Iran's hard-line former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad registered Sunday as a possible candidate for the presidential election, seeking to regain the country's top political position after a helicopter crash killed the nation's president.
The populist former leader's registration puts pressure on Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. In office, Ahmadinejad openly challenged the 85-year-old cleric, and his attempt to run in 2021 was barred by authorities.

Israel's prime minister faced growing pressure Saturday after U.S. President Joe Biden announced a proposed agreement to end the fighting in Gaza, with many Israelis urging Benjamin Netanyahu to embrace the deal but far-right allies threatening to collapse his government if he does.
Netanyahu called a permanent cease-fire in Gaza a "nonstarter" until long-standing conditions for ending the war are met, appearing to undermine the proposal that Biden described as an Israeli one.

Congressional leaders have invited Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to deliver an address a the Capitol, a show of wartime support for the longtime ally despite mounting political divisions over Israel's military assault on Gaza.
The invitation from House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican, and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat, along with Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell and House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries, has been in the works for some time. No date for the speech was set.

Rays of sunlight slice through pools of crystal water as clusters of fish cast shadows on the limestone below. Arching over the emerald basin are walls of stalactites dripping down the cavern ceiling, which opens to a dense jungle.
These glowing sinkhole lakes — known as cenotes — are a part of one of Mexico's natural wonders: A fragile system of an estimated 10,000 subterranean caverns, rivers and lakes that wind almost surreptitiously beneath Mexico's southern Yucatan peninsula.

Luka Doncic was in his element, hitting shots from everywhere on the court, hushing the crowd and flashing those sly smiles as the Dallas Mavericks delivered a knockout performance.
Now one of the global sport's young superstars gets his first trip to the NBA Finals.

Inflation ticked up to an annual 2.6% in Europe in May, according to official figures on Friday. That's more than expected as a painful spike in consumer prices takes its time to fade away.
It's unlikely to stop the European Central Bank from making a first interest rate cut next week — and moving ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve in lowering borrowing costs for businesses and consumers.

Donald Trump became the first former American president to be convicted of felony crimes Thursday as a New York jury found him guilty of all 34 charges in a scheme to illegally influence the 2016 election through a hush money payment to a porn actor who said the two had sex.
Trump sat stone-faced while the verdict was read as cheering from the street below could be heard in the hallway on the courthouse's 15th floor where the decision was revealed after more than nine hours of deliberations.

Israeli War Cabinet member Benny Gantz’s centrist party has called for a vote to dissolve the parliament in an attempt to force early elections.
Thursday's announcement deepens a divide in Israel’s leadership more than seven months into a war. But it appears unlikely to threaten the current parliament. Even to put the request on the agenda requires majority consent from parliament, which would need at least five members of the governing coalition to defect and vote in favor.

Slovenia’s government has endorsed a motion to recognize a Palestinian state and asked the parliament to do the same.
The decision by Slovenia’s government comes just two days after Spain, Norway and Ireland recognized a Palestinian state, a move that was condemned by Israel.

A former speaker of Iran's parliament registered Friday as a possible candidate in the Islamic Republic's June 28 presidential election to replace the late Ebrahim Raisi, who was killed in a helicopter crash earlier this month with seven others.
Ali Larijani is the first high-profile candidate to register for the contest. He and other serious contenders against Raisi had been barred from running in the 2021 election.
