Iran insisted on Monday that its missile program was defensive in nature and designed to dissuade attack, while adding the existence of its arsenal was not up for debate.

Israel had presented Iran's ballistic missiles, along with its nuclear programme, as the two main threats it sought to neutralise during the 12-day war the foes fought in June.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese apologized on Monday to the country's Jewish community over a mass shooting that targeted a Hanukkah event, killing 15 people.

"As Prime Minister, I feel the weight of responsibility for an atrocity that happened whilst I'm Prime Minister, and I'm sorry for what the Jewish community and our nation as a whole has experienced," he said.

A White House envoy said he held "productive and constructive" talks in Florida with Ukrainian and European representatives to end the nearly four-year war between Russia and Ukraine.

Posting on social media on Sunday, Steve Witkoff said the talks aimed at aligning on a shared strategic approach between Ukraine, the United States and Europe.

A Russian general was killed Monday morning after an explosive device detonated underneath his car in southern Moscow, investigators said.

Lt. Gen. Fanil Sarvarov, head of the Operational Training Directorate of the Russian Armed Forces' General Staff, died from his injuries, Svetlana Petrenko, official spokesperson for Russia's Investigative Committee, said.

North Korea said on Sunday that Japan's nuclear ambitions "must be prevented at any cost", after a Tokyo official reportedly suggested the country should possess atomic weapons.

The Kremlin on Sunday denied that three-way talks between Ukraine, Russia and the United States were on the cards, as diplomats gathered in Miami for talks on ending the conflict.

Russian envoy Kirill Dmitriev said on Saturday he was heading to Miami, where another round of talks to settle the Ukraine war is set to take place.

Turkey said a drone that crashed on Friday in a rural area of northwestern Turkey following a series of incidents linked to the Russia-Ukraine conflict was of Russian origin.

U.S. President Donald Trump asserted Thursday he does not need congressional approval to launch strikes on land against Venezuela despite criticism that he is already exceeding his constitutional authority with attacks at sea.

Ukraine said Friday it had hit a Russian "shadow fleet" tanker with aerial drones in neutral waters of the Mediterranean Sea, its first strike there in the nearly four-year war.