Two members of the Iranian women's soccer team who claimed asylum in Australia have confirmed their pivotal refusal to sing the national anthem during the Women's Asian Cup in March was a protest against Tehran.

The first media interview with Atefeh Ramezanisadeh, 34, and Fatemeh Pasandideh, 22, since they abandoned their team to become refugees was broadcast Sunday on Australia's "60 Minutes" current affairs program.

The Champions League starts this week with five Premier League clubs in the 36-team lineup, chasing a first title for England in four seasons after yet another transfer window of heavy spending amid an affordability crisis for most of European soccer.

Two-time defending title holder Paris Saint-Germain and record 15-time European champion Real Madrid each has lifted the trophy as many times this decade, twice, as Premier League clubs have combined.

FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem has defended the wait for clarity over how this year's Formula 1 season will end amid uncertainty over the Middle East security situation but tells The Associated Press that drivers and team staff will not be put "at risk."

The F1 season is still scheduled to end Qatar Grand Prix on Nov. 29 and the season finale in Abu Dhabi on Dec. 6, but F1 has been examining potential alternative venues. A replacement finale at the Imola circuit in Italy is widely considered the likeliest option.

In the Iranian port city of Bandar Abbas on the Strait of Hormuz, a waterfront once busy with boats, trucks and workers has fallen quiet. It's a front line of the economic pain that the United States now hopes to intensify after six months of war.

The Associated Press visited the city shaken by new U.S. airstrikes targeting coastal areas in the past week, and found anger along with growing anxiety about simply getting by as a U.S. blockade of Iranian ports continues.

Japan has protested against Chinese controls that will limit its exports of a key chemical used to make computer chips, saying Tuesday that Tokyo is studying the potential impact on Japanese companies.

China imposed the curb on imports of dichlorosilane from Japan, saying its exports of the material, also known as DCS, have violated anti-dumping regulations and harmed China's domestic industry.

World shares and U.S. futures skidded Tuesday as flaring conflict in the Middle East pushed oil prices higher.

A wave of Houthi attacks on oil facilities and utilities in Saudi Arabia's southern region has escalated renewed fighting between an important U.S. ally and Iranian-backed rebels in Yemen.

Nicaragua told the United Nations' top court on Tuesday that Germany has breached the Genocide Convention by selling Israel weapons that were used in the country's war in Gaza.

Nicaragua argued that Germany is violating international law by "facilitating" acts of genocide in Gaza by providing arms and other military support to Israel, in proceedings at the International Court of Justice. Berlin denies the allegation.

The stunning victory of the Alternative for Germany in a state election has renewed fears of an ascendant far right in Europe, as voters repeatedly vent discontent and mainstream leaders grapple with myriad crises, from affordability to Russian aggression and scraps with China and the United States over trade.

But while anti-immigrant, pro-Russian parties have made inroads across the continent in recent years, there have also been notable reversals, and some have softened their views to build coalitions with moderates.

Hungary ordered 10 members of Russia's diplomatic mission to leave the country over activities deemed unacceptable for diplomats, the government said Tuesday, and Russia said that it planned to respond.

The Russian ambassador was informed that "according to the assessment of the Hungarian authorities, 10 members of the Russian mission had engaged in activities in Hungary that are unacceptable for diplomats under the Vienna Convention," Foreign Minister Anita Orbán said.

Thieves stole four valuable Renoir paintings Tuesday from a small museum on the French Riviera, but abandoned two of them as they fled, the local mayor said. Police are searching for the perpetrators.

A group of "well-equipped" and "well-informed" thieves entered the Renoir Museum in Cagnes-sur-Mer via the garden, the town's mayor, Bryan Masson, told reporters at the scene.