Iran has demanded that this week’s talks with the US be held in Oman rather than Turkey, with the agenda narrowed to nuclear issues only, a regional source said on Tuesday. The move adds new complications to an already delicate diplomatic effort amid heightened military tensions in the region.

Rights group says growing authoritarianism and abuses in US, Russia and China threaten global rules-based order The world is in a “democratic recession” with almost three-quarters of the global population now living under autocratic rulers – levels not seen since the 1980s, according to a new report. The system underpinning human rights was “in peril”, said Philippe Bolopion, executive director of Human Rights Watch (HRW), with a growing authoritarian wave becoming “the challenge of a generation”, he said. Continue reading...

Representative Raja Krishnamoorthi (D) Illinois discusses what reforms & changes Democrats want to see with ICE that will help Congress reach a compromise on DHS funding. He also voices his reaction to President Trump’s “Project Vault,” and its importance to compete with China. Rep. Krishnamoorthi speaks with Joe Mathieu and Julie Fine on the late edition of Bloomberg’s “Balance of Power.” (Source: Bloomberg)

Oil rose for a second day as geopolitical tensions resurfaced following the US downing of an Iranian drone near an American aircraft carrier in the Arabian Sea.

Poland ​will launch an investigation into possible links between the late sex offender Jeffrey ⁠Epstein and Russian intelligence, as well as any impact on Poland, Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on Tuesday. "More and more leads, more ​and more information, and more and more commentary in the global press all relate to the suspicion that this unprecedented paedophilia scandal was co-organised by ‌Russian intelligence services," Tusk said.

Following a social media announcement by Donald Trump about a trade deal, Indian officials hailed the agreement as 'the best in the region' while making no explicit comment about the US president's claim that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had agreed to stop buying Russian oil. Moscow meanwhile says it hasn't heard from India about any plans to do so. We take a closer look at how much crude oil India imports from Russia.

Speaking with FRANCE 24's Mark Owen, Sina Azodi, Director of the Middle East Studies program at George Washington University and author of "Iran & the Bomb: United States, Iran &the Nuclear Question", says that 'Iranians since the June 2025 conflict do not have many cards to play with, the only leverage that they have is 400 kilos of highly-enriched uranium', ahead of talks scheduled for Friday this week.

A former reformist leader wants the Islamic Republic gone while lawmakers wish to see an ex-president executed.

Speaking with FRANCE 24's Mark Owen, Lisa Yasko, Ukrainian MP for President Zelelnskyy's party Sluga Narody Servant of the People, says that 'NATO could do so much more in terms of security'. NATO chief Mark Rutte said on a visit to Kyiv Tuesday that Russia's overnight attacks did not suggest Moscow was serious about making peace, as the United States pushes talks to stop the fighting.

Al-Shifa Hospital director says blocking medical evacuations through Rafah crossing could be 'death sentence' for many.

The Red Cross’s Patrick Griffiths is hopeful about the Rafah crossing’s “opening," but says more must be done.

A US stealth warplane shot down an Iranian drone that "aggressively" approached an American aircraft carrier as it sailed in the Arabian Sea on Tuesday, a US military spokesman said. The incident occurred with the carrier about 800 kilometers from Iran's coast, and came on the same day that American forces responded to Iranian boats that threatened to board a US-flagged tanker in the Strait of Hormuz. FRANCE 24's Reza Sayah reports from Tehran.

One month after the US captured Nicolas Maduro, is Washington trying its Venezuela template on Iran? Not the part where special forces swoop for foreign leaders. Rather the part where the regime and its apparatus can stay so long as Washington gets what it wants. In the case of Iran, maximum pressure and Donald Trump’s initial promise to protesters that “help is on the way” seems to be morphing into art of the deal-style nuclear bargaining.

Iranian gunboats also challenged US-flagged tanker in Strait of Hormuz days before planned negotiations

A day before Russian, Ukrainian and U.S. teams meet to talk peace, Putin's forces pounded Ukraine's energy infrastructure with dozens of drones and missiles.

Analysts suggest Hezbollah will act only under extreme circumstances or if Iran faces existential regional threats.

Among the many challenges NATO soldiers face in the unforgiving Arctic environment, frozen weapons pose a serious risk.

Despite the ceasefire in place in Gaza since October 2025, the Israeli bombing continues. Residents are suffering dire conditions while winter has made things worse: heavy rains have flooded the camps and cold weather has led to the death of at least ten children due to a lack of adequate heating or clothing. Local associations, such as The Sameer Project, are doing what they can to support Gaza’s residents.

