WORLD

Israel's closure of key crossings into Gaza has cut off the main entry point for aid, and particularly fuel, rendering humanitarian operations all but impossible, a senior UN official warned Thursday.

Stormy Daniels returned to the witness stand on Thursday at Donald Trump's historic hush money trial for another round of tough grilling by attorneys for the former president.

A migrant rescue charity warned Thursday that a new Italian ban on using surveillance planes to spot migrant boats in distress in the Mediterranean could endanger lives.

UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron on Thursday urged NATO partners to soon start spending 2.5 percent of GDP on defence, during a major speech in which he called for a more muscular approach to Western foreign policy.

Tourists have a few more days to snap Mount Fuji at a popular vantage point after Japanese authorities said Thursday that the construction of a barrier has been delayed.

Two of China's wealthiest cities said Thursday they would lift all restrictions on buying homes, joining a growing list of urban areas rolling back curbs as they look to prop up the faltering property market.

One of Malaysia's top football clubs has pulled out of Friday's season-opening Charity Shield after a spate of assaults, including an acid attack, on players in the country.

Israel shelled Rafah on Thursday as US President Joe Biden offered his starkest warning yet over the conduct of its war against Hamas, vowing to cut off arms transfers if an offensive into the southern Gaza city goes ahead.

One of China's wealthiest cities said Thursday it would lift all restrictions on buying homes, joining a growing list of urban areas rolling back curbs as they look to prop up the faltering property market.

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol held a rare press conference Thursday, admitting "shortcomings" after his party's recent electoral defeat, and laying out policies on issues from the country's low birthrate to Russia's war in Ukraine.

If you're a woman alone in a forest, would you rather be approached by a random man or... a bear?

Asian traders fought to get a recent rally back on course Thursday following a tepid lead from Wall Street but record performance in Europe highlighted optimism that central banks were on course to cut interest rates.

Sudanese shop owner Ishaq Mohammed has been trapped in his home for a month, sheltering from violence in El-Fasher, the last major city in the country's vast Darfur region not under paramilitary control.

Russian President Vladimir Putin will address the annual Victory Day parade in Moscow on Thursday, an event he hopes will rally patriotism as his forces advance in Ukraine.

Former Fiji prime minister Frank Bainimarama was sentenced Thursday to one year in prison for perverting the course of justice, with a judge finding he used his political clout to shut down a police investigation.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban will host Chinese President Xi Jinping in Budapest on Thursday in a bid to strengthen already flourishing ties between Beijing and its closest EU ally.

A Mexican court on Wednesday ordered the alleged murderer of two Australians and an American killed during a surfing trip to be prosecuted, as grieving relatives awaited the repatriation of their bodies.

North Macedonia appeared to be on a collision course with its EU neighbours Greece and Bulgaria, as the nationalist opposition swept parliamentary and presidential elections on Wednesday.

In halting a shipment of thousands of bombs, President Joe Biden has sent his most serious signal yet both to Israel and his domestic critics, although it remains doubtful he can fundamentally alter the course of the war in Gaza.

The Olympic flame arrived on French soil on Wednesday at the port of Marseille on board a 19th century ship in front of 150,000 spectators for a ceremony that posed a first major test for organisers ahead of the 2024 Paris Games.

German police on Wednesday arrested a 74-year-old man suspected of hitting a former mayor of Berlin in the head, the latest in a rash of assaults against politicians in Germany.

Serbia's President Aleksandar Vucic reaffirmed his strong support for China's sovereignty over Taiwan Wednesday as he gave a lavish welcome to President Xi Jinping, who is seeking to deepen political and economic ties with friendlier countries in Europe.

Israel bombarded the overcrowded Gaza city of Rafah, where it has launched a ground incursion, as talks resumed Wednesday in Cairo aimed at agreeing the terms of a truce in the seven-month war.

Ukraine on Wednesday warned of possible power shutdowns across the country after a "massive" wave of Russian missiles and drones targeted the battered Ukrainian energy system.

While Ukrainian troops struggle to hold the front line more than two years into the war, Moscow has intensified strikes on Ukraine's energy infrastructure, triggering blackouts and electricity rationing across the country.

The icy peaks of Jargalant Mountain are supposed to belong to snow leopards, whose numbers have dwindled to fewer than 1,000 in Mongolia, but hard-pressed herders are increasingly pushing into the vulnerable animals' traditional habitat.

Israel struck targets in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday after seizing the main border crossing with Egypt, where negotiators were working to make good on their "last chance" to cement a ceasefire deal.

The United States paused a shipment of bombs to Israel last week over fears it would invade the southern Gaza city of Rafah, an official said Tuesday, marking the first time in the conflict that President Joe Biden has squeezed military aid to the key US ally.

North Korea's former propaganda chief, credited with masterminding the personality cult surrounding the ruling Kim dynasty, has died, state media said Wednesday, with leader Kim Jong Un photographed bowing at his funeral bier.