Iran faces a new round of protests challenging the country's theocracy, but it seems like the only thing people there want to talk about is half a world away: Venezuela.

Since the U.S. military seized Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, a longtime ally of Tehran, over the weekend, Iranian state media headlines and officials have condemned the operation. In the streets and even in some official conversations, however, there's a growing question over whether a similar mission could target the Islamic Republic's top officials including the supreme leader, 86-year-old Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

By Kamran Talattof, University of Arizona

A familiar slogan has echoed through the streets of various Iranian cities in recent days: "Neither Gaza nor Lebanon, I sacrifice my life for Iran."

The ceasefire monitoring committee, which includes representatives from the United States, France, Lebanon, Israel and the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), met Wednesday in Naqoura in south Lebanon.

The meeting was only military and was not attended by civilian representatives. Last month, Lebanon and Israel appointed the first civilians to lead their delegations to the ceasefire monitoring committee, after a request from the United States.

Israel's air force struck areas in southern and eastern Lebanon on Monday and early Tuesday, including in the country's third-largest city.

A strike around 1 a.m. Tuesday leveled a three-story commercial building in the southern coastal city of Sidon, a few days before Lebanon's army commander is scheduled to brief the government on its mission of disarming Hezbollah in areas along the border with Israel.

Leonardo DiCaprio emphasized the importance of creating cinema over content at the Palm Springs Film Festival Friday night.

"Movies are still meant to be experienced, together, in a theatre. Right now, that belief matters more than ever. Original films are harder to make and harder to protect. But movies still matter, not content, but cinema. Stories made by people meant to be shared in a dark room in a communal experience," he said.

Each January, an odd and beautiful thing happens in the frigid northeastern Chinese city of Harbin.

Some would argue that the place, the capital of Heilongjiang province, has enough ice already. But sculptors converge on the town not far from China's border with Russia to bring out more of it, and to compete for the best ice sculpture of the year.

Kenyans are mourning the death of a beloved "super tusker" elephant whose long life in the wild came to symbolize the country's increasingly successful efforts to protect the mammals from ivory poachers.

The bull elephant who died on Saturday was named Craig. He lived in Amboseli National Park, a protected area in southern Kenya that is a favorite of safari tourists, the Kenya Wildlife Service said in a statement.

"DANGER: Lead Work Area" reads a sign on a front door of an Altadena home. "May damage fertility or the unborn child. Causes damage to the central nervous system."

Block after block there are reminders that contaminants still linger.

Syrian and Israeli officials are set to resume U.S.-mediated talks in Paris in hopes of reaching a security agreement to defuse tensions between the two countries, a Syrian official said Monday.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly, told The Associated Press that the delegation on the Syrian side will be headed by Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani and the head of the General Intelligence Directorate, Hussein Salameh.

The Milan Cortina Winter Olympics will debut a new sport next month: Ski mountaineering, which combines uphill sprinting (on boots and on skis) and downhill skiing. Although the sport on the global stage is relatively new, it does have roots dating to the late 19th century. Backcountry winter sports have grown in popularity and there is anecdotal evidence that they saw a surge in participation during the pandemic.

Something to know about skimo: It's fast, with sprint races lasting about 3 minutes.