POLITICS

Bhutanese voters have elected Tshering Tobgay to become prime minister for a second time after his party won nearly two-thirds of seats, the election commission said in results released Wednesday.

French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday was expected to name a new prime minister in a long-awaited cabinet reshuffle to reboot the final three years of his presidency.

Sheikh Hasina once helped rescue Bangladesh from military rule, but her time in power has seen the mass arrest of her political opponents and human rights sanctions against her security forces.

Tens of thousands of people gathered in southern Taiwan for "Super Sunday" rallies by three presidential candidates making a final weekend push before a crucial January 13 election.

Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu suspended three deputy ministers on Sunday for making "derogatory remarks" against Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the government said.

Two Republicans jostling for a distant second place behind Donald Trump in their race to be party flag-bearer took potshots at the former US president on Thursday, days before the first vote in the White House nomination process.

Former US president Donald Trump's businesses received at least $7.8 million from foreign governments including China during his time in the White House, a congressional report claimed Thursday.

Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina still grieves the assassination of her father -- the country's founder -- nearly 50 years ago, and her government ensures the nation grieves with her.

Sierra Leone on Wednesday charged former president Ernest Bai Koroma with treason and other offences for his alleged role in what authorities have called an attempted coup on November 26, authorities said.

South Korean opposition leader Lee Jae-myung narrowly escaped death when he was stabbed in the neck, a party lawmaker said Wednesday, as police were granted a warrant to search his assailant's property.

Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen expressed hopes on Monday for Taipei and Beijing to seek "long-term peaceful coexistence" and said future relations should be decided by Taiwan's "democratic procedures".

President Xi Jinping said Sunday the Chinese economy had grown "more resilient and dynamic" in 2023, despite financial figures continuing to disappoint as the post-Covid recovery stalls.

The US state of Maine on Thursday blocked former president Donald Trump from its Republican presidential primary ballot, the second state to disqualify him over his role in the January 2021 assault on the US Capitol.

Thousands of Argentines took to the streets of Buenos Aires on Wednesday, clashing with police as they protested a decree of sweeping economic reform and deregulation published by President Javier Milei.

Top Mexican and US officials said that they made progress Wednesday in emergency talks on curbing a surge in migration, which has become a major headache for President Joe Biden as he enters an election year.

A Taiwanese man has been charged with violating the island's election laws by arranging sponsored visits to China ahead of the January poll.

Guatemala's supreme court on Tuesday ordered the release of former anti-corruption prosecutor Virginia Laparra, who was sentenced in December 2022 to four years in prison for abuse of authority in a trial criticized by the international community.

Exiled Senegalese opposition figure Karim Wade, an ex-minister and the son of former head of state Abdoulaye Wade, Saturday said he had filed papers to contest presidential elections in February.

Moldovan President Maia Sandu on Sunday said she would seek a second term next year as she looks to steer the former Soviet republic to EU membership.

Rudy Giuliani, Donald Trump's former personal lawyer, filed for bankruptcy on Thursday, just days after being ordered to pay $148 million in damages for defaming two Georgia poll workers.

Suriname's ex-president Desi Bouterse will be jailed after losing his appeal against a 20-year prison sentence for the murder of political opponents over four decades ago, the prosecutor's office said Thursday.

The US Supreme Court played a critical role in deciding the 2000 presidential election when it halted a vote recount in Florida with Republican George W. Bush holding a razor-thin edge over Democrat Al Gore.

Voters in DR Congo are due to go to the polls again on Thursday, in a general election marked by severe logistical troubles that meant some polling stations never opened.

Despite a fierce campaign from Guatemala's ruling class to block Bernardo Arevalo from taking office, the president-elect told AFP he is confident he will be sworn in next month, vowing to rule "without fear."

Britain's ruling Conservatives face another potentially bruising by-election early next year after voters in a central English constituency ousted its Tory lawmaker following his suspension from parliament over misconduct allegations.

An appeals court in Colorado on Tuesday ruled Donald Trump cannot appear on the state's presidential primary ballot because of his involvement in the attack on the Capitol in January 2021.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Monday that he would seek deeper ties with Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban, during his second visit to the country within four months.

Former South African president Jacob Zuma on Saturday drove a new split in the ruling African National Congress, calling for a boycott of the party in a landmark 2024 election.

The Democratic Republic of Congo gears up for elections on Wednesday that could consolidate its democracy or unleash fresh violence as political tensions threaten to boil over.