WORLD

First responders in Gaza said Thursday that their operations were at a near standstill, more than two months into a full Israeli blockade that has left food and fuel in severe shortage.

China's Xi Jinping was in Moscow on Thursday for a state visit ahead of the Kremlin's grand Victory Day celebrations, as Ukraine accused Russia's army of launching air strikes just hours into a supposed truce.

Indian and Pakistani soldiers exchanged gunfire overnight in Kashmir, New Delhi said Thursday, a day after the worst violence between the nuclear-armed rivals in two decades.

Iraqi Mohammed Jalal lost 10 years of his life seeking asylum in Germany, without success.

Anticipation gripped the Catholic world Thursday as the cardinals tasked with choosing a new pope prepared to retreat behind the heavy doors of the Vatican's Sistine Chapel for their second day of voting.

Brazil's former president Jair Bolsonaro, who faces a trial on coup charges, vowed Wednesday to "continue the fight" at a protest to demand amnesty for people convicted over a failed right-wing insurrection.

OpenAI on Wednesday announced an initiative to help countries build their own artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructures, with the US government a partner in projects.

Pakistan has warned it will "avenge" those killed by Indian air strikes that New Delhi said were in response to an attack in Kashmir, signalling an imminent escalation in the worst violence in decades between the nuclear-armed neighbours.

Paris Saint-Germain clinched a place in the Champions League final as goals by Fabian Ruiz and Achraf Hakimi gave them a 2-1 win over Arsenal in the second leg of their last-four tie on Wednesday, securing a 3-1 aggregate triumph.

Excluded from the conclave to elect a new pope Wednesday -- and more broadly from the Church's entire global priesthood -- some Catholic women were determined that their voices will be heard.

The European Union is accelerating free trade talks with Asia following hefty tariffs by US President Donald Trump, the bloc's trade chief said Wednesday.

Kim visited major munitions enterprises under the Second Economy Commission, where he assessed both shell manufacturing processes.

A US warplane plummeted into the Red Sea when trying to land on the Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier, a defense official said Wednesday, the second jet lost from the ship in just over a week.

Yemen's Huthi rebels will continue targeting Israeli ships in the Red Sea, an official told AFP on Wednesday, despite a ceasefire that ended weeks of intense US strikes on the Iran-backed group.

Hamas insisted Wednesday on a "comprehensive" agreement to end its war with Israel, as rescuers said Israeli bombardment of Gaza killed at least 26 people amid a growing humanitarian catastrophe.

At dawn Wednesday on the contested border between India and Pakistan, in the usually sleepy Indian-run town of Poonch, a thumping explosion ripped the air as an artillery shell smashed into a building.

The UN's human rights chief told AFP Wednesday that Israel's plan for an expanded offensive in the Gaza Strip represented "a very dangerous moment" for civilians there.