WORLD

Vote-weary Kuwait heads to the polls for the third time in three years on Thursday, just months into the reign of a new emir but with no end in sight to the major oil exporter's chronic political paralysis.

President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday denounced as "bizarre and threatening" Russia's tone following rare phone talks between the defence ministers of France and Russia, their first contact since 2022.

The Philippines will hold joint naval drills with the United States, Japan and Australia, two diplomatic sources told AFP Thursday, as the four countries deepen military ties to counter China's expanding influence in the Asia-Pacific region.

Every evening during Ramadan, members of a motorbike club zip down the streets of Damascus to deliver meals to those in need during the Muslim holy month.

NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg urged the United States to stick together with Europe as the Western military alliance turned 75 on Thursday menaced by an aggressive Russia and the spectre of Donald Trump's return to power.

Relief workers set aside stuffed toys, blankets and baby formula for families sheltering Thursday in an elementary school in Hualien, the epicentre of Taiwan's biggest earthquake in a quarter of a century.

Dozens of residents of the worst-hit city spent a night outdoors rather than in apartments still being shaken by aftershocks, and a massive engineering operation was under way to fix damaged roads and prop up tilting buildings.

James Cameron, the mastermind behind "The Terminator", "Aliens" and "Titanic", has an exhibition opening in Paris Thursday showcasing his lesser-known skills with pencil and paper.

Peering through the window at a bustling crowd outside the Voskepar village council in northeastern Armenia, mayor Ishkhan Aghbalyan said locals are on edge over arch-foe Azerbaijan's claims to their lands.

US President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are set to speak on Thursday in their first phone call since an Israeli strike on a humanitarian convoy killed seven aid workers in Gaza.

NATO on Thursday marks 75 years since its founding with the Western alliance confronted by the urgent need to do more to help Ukraine win a war currently roiling Europe.

US President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will speak on Thursday, a US official said, in their first call since an Israeli strike killed seven aid workers in Gaza.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on Wednesday accused the United States of building "secret military bases" in Essequibo, an oil-rich region of Guyana that Caracas claims as its territory.

Nearly six months into the Gaza war, with the families of hostages still held captive by Hamas desperate for their release, many former hostages are finding the words to describe the ordeal of captivity.

Invisible, omnipresent "forever chemicals" have been linked to a wide range of serious effects on human health, prompting growing calls for them to be banned.

Russia said that its defence minister Sergei Shoigu and French counterpart Sebastien Lecornu discussed the potential for talks on the Ukraine conflict during a rare telephone call on Wednesday, a claim that Paris immediately denied.

A Palestinian-American doctor said he walked out of a Ramadan event with President Joe Biden at the White House to show solidarity with the people of Gaza against Israel's offensive.

Uganda's Constitutional Court on Wednesday rejected a bid to scrap a controversial anti-gay law that is considered one of the toughest in the world.

Disney's leadership prevailed Wednesday in a high-profile and costly proxy contest against activist investors who had sought to shake up the company's board over concerns about successorship planning.

Human Rights Watch on Wednesday accused Colombia and Panama of failing to do enough to protect hundreds of thousands of US-bound migrants crossing the dense, lawless jungle between the two countries.

Haiti's National Library was looted Wednesday by armed gangs terrorizing the Caribbean nation's capital Port-au-Prince amid extended political paralysis, its director told AFP. Dangelo Neard said the history of Haiti -- the Western Hemisphere's second-oldest republic -- was being threatened.

Insights from a comprehensive survey spanning nine countries reveal widespread financial stress and retirement challenges globally.

The war in Gaza has entered its 180th day – Israel is under mounting pressure following the deaths of seven humanitarian aid workers in an Israeli army airstrike that targeted a WCK food convoy Monday.

NATO foreign ministers on Wednesday debated a proposal to create a 100-billion-euro, five-year fund for Ukraine, as the alliance's chief urged them to guarantee long-term arms supplies for Kyiv's outgunned forces.

Officials said the quake was the strongest to shake the island in decades, and warned of more tremors in the days ahead. Wednesday's magnitude-7.4 quake hit just before 8:00 am local time (0000 GMT), with the United States Geological Survey (USGS) putting the epicenter 18 kilometers (11 miles) south of Taiwan's Hualien City, at a depth of 34.8 kilometers.

Flags in Finland flew at half-mast on Wednesday as the country mourned the killing of a 12-year-old by a classmate who opened fire and seriously injured two others.

The bodies of six foreign aid workers killed in a Gaza strike were expected to be transported out of the war-torn Palestinian territory via Egypt on Wednesday as Israel faced a chorus of outrage over their deaths.

Japan will deepen security ties with Indonesia, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told president-elect Prabowo Subianto on Wednesday on the ex-general's second stop after Beijing as he visits Asian neighbors.

At least seven people were killed and more than 700 injured Wednesday by a powerful earthquake in Taiwan that damaged dozens of buildings and prompted tsunami warnings that extended to Japan and the Philippines before being lifted. Officials warned of more tremors in the days ahead.