World

Top global celebrities will don "jungle fever" outfits in India for a trip to the zoo on Saturday as part of a party thrown by Asia's richest man.

Pop icon Rihanna, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and Donald Trump's daughter Ivanka are among the rich and famous guests who jetted in for a three-day gala celebration hosted by billionaire tycoon Mukesh Ambani.

President Joe Biden hailed Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's "unwavering" support for Ukraine Friday, as they held talks overshadowed by worries about the future of US aid for Kyiv.

Despite their political differences, the far-right Italian leader and the veteran Democrat have had warm relations, particularly because of Meloni's strong stance on Ukraine as it battles Russia's invasion.

Argentina's libertarian President Javier Milei, in his first policy speech to parliament Friday, said he would push his package of sweeping economic reforms whether or not legislators back it.

"We are going to change the country for good... with or without the support of political leaders, with all the legal resources of the executive," Milei told lawmakers, who have stalled his project of deregulation and budget cuts.

Iran began counting ballots on Saturday after a vote for parliament and a key clerical body, with local media estimating a low turnout and conservatives expected to dominate.

Friday's elections were the first since widespread protests triggered by the September 2022 death in police custody of Mahsa Amini, 22, an Iranian Kurd. She had been arrested for allegedly violating the Islamic republic's strict dress code for women.

Former Canadian prime minister Brian Mulroney, who made his political mark in the 1980s with the signing of a ground-breaking free trade agreement with the United States that later expanded to include Mexico, died Thursday. He was 84.

"It is with great sadness we announce the passing of my father," Caroline Mulroney, a politician in Ontario, said on X. "He died peacefully, surrounded by family."

Nearly a year since U.S. journalist Evan Gershkovich was arrested in Russia on espionage charges, his parents are counting on a "very personal" promise from President Joe Biden to bring him home.

The US government has declared that Gershkovich, who categorically denies the spying accusations, is wrongfully detained, and negotiations are underway to swap him in a prisoner exchange.

In a storyline improbable enough for Hollywood, a vegan chocolatier in a remote Scottish port town has made the confectionery to be given to silver screen icons at next month's Oscars.

Fiona McArthur's luxury chocolates will be handed out to Bradley Cooper, Emma Stone and other VIPs at cinema's biggest annual night, with each nominee in the main categories to be treated to a box.

A Filipino drag queen has been arrested and charged for a second time over his performance of the Lord's Prayer that caused widespread outrage in the deeply religious country.

Amadeus Fernando Pagente was arrested late Thursday and charged with three counts of the offence of "immoral doctrines, obscene publications and exhibitions and indecent shows", police said Friday.

Ten years after his mural of Pope Francis as a superhero went viral, Italian street artist Maupal has been adopted by the Vatican, which is using his works to inspire the faithful.

"I have created a form of empathy with Pope Francis," the artist, whose real name is Mauro Pallotta, told AFP at his studio in Rome.