Sawt Falasteen - News from Ramallah, the political, economic and cultural centre of Palestine, as well as the West Bank and the whole world

US President Donald Trump said Monday that Australia had agreed to grant asylum to some of Iran's visiting women's football team, amid fears they could face retaliation back home for not singing the national anthem before a match.

NATO said it shot down a second ballistic missile from Iran in Turkish airspace on Monday, prompting a stern warning from Turkey to Tehran, which told its neighbour not to take "provocative steps".

Here are the latest economic events in the Middle East war on Monday:

Hundreds of thousands of people are at imminent risk from a government offensive in a South Sudan town, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said Monday, after NGOs were ordered to evacuate.

France's finance minister said Monday the G7 was "not there yet" in terms of any release of strategic oil reserves as the world's leading industrialised nations held crisis talks on the economic fallout of the Middle East war.

Live Nation reached a tentative settlement with the US Justice Department on Monday in the federal antitrust case brought against the entertainment giant, a senior official said.

A tightening of Europe's immigration policy paving the way for so-called "return hubs" for failed asylum-seekers is expected to gain the backing of EU lawmakers this week, with centre-right and far-right deputies joining hands to see it through.

President Emmanuel Macron on Monday warned that an attack on Cyprus was an attack on all of Europe and said France and its allies were preparing a "defensive" mission to reopen the Strait of Hormuz as the Middle East war entered its second week.

Attacks on water systems are uncommon in wartime, but they have appeared in the war in the Middle East with strikes on desalination plants -- critical infrastructure for millions of people in the arid region.

Scotland will be without first-choice second-row pair Gregor Brown and Scott Cummings as they chase a shock first Six Nations title against Ireland on Saturday.

Stock markets slumped as energy prices soared on Monday on supply disruptions from the Middle East war drove volatility and fanned inflation fears.

Ankara on Monday said a second ballistic missile was shot down by NATO defences in Turkish airspace, as Washington urged all of its citizens to leave southeast Turkey over security concerns.

South Korea squeezed into the World Baseball Classic quarter-finals by the finest of margins after a nerve-jangling 7-2 win over Australia on Monday to finish as Pool C runners-up.

Atletico Madrid coach Diego Simeone highlighted the speed of Premier League sides' play on Monday ahead of the Champions League last 16 tie against Tottenham Hotspur.

North Korea has abruptly cancelled an international marathon originally scheduled for early next month, a tour operator said Monday, citing an official statement with no explanation for the decision.

Kyiv on Monday accused Hungary of grossly violating the rights of seven Ukrainian bank employees -- including by forcibly drugging a man with diabetes -- after they were detained with a truck of cash and gold.

President Emmanuel Macron on Monday discussed regional security with the leaders of Cyprus and Greece and was later set to board France's Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier deployed to the Mediterranean.

Russia won its first Winter Paralympic gold medal under its own flag since 2014 as skier Varvara Voronchikhina was crowned women's super-G standing champion on Monday in Cortina.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Monday the government was monitoring the economic fallout of the US and Israel's war in Iran, as energy prices soared due to supply disruptions.

Sri Lanka and India are providing sanctuary to 434 sailors from three Iranian naval vessels targeted or threatened by the United States, a diplomatic conundrum as the war spills into the Indian Ocean.

Bangladesh has tightened security at filling stations, sent students home and even scrapped light displays for independence and Ramadan celebrations, officials said Monday, as the Middle East war worsens the country's energy crunch.

Stock markets plunged and energy prices soared on Monday as supply disruptions from the Middle East war drove volatility and fanned inflation fears.

The Iran war sent oil prices soaring on Monday after Tehran marked the appointment of its new supreme leader with a new barrage of missiles targeting Israel and the Gulf energy industry.

An incensed North Korea refused to play for several minutes in a 2-1 Women's Asian Cup loss to China on Monday which sent them into a daunting quarter-final against hosts Australia.

Istanbul's jailed mayor Ekrem Imamoglu went on trial on Monday in a sprawling corruption case critics say is a politically motivated bid to scupper his chances of challenging President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

A landslide on Indonesia's biggest landfill buried trucks and food stalls, killing five people, rescuers said Monday as they searched for at least four more reported missing.

Omar Marmoush scored twice as Manchester City triumphed 3-1 away to Newcastle United at the weekend in the FA Cup -- the second time this season he has bagged a cup brace against the Magpies.

Flash flooding after torrential rains in Kenya has killed at least 45 people and forced hundreds to leave their homes, police said Monday.

Faced with soaring prices and disruptions to their oil and gas supplies, Asian countries heavily dependent on fossil fuels from the war-struck Gulf are moving to protect their domestic markets.

Two Australian hitmen were sentenced to 16 years in prison Monday for shooting dead a compatriot over a debt dispute on the Indonesian resort island of Bali last year.

Istanbul's jailed mayor Ekrem Imamoglu went on trial Monday in a sprawling corruption case critics say is a politically motivated bid to scupper his chances of challenging President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Russia won its first Winter Paralympic gold medal under its own flag since 2014 as skier Varvara Voronchikhina was crowned women's super-G standing champion on Monday in Cortina.