Leaders from across the European Union and the Balkans gathered in Montenegro on Friday to discuss expanding the bloc to include countries in the region, seen as a key area in countering security and economic threats posed by Russia and China.

The EU-Western Balkans summit, being held in the Adriatic Sea coastal town of Tivat, brings together EU leaders including President Emmanuel Macron of France and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen as well as the heads of candidate countries in the Balkans.

Shakira and Burna Boy will perform in Mexico City for the first of three opening ceremonies at the World Cup.

The music stars will perform Dai Dai, the official song for the tournament, ahead of the opening game between co-host Mexico and South Africa on Thursday.

Legal disputes and acrimony have replaced the accolades and euphoria for Morocco's national soccer team ahead of this year's World Cup.

Morocco became embroiled in controversy after hosting the most recent edition of the Africa Cup of Nations — three years after the Atlas Lions made history by becoming the first African team to reach the World Cup semifinals.

Football fans will soon crisscross continents to see their beloved national teams compete on the sport's grandest stage, the World Cup. They'll pack bars and fan zones, singing chants and debating who is going to win it all.

This time, however, it's different for some superfans, who say organizers have made this summer's World Cup the least welcoming one they have experienced. Ticket prices, expensive cross-country travel and concerns about entering the U.S. have prompted some of them to stay home.

U.N. peacekeepers and Lebanese troops were seen Friday at an entrance of the village of Dibbine, near the town of Marjayoun, after Israeli forces withdrew following intense clashes with Hezbollah fighters.

The ceasefire agreement calls for Lebanon's armed forces to take control of security zones in Lebanon from which the militants would be banned.

President Vladimir Putin said Thursday that Russia will strengthen its air defenses to counter recent Ukrainian drone attacks, which have reached deep inside his country and cast a cloud over his showcase economic forum in his hometown of St. Petersburg.

Speaking in response to a question from The Associated Press during a meeting with heads of international news agencies, Putin acknowledged the damage from Ukrainian drone attacks.

Chinese leader Xi Jinping will travel to North Korea next week, both countries announced Friday, in what will be his first visit in nearly seven years.

His trip will be the latest in a series of steps by China to reinforce its close ties with its nuclear-armed neighbor. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has reached out to Russia in recent years, notably by sending troops and conventional weapons to support its war against Ukraine.

Drone alert sirens sounded in several border communities in northern Israel on Thursday shortly after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other officials wrapped up a visit to the area, Israeli media reports said.

The Israeli military later said the sirens were triggered by attempts to intercept several drones that hit near soldiers in southern Lebanon. No injuries were reported.

Israel and Lebanon have agreed to renew their shaky ceasefire, with an aim to continue talks later this month for a comprehensive peace deal.

The U.S.-brokered agreement, announced in a joint statement by the U.S., Israel and Lebanon Wednesday, comes after Israeli forces made their deepest incursion into Lebanon in more than a quarter century.

Hezbollah on Thursday rejected the latest ceasefire agreement reached between Israel and the Lebanese government, demanding a complete Israeli withdrawal.

Hezbollah leader Sheikh Naim Qassem, in a written statement read on TV, said the agreement's demand that Hezbollah fighters leave southern Lebanon under fire would mean "surrender, defeat and achieving the enemy's goals."