WORLD

England World Cup winner and Manchester United great Bobby Charlton, described by the club as a "giant of the game", has died at the age of 86, it was announced on Saturday.

Heinrich Klaasen made a brilliant World Cup century as South Africa thrashed England by a mammoth 229 runs in Mumbai on Saturday to leave the champions' title defence hanging by a thread as they suffered a record defeat in a one-day international.

Two weeks after Kibbutz Beeri lost 10 percent of its population in the bloody Hamas attack, Israeli soldiers are stationed within sight, primed for a looming ground invasion of Gaza.

Shocked by images of dead children in Gaza, Mustafa al-Sayyid quickly whisked his family to the closest shelter when Israeli strikes began near his village in southern Lebanon this week.

The first aid trucks arrived in the war-torn Gaza Strip from Egypt on Saturday, bringing humanitarian relief to the Hamas-controlled Palestinian enclave suffering what the UN chief labelled a "godawful nightmare".

One day Dimche Ackov had enough of the stress and pollution of urban life and chucked in his job and headed out into the North Macedonia countryside for a fresh start.

From fringe far-right leader to a "friend" of Joe Biden, Italy's Giorgia Meloni marks one year in office this weekend having confounded expectations.

Women writers are taking the Chinese science fiction scene by storm, with their increasing prominence one of the genre's most noticeable trends, according to participants at a major convention in Chengdu this week.

When a dozen Latin American presidents and foreign ministers meet on Sunday in Mexico, they'll face a huge task: finding a solution to migration flows roiling two continents as people make their way to the United States.

The US budget deficit for the past year widened to $1.7 trillion, government data showed on Friday, in a development that could add pressure on President Joe Biden as he seeks reelection in 2024.

Will Jordan scored a hat-trick of tries as New Zealand outclassed Argentina 44-6 on Friday to set up a Rugby World Cup final against the winner of the second semi-final between England and defending champions South Africa.

Relatives of some of the 200 people taken hostage by Islamist group Hamas in its October 7 assault in Israel urged the Red Cross Friday for help, saying more had to be done to free them.

President Joe Biden and European Union leaders delivered a message of unity Friday on the Israel-Hamas and Ukraine wars, despite worries that political paralysis in Washington could hamper US aid for its allies.

Kyiv's gigantic Motherland monument representing a woman warrior towering over the capital reopened for public viewing Friday with its Soviet hammer and sickle emblem replaced with the Ukrainian trident.

Soldiers are everywhere and the last residents are hurriedly packing in the northern town of Kiryat Shmona where Israel fears Lebanon's Hezbollah could open up a second front in its war with Hamas.

US President Joe Biden urgently requested Friday military aid for Ukraine and Israel in a massive $106 billion national security package, but Republican paralysis in Congress means it will hit an immediate wall.

The Republican-controlled US House of Representatives was closing out a third week of dysfunction Friday, no nearer to replacing its ousted leader and with no realistic plan to end one of its worst institutional crises in decades.

Fadwa al-Najjar said she walked for 10 hours with her family from the north of war-torn Gaza to reach a UN camp for displaced Palestinians, witnessing terrifying scenes along the road.

Two people died and families were trapped in flooded homes in Scotland on Friday as Storm Babet moved east after pounding Ireland.

Christiane Benner will become the first woman to lead Germany's biggest union when she takes the helm at IG Metall next week.

Construction materials for fixing dilapidated parts of the grounded warship have been delivered to Ayungin Shoal, which is located around 104 nautical miles from Palawan island and is within the Philippines' exclusive economic zone.

Trucks stuffed with international aid for Gaza should be rolling "in the next day or so," the United Nations said Friday, with Palestinians desperate for life-saving supplies after relentless bombing from Israel, still reeling from its bloodiest-ever attack.

The European Union's self-styled digital enforcer, Thierry Breton, doesn't mince his words when it comes to big tech.

Desperately needed international aid piled up Friday near Gaza, with Palestinians in dire need of food and water after relentless bombing by Israel, still reeling from the bloodiest attack in its history.

A pair of jaguars discovered in a cage on a ranch exposed a cruel new fashion among Ecuador's drug lords.

Britain's ruling Conservative Party suffered two damaging by-election defeats to Labour on Friday, boding ill for Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and his party's chances at the next general election.

Asian markets fell and oil prices extended gains Friday on worries that an expected ground invasion of Gaza by Israel will spark a wider conflict in the Middle East.

Australians on Friday celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Sydney Opera House, lighting up the sails of a harbourside "masterpiece" that has become an international icon.

President Joe Biden made an impassioned call for the United States to show global leadership by backing Israel and Ukraine, saying in a speech from the Oval Office Thursday that defeating Hamas and Russia was a vital US interest.