In a neighborhood of Iraq's capital, a gigantic poster of Vladimir Putin with the words, "We support Russia," was up for few hours before a security force arrived and hurriedly took it down. Then came the security directive: All public displays of Putin's pictures shall be banned.

Such wrangling shows the deep divisions over the Ukraine war in the Middle East, where Moscow has embedded itself as a key player in recent years, making powerful friends among state and non-state actors while America's influence waned.

Wrangling over the Ukraine war has showed deep divisions in Lebanon and in the Middle East, where Moscow has embedded itself as a key player in recent years, making powerful friends among state and non-state actors while America's influence waned.

Hizbullah has railed against the government's condemnation of Russia's attack on Ukraine, calling for neutrality, after an unusually blunt Foreign Ministry statement caused an uproar and upset the Russians, forcing the minister to clarify that Lebanon did not intend to take sides and would remain neutral.

Barcelona has displayed its offensive depth, resorting to goal-hungry substitutes to salvage a victory and keep its momentum in the Spanish league.

Ferran Torres and Memphis Depay came off the bench to score second-half goals as Barcelona rallied to beat Elche 2-1 to continue its upward move in the standings.

U.K. lawmakers are set to pass a bill on Monday aimed at toughening sanctions on Russia and rooting out ill-gotten money from the British economy.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the Economic Crime Bill will let British authorities "pursue (Russian President Vladimir) Putin's allies in the U.K. with the full backing of the law, beyond doubt or legal challenge."

China's foreign minister on Monday called Russia his country's "most important strategic partner" as Beijing continues to refuse to condemn the invasion of Ukraine despite growing pressure from the U.S. and European Union to use its influence to rein Moscow in.

Wang Yi said Chinese ties with Moscow constitute "one of the most crucial bilateral relationships in the world."

The U.N. human rights office says it has been able to confirm the deaths of 406 civilians in Ukraine since the beginning of the Russian invasion.

It said that another 801 injured civilians had been confirmed as of midnight Sunday. The rights office uses strict methodology and only reports casualties it has confirmed.

FlyDubai on Monday reported a $229 million profit last year as the state-owned budget carrier saw its business rebound from the coronavirus pandemic and as regulators allowed it to again fly the Boeing 737 Max.

FlyDubai nearly doubled its revenue in 2021 to over $1.4 billion, compared to just $773 million the year before in the thick of pandemic restrictions and after two crashes saw the 737 Max grounded. In 2020, the airline saw a loss of $194 million.

Leading Russian banks are looking into issuing cards that operate on a Chinese payment system after Visa and Mastercard said they would cut their services in Russia over the invasion of Ukraine.

Sberbank and Tinkoff Bank said that they are considering the possibility of payment cards powered by China's UnionPay system. Sberbank, Russia's largest bank, said it would announce the launch date later.

Netflix and TikTok have suspended most of their services in Russia as the government cracks down on what people and media outlets can say about Russia's war in Ukraine.

Pulling the plug on online entertainment — and information — is likely to further isolate the country and its people after a growing number of multinational businesses have cut off Russia from vital financial services, technology and a variety of consumer products in response to Western economic sanctions and global outrage over the invasion of Ukraine.

Ukraine pleaded with the United Nations' top court Monday to order Russia to halt its devastating invasion, saying Moscow is already committing widespread war crimes and "resorting to tactics reminiscent of medieval siege warfare" in its 12-day-old military onslaught.

Russia snubbed the International Court of Justice hearings and its seats in the Great Hall of Justice remained empty.