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Argentina requests arrest in Qatar of senior Iranian official

Argentina on Monday called on Qatar to arrest a visiting Iranian vice president over his alleged responsibility for the deadly 1994 bombing of a Buenos Aires Jewish center.

Iran's vice president for economic affairs, Mohsen Rezai, is wanted by Argentinian special prosecutors for alleged participation in the planning of the July 18, 1994 bomb attack against the Argentine Israelite Mutual Association, or AMIA, which killed 85 people and wounded 300.

Relatives of victims of the 1994 bombing of the Buenos Aires Jewish center mourn the death of their lost ones

Israel vexed as Australia reverses recognition of 'capital' Jerusalem

Australia said it would no longer recognise west Jerusalem as Israel's capital Tuesday, a policy reversal that prompted a curt rebuke from the Jewish state but was cheered by Palestinians.

Foreign Minister Penny Wong said the city's status should be decided by Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, unwinding a contentious decision by the previous conservative government.

In 2018, Australia's then-prime minister Scott Morrison followed US president Donald Trump's lead in unilaterally recognising west Jerusalem as the Israeli capital.

Australia's Foreign Minister Penny Wong said Canberra would no longer recognise West Jerusalem as Israel's capital

Canadian sentenced to 20 years in US prison for aiding IS

A Canadian man was sentenced to 20 years in prison in the United States on Monday for providing assistance to the Islamic State group in Syria.

Abdullahi Ahmed Abdullahi, 37, of Edmonton, Alberta, was extradited from Canada to San Diego in 2019, the Justice Department said in a statement.

Abdullahi pleaded guilty in a federal court in San Diego to all charges in December 2021, it said.

He was accused of aiding six North American nationals to travel to Syria, where they joined IS.

A Canadian man has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for providing assistance to the Islamic State in Syria, the Justice Department said

Iran prison fire toll doubles as protest tensions surge

Eight inmates died in a fire that raged in Iran's Evin prison, the judiciary said Monday, doubling the official toll from a blaze that has further stoked tensions one month into protests sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini.

Authorities blamed the fire in the Tehran jail late Saturday on "riots and clashes" among prisoners, but human rights groups said they doubted the official version of events and feared the real toll could be higher.

A picture obtained from the Iranian Mizan News Agency on October 16, 2022 shows damage caused by a fire in the notorious Evin prison, northwest of the Iranian capital Tehran

Death toll in Sudan's ethnic clashes rises to 13: UN

The death toll from ethnic clashes sparked by "land issues" in the latest unrest in Sudan's south has climbed to 13, the United Nations said Monday, warning the situation remained "tense".

Fighting broke out Thursday between members of the Hausa people and rival groups, most notably the al-Hamaj, in the Wad al-Mahi village east of the city of Roseires in the southern Blue Nile state.

Clashes were sparked by "a dispute over land issues", the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said Monday.

Sudan's Blue Nile state has seen repeated deadly unrest since July: this August 8 photograph shows home that was set on fire near Roseires

Iraq's new president calls for speedy government formation

Iraq's newly-elected President Abdul Latif Rashid pledged Monday on taking office to throw his weight behind efforts to rapidly form a strong new government.

"The Iraqi people expect a new government to be formed rapidly, and that it be efficient and united," Rashid said on his inauguration at the presidential palace in Baghdad.

Rashid, 78, elected last Thursday to the largely ceremonial post reserved for Iraq's Kurdish minority, swiftly named Mohammed Shia al-Sudani as prime minister-designate.

Iraq's newly-elected President Abdul Latif Rashid waves during his inauguration and handover ceremony at al-Salam Palace in the capital Baghdad

Saudi defends oil policy in face of US charges

Saudi Arabia has rejected US accusations of aligning itself with Russia amid the Ukraine war by making oil production cuts to drive up crude prices, insisting it was purely a business decision.

"We are astonished by the accusations that the kingdom is standing with Russia in its war with Ukraine," the Saudi defence minister, Prince Khaled bin Salman, tweeted late Sunday.

The Saudi-led OPEC+ cartel -- which includes Russia -- has angered Washington by deciding to cut production by two million barrels per day from November, adding further pressure on soaring crude prices.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bumps fists with US President Joe Biden at Al-Salam Palace in the Red Sea port of Jeddah on July 15, 2022

World Cup boom pushes some Qatar residents out of homes

Qatari landlords eyeing profit from the looming World Cup have been kicking out a growing number of mostly foreign tenants, sometimes with just a few days' notice.

More than one million football fans are expected to descend on the capital Doha during the November-December tournament, putting a strain on the tiny Gulf nation.

Landlords who have spotted an opening to increase rents "show no pity" and the market is dominated by "greed", said a representative of a real estate company, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The tiny Gulf nation expects more than one million visitors during the football World Cup

Over a barrel, Biden faces tough options with Saudis

Joe Biden has vowed consequences for Saudi Arabia over its explosive slash in oil output but, like previous US presidents irked by the kingdom, he may find constraints as he assesses options.

Biden endured criticism at home by traveling to Saudi Arabia in June and fist-bumping its de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, despite earlier vowing to make him a pariah over human rights.

US President Joe Biden speaks to the press as he stops for ice cream in Portland, Oregon

Biden has 'no plans' to meet Saudi crown prince at G20 summit: US official

President Joe Biden has "no plans" to meet with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at an upcoming G20 summit in Indonesia, US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said Sunday.

Stormy US-Saudi relations have seen new strain over Riyadh's recent support for oil production cuts, with Biden warning of unspecified "consequences."

The move last week by OPEC+ -- composed of the Riyadh-led OPEC cartel and an additional group of 10 exporters headed by Russia -- would reduce global output by up to two million barrels per day from November.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bumps fists with US President Joe Biden at Al-Salam Palace in the Red Sea port of Jeddah on July 15, 2022