Waging brutal repression at home and allegedly helping Russia in its war against Ukraine, Iran is becoming an unsolvable challenge for Western powers eager to avoid a new nuclear power in the Middle East.
"We're in a delicate situation and an obvious impasse," a French diplomat admitted before Wednesday's UN Security Council meeting on suspected Iranian drone use by Russian forces.
At least 150 people including children have been killed in two days of fighting in the latest ethnic clashes over land disputes in Sudan's southern Blue Nile state, a medic said Thursday.
The fighting is some of the worst in recent months, and crowds took to the streets of the Blue Nile state capital Damazin in protest, chanting slogans condemning a conflict that has left hundreds dead this year.
Graffiti with the name of a 15th-century Swiss knight has been discovered in Jerusalem, carved into the walls of a building where pilgrims stayed, the Israel Antiquities Authority said Thursday.
The knight Adrian von Bubenberg is believed to have visited the holy city in 1466, when researchers say he may have marked his name alongside his family emblem on a stone ceiling.
"The building served as a monastery and a hostel for the Western pilgrims, who left their mark on the walls," said the leaders of the research, Michael Chernin and Shai Halevi, in a statement.
At least 150 people have been killed in two days of fighting in the latest ethnic clashes triggered by land disputes in Sudan's southern Blue Nile state, a medic said Thursday.
The fighting is some of the worst in recent months.
Clashes in Sudan's troubled Blue Nile state broke out last week after reported arguments over land between members of the Hausa people and rival groups.
The fighting has centered around the Wad al-Mahi area near Roseires, some 500 kilometres (310 miles) south of the capital Khartoum.
The United Arab Emirates won their first-ever game at a Twenty20 World Cup on Thursday to upset Namibia by seven runs and send the Netherlands into the Super 12 stage of the tournament.
The Africans would have joined Sri Lanka in the next round rather than the Dutch had they won, but against the odds, the UAE restricted them to 141-8 as they chased 149 for victory.
Zahoor Khan and Basil Hameed grabbed two wickets each as the UAE reduced Namibia to 69-7 in the 13th over before late fireworks from David Weise (55 off 36 balls) set up a tense last-over finale.
Shops, offices and schools were closed across the occupied West Bank on Thursday as Palestinians went on strike to protest Israel's killing of a man suspected of a deadly attack against Israeli forces.
Udai Tamimi, who had been on the run since the fatal shooting this month of military policewoman Noa Lazar at a checkpoint in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem, was killed late Wednesday after he fired at Israelis on the edge of a settlement.
A 15-year-old Iranian girl died last week after being beaten during a raid by the security forces on her school, a teachers' union said, urging the authorities to stop killing "innocent" protesters.
Asra Panahi died on October 13, after "plainclothes officers attacked" Shahed High School in the northwestern city of Ardabil, the Co-ordinating Council of Teachers Syndicates said.
The pupils had been taken into town for an "ideological event" at a spot known to be a centre for protests sparked by Mahsa Amini's death in the custody of Iran's notorious morality police.
Pharmaceutical giant Novartis has signed a licensing agreement increasing access to a vital leukaemia treatment, a UN-backed public health organisation said Thursday, marking the first-ever such agreement for a cancer drug.
The deal will give selected manufacturers the opportunity to develop, manufacture and supply generic versions of nilotinib, a twice-daily oral medication used to treat chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML).
Flashmob-style protests, images beamed onto tower blocks, water fountains dyed blood-red: young Iranians armed with little more than their phones have adopted a slew of tactics to give demonstrations over Mahsa Amini's death staying power.
The protest movement is showing it can go the distance more than one month after it sprung up, in spite of a crackdown by the security forces that has cost at least 122 lives.
Two years since Israeli soldier Amit Ben Ygal -- an only child -- died in service, his father has not given up hope of becoming a grandfather.
For now posthumous in vitro fertilisation (IVF) rights are reserved only for the widows of fallen soldiers in Israel.
But a draft law seeks to expand such rights to their parents, with an activist insisting Israel has a "moral obligation" to families whose children died in service.
