdes said as she read out the sentence.

At least 20 oil tankers continue to face delays to cross from Russia's Black Sea ports to the Mediterranean as operators race to adhere to the Turkish rules.

Putin, who has previously hinted at use of small "tactical" weapons in his war in Ukraine, said at a Kremlin meeting that "such a threat is rising" but he was evasive on Russia's policy.

Russia argues that there is no mandate for Guterres to send U.N. experts to Ukraine to investigate the origin of the drones.

Putin has rarely spoken about the duration of a war that he began more than nine months ago but told loyalists in a televised meeting on Wednesday it could go on for some time yet.

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Martin Glenn is weighing broader questions of who owns crypto assets that were deposited with Celsius.