WORLD

A Romanian court on Thursday granted an appeal by controversial influencer Andrew Tate, refusing to put him on trial over human trafficking charges for now, and referring the case back to prosecutors.

Thomas Johnson, 19, was sentenced to nine years and four months in prison for the June 2023 crash.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Thursday that there was a "flame of hope" in Syria following the fall of president Bashar al-Assad's regime but warned of significant challenges ahead.

A court on Thursday convicted a French man of aggravated rape for committing and orchestrating the mass rape of his now former wife Gisele Pelicot with dozens of strangers who he recruited online, after an over three month trial that shocked France.

At least 100 North Koreans deployed to support Russia's war effort in Ukraine have been killed since entering combat in December, South Korean lawmaker Lee Seong-kweun told reporters Thursday.

Asian markets sank Thursday and the dollar held gains following a severe sell-off on Wall Street that came after the Federal Reserve halved its rates outlook and boss Jerome Powell warned officials' focus was back on fighting inflation.

Seated in the audience at Macau's Dom Pedro V Theatre in the 1970s, 16-year-old Miguel de Senna Fernandes understood not a word of the "strange language" spoken on stage -- but right away he was mesmerised.

Foreign rescuers joined a hunt for survivors in the rubble of shattered buildings in earthquake-rocked Vanuatu on Thursday, with officials saying the toll of nine dead is set to rise.

A fire ripped through a karaoke bar in the Vietnamese capital, killing 11 people and injuring two others in a case of suspected arson, police said Thursday.

The French man who has admitted to enlisting dozens of strangers to rape his heavily-sedated wife on Thursday faces being jailed for up to 20 years as the court issues its verdicts after a three-month trial that shocked France and resonated around the world.

Russian President Vladimir Putin will hold his annual end-of-year press conference Thursday, almost three years into his Ukraine offensive and two days after a Kyiv-orchestrated killing of a general on the streets of Moscow.

Liverpool moved into the League Cup semi-finals as the holders won 2-1 against managerless Southampton, while Gabriel Jesus ended his goal drought with a hat-trick in Arsenal's 3-2 victory over Crystal Palace on Wednesday.

US president-elect Donald Trump urged Republican lawmakers Wednesday to scupper a cross-party deal to avert a fast-looming US government shutdown.

AT&T is requiring United States-based employees to return to the office, full-time, starting January 2025, abandoning its previous hybrid work model.

The haggard faces in the wreckage-and-water-strewn corridors betrayed the nerves and exhaustion of those soldiering on at the main hospital on the French archipelago of Mayotte, ravaged by a deadly cyclone last weekend.

Squirrels might look like adorable, nut-hoarding furballs, but some are ruthless predators that hunt, tear apart, and devour voles.

As Bitcoin's value rises to a staggering $108,000, luxury brands are exploring accepting cryptocurrency payments to attract wealthy customers and connect with crypto investors.

Danish health authorities asked the European Union to review two studies linking Novo Nordisk's diabetes drug, Ozempic, to a rare eye condition.

France's highest appeals court ordered former president Nicolas Sarkozy to wear an electronic tag for a year Wednesday -- a first for a former head of state -- after confirming his convictions for corruption and influence peddling.

A Saudi human rights activist appeared via a video link Wednesday at a UN forum in the kingdom to denounce the "silencing" of dissent under Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

France's trial of a man who drugged his wife so dozens of strangers could rape her while unconscious has been both ordinary and extraordinary, AFP journalists who have been covering it say.

Authorities in Australia are warning people to stay away from them over fears they are toxic.

France's highest appeals court on Wednesday confirmed a verdict against former president Nicolas Sarkozy for corruption and influence peddling, ordering him to wear an electronic tag for a year, a first for a former head of state.

An Uzbekistan man has been detained by authorities, suspected in the murder of Igor Kirillov, a senior general, and his assistant in a shocking attack in the heart of Russia.

After losing hope of finding his two brothers among those freed from Syrian jails, Ziad Alaywi was filled with dread, knowing there was only one place they were likely to be: a mass grave.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez's wife Begona Gomez testified in court on Wednesday in a probe into misappropriation allegations, one of several sensitive legal cases undermining the minority left-wing government.

The first commercial flight since the ouster of president Bashar al-Assad took off from Damascus airport on Wednesday, offering Syrians a glimmer of hope after years of war and decades of oppression.

The district of La Vigie on the French overseas territory of Mayotte was until last week a bustling hub of life.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky meets Wednesday with NATO chief Mark Rutte and key European leaders in Brussels to discuss "next steps" on Russia's war as Donald Trump prepares to take office in the United States.