The United Nations on Monday hit out at global "apathy" over widespread suffering as it launched its 2026 appeal for humanitarian assistance, which is limited in scope as aid operations confront major funding cuts.

"This is a time of brutality, impunity and indifference," U.N. humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher told reporters as he unveiled a "prioritized" plan to raise at least $23 billion to help 87 million people in the world's most dangerous places such as Gaza and Ukraine.

As city after city fell to a lightning rebel offensive in Syria last December, Iranian forces and diplomats supporting Bashar al-Assad saw the writing on the wall, abandoning the longtime ruler days before his ousting, sources told AFP.

During Syria's civil war, which erupted in 2011 following the government's brutal repression of pro-democracy protests, Iran was one of Damascus' biggest backers, sending Assad military advisers and forces from its Revolutionary Guards.

A United Nations Security Council delegation has urged all parties to uphold a year-old ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, expressing support for a state weapons monopoly at the end of a Lebanon visit.

Qatar and Egypt, guarantors of the Gaza ceasefire, called on Saturday for the withdrawal of Israeli troops and the deployment of an international stabilization force as the necessary next steps in fully implementing the fragile agreement.

A recent paramilitary drone attack on the army-held town of Kalogi in Sudan's South Kordofan state hit a kindergarten and a hospital, killing dozens of civilians including children, a local official told AFP on Sunday.

Russia has welcomed changes in the U.S. National Security Strategy, saying the adjustments that marked a radical departure from Washington's previous policy were "largely consistent" with Moscow's vision.

U.S. President Donald Trump became the first ever recipient of FIFA's new peace prize at the 2026 World Cup draw Friday -- a compensation gift for a leader who still dreams of winning the Nobel.

Gianni Infantino, the head of world football's governing body and a close ally of Trump, presented the 79-year-old with the award during the ceremony at the Kennedy Center in Washington.

Ukrainian and U.S. officials will hold a third straight day of talks in Miami on Saturday, with Washington saying the two sides agreed that "real progress" would depend on Russia's willingness to end the war.

The nearly two-month-old ceasefire in the Gaza Strip will not be complete until Israeli troops withdraw from the Palestinian territory under a peace plan backed by Washington and the U.N., mediator Qatar's prime minister said Saturday.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has picked his military secretary, a general with no background in intelligence, as the next head of the country's foreign intelligence agency Mossad.

In a statement Thursday, Netanyahu's office announced the decision to appoint Major General Roman Gofman as head of the spy agency, saying he would replace current Mossad chief David Barnea, whose five-year term ends in June 2026.