San Antonio Spurs star Victor Wembanyama is reportedly facing an injury layoff of a "few weeks" after the team confirmed the Frenchman had suffered a left calf strain on Monday.

LeBron James took a giant step towards returning from injury on Monday after successfully completing a full practice session with the Los Angeles Lakers.

The 40-year-old has not played at all this season after being laid low with sciatica last month -- the first time in the NBA icon's career he has missed the opening weeks of a season.

Iraq's incumbent Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani said Tuesday he had joined the country's main Shiite alliance, the majority bloc that will nominate the next premier.

The Trump administration's blueprint to secure and govern Gaza won strong approval at the United Nations on Monday, a crucial step that provides international support for U.S. efforts to move the devastated territory toward peace following two years of war.

The U.S. resolution that passed the U.N. Security Council authorizes an international stabilization force to provide security in Gaza, approves a transitional authority to be overseen by President Donald Trump and envisions a possible future path to an independent Palestinian state.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said he was ready to talk "face to face" with his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump, who hours earlier mentioned possible talks between the two leaders amid soaring military tensions in the Caribbean.

"This country will continue to be at peace, and in the United States, anyone who wants to talk to Venezuela will talk face to face, without any problem," Maduro, whose reelection last year was rejected by Washington as fraudulent, said on his weekly television program Monday.

Syrian authorities intend to hand over jihadist fighters from China's Uyghur minority to Beijing, two sources told AFP on Monday, as Damascus's Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani makes his first visit to the country.

The issue of the Uyghur fighters was expected to be on Shaibani's agenda in Beijing, a Syrian government source told AFP on condition of anonymity, adding that "based on China's request, Damascus intends to hand over the fighters in batches."

The death toll from a Russian strike in the eastern Ukrainian city of Balakliya has risen to three, the city military administration chief said on Monday.

"According to preliminary information, three people were killed as a result of the night missile strike on the city of Balakliya," Vitali Karabanov said in a post on Telegram, adding that "another 10 people were wounded".

President Emmanuel Macron and Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky Monday signed a letter of intent for Kyiv to acquire up to 100 Rafale fighter jets and other air defense hardware from French companies, the French presidency said.

In a boost for Ukraine as it fights the Russian invasion, the accord sets out possible future contracts for the acquisition by Ukraine of 100 Rafale fighter jets "with their associated weapons" as well as the new generation SAMP-T air defense system under development, radar systems and drones.

Israel's military said Monday it had killed a Hezbollah operative in southern Lebanon, a region that has witnessed several attacks despite the ceasefire between Israel and the Iran-backed group.

"Yesterday evening (Sunday)... The IDF struck and eliminated Hezbollah terrorist Muhammad Ali Shuweikh in the Mansouri area in southern Lebanon," the military said in a statement.

The U.N. peacekeeping force in Lebanon said Israeli soldiers shot at its troops on Sunday in the south of the country, while Israel's military said it mistook blue helmets for "suspects" and fired warning shots.

The Israeli military blamed "poor weather conditions" and said it had not deliberately targeted U.N. troops.