For the Rohingya minority, violence began well before the 2021 coup, with a military crackdown in 2017 sending legions of the mostly Muslim group fleeing Myanmar's Rakhine state to neighboring Muslim-majority Bangladesh.

A Malaysian high court will decide whether to convict Najib of four more charges of corruption and 21 counts of money laundering involving the illegal transfer of about US$539 million from 1MDB.

The third phase of voting will be held in 63 townships, the ruling junta announced in a state-run media outlet, although dates for the counting of votes have not yet been declared.

Six parties are competing nationwide, including the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party that is tipped to win the polls, creating conditions for members of the junta regime to take a civilian role.

The latest release of Epstein files includes around 30,000 pages of documents, with many redactions, and dozens of video clips, including several purporting to be shot inside a federal detention center.

The State Department declined to provide a list of the diplomats being recalled. A senior department official said on Monday the move was "a standard process in any administration" but critics said that was not so.

Only one of five judges on the Supreme Court panel voted not to convict Bolsonaro.

"I don't rule it out, no," he told NBC News in a phone interview.

Leo, celebrating his first Christmas after being elected in May by the world's cardinals to succeed the late Pope Francis, has a quieter, more diplomatic style than his predecessor and usually refrains from making political references in his sermons.

The condemnation is a response to Israel's decision to green-light new settlements, which is said to prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state.

Leo, the first United States-born pope, is celebrating his first Christmas after being elected in May by the world's cardinals to succeed the late Pope Francis.

They are believed to be among three crew members reported missing after the vessel sank on December 14 in choppy waters, some 100 kilometres north of the city of Porto.

The legislation lists the "crimes of French colonization", including nuclear tests, extrajudicial killings, "physical and psychological torture", and the "systematic plundering of resources".

Bethlehem residents hope the return of Christmas festivities will breathe life back into the city.