World News Roundup: N.Macedonia donates tanks to Ukraine as it modernises own military; Indonesia, U.S. to hold military exercise amid heightened Indo-Pacific tensions and more

The dialogue, announced by President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in April and expected to start in the coming weeks, will include some moderate opposition factions pushed to the margins since Sisi, while armed forces chief, led the 2013 ouster of Muslim Brotherhood President Mohamed Mursi after mass unrest. Former British envoy to US, Christopher Meyer, dies Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Friday led tributes to Britain's former ambassador to the United States, Christopher Meyer, who served as the go-between for George Bush and Tony Blair and has died at the age of 78.

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

Detentions loom over Egypt's political dialogue

After nine years of sweeping crackdowns on dissent, Egypt is set to launch a carefully choreographed political dialogue, but the main Islamist opposition movement is excluded and critics say a parallel move to release prisoners is proceeding too slowly. The dialogue, announced by President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in April and expected to start in the coming weeks, will include some moderate opposition factions pushed to the margins since Sisi, while armed forces chief, led the 2013 ouster of Muslim Brotherhood President Mohamed Mursi after mass unrest.

Former British envoy to US, Christopher Meyer, dies

Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Friday led tributes to Britain's former ambassador to the United States, Christopher Meyer, who served as the go-between for George Bush and Tony Blair and has died at the age of 78. Meyer served as Britain's envoy to Washington for six years under then prime minister Blair. His posting spanned a turbulent period including the end of the Clinton administration, the 9/11 attacks and build-up to the Iraq war.

N.Macedonia donates tanks to Ukraine as it modernises own military

North Macedonia plans to donate an unspecified number of Soviet-era tanks to Ukraine as it seeks to modernise its own military to meet NATO standards, its defence ministry said on Friday. In a statement, the ministry said Ukraine will receive tanks belonging to the western Balkan country's tank battalion which is in the process of being upgraded.

Philippines airlifts aid to areas cut off since earthquake

Philippine authorities on Friday airlifted supplies to districts that have been cut off since a powerful earthquake struck the main island of Luzon this week, as residents pleaded for food and temporary shelter. The military said it had deployed personnel and helicopters to distribute relief goods to seven isolated towns in Abra province.

Indonesia, U.S. to hold military exercise amid heightened Indo-Pacific tensions

Some 4,000 soldiers mostly from Indonesia and the United States will conduct a joint military exercise next week that underscores "the importance we place on a free and open Indo-Pacific region," a senior U.S. military official said on Friday. The annual "Super Garuda Shield" exercise, which the United States called "significantly larger in scope and scale than previous exercises", comes against a backdrop of heightened tensions with China over the latter's growing assertiveness in the region.

Some wounded Russian soldiers find compensation elusive, despite Putin’s pledge - sources

A week into Moscow’s war in Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin made a gesture of solidarity with his soldiers at the front: injured men could claim compensation of three million roubles, equivalent to about $50,000 or the amount an average Russian worker would earn in four years. “It’s our duty to support the families of our fallen and injured war comrades,” said Putin when he announced it in early March.

Six bodies found in southern Syrian town after clashes -reports

The bodies of six men captured during fighting in Sweida in southern Syria were found in the city centre on Friday, a war monitor and a local media outlet reported, raising to 23 the death toll from a rare outbreak of violence in the area. Located within government-held Syria, the Druze-majority province of Sweida has remained mostly shielded from the war that has splintered the country since 2011, but sporadic rallies have taken place over deteriorating economic conditions.

Dozens of Ukrainian POWs reported killed in missile strike

Dozens of Ukrainian prisoners of war appeared to have been killed in a missile strike on Friday, with Moscow and Kyiv accusing each other of carrying out the attack. The incident overshadowed U.N.-backed efforts to restart grain shipments from Ukraine and ease a looming global hunger crisis stemming from the war, now in its sixth month.

Exclusive-Brazil federal police warned against Bolsonaro arms agenda, documents show

As President Jair Bolsonaro has aggressively sought to boost gun ownership in Brazil, documents obtained by Reuters reveal one key source of resistance to his agenda: his own federal police. Nearly two decades after Brazil passed a landmark firearms control law, Bolsonaro has used dozens of executive orders to weaken such restrictions, turning the right to bear arms into a symbol of his right-wing movement. A major liberalization bill, under discussion in the Senate, could enshrine in law his push to make Brazil a gun-toting nation like the United States.

Russia's Lavrov says Moscow will propose time for call with Blinken on prisoners

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Friday that Moscow would soon propose a time for a call with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, in which Blinken has said he wants to discuss an exchange of prisoners held in Russian and U.S. jails. Blinken said on Wednesday that Washington had made a "substantial offer" to obtain the release of U.S. basketball star Brittney Griner and former Marine Paul Whelan, both detained in Russia.

(With inputs from agencies.)