WORLD

Pope Francis and Argentina's President Javier Milei held their first official talks on Monday, meeting at the Vatican as they seek to mend fences amid the explosive economic situation in their native country.

Independent candidates loyal to jailed former prime minister Imran Khan took most of the seats in Thursday's polls, scuppering the chances of the army-backed Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) from securing a ruling majority.

After two years of war in Ukraine, there is no prospect of negotiations to find a breakthrough as Russian President Vladimir Putin, emboldened by the erosion of Western support for Kyiv, girds for a long conflict. 2024 will be another year of war as Ukraine is determined to keep on fighting to recapture territory while Putin will only be satisfied with Kyiv's full surrender, analysts and diplomats say.

On Day 129 of the raging war in Gaza, mediators are pushing Hamas to reach a ceasefire deal as the Israeli army prepares to raid Rafah. Iranian-backed groups continue to attack Israel and military assets of Israel's staunch western ally, the United States.

Pope Francis and Argentina's President Javier Milei are due to hold their first official talks on Monday, as the two leaders seek to mend fences amid the explosive economic situation in their native country.

Ahead of the second anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the Ukrainian army is increasingly on the defensive against more numerous and better armed Russian forces, but hoping that a recent military leadership change can make a difference.

Israel announced on Monday the rescue of two hostages in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, where the Hamas-run health ministry said 52 Palestinians including children were killed in heavy overnight air strikes.

The resumed talks are aimed at transitioning U.S. forces from their long-standing role in assisting Iraq in combating IS and charting the way to a bilateral partnership.

Marathon world record-holder and Paris Olympic favourite Kelvin Kiptum died in a car crash in western Kenya, police said Monday.

When Indonesian housewife Suharti was returning home from a shopping trip, a gathering of political party workers handed her 100,000 rupiah ($6.3) and a T-shirt -- and asked her to vote for their candidate next week.

Glittering with sequins and sweat, thousands of performers shimmying to sultry samba beats danced their way down an avenue in Rio de Janeiro Sunday as the Brazilian beach city's famed carnival parades got under way.

A massive oil spill from an overturned vessel off the coast of Trinidad and Tobago is "not under control," Prime Minister Keith Rowley said Sunday.

US President Joe Biden slammed as "appalling and dangerous" comments by Donald Trump downplaying his commitment to NATO, warning Sunday that the former president intends to give Russian leader Vladimir Putin "a greenlight for more war and violence."

Ukraine said it destroyed most of the 45 attack drones launched by Russia overnight, with little damage reported on Sunday morning.

Donald Trump prompted stark warnings on Sunday that his remarks against NATO threatened the military alliance, after a campaign speech renewed doubts over the US commitment to the mutual defense treaty if the former president wins in November.

Buckingham Palace announced Monday that Charles had been diagnosed with cancer and will be undergoing treatment.

Contemporary artist Guenter Brus, the last surviving key member of Vienna's famed "actionists", has died at the age of 85, the museum dedicated to the radical and provocative art movement said Sunday.

The leader of an ultra-right Pakistan party infamous for sometimes bloody anti-blasphemy agitation has vowed a comeback after its vote share evaporated in elections last week.

The threat of an Israeli incursion into Gaza's southernmost town of Rafah persisted Sunday, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promising "safe passage" to civilians displaced there.

Indonesia will hold one of the world's biggest one-day elections next week -- a mind-boggling feat that involves shifting votes by boat, plane and horseback across the vast archipelago of more than 278 million people.

Indonesia is voting for a new president and members of parliament on Wednesday.

Indonesians vote in a presidential election Wednesday with Defence Minister Prabowo Subianto the clear favourite after a campaign mixing nationalist rhetoric and pledges to continue the era of popular outgoing leader Joko Widodo.

They are only teenagers, but a pair of New Jersey high school students -- one Jewish and one Muslim -- are tackling an issue much bigger than themselves, bridging divides in their suburb shaken by the Israel-Hamas war.

White House hopeful Donald Trump on Saturday celebrated the collapse of legislation targeting the migrant crisis on the US-Mexico border, while vowing that, if reelected, he would carry out a massive "deportation operation" on his first day in office.

Israel's foreign minister called Saturday for the head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees to quit, following Israeli claims that a Hamas tunnel had been discovered under its evacuated Gaza City headquarters.

Hungarian President Katalin Novak, a close ally of Prime Minister Viktor Orban, announced her resignation Saturday following outrage over a pardon granted to a man implicated in a child sexual abuse case.

Myanmar's junta is enforcing a law allowing the military to summon all men aged 18-35 and women aged 18-27 to serve for at least two years, it said on Saturday, as it struggles to crush opposition to its 2021 coup.

NATO's secretary general called on Europe to increase its arms production to support Ukraine and prevent "potentially decades of confrontation" with Moscow, in an interview published by German media Saturday.

Senegal's political crisis deepened as a second person died Saturday in increasingly violent protests against President Macky Sall's decision to postpone upcoming presidential elections.