The government has confirmed 607 deaths, with another 214 people missing and feared dead, in what President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has called the country's most challenging natural disaster.

Even when US President Donald Trump made a landmark visit to China early during his first term in 2017, and Xi lavished him with a private dinner within Beijing's Forbidden City, the trip was confined to the Chinese capital. 

The former TV reality show host dominated the scene at Washington’s Kennedy Center on Friday, placing himself squarely at the center of one of the biggest events in the sporting world in a glitzy, celebrity-studded affair that bore the unmistakable stamp of the president.

The national security paper, meant to flesh out Trump's norms-shattering "America First" worldview, signals a sharp reorientation from longstanding US calls to refocus on Asia, although it still identifies China as a top competitor.

The G20 website now simply has a picture of Trump in black and white that says "Miami 2026" and "The Best Is Yet to Come," the title of the song popularized by Frank Sinatra.

The monarch made the apology back in 2023 but it was accepted during a meeting and ceremony behind closed doors Monday in Paramaribo, the Surinamese capital, according to the state-run Suriname Communication Services (CDS). 

The UN reported on Feb. 14 that Ukrainian authorities said a drone with a high explosive warhead struck the plant, caused a fire and damaged the protective cladding around reactor Number Four, which was destroyed in the 1986 disaster.

Trump has said he wants to end Europe's deadliest conflict since World War Two but his efforts so far, including a summit with Putin in Alaska in August and meetings with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, have not yet brought peace.

Israel said it would open the Rafah crossing from Gaza to Egypt exclusively to allow residents to exit the Palestinian territory "in the coming days", a claim denied by Egypt which insisted that the key crossing be opened in both directions.

The United States this month took over the year-long presidency of the group of leading economies after largely boycotting South Africa's tenure, including the November summit, in an escalation of its attacks on Pretoria.

"The Iron Beam laser system is expected to fundamentally change the rules of engagement on the battlefield," Daniel Gold, head of defence ministry research and development, told a defence summit in Tel Aviv.