Political factions in Iraq have been maneuvering since the parliamentary election more than a month ago to form alliances that will shape the next government.

The November election didn't produce a bloc with a decisive majority, opening the door to a prolonged period of negotiations.

Thailand and Cambodia will resume talks later this week to work toward a more durable ceasefire along their border, Thailand's foreign minister said Monday, stressing that progress depends on detailed bilateral negotiations rather than public declarations that internationalize the dispute.

A ceasefire agreement in October was rushed to ensure it could be witnessed by U.S. President Donald Trump and lacked sufficient details to ensure the deal to end the armed conflict would hold, Thai Foreign Minister Sihasak Phuangketkeow said Monday after an Association of Southeast Asian Nations foreign ministers' meeting in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

The Danish foreign minister said Monday his country insists that everyone, including the United States, must respect "the territorial integrity of the Kingdom of Denmark" after President Donald Trump announced the appointment of a special envoy to Greenland, who said his goal would be to make the territory part of the U.S.

Greenland's prime minister said that the territory is happy to cooperate with other countries, including the U.S., but stressed that "we decide our own future." Denmark's foreign minister said in later comments to Danish broadcasters that he plans to summon the U.S. ambassador.

Pope Leo XIV urged Vatican cardinals on Monday to put their ambitions of power and personal interests aside, as he followed in Pope Francis' footsteps and used a Christmas greeting to gently criticize his closest collaborators.

"Is it possible to be friends in the Roman Curia?" Leo asked the cardinals and bishops who make up the Curia, as the Holy See bureaucracy is known. "To have relationships of genuine fraternal friendship?"

The icy ground crackling under their feet, members of an elite Ukrainian drone-hunting team set up for a long night.

Antennas and sensors are clipped to a light stand. Monitors and controls are pulled from hard cases, and a game-changing new weapon is readied for deployment.

Two NATO-nation intelligence services suspect Russia is developing a new anti-satellite weapon to target Elon Musk's Starlink constellation with destructive orbiting clouds of shrapnel, with the aim of reining in Western space superiority that has helped Ukraine on the battlefield.

Intelligence findings seen by The Associated Press say the so-called "zone-effect" weapon would seek to flood Starlink orbits with hundreds of thousands of high-density pellets, potentially disabling multiple satellites at once but also risking catastrophic collateral damage to other orbiting systems.

India and New Zealand announced Monday they have reached a free trade deal, seeking to deepen economic ties and shore up growth at a time of mounting global trade uncertainties.

The move comes as New Delhi accelerates efforts to diversify export destinations as part of a broader strategy to offset the impact of steep U.S. import tariffs.

Saudi Arabia has awarded its highest national honor to Pakistan's army chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, during his visit to Riyadh, Pakistan's military said Monday, underscoring deepening ties between the two countries, including cooperation on counterterrorism.

Munir received the King Abdulaziz Medal of the Excellent Class on Sunday, months after Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman signed a defense pact with Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif highlighting the longstanding strategic relationship between the two countries.

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.