Syria's defense minister met on Sunday with Jordan's army chief in Amman, the Jordanian capital, after Syrian troops captured several rebel-held areas near Jordan's border, state media reported.

The Hala Akhbar news site, which is linked to Jordan's military, reported that the meeting between Jordanian Gen. Yousef Huneiti and Syrian Gen. Ali Ayoub was "to increase coordination in the field of border security to serve the interests of the two brotherly countries."

Just one month ago, President Joe Biden and his health advisers announced big plans to soon deliver a booster shot of the coronavirus vaccine to all Americans. But after campaigning for the White House on a pledge to "follow the science," Biden found himself uncharacteristically ahead of it with that lofty pronouncement.

Some of the nation's top medical advisers on Friday delivered a stinging rebuke of the idea, in essence telling the White House: not so fast.

Afghanistan's new Taliban rulers set up a ministry for the "propagation of virtue and the prevention of vice" in the building that once housed the Women's Affairs Ministry, escorting out World Bank staffers on Saturday as part of the forced move.

It was the latest troubling sign that the Taliban are restricting women's rights as they settle into government, just a month since they overran the capital of Kabul. During their previous rule of Afghanistan in the 1990s, the Taliban had denied girls and women the right to education and barred them from public life.

Israeli forces on Sunday arrested the last two of six Palestinian prisoners who escaped a maximum-security Israeli prison two weeks ago, closing an intense, embarrassing episode that exposed deep security flaws in Israel and turned the fugitives into Palestinian heroes.

The Israeli military said the two men surrendered in Jenin, their hometown in the occupied West Bank, after they were surrounded at a hideout that had been located with the help of "accurate intelligence." It said the men, along with two others who allegedly assisted them, were taken for questioning.

The World Health Organization's director general has expressed deep concern about the impact of Lebanon's economic meltdown and multiple crises on the wellbeing of the nation, and said the brain drain among the country's health workers is particularly worrisome.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus spoke following meetings with senior Lebanese officials and visits to health facilities and practitioners over the past two days. He said the country of 6 million -- including over 1 million Syrian refugees -- needs emergency and development support to tackle shortages of medicines, fuel, and structural problems such as migration of medical professionals.

An attack with explosive devices laid along a natural gas pipeline southeast of Syria's capital knocked out power in parts of the country before it was quickly restored, the electricity minister said Saturday.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, which was the latest incidence of sabotage targeting Syria's oil and gas infrastructure. During the 10-year conflict, Syria's oil and gas infrastructure was subject to repeated attacks and many oil fields now lay outside of government-controlled areas.

An imposing bronze statue was unveiled in Hungary's capital on Thursday which its creators say is the first in the world to pay homage to the anonymous creator of the Bitcoin digital currency.

Erected in a business park near the Danube River in Budapest, the bust sits atop a stone plinth engraved with the name of Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonym of the mysterious developer of Bitcoin whose true identity is unknown.

Prince William announced 15 inaugural finalists Friday for the Earthshot Prize, his ambitious global environmental award that aims to find new ideas and technologies to tackle climate change, air pollution and the Earth's most pressing challenges.

The finalists include a 14-year-old student who proposes using solar energy to replace charcoal to power millions of roadside ironing carts in India; a land-based coral farm in the Bahamas to restore dying coral reefs; a community project in Congo devoted to protecting gorillas; and a Kenyan enterprise that turns organic waste into fertilizer and insect protein for farmers.

When a wildfire crested the mountains near North America's largest alpine lake, embers and ash that zipped across a smoky sky pierced Lake Tahoe's clear blue waters.

The evacuation order for thousands to flee their homes has been lifted, but those who returned have found black stripes of ash building up on the shoreline — a reminder that success fighting the Caldor Fire won't insulate the resort region on the California-Nevada line from effects that outlast wildfire season.

Jane Powell, the bright-eyed, operatic-voiced star of Hollywood's golden age musicals who sang with Howard Keel in "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers" and danced with Fred Astaire in "Royal Wedding," has died. She was 92.

Powell died Thursday at her Wilton, Connecticut, home, longtime friend Susan Granger said. Granger said Powell died of natural causes.