Maldives President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih has won a party primary and will run for a second term in September elections. Solih defeated Mohamed Nasheed, the current parliament speaker and a former president, in the Maldivian Democratic Party primary held Saturday night. Nasheed played a key role in transforming the Indian Ocean archipelago state into a multiparty democracy after a 30-year autocracy. He escaped an assassination attempt allegedly by a local group sympathetic to the Islamic State in 2021. Solih is the only one running for president so far. His main rival, former President Abdulla Yameen, is serving a prison term on charges of corruption and money laundering.

France’s prime minister says that the government’s plan to raise the retirement age from 62 to 64 is “no longer negotiable." Elisabeth Borne made the comments in an interview broadcast Sunday. That further angered parliamentary opponents and unions who plan new mass protests and disruptive strikes Tuesday. Raising the pension age is one part of a broad bill that is central to President Emmanuel Macron’s second term. More than 1 million people marched against it earlier this month and many French people don't understand what it will mean for them. An online petition against the retirement plan saw a surge in new signatures after the prime minister's comments.

A mining corporation has apologized for losing a highly radioactive capsule over a 870-mile stretch of Western Australia. Authorities are combing parts of the road looking for the tiny but dangerous substance. It's believed to have fallen off a truck while being transported between a desert mine site and the city of Perth on Jan. 10. Emergency services were notified of the missing capsule last Wednesday. Western Australia emergency services have called on other Australian states and the federal government for support finding the capsule as they lack equipment. The capsule measures 0.31 inches by 0.24 inches and people have been warned it could have unknowingly become lodged in their car’s tires. It could cause skin burns and prolonged exposure could cause cancer.

UK prime minister fires his party chairman, accused of settling settled an unpaid tax bill while he was Treasury chief.

Tunisia’s president and its shaky democracy are facing an important test Sunday as voters cast ballots in the second round of parliamentary elections. Turnout was just 11% in the first round of voting last month. Many disaffected Tunisians stayed away and the influential opposition Islamist party boycotted. The runoff elections Sunday are being watched around the Arab world. They’re seen as a conclusive step in President Kais Saied’s push to consolidate power and win back lenders and investors. Voters are choosing lawmakers to replace the last parliament, led by Islamist party Ennahdha. Saied suspended it in 2021 and rewrote the constitution to give more power to the president.

Turkey has issued a travel warning for its citizens living in or planning on going to European countries, citing Islamophobia and anti-Turkish demonstrations. The warning comes after last weekend’s protests in Sweden where an anti-Islam activist burned the Quran and pro-Kurdish groups protested against Turkey. Ankara also said there was an increase in anti-Turkish protests by “groups with links to terror groups” — a reference to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, which has waged a decades-long insurgency against Turkey. Following the protests, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned Sweden not to expect support for its NATO membership bid.