Pope Leo XIV on Wednesday offered to mediate between leaders of countries at war, saying that he himself "will make every effort so that this peace may prevail".

"The Holy See is always ready to help bring enemies together, face to face, to talk to one another, so that peoples everywhere may once more find hope and recover the dignity they deserve, the dignity of peace. The peoples of our world desire peace, and to their leaders I appeal with all my heart: Let us meet, let us talk, let us negotiate!" he told a meeting of Eastern Catholic Churches.

Rights groups and NGOs took the UK government to court on Tuesday accusing it of breaching international law by supplying fighter jet parts to Israel amid the war in Gaza.

Supported by Amnesty, Human Rights Watch, Oxfam and others, the Palestinian rights association Al-Haq is seeking to stop the government's export of UK-made components for Lockheed Martin F-35 fighter jets.

The European Union's top diplomat Kaja Kallas said Tuesday she didn't think Russian President Vladimir Putin would turn up for talks in Turkey this week with Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky urged the United States on Tuesday to levy its most hard-hitting package of sanctions on Moscow if Russian President Vladimir Putin rejects a call to meet in Turkey this week.

Iran is open to accepting temporary limits on its uranium enrichment, its deputy foreign minister said Tuesday, while adding that talks with the United States have yet to address such specifics.

Russia has been "completely ignoring" a 30-day unconditional ceasefire proposed by Kyiv and its allies and is attacking "all along" the front line, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga said Monday.

Turkey's Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan on Monday urged Russia and Ukraine to come together "as soon as possible" to start a ceasefire agreement ahead of planned talks in Istanbul this week.

"We invite the parties to come together as soon as possible and start the ceasefire," he told a joint press conference in Ankara with his Syrian and Jordanian counterparts

The Kremlin on Monday said "ultimatums" to agree to a ceasefire in Ukraine were "unacceptable" after EU leaders said Moscow had until midnight Monday to agree to a joint proposal with Kyiv for a 30-day halt to the fighting.

The Kremlin said Monday it was focused on "serious" ways to achieve long-term peace with Ukraine, but did not comment on Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky's invitation for a personal meeting with Vladimir Putin.

The Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) on Monday announced its dissolution, saying it was ending its armed struggle against the Turkish state and drawing a line under its deadly four-decade insurgency.