As Iran declares willingness to negotiate with the U.S., a woman who joined the recent protests says Iranians want their leaders out, and they want the U.S. to help.

Whatever post-attack scenario unfolds in Iran - regime consolidation or turmoil - the region would suffer.

Bloomberg Opinion's John Authers discusses the relationship between the US and China during a subscriber event in Hong Kong on Sept. 18, 2025. (Source: Bloomberg)

The China Show anchors David Ingles and Yvonne Man speak to AIA Group CIO Mark Konyn, Bloomberg Opinion's John Authers and Shuli Ren and Bloomberg's Asia Economy and Government Executive Editor Daniel Ten Kate about President Donald Trump, China and what investors can expect next at a subscriber event in Hong Kong held on Sept. 18, 2025. (Source: Bloomberg)

In Kyiv, residents endure daily power outages due to relentless Russian strikes, making it difficult to cook or heat homes. These attacks have severely damaged Ukraine's power grid and infrastructure, including residential buildings and schools. NATO chief Mark Rutte visited Kyiv to express support, asserting that Russia's actions show a lack of commitment to peace. President Zelenskyy is preparing for talks with Russian negotiators in Abu Dhabi, emphasizing the need for security guarantees from Western partners.

Iran has demanded changes to the venue and format for negotiations with the U.S. this Friday, two sources with knowledge tell Axios. Why it matters: If the new demands scupper Friday's talks, they risk pushing President Trump off the diplomatic path and toward the military option at a time when he has already assembled enormous firepower in the Gulf. Behind the scenes: The sources said the Iranians were walking back from understandings that were reached in recent days after several countries were already invited to participate in the talks. • The Iranians want to move the talks from Istanbul to Oman.• They also now want tot hold them in a bilateral format, only with the U.S., rather than with several Arab and Muslim countries attending as observers. This is a developing story. Check back for updates

US special envoy Steve Witkoff is yet again in Israel to discuss growing tensions with Iran.

A U.S.-flagged tanker heading for Bahrain was approached and threatened by Iranian gunboats in the Strait of Hormuz, a British maritime security firm says.

Omar Shakir, who has worked for the rights group for more than 10 years, says he has lost faith in the organisation.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged "maximum pressure" on Russia after Moscow fired hundreds of drones and missiles into Ukraine.

Carys Garland is pleased to welcome the Director of the Eurasia Democracy Initiative, Peter Zalmayev. Russia carried out a major attack on Ukraine across five regions, specifically taking aim at Ukraine's power grid, as representatives of the two warring countries are due to attend US-brokered talks. Mr. Zalmayev frames Moscow’s actions as calculated brinkmanship aimed at testing Western resolve. He highlights deep Ukrainian skepticism toward peace talks as Russia pushes ahead with its core objectives: weakening Ukraine and manipulating diplomatic space.

Amnesty International says bills would mean 'punishment is being reserved for, and weaponised against, Palestinians'.

Iran's President Pezeshkian has ordered talks with the US, seeking an environment free from threats and unreasonable expectations, focusing on national interests. This comes amid heightened regional tensions and a warning from President Trump about potential "bad things." Tehran insists negotiations must center on the nuclear issue, not defense capabilities.

The Pentagon has stood down more than 1,500 federal troops placed on alert for potential deployment to Minneapolis, according to two U.S. officials

China resumed its position as the biggest importer of Russian seaborne crude in January

FIFA chief Infantino suggested the ban on Russia's participation in global football competitions should be lifted.

Russia launched a major drone and missile strike on Ukraine during the coldest winter day, leaving hundreds of thousands without heating and damaging key infrastructure, including a Soviet-era WWII monument. The attacks came just one day before Ukrainian and Russian delegations were set to meet in Abu Dhabi for a new round of peace talks.

The New START treaty, which limits strategic nuclear weapons, is to expire this week.

