EU chief Ursula von der Leyen said Wednesday the bloc must take a decision on financing Ukraine at a crunch summit this week, with leaders under pressure to agree a plan to use frozen Russian assets.

"There is no more important act of European defence than supporting Ukraine's defence. The next days will be a crucial step for securing this, it is up to us to choose how we fund Ukraine's fight," von der Leyen told EU lawmakers.

Nepal launched on Tuesday a nationwide tiger census, a key step in conservation efforts to aid the recovery of the big cats that once faced near extinction in the Himalayan nation.

The survey will be conducted in four national parks in Nepal's forested southern plains, covering more than 8,000 square kilometres (3,000 square miles) of protected areas and adjoining forests, officials said.

The European Union looks set to scrap a landmark 2035 ban on new petrol and diesel cars on Tuesday, as part of a package of reforms aimed at supporting Europe's embattled auto industry.

Iraq's transport ministry said Tuesday that a flight operated by Greece's Aegean Airlines had been the first European aircraft in 35 years to land at Baghdad's international airport.

Lebanon's judiciary approved the release on bail of former economy minister Amin Salam on Tuesday after six months of detention over corruption linked to contracts deemed suspicious, a judicial official said.

Salam, who served in the cabinet of former prime minister Najib Mikati from 2021 to 2025, is the only ex-minister to be arrested since the start of Lebanon's economic crisis in 2019.

The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for an attack that killed Sunday four Syrian security personnel, the SITE Intelligence Group reported.

"The soldiers of the Caliphate attacked a patrol for the apostate Syrian government on the Maaret al-Numan road yesterday with machine guns," the group said Monday according to a statement shared by SITE, which monitors extremist groups.

Over the past weeks, the U.S. has increased pressure on Lebanon to work harder on disarming Hezbollah and canceled a planned trip to Washington last month by Army chief Gen. Rodolph Haykal.

U.S. officials were angered in November by a Lebanese army statement that blamed Israel for destabilizing Lebanon and blocking the Lebanese military deployment in south Lebanon.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky started a second day of talks with U.S. negotiators in Berlin on Monday, a senior Ukrainian official told AFP, as diplomatic efforts to end the war intensify.

The official told AFP the second day of talks had started, after Zelensky's delegation huddled for more than five hours on Sunday with Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff and the U.S. president's son-in-law Jared Kushner on ending the conflict unleashed by Russia's 2022 invasion.

The Kremlin on Monday called Kyiv's non-NATO status a "cornerstone" in talks to end the war, after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky admitted some of the alliance's members were against his country joining the bloc.

"This issue is one of the cornerstones and requires special discussion," spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists, including AFP, during a daily briefing.

A senior adviser to Iran's supreme leader said Sunday that the country would "resolutely support" Hezbollah, its ally in Lebanon, in the group's efforts to confront Tehran's regional foe Israel.

The remarks by Ali Akbar Velayati came as Lebanon faces pressure from the United States and Israel to disarm Hezbollah, which engaged in more than a year of hostilities with Israel following the outbreak of the Gaza war.