WORLD

Colombia's ELN guerrilla group on Thursday freed the father of Liverpool footballer Luis Diaz, ending a 12-day ordeal by handing the kidnapped man over to a humanitarian mission.

Israel has agreed to daily four-hour pauses in northern Gaza to let civilians flee, the White House said Thursday, even as President Joe Biden said there was no chance of a full ceasefire.

France hosted a conference Thursday on humanitarian aid for Gaza calling for a "humanitarian pause" so countries can "work towards a ceasefire", as the Palestinian territory remained under bombardment by Israel following Hamas' October attack.

The ISA ultimately decided not to decide the fate of deep sea mining Wednesday, setting up a final decision next year.

As Turkey's relations with the European Union come under strain over its democratic standards, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's outspoken pro-Palestinian stance on the war between Israel and Hamas is further testing ties.

Germany announced on Thursday a huge relief package including tax cuts on electricity for the manufacturing sector, in a bid to shore up an economy that many fear could end the year in recession.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz pledged Thursday to protect Germany's Jews against a "shameful" upsurge in anti-Semitism in the wake of the Israel-Hamas war, on the anniversary of the Nazi Kristallnacht pogrom that began the Holocaust.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has clinched a controversial deal to remain in power by offering amnesty to Catalan separatists, raising tensions across the country.

British interior minister Suella Braverman sparked outrage on Thursday for accusing police of double standards before a politically charged pro-Palestinian rally on Armistice Day, the latest incendiary rhetoric from the hardline Conservative.

Israeli troops and Hamas were locked in heavy, close quarters fighting in Gaza City on Thursday, including a 10-hour battle that Israel said toppled one of the Palestinian militants' "strongholds".

French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday called for a "ceasefire" in Gaza when he opened a conference on aid for the Palestinian territory, under bombardment by Israel since the October 7 attack by Hamas.

Spain's prime minister has clinched agreement with Catalan separatists, a source told AFP on Thursday, in a deal that will enable him to remain in power but that has raised tensions and sparked protests in the country.

Thwarted Thai election winner Pita Limjaroenrat vowed Thursday to run for prime minister again, defying conservative forces that blocked him from the job earlier in the year and despite a looming court case.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday condemned North Korea for sending arms to help the Russian invasion of Ukraine, as he held meetings with top officials in key ally South Korea.

Israeli air strikes pounded Gaza City Thursday as soldiers battled street-by-street with Hamas militants, and tens of thousands of Palestinians desperate for safety fled their homes southwards in the besieged territory.

It's the 34th day of the Israel-Hamas conflict, and as the Israeli army is reportedly closing in on Al Shifa Hospital, which Israel claims has an underground tunnel complex that houses Hamas terrorists, Iran proxies are attacking Israel, even targeting U.S. military assets in Syria.

Risa Yamada grew up fatherless and struggled to find consistent work until she stumbled on an intriguing job listing: one of a growing number of advertisements posted on social media by Japanese criminal gangs.

Maria Catarina Sumarsih protests weekly near Indonesia's presidential palace, hoping to get justice for her university student son who was shot dead by the army after the 1998 fall of dictator Suharto.

Crying in a hospital bed with a nebuliser mask on his tiny face, one-month-old Ayansh Tiwari has a thick, hacking cough.

Most Asian stocks crept back up Thursday after another positive day on Wall Street, with focus on upcoming speeches by Federal Reserve officials, while oil edged back after a second successive plunge fuelled by demand doubts.

Russian President Vladimir Putin visits Kazakhstan on Thursday, while Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Iranian counterpart Ebrahim Raisi are expected in Uzbekistan, amid renewed diplomatic interest in the region.

Without proof, or any complaints filed, claims of electoral fraud have been shared tens, sometimes hundreds of thousands of times on social media accounts backing Argentina's ultra-libertarian presidential candidate Javier Milei.

US warplanes carried out a strike on an Iran-linked weapons storage facility in eastern Syria on Wednesday in response to attacks against American personnel, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said.

Gaza City's suburbs began to appear after about 30 minutes of navigating broken roads.

Turkey teetered on the edge of political crisis Wednesday as one top court filed a criminal complaint against members of another over its order to release a jailed opposition politician.

The UK's National Crime Agency (NCA) on Wednesday issued a red alert to the financial sector warning that Russia was using gold to evade sanctions imposed after it invaded Ukraine.

Ivanka Trump, the former US president's daughter, took the stand on Wednesday in the civil fraud trial threatening to cripple the family business empire.

Russian military courts on Wednesday sentenced two Ukrainian soldiers to 19 and 20 years in prison for allegedly shooting civilians in separate incidents in Mariupol in 2022.

The number of Afghans coming home from Iran has doubled in the past month, a top border official said Wednesday, with returnees reporting growing pressure to leave.