WORLD

Japan's annual "Golden Week" holiday period gets into full swing Saturday, but inflation and hotel prices sent soaring by record inbound tourism have left domestic travellers less eager to pack their bags.

At the Port of Los Angeles, the frenetic choreography of cranes unloading containers from Asia has slowed to a tiptoe, and the noise of the busiest docks in the US is quieting.

President Donald Trump spent his first 100 days issuing a blitz of executive orders to deliver rapidly on campaign pledges, drastically downsize the government and reshape America's role on the global stage.

Singaporeans cast their votes Saturday in an election where Prime Minister Lawrence Wong faces his first major test against a rejuvenated opposition in uncertain economic times for the trade-centred nation.

Apple on Friday relaxed its App Store payment rules in the face of a scathing court order, with Spotify quick to reap the benefit.

Prince Harry said Friday he wanted to reconcile with his estranged family, but was "devastated" at losing a court battle over his security that meant he could not return to the UK with his family.

Prime Minister Mark Carney promised Friday to oversee the biggest transformation of Canada's economy since the end of the Second World War to enable it to "stand up" to Donald Trump.

Chilean authorities issued a tsunami warning for the country's southernmost region Friday morning and both Chile and Argentina ordered evacuations after a major 7.5-magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of South America.

The United States on Friday ended a tariff exemption for goods shipped from China worth less than $800, dealing a major blow to popular e-commerce sites such as Shein and Temu, whose cheap items consumers have come to rely on.

The European Union on Friday won a landmark case against Britain at the world's oldest arbitration body over post-Brexit rights to fish sandeels, a tiny North Sea species.

Firefighters installed the chimney atop the Sistine Chapel on Friday which will emit white smoke to signal the election of a new pope as preparations proceed just five days before cardinals gather for the conclave.

A group of activists organising an aid boat for Gaza said it was attacked on Friday by drones in international waters off Malta as it headed towards the Palestinian territory.

Israel said it carried out an air strike near Syria's presidential palace in Damascus on Friday, warning the country's new Islamist rulers against targeting the Druze minority.

Two months into Israel's full blockade on aid into Gaza, humanitarians described Friday horrific scenes of starving, bloodied children and people fighting over water, with aid operations on the "verge of total collapse".

On a torn-up road near the refugee camp where she once lived, Saja Bawaqneh said she struggled to find hope 100 days after an Israeli offensive in the occupied West Bank forced her to flee.

A group of activists organising an aid boat for Gaza said it was attacked on Friday by drones in international waters off Malta as they headed towards the Palestinian territory, accusing Israel of attacking the vessel.

Tunisian environmentalist Semia Labidi Gharbi, awarded a global prize for her role exposing a major waste scandal, has a message for wealthy nations: developing countries are "no dumping ground".