Pope Francis's hint that the Vatican could relax its ban on contraception in response to the Zika virus was hailed as a shift in Church thinking Friday - but not everyone was convinced it amounts to meaningful change.

"Pope Francis signals openness to birth control for Zika," read a headline on the Boston Globe's Vatican-watching website www.cruxnow.com that reflected much media coverage around the world.

When Republican frontrunner Donald Trump offered a provocative retort Thursday to criticism by Pope Francis, it may have been a calculated political move to boost his standing ahead of South Carolina's presidential primary. 

Two-thirds of South Carolinians are Protestants, with evangelical voters comprising the largest voting block in the state during its Republican primary, which is being held on Saturday.

Ukraine's pro-Western government has been left politically weakened and under even fiercer pressure from foreign allies to pursue reforms needed for the release of vital aid despite narrowly surviving a no-confidence vote.

Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk was left standing but battered after a white-knuckle fight in parliament Tuesday that saw deputies muster only 194 of the 226 votes needed to force out his cabinet over its perceived failure to tackle graft.

Syrian government troops who have besieged dozens of rebel-held communities are moving toward their biggest target yet — the opposition-controlled neighborhoods of the city of Aleppo, where some 300,000 people risk being trapped.

Sieges were widely used for centuries as a military tool — from Jerusalem to Leningrad and Sarajevo — and aren't defined outright as a war crime. However, recent images of emaciated civilians in blockaded areas, such as the Syrian town of Madaya, have prompted global outrage.

Syria's Kurds, long held in disdain by Damascus, are edging towards autonomy in their heartland along Turkey's border as they capitalize on the tactical goals of both Washington and Moscow.

To the dismay of Ankara, Kurdish forces have seized on the collapse of rebels in the northern province of Aleppo in the face of Russian-backed regime gains to advance to within 20 kilometers (12 miles) of the border.

Turkey and Russia are already waging a proxy war in Syria as Istanbul backs rebels against Syrian government troops supported by Moscow. 

But the recent escalation in rhetoric has sharpened fears of a direct confrontation, analysts warn.

Arseniy Yatsenyuk once said that taking the job of Ukrainian prime minister was an act of "political suicide" and on Tuesday he appeared to have been proved right.

Facing charges he has been unable to deliver on a pledge to tackle corruption and fix the economy, the bespectacled pro-Western premier was asked to step down by the president "in order to restore trust in the government".

Five years after the uprising began against dictator Moammer Gadhafi, many Libyans have lost hope of seeing the rule of law return to a divided country threatened by jihadist expansion.

The Islamic State (IS) group has exploited the chaos engulfing the oil-rich North African nation since the 2011 revolution to gain a foothold and expand its influence.

Ehud Olmert was once described as "probably the best" politician Israel had ever produced, but the debonair ex-premier who began a prison term for corruption on Monday has seen a humiliating fall from grace.

Olmert, 70, became Israel's first ex-prime minister to serve jail time when he walked into the Maasiyahu prison in the central city of Ramle for the 19-month term.

After months of tensions, Turkey is taking on Syrian Kurdish fighters inside Syria in a move that risks inflaming tensions with its NATO ally the United States and complicating the search for peace after almost five years of civil war.

On consecutive days this weekend, Turkish forces struck positions of Syrian Kurds with fire from Firtina howitzers deployed on the border, saying the army responded to incoming attacks.