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Senior Iranian and American officials began negotiations in Pakistan on Saturday, Iranian media reported, in a bid to bring to an end the Middle East war which plunged the region into violence and sent shockwaves through the world economy.
A temporary truce between Russia and Ukraine entered into force on Saturday, with Kyiv warning it would respond "immediately" if Russia violated it.
Russia and Ukraine exchanged prisoners Saturday but also fired waves of drones at each other overnight, just hours before a temporary ceasefire was set to take effect for Orthodox Easter, according to officials.
Britain indicated Saturday it would shelve plans to hand back the Chagos Islands -- which hosts a strategic US-UK military base -- after US President Donald Trump strongly criticised the deal.
Senior Iranian and American delegations met Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in Islamabad on Saturday to begin negotiations towards a deal to end the Middle East war unleashed six weeks earlier by US-Israeli strikes on Tehran.
An Iranian government delegation met Pakistan's prime minister on Saturday to discuss the terms of planned "make or break" negotiations to end the Middle East war with a US party led by Vice President JD Vance.
Britain is shelving its plan to hand back the Chagos Islands -- which hosts the strategic Diego Garcia US-UK military base -- according to a government spokesperson Saturday, following strong opposition from US President Donald Trump.
Russia and Ukraine fired waves of drones at each other between late Friday and early Saturday, just hours before a temporary ceasefire between the two was set to take effect for Orthodox Easter, according to officials.
US Vice President JD Vance arrived in Islamabad on Saturday for talks with Iran that the Pakistani premier hosting the warring sides called a "make or break" effort to permanently halt weeks of fighting in the Middle East.
A temporary ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine for Orthodox Easter is set to begin on Saturday afternoon, as US-led diplomatic efforts to end the war falter.
US President Donald Trump's administration on Friday revealed renderings for a colossal triumphal arch proposed for construction in Washington near some of the nation's most revered monuments.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney's Liberal Party is poised to secure a majority in parliament in by-elections Monday, but a year into his tenure, hints of vulnerability may be emerging.
US President Donald Trump made a late intervention in Hungary's bitter election campaign on Friday, as nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban battles for votes against a pro-European opponent leading him in polls.
Iran's delegation arrived in Pakistan on Friday for ceasefire negotiations with the United States as Tehran insisted on a truce in Lebanon and release of its blocked assets for the talks to go ahead.
Lebanon's presidency said Friday that a meeting would be held with Israel in Washington next week to discuss a ceasefire in the Israel-Hezbollah war and the start of negotiations between the neighbours.
Lebanon's State Security agency said an Israeli strike on the southern city of Nabatiyeh on Friday killed 13 of its personnel, as Lebanon prepared to start ceasefire talks with Israel.
Venezuela's opposition on Friday called for presidential elections, noting that the 90-day legal period for organizing a vote on replacing ousted leader Nicolas Maduro had elapsed.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer insisted on Friday that NATO was "in America's interests", at the end of a three-day visit to the Gulf to discuss bolstering the "fragile" Middle East truce.
Djibouti began counting votes Friday in a presidential election expected to hand a sixth term to 78-year-old Ismail Omar Guelleh, who faces just one little-known opponent in the small but highly strategic Horn of Africa nation.
Iran demanded a truce in Lebanon and the release of its blocked assets on Friday as US Vice President JD Vance warned Tehran not to "play" Washington, casting doubt on planned ceasefire talks in Pakistan.
President Donald Trump said Friday that Iran has "no cards" in upcoming talks with the United States -- apart from Tehran's effective stranglehold on the crucial Strait of Hormuz shipping channel.
An Israeli strike, one of multiple on the southern Lebanese city of Nabatiyeh on Friday, killed 13 State Security personnel, the agency said, as Lebanon prepared to start ceasefire talks with Israel.
Soaring fuel prices are driving up costs for Thais travelling home for the holidays, but the chance to spend the new year with loved ones is a price worth paying, they say.
For decades, the United States has cast itself as the guarantor of stability in the Middle East, allying militarily with Gulf Arab states as well as Israel and brushing aside global rival China's aspirations for a greater role.
Ukrainians on Friday were wary of Russia's pledge to pause fighting for an Orthodox Easter ceasefire -- first proposed by Kyiv -- this weekend.
Crowds of flag-waving Hungarians have been cheering on their candidates for an election on Sunday, as Prime Minister Viktor Orban and challenger Peter Magyar hold frantic last-minute rallies.
US Vice President JD Vance warned Iran on Friday against trying to "play" Washington, as he set off for talks in Islamabad aimed at transforming a fragile ceasefire into a lasting peace deal.
Stock markets were mixed and oil prices were steady Friday with investors cautiously optimistic about the US-Iran ceasefire holding, and as a US inflation report was not as bad as feared.
Pope Leo XIV and French President Emmanuel Macron held their first meeting Friday, a private audience at the Vatican where discussions ranged from the Iran war to basketball.
A cloud of uncertainty hung Friday over the scheduled start of talks in Pakistan between the United States and Iran, with no announcement yet on the arrival of negotiators and both sides accusing the other of failing to properly implement a fragile ceasefire.
Inside an underground shelter at a hospital in the Israeli city of Haifa, a television screen flickers with images of Iranian missiles as doctors and midwives deliver Sarah Bird's third child.
Pakistan is due to host talks between Iran and the United States in a bid to turn a fragile two-week ceasefire into a lasting end to a war that has roiled global energy markets.