The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced Monday that it is proposing threatened status for the Pearl River map turtle, seeking to grant added federal protections to an at-risk species found only in Louisiana and Mississippi.

"These native freshwater map turtles are at risk and need our help," regional director Leopoldo Miranda-Castro said in a news release.

The Turkish currency weakened by nearly 10% against the U.S. dollar Tuesday, a day after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan insisted there would be no turning back from his unconventional policy of cutting interest rates despite high inflation.

The lira plunged to a record low of 12.51 against the dollar — down 9.9% from Monday's close. The currency was trading at 14.08 against the euro. The lira has lost some 40% of its value since the start of the year.

A Democratic plan to impose a fee on methane emissions from oil and gas wells has cleared a key hurdle, but it faces strong opposition from the oil and gas industry and criticism by centrist Sen. Joe Manchin.

The proposed fee on methane — a powerful pollutant that contributes to global warming — was included in a huge social and environmental policy bill passed by House Democrats last Friday.

Israel on Tuesday began administering the coronavirus vaccine to children age 5 to 11.

The country recently emerged from a fourth COVID wave, and daily infections have been relatively low for the last few weeks. But Health Ministry statistics show that a large share of the new infections have been in children and teenagers.

Romelu Lukaku is set to return from a month out with an ankle injury in Chelsea's Champions League match against Juventus on Tuesday.

Lukaku has been in full training since Sunday and Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel said the Belgium striker could be selected in the squad if he is deemed fit after meeting with medical staff.

The German military is poised to make coronavirus vaccines mandatory for troops as COVID-19 infections continue to rise across the country.

The Defense Ministry on Tuesday confirmed a report in the German military blog Augen Geradeaus that officials and soldiers' representatives agreed late Monday to add the coronavirus shot to the list of vaccines soldiers must get. The measure still needs to be formally added to military regulations, the ministry said in a statement.

Barcelona may have some important players returning from injury for the team's decisive Champions League game against Benfica, including Ousmane Dembélé, coach Xavi Hernández said Monday.

Dembélé, Sergi Roberto and Sergiño Dest have been nursing injuries but could be available for the match in which Barcelona can clinch its spot in the knockout round and avoid its first group-stage elimination in the European competition in nearly two decades.

Chelsea won the Champions League and England reached the European Championship final, but no Englishmen are on the nomination lists for FIFA's annual awards published on Monday.

Jorginho, a double European champion with Chelsea and Italy, was joined by club teammate N'Golo Kanté among 11 candidates to be voted FIFA's best player in the 2020-21 season.

Italy's antitrust watchdog has fined Apple and Amazon more than 200 million euros ($225 million) for cooperating to restrict competition in the sale of Apple and Beats branded products in violation of European Union rules.

An investigation found that provisions in a 2018 agreement between the U.S. tech giants limited access to Italy's Amazon marketplace to selected resellers, the Italian Competition Authority said Tuesday.

Trapped in conflicts, the children of West and Central Africa are the most recruited by armed groups in the world and also have the highest number of victims of sexual violence, says a report released Tuesday by the United Nations Children's Fund.

For five years the region has seen increased conflicts in which more than 21,000 children have been recruited by government forces and armed groups, says the report. In addition, more than 2,200 children in the region have been victims of sexual violence since 2016, says the report.