POLITICS & POLICY

European foreign ministers will hold nuclear talks with their Iranian counterpart on Friday, as President Donald Trump mulls the prospect of US involvement in the Iran-Israel war.

President Donald Trump's proposed "Golden Dome" defence system is a plan that will face mammoth technical and financial hurdles, and could increase global insecurity, experts say.

Governments around the world are evacuating thousands of their nationals caught up in the rapidly spiralling Israel-Iran conflict, organising buses and planes and in some cases assisting people crossing borders on foot.

Life in 1990s former Yugoslavia was a nightmare of war, economic collapse and an all-powerful mafia.

Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra apologised Thursday for a leaked phone call with former Cambodian leader Hun Sen that has provoked widespread anger and put her government on the brink of collapse.

For days, Syrians have watched as Iranian missiles and Israeli interceptors light up the skies over their territory, but the new government in Damascus has so far remained officially silent on the unprecedented conflict.

The Iran-Israel war has helped strengthen Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu domestically and overseas, just as his grip on power looked vulnerable.

Israel said it struck a nuclear site near Tehran on Wednesday, while Iran said it fired hypersonic missiles as the arch foes traded fire for a sixth day.

Bustling Taipei-style shopping streets, majestic temples to the island's deities and thriving factories dot the eastern Chinese city of Kunshan, for years a hub for Taiwanese businesses.

Aynullah Rahimi's family has for decades tended the old cemetery in Kabul reserved for non-Afghans, but since the country's latest war ended and foreigners left in droves, he says few now enter the oasis of quiet in the capital.

Mizan Hossain fell 10 metres (33-foot) from the top of a ship he was cutting up on Chittagong beach in Bangladesh -- where the majority of the world's maritime giants meet their end -- when the vibrations shook him from the upper deck.

In Iraqi airspace, Iranian missiles and drones have crossed paths with Israeli warplanes, forcing Baghdad to step up efforts to avoid being drawn into the region's latest conflict.

Chinese President Xi Jinping will meet Central Asian leaders at a summit in Kazakhstan on Tuesday, his second trip to the region in under a year as Beijing competes with Russia for influence there.

In the Venezuelan mining community of El Dorado, the majority of residents carry around gold instead of cards or cash to pay for groceries.

Irish rappers Kneecap are "unfazed" by their legal problems and controversies kicked up by their anti-Israel pro-Palestinian statements, friend and film director Rich Peppiatt told AFP. Peppiatt helped create the Kneecap phenomenon with his 2024 semi-fictionalised film about the hip-hop group from Belfast, who are now playing major festivals around the world.

Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has weathered a series of challenges but Israel's unprecedented strikes mark his most serious crisis yet, threatening both the clerical system he leads and his own physical survival.

The "headwinds" of prizemoney and rival racing festivals are even more concerning than they were last year but nevertheless the quality of foreign runners at Royal Ascot is "pretty positive", director of racing Nick Smith told AFP. The five-day meeting -- described by Hong Kong-based Australian trainer David Hayes as "Melbourne Cup week on steroids" -- which starts on Tuesday is commemorating the 200th anniversary of the Royal Procession.

Israel and Iran traded heavy fire for a third straight day on Sunday, with mounting casualties and expanding targets marking a sharp escalation in hostilities between the longtime foes.

India, whose leader has been invited to the G7 starting on Sunday, is eager to represent the Global South on the world stage, acting as a "bridge" between different countries, Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said.

Iranian missile fire on Israel killed at least 10 people overnight, authorities said Sunday, as the foes exchanged new waves of attacks in their most intense confrontation in history.

A quiet, walled patch of grass in the middle of an Irish housing estate is set to reveal the latest disturbing chapter in Ireland's "mother and baby" home scandal.

Russian President Vladimir Putin told his US counterpart Donald Trump Saturday that Moscow was ready to hold a fresh round of peace talks with Kyiv after June 22, once the sides complete exchanging prisoners and soldiers' bodies.

Israel vowed to press on with "full force" on Friday after its unprecedented onslaught on Iran that killed several of the country's top military brass, with media in the Islamic republic reporting strikes and projectiles well into the evening.

For President Donald Trump, few goals on the world stage have been more explicit -- he will not drag the United States into another "forever war."

French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday urged Europe and Asia to build a new alliance to hold off big powers seeking to build "spheres of coercion", in a swipe at China and Russia.

The UN warned Friday that the entire population of Gaza was at risk of famine, as an Israeli far-right minister urged the use of "full force" against Hamas.

Favourites Paris Saint-Germain have their sights fixed on finally winning the Champions League trophy but a rugged and battle-hardened Inter Milan side stand in their way in Saturday's final in Munich.

On the campaign trail last year, then-candidate Donald Trump proposed handing US residency cards automatically to international students when they earn diplomas, bemoaning that they were leaving to form successful companies in China and India.

Ukraine said Thursday it was ready to hold more talks with Russia in Istanbul next week but again demanded that Moscow supply a document setting out its conditions for peace.