Iran carried out its first known execution Thursday over the protests that have shaken the regime since September, sparking an international outcry and warnings from rights groups that more hangings are imminent.
Mohsen Shekari, 23, had been convicted and sentenced to death for blocking a street and wounding a paramilitary during the early phase of the protests, after a legal process denounced as a show trial by rights groups.
Israel's prime-minister designate Benjamin Netanyahu asked Thursday for a two-week extension in forming a coalition government with his ultra-Orthodox and extreme-right allies, days before the initial time frame elapses.
The November 1 election put former premier Netanyahu in a position to form a stable, right-wing government, ending an unprecedented period of political deadlock that forced five elections in less than four years.
Israeli troops on Thursday killed three Palestinians during a firefight in a West Bank city, and another in a separate incident, Palestinian officials said.
The gunfire came during the latest in scores of near-daily raids the army has carried out through much of this year in the occupied West Bank following a series of deadly attacks on Israelis.
The surging violence has sparked global alarm.
Israeli forces said no troops were hurt in the exchange of fire with militants in the city of Jenin, a stronghold of hardline factions.
Two protesters in the southern Iraqi city of Nasiriyah were killed Wednesday in clashes with security forces at a rally after an activist was handed a jail term, authorities said.
Haidar al-Zaidi, 20, was sentenced to three years over a tweet of disputed origin deemed insulting to a pro-Iran ex-paramilitary force, according to court documents seen by AFP Wednesday.
The verdict, which Zaidi can appeal, has sparked criticism on social media.
Eye-witnesses have firmly disputed an Israeli officer's self-defence claims after chilling footage showed him firing close-range fatal shots at a Palestinian man in the occupied West Bank.
Ammar Hadi Mufleh, 22, was killed Friday in Huwara, near Nablus in the northern West Bank, and video from the scene shows him in an altercation with an Israeli police commander, who then shot him several times.
Many Iranian workers went on strike and students boycotted classes Wednesday, rights groups said, as a former president publicly supported protests sparked by Mahsa Amini's death.
Demonstrations have swept Iran for nearly three months since Amini died after her arrest by the notorious morality police in Tehran for an alleged breach of the country's strict hijab dress code for women.
The authorities, who have struggled to contain the protests, describe them as "riots" fomented by Iran's arch foe the United States and its allies, including Britain and Israel.
Catastrophic floods, crop-wilting droughts and record heatwaves this year have shown that climate change warnings are increasingly becoming reality and this is "just the beginning", experts say, as international efforts to cut planet-heating emissions founder.
The year did see some important progress, with major new legislation particularly in the United States and Europe as well as a deal at UN talks to help vulnerable countries cope with an increasing onslaught of devastating climate impacts.
Ravers sporting face paint and flashing LED sunglasses jump in time to the thudding beats of Dish Dash, a DJ act whose rise mirrors that of the Saudi music scene.
The confetti-strewn dance hall in Riyadh is packed with young men and women, most in streetwear hoodies and jeans, a few in traditional white robes and abayas.
The setting bears scant resemblance to the venues where Dish Dash -- the Jeddah-born brothers Abbas and Hassan Ghazzawi –- began performing more than 15 years ago.
Chinese President Xi Jinping touched down in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday for a visit that is likely to focus on energy ties as Washington warned of Beijing's growing influence.
Xi, recently reanointed as leader of the world's second biggest economy, arrived in the capital Riyadh, Chinese and Saudi state media said, for a three-day visit that will include talks with Saudi and other Arab leaders.
The horrors of the Islamic State group's rule over northern Iraq may be in the past, but efforts to bring the jihadists to justice are still gathering pace.
"A lot of work remains to be done," said the UN's chief investigator Christian Ritscher, who is looking into a slew of IS atrocities, from murder, torture and mass rape to slavery and genocide.
