ROME -- Pope Francis, the 266th pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church, died Monday at the age of 88, said the Vatican in a statement.
Born Jorge Mario Bergoglio on Dec. 17, 1936, in Buenos Aires, Francis was head of the Roman Catholic Church since 2013. (Vatican-Pope-Dead)
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MOSCOW -- Russian President Vladimir Putin has officially ratified a comprehensive strategic partnership agreement with Iran, according to an official document published online Monday.
The treaty was initially signed by the Russian president and his Iranian counterpart, Masoud Pezeshkian, on Jan. 17 following bilateral talks in Moscow. (Russia-Iran-Partnership Pact)
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KIEV -- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced on Monday that Ukraine will hold peace talks with the United Kingdom, France, and the United States in London on Wednesday.
"Already this Wednesday, our representatives will be working in London," Zelensky wrote on social media platform X after phone talks with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer. (Ukraine-Peace Talks)
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LOS ANGELES -- NASA announced that its Lucy spacecraft made a close encounter with a small main belt asteroid on Sunday.
The spacecraft made the closest approach to the asteroid, codenamed "Donaldjohanson", at 1:51 p.m. Eastern Time (0551 GMT) within 960 km at the speed of about 48,000 km per hour. (NASA-Lucy Mission-Asteroid Encounter) ■
