US-backed forces said Sunday thousands of people were believed to still be inside the last Islamic State group enclave in eastern Syria, as they sought to flush out die-hard fighters with airstrikes and shelling.

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro arrived in Washington on Sunday to meet with his US counterpart Donald Trump and cement a budding conservative-populist alliance that, in part, aims to ramp up pressure on Venezuela.

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Monday announced more funding to defend religious establishments against potential attack in the wake of the mosque massacres in neighbouring New Zealand.

At least 24 people were killed and 31 injured on Sunday when a freight train carrying stowaways derailed in the Democratic Republic of Congo, police and medical services said.

The US agency that regulates civil aviation said on Sunday it followed "standard" procedures in certifying the Boeing jetliner whose anti-stall systems have come under scrutiny after disastrous crashes in Ethiopia and Indonesia.

A right-wing extremist who filmed himself on a rampage that left 49 mosque-goers dead flashed a white power sign as he appeared in a New Zealand court Saturday charged with murder.

Attacks on two Christchurch mosques left at least 40 dead on Friday, with one gunman - identified as an Australian extremist -- apparently livestreaming the assault that triggered the lockdown of the New Zealand city.

President Donald Trump said on Thursday that trade war negotiations with China should wrap up within four weeks and expressed optimism about striking a deal, as top negotiators held new phone talks.

A Russian cosmonaut and two US astronauts arrived Friday at the International Space Station aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft, five months after the failed launch of a rocket carrying two of the passengers.