A suspected China-based hacking group spun up a phishing campaign around Christmas that mimicked U.S. policy briefings in an attempt to hack diplomats, according to new research from cybersecurity firm Dream Security shared first with Axios. Why it matters: The campaign successfully infected "a lot of people," Dream CEO Shalev Hulio said in an interview. "We just don't know who and how big [of a] scale," he added. Zoom in: Researchers at Israel-based Dream uncovered a phishing campaign designed to ensnare officials tied to diplomacy, elections and international coordination around the world. • Between late December and mid-January, China-based hackers sent emails with files that pretended to be official U.S. diplomatic summaries or policy documents.• The attack did not rely on a software vulnerability. Simply opening the file was enough to trigger the compromise. The malware is designed to collect data and maintain persistent access to the affected device.• Dream is attributing the campaign to the China-linked cyberespionage group Mustang Panda. Between the lines: Mustang Panda is notorious for targeting the U.S. and other regions with phishing lures as a way to break into systems and steal state secrets. The intrigue: One of Dream's AI agents first uncovered the attack — marking what Hulio says is the first known case of an AI agent detecting a China-linked espionage campaign in the wild. • "The Chinese are the most sophisticated attackers in the world," Hulio said. "They know how to hide. They know how to run under the radar. It's very, very difficult to catch them." What to watch: As AI tools get better, expect them to not only improve at launching attacks and building exploits — but also to increasingly shape how governments detect espionage campaigns before victims even realize they've been targeted. Go deeper: AI is perfecting scam emails, making phishing hard to catch

The attack - which reportedly consisted of more than 70 missiles and 450 drones - comes after a so-called "energy truce" expired at the weekend.

The billionaire Bridgewater founder also weighed in on investing in gold after the metal was gripped by a sharp sell-off.

Israeli troops allowed the first Palestinians through the newly reopened Rafah crossing on Monday.

While broad market participation is welcomed by officials, any threat to social cohesion is sure to attract negative attention.

US President Donald Trump said on Monday he had struck a trade deal with India to cut tariffs after Prime Minister Narendra Modi pledged to halt purchases of Russia oil over the war in Ukraine. He said levies on Indian goods would fall to 18% from 25% under the agreement.

With New START, the last nuclear treaty between Russia and US ending, Moscow says it's ready for more dangerous world.

Algorithmic traders have racked up a third straight year of losses in oil, the longest slump on record, with hopes for a turnaround in 2026 facing an early test amid geopolitical volatility.

The meteoric rise of Shein, one of the world's biggest fast-fashion retailers, has not been without controversy. For years, human rights groups have warned of labour law violations in its supplier factories. Our China correspondents Jan Camenzind Broomby and Eudeline Boishult investigate.

Delta Air Lines Flight 234, from JFK to Tel Aviv, diverted to Dublin. Air traffic control recordings suggest it was due to a medical emergency.

French Finance Minister Roland Lescure said the Group of 7 should work toward shared tools for tackling global economic imbalances including China’s vast trade surpluses with the rest of the world.

China will ban hidden car door handles from January 1, 2027, citing safety concerns, phasing out the minimalist designs popularised by Tesla. The new rules require doors to have both interior and exterior mechanical releases and could influence global EV design as China asserts itself as a standards-setter. FRANCE 24's Jan Camenzind Broomby has more details from Beijing.

Finnish military personnel told Business Insider that temperature variation is a huge threat to their weapons in the Arctic.

Technological revolutions rarely arrive in a single form. Likewise, the quantum era is emerging as a layered ecosystem: specialized quantum machines augmenting classical systems today, alongside a longer-term push toward universal quantum processors. Recognizing this is essential for policymakers seeking to separate hype from capability and speculation from deployment. The post The Quantum Era Is Here—and It Looks Different Than Expected appeared first on American Enterprise Institute - AEI.

Israel has reopened the Rafah border crossing into Gaza, but movement remains tightly restricted, with only a dozen people allowed to enter and a small number of wounded evacuated to Egypt. While the reopening is seen as a key step in the ceasefire process, far fewer people crossed than expected, leaving thousands of patients still waiting for urgent medical evacuation. Egypt says its hospitals are ready to receive more Gazans as numbers are gradually increased.

China is employing a 'salami slicing' strategy, taking incremental steps across military, economic, and technological domains to alter realities without triggering conflict. This 'gray zone' approach, evident in the South China Sea and beyond, bypasses international law and exploits rivals' hesitation. The cumulative effect creates new facts on the ground, challenging the existing order.

