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M23 rebels in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo are holding civilians hostage for suspected collaboration with enemy militias as fighting erupted despite recent peace efforts, local sources told AFP on Monday.

A high-level Ethiopian government delegation on Monday made the first visit to the capital of rebel-held Tigray since the signing of a peace deal last month aimed at ending a brutal two-year conflict.

Pulling in an estimated $90 million, "Avatar: The Way of Water" has blown away the competition even as a massive storm kept millions at home over the four-day Christmas weekend, industry watcher Exhibitor Relations said Monday.

Jurgen Klopp praised 18-year-old Stefan Bajcetic's attitude and ability after he scored his first senior goal to seal a 3-1 win for Liverpool at Aston Villa on Monday.

Harry Kane bounced back from his World Cup heartbreak to earn Tottenham a 2-2 draw at Brentford as Newcastle climbed to second place in the Premier League with a 3-0 win at Leicester on Monday.

Liverpool got off to the flying start they craved on the Premier League's return from the World Cup as a 3-1 win at Aston Villa on Monday cut the gap on the top four to five points.

Russia on Monday placed a senior journalist with the Bellingcat investigative website on a wanted list, following his extensive reporting on Moscow's offensive in Ukraine.

Three people died on Monday when a Nigerien military helicopter crashed on return from a routine training flight, the defence ministry said.

A Belarusian court on Monday sentenced the country's former champion swimmer and government critic Aliaksandra Herasimenia to 12 years in prison in absentia, a rights group said.

Ten passengers riding a bus died when their vehicle struck a mine in eastern Burkina Faso, the regional governor said on Monday.

The death toll from a fuel tanker explosion in a South African city east of Johannesburg last week has climbed to 18, regional health authorities said on Monday.

Eddie Howe admitted Newcastle fans will be dreaming of an unexpected Premier League title challenge after his side's 3-0 win at Leicester on Monday.

Emergency crews in New York were scrambling Monday to rescue marooned residents from what authorities called the "blizzard of the century," a relentless storm that has left at least 25 dead in the state and is causing US Christmas travel chaos.

France charged a suspected gunman on Monday with last week's murder of three Kurds in Paris, as hundreds of people marched in the French capital to pay tribute to the victims.

Ruzan Hovhanisyan fears that she will have to ring in the New Year without her family in the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh due to a blockade by arch-enemy Azerbaijan.

Antonio Conte hailed Harry Kane's character after the England captain recovered from his World Cup heartache to help Tottenham rescue a 2-2 draw at Brentford, while Newcastle climbed to second place with a 3-0 win at Leicester on Monday.

Iranian football legend Ali Daei, who has backed protests following Mahsa Amini's death, said Monday an airplane from Tehran to Dubai had been rerouted and his family ordered off.

Fans of the Argentine team that claimed football's ultimate prize in Qatar this month are lining up in Buenos Aires for tattoos of victorious captain Lionel Messi and the World Cup trophy.

China said Monday it would scrap mandatory quarantine on arrival, further unwinding years of strict virus controls as the country battles a surge in cases.

Antonio Conte hailed Tottenham's "big character" as they staged a thrilling fightback to draw 2-2 at Brentford as the Premier League returned in style on Monday after the World Cup break.

Hundreds of people marched in Paris on Monday to pay tribute to three Kurds shot dead in France's capital last week as a judge weighed whether to charge the alleged shooter.

A high-level Ethiopian government delegation on Monday made the first visit to the capital of rebel-held Tigray since the signing of a peace deal last month aimed at ending a brutal two-year conflict.

US emergency crews counted the grim costs of a colossal winter storm that brought Christmas chaos to millions, especially in hard-hit western New York, where the death toll reached 25 Monday in what authorities described as a "war with mother nature."

Bravemansgame came out on top in a thrilling duel with favourite L'Homme Presse to supply trainer Paul Nicholls with a record-extending 13th King George VI Chase at Kempton on Monday.

Lisa Shtanko, 8, stood on the side of a muddy road watching Ukrainian soldiers pass by, one of only a few children left in a town hit hard by Russia's invasion.

England captain Harry Kane inspired a thrilling fightback from Tottenham Hotspur as they came back from two goals down to draw 2-2 at Brentford as Premier League action resumed on Monday after the World Cup break.

Moscow said Monday it had foiled a new Ukrainian drone attack on a strategic bomber military base hundreds of kilometres from their joint border, as Kyiv called for Russia's ouster from the United Nations.

Babar Azam knocked a fighting hundred and the recalled Sarfaraz Ahmed hit a half century to guide Pakistan to a healthy 317-5 on the opening day of the first Test against New Zealand in Karachi on Monday.

Rescuers found the body of a woman in Spain's northwestern Galicia region on Monday, raising to seven the number who died after a bus plunged into a river on Christmas Eve, police said.

Chinese President Xi Jinping urged officials on Monday to take steps to protect lives in his first public remarks on Covid-19 since Beijing dramatically loosened hardline containment measures this month.

A high-level Ethiopian team arrived Monday in the capital of rebel-held Tigray for a first official visit following a peace deal aimed at ending a brutal two-year conflict.

South Korea accused the North of flying several drones across their shared border on Monday, prompting Seoul's military to deploy warplanes to shoot them down -- with local media reporting one of the planes later crashed.