WORLD

President Joe Biden said Thursday that US and British air strikes against Yemen's Huthis were "defensive" and warned of further measures if the Iran-backed rebels keep attacking ships in the Red Sea.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will meet a senior Chinese official in Washington on Friday on the eve of Taiwan's elections, as the United States seeks to discourage Beijing from taking action against Taipei.

Dramatic drone footage showing Indian commandos hunting pirates after an attack in the Arabian Sea illustrates New Delhi's "significant" expansion of a muscular maritime force reflecting global ambitions, analysts say.

Guatemala's president-elect Bernardo Arevalo has faced a judicial onslaught seen as an attempt by the country's powerful economic and political elite to perpetuate rampant corruption.

Bullfighting will make a comeback in Mexico City this month after a legal tussle led to a more than one-year suspension at the world's largest bullring, organizers announced Thursday.

President Joe Biden said Thursday that US and British forces had launched air strikes against Iran-backed Huthi rebels in Yemen in "defensive action" after attacks on shipping in the Red Sea.

Guatemala's highest court issued an order Thursday shielding vice president-elect Karin Herrera from arrest amid rumors she could be detained in a move that would derail her inauguration and that of president-elect Bernardo Arevalo this weekend.

French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday replaced his foreign minister but maintained other key figures in their posts in a reshuffle that tilted his cabinet to the right and left all top ministries in the hands of men.

Ecuador's armed forces were engaged in a brutal standoff with organized crime Thursday, deploying more than 22,400 soldiers to put down a campaign of terror waged by gangs that has claimed 16 lives.

Tens of thousands of people took to the streets of Warsaw Thursday to protest reforms by the pro-EU Polish government as the country suffers post-election turmoil.

The Pentagon's independent inspector general will investigate US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin's failure to report his hospitalization to the rest of the government, a memo released Thursday said.

The past 12 months marked a "formidable" year for suppression of human rights, with world leaders ignoring violations in Sudan and Gaza, and against marginalized groups like the Uighurs, a monitor said Thursday.

Donald Trump's legal team will deliver closing arguments Thursday in a New York civil fraud case after the judge barred the former president from using the trial finale as an election campaign grandstand.

A spate of attacks by Yemeni rebels on Red Sea shipping has disrupted the vital trade route, but experts say stopping them appears difficult at best -- and risky at worst.

Indian IT giants TCS and Infosys both signalled weak revenue growth in quarterly results Thursday as a client spending slowdown deepened a seasonally weak time for the sector.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday warned that any "pauses" in Ukraine's defence against the Russian invasion would only help Moscow to re-arm and allow it to "run us over".

Consumer inflation in the United States rose more than anticipated in December, government data showed Thursday, underscoring the bumpy road to cooling price increases as the presidential election looms.

NATO members Turkey, Bulgaria and Romania signed an agreement Thursday on demining the Black Sea to ensure safe passage after Russia's war in Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned Thursday that any "pauses" in Ukraine's defence against the Russian invasion would only help Moscow to re-arm and allow it to "run us over".

London's mayor called Thursday for closer ties with Europe and a better debate about immigration as he branded Brexit a "key contributor" to Britain's cost-of-living crisis.

An intercom blares out on the crowded cruise, sending Chinese tourists racing to the upper decks for a glimpse of what they've all come to see: democratic, self-ruled Taiwan.

South Africa on Thursday accused Israel of breaching the UN Genocide Convention, saying that even the October 7 Hamas attack could not justify such alleged actions.

Two Russian missiles struck a hotel in Ukraine's second city Kharkiv, injuring 13 people including foreign journalists, local authorities said Thursday.

On Day 97 of the war in Gaza, the first day of the high-stakes hearing at The Hague for South Africa's case against Israel has ended amid continuing battles between Israeli troops and Hamas in the central and southern Gaza Strip.

China warned Taiwan's voters Thursday to make the correct choice in the island's weekend elections, describing the presidential frontrunner as a "severe danger" who would threaten peace by following the "evil path" of independence.

The UK government on Thursday announced plans for what it said was the country's "biggest expansion of nuclear power for 70 years to bolster its energy independence and meet carbon emission targets.

Israel bombarded the southern Gaza Strip overnight, as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken prepared to travel to Egypt on Thursday for more talks aimed at containing Israel's war against Hamas.

Papua New Guinea's prime minister pledged to crack down on "lawlessness" Thursday, after 15 people died in riots across the country's two largest cities.

Denmark's popular Australian-born Crown Princess Mary will cap a real-life fairytale Sunday when she becomes queen after her husband Crown Prince Frederik accedes to the throne.