The internet is awash in speculation, suspicion and disgust over the millions of new pages of Jeffrey Epstein files released by the Justice Department on Friday. • Few believe the story is anywhere near finished. Why it matters: The DOJ's final release has delivered tantalizing revelations about Epstein's ties to elite society. But it has brought neither clarity nor closure to the fundamental questions that have kept the scandal alive. The big picture: The Epstein files metastasized beyond the Trump administration's control in 2025. Here are five reasons the public's obsession is unlikely to abate in 2026. 1. An expanding blast radius. • Some Epstein associates — British power broker Peter Mandelson, Norwegian royal Mette-Marit, celebrity doctor Peter Attia — are paying real reputational and professional costs in the wake of new revelations.• By contrast, figures such as Elon Musk and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick have faced few consequences after emails undercut their denials of contact with Epstein following his 2008 sex-crime conviction.• Partisans on both sides continue to treat Epstein as a proxy war — accusing President Trump and former President Clinton of crimes that far exceed any substantiated evidence in the files. 2. A gap between government and public. • The Justice Department has framed its massive document release as the end of its Epstein review, with no indication that further prosecutions are coming — unchanged from its position last July.• That declaration of finality has collided with a wave of backlash, as Democrats accuse the DOJ of withholding as much as 50% of the files after blowing past the law's Dec. 19 deadline.• Victims expressed outrage after the files appeared to expose the names of at least 43 survivors, along with dozens of unredacted nude images. At the same time, some critics say the DOJ's sweeping redactions shielded powerful figures from scrutiny. Screenshot via Truth Social 3. Endless intrigue, overwhelming volume. • The sheer scale of the Epstein archive — millions of pages of emails, contacts, calendars and recordings — will provide a steady stream of new stories and leads for both journalists and conspiracy theorists.• Among them: Emails show Epstein met with the founder of 4chan around the same time the site launched /pol/ — the far-right forum where QAnon first appeared. There's no evidence Epstein influenced the forum, but the coincidence is already fueling new conspiracy theories.• FBI source reports and internal emails contain unverified claims and secondhand suspicions about Epstein's possible ties to Mossad and other intelligence services — material that stops well short of proof but offers ample fodder for speculation. 4. Thriving misinformation. • The Epstein files are being consumed in an information ecosystem that struggles with nuance, context and legal standards — where guilt by association has become the default reaction.• The confusion is further compounded by AI: Fake emails, doctored screenshots and AI-generated images circulate alongside authentic documents, tricking even veteran journalists.• One example: A passing mention of filmmaker Mira Nair attending a party at Ghislaine Maxwell's home has fueled viral conspiracy theories and AI-generated images falsely linking her son, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, to Epstein. 5. Epstein as a symbol. • For many people, the Epstein case has become shorthand for a deeper belief that powerful figures operate by different rules, and that the system is either unwilling or unable to hold them fully to account.• Nowhere is that clearer than what many see as the case's original sin: the 2008 plea deal that effectively foreclosed federal prosecutions of alleged Epstein co-conspirators.• The Trump administration's slow-walking of the files, refusal to clarify who benefited from Epstein's trafficking, and failure to bring additional cases have only deepened the systemic trust deficit.

Severstal PJSC, one of Russia’s top steelmakers, posted its lowest profit margin in 16 years, as a slowing domestic economy weighed on demand.

In the 90s, there was a lot of talk about how the Internet would be a liberalizing force in the world. Bill Clinton famously predicted that it would be impossible for China to lock down the Internet, and that this would have profound effects on domestic politics. Of course that didn’t come true — China has done a remarkable job of controlling what gets behind the firewall. But then furthermore, the Internet hasn’t had the liberalizing effects in the US either. On this episode of the podcast, we

BYD Co. Executive Vice President Stella Li discusses the impact China banning concealed door handles on electric vehicles could have on the company. “There’s no impact,” Li tells Bloomberg Television. She adds BYD is “ready” to make changes to its designs as required by authorities.

Hundreds of drones and missiles struck Kyiv and Kharkiv overnight, leaving thousands of homes without heat.

After almost four years of war, a sense of cohesion has grown.

Yamandu Orsi is the first Latin American leader to visit China since the US abducted Venezuela's Nicolas Maduro.

China, the world’s largest consumer of industrial metals, is looking to expand its copper inventories to secure supply after the strategic metal surged to record highs.

UBS SDIC Fund Management Co. changed the valuation model for a $2.2 billion silver fund to more closely track global futures prices, triggering a record drop in its net asset value and outcry among investors already bruised by a precious metals slump.

Dozen Palestinians allowed to re-enter but critical patients continue to be prevented from receiving life-saving care.

