WORLD

A Stockholm court will on Thursday hand down its verdict against a Russian-Swede accused of passing Western technology to Russia's military, with prosecutors seeking a five-year sentence.

At the cemetery in the town of Aguimes, on the Spanish island of Gran Canaria, plaques marked the burial vaults holding the remains of 15 migrants found dead on board a boat.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will mark Turkey's centenary Sunday by honouring the post-Ottoman republic's revered founder, while chipping away at the foundation of his secular state.

The Israel-Hamas conflict has reached its 20th day with Israel increasing the number of hostages being held by Hamas to 224 and the Israeli troops assassinating another Hamas commander.

EU leaders will on Thursday debate calling for a "humanitarian pause" in Israel's war with Hamas, as the bloc grapples with another conflict on its fringes alongside Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

A dig in northern Iraq has unearthed a 2,700-year-old alabaster sculpture of the winged Assyrian deity Lamassu, which was found largely intact despite its large dimensions.

China's top diplomat opens talks Thursday in Washington as he readies a potential summit between Presidents Xi Jinping and Joe Biden, who ahead of talks vowed to defend Asian allies.

The UN Security Council on Wednesday failed again to take action on the Israel-Hamas war, with Russia and China vetoing a US-led draft resolution and a text led by Moscow drawing insufficient support.

US President Joe Biden said Wednesday that Israel has the right to respond to the October 7 Hamas attack but must do everything it can to protect civilians.

A virtual unknown beyond the shaded verandas and air-conditioned municipal halls of the Deep South, Louisiana congressman Mike Johnson is emblematic of the broader ideological and partisan divides that shape US politics.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Wednesday rejected the "misrepresentations" of his remarks a day earlier on Palestinian grievances that infuriated Israel.

American and allied forces deployed in Iraq and Syria as part of an international anti-jihadist coalition have been repeatedly targeted by drone and missile attacks this month.

The Sudanese army and paramilitaries -- at war with each other for six months -- said Wednesday they had accepted an invitation to resume US- and Saudi-brokered negotiations.

After weeks of chaos and vicious infighting, US Republicans were hopeful Wednesday that the party can finally rally round its latest nominee for House speaker -- a staunch Donald Trump ally who spearheaded legal efforts to overturn the 2020 election.

India's growth has been consistent in the post pandemic years, the report says. However, despite positive forecasts, some experts say that India lacks manufacturing and industrial competitiveness.

The Sudanese army said Wednesday it has accepted an invitation to resume US- and Saudi-brokered talks aimed at ending more than six months of conflict with the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.

Hong Kong leader John Lee used his policy address on Wednesday to sound the alarm on the threat of "soft resistance" -- a vague term used by Chinese politicians to signal a new chapter in their crackdown against dissent.

Art is "probably the only help one has to cope" in a world being traumatised by the wars in Gaza and Ukraine, one of Austria's most famous artists told AFP. "What is taking place is depressing," said Gottfried Helnwein as a retrospective of his work opened Wednesday at Vienna's Albertina gallery.

Russia claimed Wednesday it was exhausting Ukraine's army, 20 months into a conflict in which neither side has made recent significant gains.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Wednesday he was cancelling plans to visit Israel because of its "inhumane" war against Hamas militants in Gaza.

The Israel-Palestine conflict began in the mid-20th century when Israel was established in 1948, leading to displacement and tensions with Palestinians. Rooted in historical, religious, and territorial disputes, the conflict continues to this day, with peace efforts and violence marking its history.

Jawaher al-Aqraa says it will be a "miracle" if she survives the Gaza war but in the meantime she is singing to "block out" the roar of Israeli fighter jets over the Palestinian territory.

Some of the miners who stayed underground for more than two days in a standoff between rival South African labour unions began returning to the surface Wednesday, their representatives said.

Japan's top court said on Wednesday that requiring transgender people to be sterilised in order to change their legal gender was unconstitutional.

The raging war between Israel and Hamas is already battering the economies of nearby countries, the managing director of the International Monetary Fund told a Saudi investor forum on Wednesday.

The candidates for next year's Indonesian presidential election were set Wednesday, with septuagenarian former special forces general Prabowo Subianto and his running mate, the president's son, seen as the frontrunners.

Hoang Thi Minh Hong had worried for months she could become the next environmental activist swept up in Vietnam's crackdown, so she closed her NGO and began keeping a low profile.

Hong Kong leader John Lee said Wednesday that the semi-autonomous city would create its own national security law in 2024, four years after Beijing imposed sweeping legislation aimed at silencing dissent.

Demonstrators and police clashed Tuesday in Panama as protests over a copper mine spilled into their fifth day, with President Laurentino Cortizo vowing he would prosecute acts of "vandalism."