WORLD

Nearly a year since US journalist Evan Gershkovich was arrested in Russia on espionage charges, his parents are counting on a "very personal" promise from President Joe Biden to bring him home.

Campaigning officially begins Friday for elections likely to produce Mexico's first woman president -- a watershed for a nation with a long tradition of macho culture.

Lawmakers in Alabama passed legislation Thursday to protect health workers at IVF clinics from legal liability after the southern US state's supreme court ruled frozen embryos are children, in an issue that has threatened to become an election flashpoint.

More than one billion people around the world are now suffering from obesity with the number having more than quadrupled since 1990, according to a study released by the Lancet medical journal.

The first G20 finance ministers' meeting of the year ended Thursday without a joint statement due to deep divisions over the wars in Ukraine and Gaza, officials said.

Former Tanzanian president Ali Hassan Mwinyi, who introduced multi-party democracy to the East African nation, died on Thursday aged 98, the presidency said.

The UN, which has warned of "almost inevitable" widespread starvation in northern Gaza, uses strict criteria to declare a famine.

The Fall 2024 polar bear-watching season begins on Oct. 25 with Classic Canadian's tour group heading out from Calgary.

Thousands of Palestinians flocked to an aid distribution point early Thursday, desperate for food amid Gaza's looming famine, only to be met with lethal chaos including live fire by Israeli troops.

Brazil's finance minister called Thursday for an international plan to ensure the world's super-rich pay their taxes, urging G20 nations to adopt a shared stance on preventing billionaire tax-dodging by July.

The crowd flocked to the aid distribution point early Thursday, desperate for food amid Gaza's looming famine, only to be met with lethal chaos including live fire by Israeli troops.

Actor Judith Godreche on Thursday denounced France's "incestuous" film industry, urging authorities to reform French cinema to protect young actresses from sexual violence, in testimony to the Senate upper house.

Four men went on trial on Thursday over a 2018 Christmas market attack in France's eastern city of Strasbourg where a radical Islamist killed five people before being shot dead by police after a 48-hour manhunt.

Iranian authorities have prevented jailed Iranian Nobel peace laureate Narges Mohammadi from attending the burial ceremony of her father who died earlier this week, her family said Thursday.

US President Joe Biden and Donald Trump will pay dueling visits to the US-Mexico border Thursday in a bid to win over voters on one of the most divisive issues of November's presidential election.

The European Parliament approved new data-sharing rules Thursday that clamp down on illegal short-term rentals to protect the residents of European cities -- many of whom face shortages of affordable housing.

A UK enquiry into the rape and murder of a woman by a British police officer three years ago called on Thursday for a major overhaul of police vetting and recruitment.

World trade ministers were locked in disagreement on fisheries subsidies, agriculture and digital customs duties as a major WTO conference entered its last scheduled day on Thursday.

It's Day 146 of the Israel-Hamas war, and a deadly stampede during a humanitarian aid delivery operation Thursday in northern Gaza has raised further concerns from the U.S. about the need for a "temporary" halt in the fighting to allow for more aid to enter the devastated enclave.

The World Trade Organization's 13th ministerial conference (MC13) in Abu Dhabi entered its last scheduled day on Thursday, with major issues still stuck in the weeds.

The Eiffel Tower, attacked by rust and well behind on its maintenance schedule, has taken centre stage in a power struggle between the Paris mayor and her main rival, the French minister of culture.

President Vladimir Putin warned on Thursday of a "real" risk of nuclear war if the West escalates the conflict in Ukraine.

India's richest man has kicked off lavish pre-wedding parties for his son by feeding more than 50,000 people in his hometown, with celebrations in the coming days expected to include some of the world's most influential figures.

Tuvalu's new Prime Minister Feleti Teo says his government is focused on the "many key development priorities" facing his Pacific Island nation, not debates about Taiwan relations that have consumed outsiders.

The athletes' village for the Paris Olympics, which is set to be inaugurated Thursday, contains a host of innovations intended to make it a model of low-carbon construction.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday he will travel to South Korea next month as it holds the Summit for Democracy, a signature initiative of President Joe Biden.

Norway's King Harald V, aged 87 and in poor health, is "improving" from an infection that forced him to be hospitalised while on holiday in Malaysia, according to his office.

Australia's government on Thursday faced angry demands to name a "traitor" former politician accused by the country's top spy of having "sold out" the country to a foreign power.

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos told Australia's parliament his country was on the "frontline" of a battle for regional peace Thursday, pledging resolve as he sought support in maritime disputes with China.