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard said Monday President Trump requested her presence during an FBI search of an election center in Georgia last week. Why it matters: Her presence in Fulton County alarmed some Democratic lawmakers, but Gabbard in a letter Monday to the top Democrats on the House and Senate intelligence committees said she acted "well within my statutory authorities." Zoom in: Gabbard said in the letter to Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) and Rep. Jim Himes (D-Conn.) she was only present for a brief period of time. • "My presence was requested by the President and executed under my broad statutory authority to coordinate, integrate, and analyze intelligence related to election security, including counter-intelligence, foreign and other malign influence and cybersecurity," Gabbard wrote.• She thanked FBI agents at the field office in Atlanta "and facilitated a brief phone call for the President to thank the agents personally for their work," per the letter that Gabbard shared on X.• "He did not ask any questions, nor did he or l issue any directives." Contrary to the blatantly false and slanderous accusations being made against me by Members of Congress and their friends in the propaganda media, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence has and will continue to take action under my statutory authorities to secure our… pic.twitter.com/eX4Kdnp8oU — DNI Tulsi Gabbard (@DNIGabbard) February 3, 2026 Of note: Fulton County officials objected to the search and said it amounted to retaliation by Trump's allies over his 2020 election loss and subsequent election interference case, which was dropped in November. • They plan to file a motion in court challenging "the legality of the warrant and the seizure of sensitive election records, and force the government to return the ballots taken," Fulton County Commissioner Marvin Arrington said in a media statement Monday. Go deeper: Patel defends FBI raid as Georgia officials demand answers

Major restaurant and beverage chains in China, including KFC and Cotti Coffee, are raising prices and cutting back subsidies on food delivery platforms, retreating from years of discounting that squeezed margins for many.

A former Google engineer was found guilty of economic espionage and theft of confidential AI technology for the benefit of China's government, the FBI said Monday. Why it matters: Intelligence and defense officials have long warned of increased efforts by Beijing and others to obtain U.S. intellectual property and use AI against American interests. State of play A federal jury in San Francisco convicted Linwei Ding, also known as Leon Ding, 38, of seven counts of economic espionage and seven counts of theft of trade secrets, per an FBI post on X Monday. • Ding was accused of stealing thousands of pages of confidential information containing Google's trade secrets related to artificial intelligence technology and sharing them with two Chinese tech firms.• He was originally indicted in March 2024 before a superseding indictment was returned last year on the charges Ding was convicted of.• The jury found him guilty of stealing more than two thousand pages of confidential information containing Google's AI trade secrets from Google's network and uploading them to his personal Google Cloud account while working for the company from May 2022 and April 2023.• Prosecutors accused him of being in talks for a chief technology officer role at a Chinese AI startup within weeks of the beginning of the thefts. Thought bubble, via Axios' Sam Sabin: We can expect to see similar cases as the competition heats up between the U.S. and China to dominate AI — just like what happened previously with semiconductor developers. What they're saying: "Silicon Valley is at the forefront of artificial intelligence innovation, pioneering transformative work that drives economic growth and strengthens our national security," said U.S. Attorney Craig Missakian in a statement. • "The jury delivered a clear message today that the theft of this valuable technology will not go unpunished. We will vigorously protect American intellectual capital from foreign interests that seek to gain an unfair competitive advantage while putting our national security at risk."

China’s grid spending hit a record last year and is set to rise steadily through 2030, underscoring Beijing’s push to ease transmission bottlenecks.

These are the key developments from day 1,440 of Russia’s war on Ukraine

As part of the deal, New Delhi will "BUY AMERICAN" at "a much higher level," and stop buying oil from Russia, according to Trump.

China fielded a record number of proposals for new coal-fired power plants last year — even as generation from fossil fuels fell amid a surge of clean energy.

Oil steadied after dropping the most in six months in the previous session on easing geopolitical risks and a broader commodities selloff.

In tonight's edition, former South African president Jacob Zuma crops up in the US State Department's latest Epstein file drop. Also, three years after the last devastating conflict in the region, Tigrayans living in northern Ethiopia are increasingly worried that their lives could tip back into war. And Nairobi Fashion Week wraps up over the weekend, but designers are hoping that their message is a timeless one.

Spokesperson Stephane Dujarric says the United Nations welcomes the reopening of Gaza’s Rafah border with Egypt.

