A huge fire engulfed Brazil's 200-year-old National Museum in Rio de Janeiro, lighting up the night sky with towering flames as firefighters and museum workers raced to save historical relics from the blaze.

The esteemed museum, which houses artifacts from Egypt, Greco-Roman art and some of the first fossils found in Brazil, was closed to the public at the time of the fire, which broke out at 7:30 p.m. Sunday local time, it said in a statement.

People smugglers are taking greater risks to ferry their human cargo toward Europe as Libya's coast guard intercepts more and more boats carrying migrants, increasing the likelihood that those on board may die during the Mediterranean journeys, the U.N. refugee agency said Monday.

That's one of the key findings from a new UNHCR report about efforts to reach Europe. The report, titled "Desperate Journeys," said that even though the number of crossings and deaths has plunged compared to recent years, the voyage is more deadly in percentage terms for those who venture across.

Iran's foreign minister held talks with officials in Syria on Monday as Syrian forces and their allies prepare for an assault on the last opposition stronghold in the country.

Syria's foreign ministry and Iran's state-run IRNA news agency said Mohammad Javad Zarif was received by Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad upon his arrival in Damascus, and was to meet later with Syrian President Bashar Assad.

The U.N. Security Council has warned that violations of the ceasefire agreement between Lebanon and Israel could lead to a new conflict and urged international support for Lebanon's armed forces and their stepped up deployment in the south and at sea.

The council's warning against "a new conflict that none of the parties or the region can afford" came in a resolution adopted unanimously extending the mandate of the U.N. peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon known as UNIFIL until Aug. 31, 2019.

More than 1,000 Saudi medical students ordered to leave Canada because of a diplomatic row have been granted an extension that would allow them to complete their training, Ottawa has confirmed.

A French prosecutor said Moroccan singer Saad Lamjarred is being held in police custody on suspicion of committing a rape in the town of Saint-Tropez on the French Riviera.

Draguignan prosecutor's office said Lamjarred, 33, was arrested on Sunday, without providing details.

Robin Leach, whose voice crystallized the opulent 1980s on TV's "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous," died Friday. He was 76

His son, Steven Leach, said he died in Las Vegas, where he made his home.

President Donald Trump said Friday he has directed Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to delay a planned trip to North Korea, citing insufficient progress on denuclearization.

Trump put some blame on Beijing, saying he does not believe China is helping "because of our much tougher Trading stance."

U.S. Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley criticized a meeting held between Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and a delegation from Yemen's Houthi rebels on August 19.

Ahmad Harb opened his perfume shop on the main street of Beirut's commercial Hamra district 35 years ago, and his business has weathered security and political crises in this volatile country, including a civil war.

He says this year has been the worst he's seen: sales dropped by 90 percent and after the landlord raised the rent, he was finally forced to close the shop and move to a smaller, less expensive location nearby.