WORLD

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned on Wednesday that rapidly spreading wildfires near Jerusalem could reach the city, as he declared the situation a "national emergency".

Ruben Amorim on Wednesday admitted that even winning the Europa League would not salvage Manchester United's miserable season.

Istanbul authorities on Wednesday closed metro trains, buses and Bosphorous ferries, paralysing Turkey's biggest city in a bid to prevent May Day demonstrations.

Bolivia's ex-leader Evo Morales has told AFP he will not back down in his bid to regain power, despite being dogged by allegations of abusing a minor and being barred from seeking a fourth term.

The United States and Ukraine said Wednesday they could sign a long-anticipated minerals deal within the day, after last-minute concerns from Kyiv as it seeks long-term US support.

Pope Francis saw priests' embrace of the trappings of power as a "cancer" corroding the Roman Catholic Church, according to a best-selling Spanish author who travelled to Mongolia with the pontiff.

Climate change, women's rights, displacement, poverty: Afghanistan remains a priority as it faces overlapping crises, the UN's relief chief Tom Fletcher told AFP on Wednesday, deploring "brutal" aid budget cuts.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa announced Wednesday a judicial inquiry into claims of deliberate delays in prosecuting apartheid-era crimes three decades after the end of white-minority rule.

Africans in search of a better future became the latest casualties of Yemen's decade-long conflict after a deadly strike blamed on the United States hit a migrant detention centre, killing dozens of people.

A week before the conclave to choose a new pope opens, preparatory talks intensified Wednesday as cardinals sounded out potential candidates -- with many hoping the election will be quick.

India will conduct its first official caste census since independence, the government announced on Wednesday, a move likely to have far-reaching consequences for its politics and contentious affirmative action policies.

White wings flashing overhead in the sunlight, conservationist Olivier Nsengimana points out Rwanda's grey crowned cranes, migratory birds that have made an extraordinary comeback in the Great Lakes region.

Several thousand people rallied in support of Burkina Faso's ruling junta Wednesday, days after the military authorities said they had uncovered a "plot" to overthrow the government.

Swedish police have arrested a teen suspect after three youths aged from 15 to 20 were killed in a shooting at a hair salon, authorities said Wednesday, amid rising concern over gang violence in the Scandinavian nation.

Israel struck Syria on Wednesday in what it called a "warning" against attacks on the Druze minority, in a military intervention that came as sectarian clashes spread near Damascus, killing 13 people.

A US official on Wednesday told the International Court of Justice there were "serious concerns" about the impartiality of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA. ICJ judges are holding a week of hearings to help them formulate an advisory opinion on Israel's obligations towards UN agencies delivering aid to Palestinians in Gaza.

The Philippines and New Zealand signed an agreement on Wednesday allowing the deployment of troops on each other's territory, a move aimed at bolstering security in a "deteriorating" strategic environment.

An Australian woman promised a "special meal" for her in-laws before dishing up a beef Wellington laced with death cap mushrooms that killed three of them, jurors heard Wednesday.

A police station in the historic sailors' quarter of the Belgian port of Antwerp is surrounded by sex workers' neon-lit red-light windows.

Tokyo's tariffs envoy departed Wednesday for a second round of negotiations in Washington, where Japan could offer concessions such as tweaking vehicle import procedures to secure relief from Donald Trump's trade levies.

Since the start of the school year in March, Afghan boys have been required to wear new uniforms of turbans and long tunics, following an order to adopt outfits reflecting Taliban rule.

Ange Postecoglou can still make good on his claim that he always wins a trophy in his second season but he must find a way to inspire struggling Tottenham for a shot at Europa League glory.

Asia's front-runner for the papacy, Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle of the Philippines is a charismatic moderate often dubbed the "Asian Francis".

A seasoned diplomat who worked with Pope Francis for 12 years, Cardinal Pietro Parolin is well-known in Rome and abroad, and a serious contender to be the next pontiff.

Since returning to the White House, Donald Trump has ushered in sweeping changes to international geopolitics and US government administration with little regard for norms that have constrained predecessors.

Trinidad and Tobago's centrist former prime minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar will return as leader of the Caribbean nation after her party's victory in Monday's parliamentary election, the electoral commission confirmed Tuesday.

Pakistan's information minister said early Wednesday that Islamabad had "credible intelligence" that India was planning an imminent military strike and he vowed a "decisive response", as worries of spiralling conflict grew over a deadly attack in Kashmir.

Vietnam is set to hold its biggest celebration of the fall of Saigon on its 50th anniversary Wednesday, including Chinese troops for the first time after Xi Jinping visited to portray Beijing as a more reliable partner than Washington.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned Tuesday that the United States would end mediation unless Russia and Ukraine come up with "concrete proposals," as US patience wanes on an early priority for President Donald Trump.