Currency traders recently unleashed a selloff that drove the dollar into its deepest slide since the US trade war began. Despite some ups and downs, the downward trend seems likely to continue. (Source: Bloomberg)

The Rafah border crossing is once again operational as part of the US-brokered 'ceasefire'.

The official line these days out of China is that it's a stable partner "in an uncertain world." So what to make of the bombshell news out of Beijing? Xi Jinping purging his top general Zhang Yiouxia with accusations against the 75-year old loyalist that range from corruption to leaking nuclear secrets to the US. We’ll ask about the reasons and the timing…

Recent remarks by former US State Secretary Mike Pompeo herald the next phase of Israel’s genocidal project: erasure.

China shut down the "Are you dead" app, but the "crying horse" is selling out as the country grapples with a slowing economy and uncertainty.

The last few years have exposed some of the fractures in a world currency system dominated by the U.S. dollar. China's leaders see an opportunity — but achieving it will likely prove easier said than done. The big picture: For all the gripes that nations around the world have about the United States' stewardship of the dollar, displacing the dollar would require China or any other potential rival to build infrastructure and make sacrifices that would be no easy feat. • For China, it would mean relaxing its strict controls on the flow of capital into and out of the country, an important tool of state power — and a contrast to the U.S., where dollars flow more freely. Driving the news: Published remarks by Chinese President Xi Jinping in Qiushi magazine, a leading ideological journal for the Chinese Communist Party, extol the importance of the nation achieving global financial might. • "What constitutes a strong financial nation?" the article says per Bloomberg's translation. "First, it should have a powerful currency, widely used in international trade, investment and foreign exchange markets, holding the status of a global reserve currency." Zoom out: The dollar is used worldwide in trade — even when neither party to the transaction is American — and by global investors seeking a safe place to park money. • That gives the U.S. government leverage in global affairs that it has not been shy about using, deploying sanctions as a tool of power.• The U.S. can essentially block enemies — whether in Russia, Iran, North Korea, or beyond — from the mainstream global financial system, to the consternation even of nations with broadly friendly ties to Washington, like India and Brazil. Yes, but: If China wants to replicate that power and take U.S. primacy down a peg or two, a magazine essay alone won't cut it. • Dollar dominance is powered by a complex network of interconnected factors.• There's the availability of trillions in U.S. Treasury debt that can be freely bought and sold around the world, an independent central bank, a currency that floats based on market conditions, and complex payment systems built over decades. What they're saying: "There is now this desperate desire to diversify away from the dollar, but not very much in the way of high-quality assets to diversify into," Eswar Prasad, author of a new book called "The Doom Loop," about the unraveling international economic order, tells Axios. • "So for all the talk of dollar decline, for all the talk of the dollar being knocked off its pedestal, the reality is that we've seen significant net inflows into U.S. financial markets over the last 12 to 14 months," says Prasad, an economist at Cornell University. State of play: As for Xi's latest calls to establish greater Chinese financial pre-eminence, Prasad says that China's work on cross-border banking is already making the renminbi more useful for transactions between non-U.S. entities. • "Transactions between pairs of emerging market currencies are becoming easier," Prasad says. "China and India will no longer need to exchange their respective currencies for dollars to conduct trade."• China has also made it easier for foreign investors to acquire Chinese bonds, he said, but capital controls and a lack of trust in China's institutions act as limits on renminbi-denominated securities as an alternative to Treasuries. The bottom line: "The renminbi's share in emerging market economies' reserve holdings will undoubtedly increase on account of diversification motives and geopolitical tensions," Prasad says. • But "this increase will be constrained by China's capital controls and weak institutional framework."

The Meteor is a powerful weapon that Ukraine says would give it a fighting chance against the aircraft carrying highly destructive glide bombs.

Russian shelling hit energy and railway facilities in Ukraine’s frontline regions, causing civilian casualties in Zaporizhzhia and Dnipro. Trilateral talks with the US are set to resume Wednesday, though Moscow says key issues, including NATO troop deployment, remain unresolved.

Recent protests in Iran erupted over economic collapse and political repression. But beneath the discontent, analysts also point to a deeper ecological crisis. The country has been gripped by a severe drought for six consecutive years, and many cities including its capital Tehran are on the verge of "water bankruptcy". FRANCE 24's Environment Editor Valerie Dekimpe explains.

Railway firm warns that routes in eastern Ukraine are becoming increasingly 'high risk', urges travellers to take buses.