The United States said Monday it saw no signs that Iran was improving its treatment of women following reports that Tehran was scrapping its notorious morality police amid a wave of civil unrest.
Iran is witnessing some of the most significant protests since the 1979 Islamic Revolution in the wake of the September 16 death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old who had been detained by the morality police, which enforces strict codes on women's dress.
Ukraine worked to restore power on Tuesday after Russia's latest wave of missile strikes caused power disruptions across the country, right as winter frost builds and temperatures plunge.
Out of the 70 missiles launched by Moscow, "most" were shot down, President Volodymyr Zelensky said, but the barrage still hit Ukraine's already battered infrastructure.
Fresh power cuts were announced in all regions "due to the consequences of shelling," national electricity provider Ukrenergo said on Telegram.
Iran has sealed a jewellery shop and restaurant belonging to football legend Ali Daei, after he backed protesters' calls for strikes this week, local media reported on Monday.
Daei's 109 goals at international level were long unsurpassed until Cristiano Ronaldo overtook him.
ISNA news agency, citing the judiciary's media centre, reported that the ex-player's shop and restaurant in Tehran's fashionable north end had been ordered shut.
Iranian activists and Western nations on Monday dismissed a claim that the protest-hit Islamic republic is disbanding its notorious morality police, insisting there was no change to women's rights.
There were also calls on social media for a three-day strike in Iran, culminating Wednesday on the annual Student Day, nearly three months into a nationwide wave of unrest sparked by the death in custody of Kurdish-Iranian woman Mahsa Amini.
Sudan's military and civilian leaders signed Monday an initial deal aimed at ending a deep crisis caused by last year's military coup, prompting sceptical protesters to cry betrayal.
Army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan seized power in October 2021, derailing a rocky transition to civilian rule that began after the 2019 ouster of veteran autocrat Omar al-Bashir.
Turkey's inflation slowed in November for the first time since May 2021, official data showed on Monday, delivering a boost to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan ahead of next year's election.
The rate slowed to 84.39 percent, according to state statistics agency TUIK, down from 85.51 percent in October.
Turkey's inflation has risen steadily since reaching a low of 16.6 percent in May 2021.
The emerging market's troubled economy has turned into a major stumbling block on Erdogan's path to a third decade in power in a presidential poll due by next June.
The United Arab Emirates' president on Monday made his first visit to Qatar since the end of a nearly four-year regional blockade that put ties in a deep freeze.
Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan was greeted by Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani at the airport and left after an official lunch in a brief trip that coincided with the football World Cup in Qatar.
"The meeting explored UAE-Qatar relations and the prospects for growing their cooperation to boost prosperity in both countries and serve their common interests," the UAE's official WAM news agency said.
Wearing sky blue overalls near Gaza's port, technician Mohammed Jerboa celebrates the chance to finally repair fishing boats after a 15-year Israeli ban on vital materials.
It's a "great achievement", he said after sanding down the faded paint as part of a team of workers patching up rickety boats with sheets of newly imported fibreglass.
The material has been prohibited from entering the Palestinian enclave since 2007, as one of scores of items Israel deems could be used for military purposes by Gaza militants.
After fierce criticism of the Qatar World Cup, the head of the UN labour agency on Sunday pressed FIFA's president for a greater role scrutinizing future World Cup hosts.
International Labour Organisation director general Gilbert Houngbo told AFP before meeting with Gianni Infantino that Qatar has been a victim of "double standards" and has made significant progress but more needs to be done for its migrant labourers.
The ILO is seeking a role carrying out "due diligence" on future candidate countries, Houngbo said in an interview.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken vowed Sunday to oppose Israeli settlements or annexation in the West Bank, but promised to judge Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's incoming government by actions and not personalities.
Netanyahu is expected within days to return to power after sealing a coalition deal with extreme-right movements including Religious Zionism, which is set for a post in charge of settlements in the occupied West Bank.
