World News Roundup: India's Modi, Turkey's Erdogan hold unexpected meeting at regional summit; Meloni 'unfit to govern Italy' for defending Orban, critics say and more

The United States on Thursday sanctioned the chief executive of the Bank of Russia's National Card Payment System (NSPK), which runs Mir, saying it was seeking to hold the Russian government accountable for its Feb. 24 invasion and continuing war against Ukraine. Meloni 'unfit to govern Italy' for defending Orban, critics say Giorgia Meloni, likely to be Italy's next prime minister after elections this month, is unfit to lead the country, her critics said on Friday, after she backed Hungarian leader Viktor Orban in a row with Europe.

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

India's Modi, Turkey's Erdogan hold unexpected meeting at regional summit

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan on the sidelines of a regional summit on Friday, in their first encounter in over two years since relations soured after Erdogan's comments on the disputed Muslim-majority region of Kashmir. In early 2020 India's government had summoned the Turkish ambassador to lodge a diplomatic protest after Erdogan, on a visit to Pakistan, said the situation in Kashmir was worsening. His comments came after Modi's government in 2019 withdrew the region's autonomy and brought it under federal rule.

Meloni 'unfit to govern Italy' for defending Orban, critics say

Giorgia Meloni, likely to be Italy's next prime minister after elections this month, is unfit to lead the country, her critics said on Friday, after she backed Hungarian leader Viktor Orban in a row with Europe. Meloni is widely expected to lead a conservative alliance, including her own Brothers of Italy party, the League and Forza Italia, to victory in the Sept. 25 ballot and give the country its most right-wing administration since World War Two.

Sanctions hamper Russia's ability to make advanced weapons, NATO says

Western sanctions are starting to hurt Russia's ability to make advanced weaponry for the war in Ukraine, a top NATO military adviser told Reuters on Friday, although he added that Russian industry could still manufacture "a lot of ammunition". The United States, the European Union and other countries announced several packages of sanctions against Moscow after its Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine, which included a ban on the sale of advanced technology.

Russia vows to continue Mir card expansion after new U.S. sanctions

Russia's central bank on Friday pledged to keep expanding the number of countries that accept its Mir bank cards after new U.S. sanctions targeting people and entities accused of helping Moscow skirt financial sanctions. The United States on Thursday sanctioned the chief executive of the Bank of Russia's National Card Payment System (NSPK), which runs Mir, saying it was seeking to hold the Russian government accountable for its Feb. 24 invasion and continuing war against Ukraine.

Bodies found bound in mass burial site after Russians leave Ukraine city

Several bodies with rope around their necks and hands tied were among those visible at a mass burial site being exhumed by Ukrainian police and forensic experts on Friday in territory recaptured days ago from Russians in northeastern Ukraine. Ukrainian officials said they had found 440 bodies in woodlands near the city of Ilium. They said most of the dead were civilians, and that the site proved war crimes had been committed by Russian invaders who occupied the area for months.

Separatists blame Kyiv for killings of officials in Russian-occupied areas

At least four Russian-installed officials were killed and several people wounded on Friday, separatist officials said, in attacks on three different areas of Ukraine occupied by Russian forces. Separatists blamed Kyiv for the spate of killings - an alleged bomb blast, missile strike and double murder - and said Ukraine was waging a campaign of terrorism and "bloody crimes" behind the frontlines in territory controlled by Russian and Russian-backed forces.

Queue to see queen's lying-in-state paused as capacity reached

As tens of thousands of people poured into London ahead of Queen Elizabeth's state funeral on Monday, the miles-long queue of mourners waiting to see her lying in state was temporarily closed on Friday after it swelled to capacity. People of all ages and from all walks of life have paid their respects to the late queen, joining a well-organised line that stretches along the south bank of the Thames then over the river to parliament's Westminster Hall.

Russia conducts military drills in Arctic sea opposite Alaska

Russian nuclear-powered submarines fired cruise missiles in the Arctic on Friday as part of military drills designed to test Moscow's readiness for a possible conflict in its icy northern waters, the defense ministry said. The drills, named Umka-2022, took place in the Chukchi Sea, an eastern stretch of the Arctic Ocean that separates Russia from the U.S. state of Alaska.

UN draws deep from emergency funds amid record humanitarian aid gap

Faced with a record $32 billion shortfall in humanitarian aid funding, the United Nations is dipping deep into its emergency fund to support critical programs in 11 countries including Myanmar and Mali. Donors have given more than ever in 2022 for crises across the world but the needs have also soared amid unprecedented floods in Pakistan and famine warnings in Somalia, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) says.

Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan agree on a ceasefire after deadly border conflict

Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov and his Tajik counterpart Emomali Rakhmon agreed to order a ceasefire and troop pullback in a meeting in Uzbekistan on Friday, the Kyrgyz president's office said, after deadly clashes between the two Russian allies. The former Soviet republics earlier accused each other of restarting fighting in a disputed area that has left at least three dead and dozens wounded.