Turkey summoned ambassadors of nine Western countries including the United States and Sweden on Thursday to criticise their decisions to temporarily shut diplomatic missions and issue security alerts following Koran-burning incidents in Europe.

European Union leaders have arrived in Kyiv for talks with Ukraine’s government, bringing the promise of new sanctions against Russia but disappointing Ukraine’s hopes for swift membership to the EU.

The US has been monitoring a suspected Chinese surveillance balloon that has been spotted in the skies over the northern US this week.

Israel and Sudan will sign a “historic peace agreement” in Washington in a few months’ time, Israel’s foreign minister announced following talks in Khartoum.

Israel and Sudan have finalized the text of a peace agreement to be signed “later this year,” Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen announced on Thursday.

The US has secured access to four additional military bases in the Philippines – a key bit of real estate which would offer a front seat to monitor the Chinese in the South China Sea and around Taiwan.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has compared the Ukraine invasion to the fight against Nazi Germany in a speech to mark the 80th anniversary of the Soviet victory in the battle of Stalingrad, as he again repeated unfounded claims of Nazism.

King Charles III will not succeed Queen Elizabeth II on Australia’s 5-dollar bill, which will instead be redesigned to honour Indigenous Australians and their history.

Police in Norway have banned a planned protest including the burning of a copy of the Islamic holy book, the Quran, hours after the Turkish foreign ministry summoned the Norwegian ambassador to complain.

Samoa’s temporary ban on participating in seasonal worker schemes has impacted many workers hoping to go overseas.

If you look at a map of East Asia, you can see an arc of US alliances stretching from South Korea and Japan in the north to Australia in the south.

A group of Hispanic lawmakers in Connecticut has proposed that the state follow Arkansas’ lead and ban the term “Latinx” from official government documents, calling it offensive to Spanish speakers.