WORLD

Authorities in the Russian border city of Belgorod began evacuating hundreds of children Wednesday after weeks of deadly shelling from Ukrainian forces.

By appointing Gabriel Attal prime minister, President Emmanuel Macron is betting on the youth and dynamism of the 34-year-old to beat the far-right in European elections but also shape a future after 2027 when he must step aside.

A Taliban official has said several girls and women were detained recently in Kabul for not covering themselves properly, after reports circulated of a crackdown in the Afghan capital.

The global unemployment rate will increase slightly in 2024, the United Nations said Wednesday as it raised concerns about stagnant productivity, worsening inequalities and inflation biting into disposable income.

European and Asian stock markets diverged on Wednesday, the eve of key US inflation data and the latest earnings season.

French investigators have opened a rape probe into actor and film director Samuel Theis, the star of the Golden Globe-winning film "Anatomy of a Fall".

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky arrived in Lithuania on Wednesday on an unannounced visit to staunch Baltic allies as he seeks to bolster wavering support among other Western backers.

Nationwide strikes brought German transport to a standstill Wednesday, with railway workers on a three-day stoppage while farmers on tractors blocked autobahns in a bitter protest over subsidy cuts.

France's new Prime Minister Gabriel Attal was on Wednesday choosing his cabinet team after his stunning promotion by President Emmanuel Macron to become the youngest French head of government.

Israel kept bombing Gaza on Wednesday as US top diplomat Antony Blinken met the head of the Palestinian Authority, which Washington hopes could govern the coastal territory after the war ends.

Bhutanese voters have elected Tshering Tobgay to become prime minister for a second time after his party won nearly two-thirds of seats, the election commission said in results released Wednesday.

The recent stabbing of South Korean opposition leader Lee Jae-myung was meticulously planned by a well-prepared assailant who wanted to prevent the politician from becoming president, police said Wednesday.

A deafening explosion shakes the ground, sending lumps of dirt and smoke into the air, breaking the seeming tranquility of a cold January morning in the frozen fields of war-torn Ukraine's eastern Donbas region.

DR Congo's Constitutional Court on Tuesday confirmed President Felix Tshisekedi's landslide victory in a December election for a second term in the poor but mineral-rich massive central African country.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was due to hold talks Wednesday with the head of the Palestinian Authority, which Washington hopes could govern Gaza after Israel's war with Hamas ends.

South Korean opposition leader Lee Jae-myung, who was stabbed in the neck by a man pretending to be a supporter, called for an "end to warlike politics" as he was discharged from hospital Wednesday.

North Korea's Kim Jong Un branded South Korea his country's "principal enemy" and warned he would not hesitate to annihilate it as he toured major weapons factories, state media said Wednesday.

On Day 96 of the Israel-Hamas war, tensions continue to flare up in the Middle East as Yemen's Houthi rebels run amok in the Red Sea and another Iran-backed terror group, Hezbollah, escalates drone and rocket attacks toward Israel.

Japan has tightened its air traffic control protocols after a fiery collision at Tokyo's main airport in which five people died but hundreds escaped to safety, the government said Wednesday.

Already under the yoke of inflation and product scarcity, many Cubans don't know how they will cope with a new 500-percent surge in the fuel price.

The language barrier exacerbates the already unjust and discriminatory immigration policies implemented by the U.S. government.

Bosnian Serbs marked on Tuesday their self-proclaimed "national day", disregarding condemnations and warnings that the holiday violated Bosnia's constitution and put peace at risk.

A senior Chinese official said Tuesday that Beijing did not seek to reshape the global order and sought greater US cooperation, in the latest departure from past hawkish rhetoric.

Norway's parliament on Tuesday adopted a government plan to open up parts of its seabed to mining exploration, despite protests from activists and scientists' warnings about the uncertain environmental impact.

The man set to become Bhutan's new prime minister is a passionate environmental advocate and sportsman, a veteran politician in a mountain kingdom where parliamentary democracy is still young.

Are the US and Chinese economies on the verge of decoupling? On the face of it, there can be no doubt the divergence of the US and Chinese economies is underway; in absolute terms, Chinese imports have not fallen particularly sharply, but regarding market share the decline is significant.

Ecuador's new president grappled Tuesday with a security nightmare as gangsters held four police officers hostage after he declared a state of emergency in response to a drug kingpin's escape from prison.

The US trade gap narrowed in November as imports and exports both fell while higher interest rates bite, the government reported Tuesday.

Three policemen went on trial in France on Tuesday over an assault that inflicted severe rectal injuries to a black man during a stop and search in 2017 in a case that provoked shock across the country.