WORLD

South Korea's impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol had his mug shot taken and underwent a physical check before spending his first night in jail as a criminal suspect, a prison officer said Monday.

The mother of US journalist Austin Tice, who went missing in Syria in 2012, said on Monday in Damascus that the war-torn country's new leadership was committed to finding him.

Chinese people on the streets of Beijing said Monday they were keeping expectations low ahead of the inauguration of Donald Trump, as his second White House stint could push China-US ties into a new era of uncertainty.

A fragile ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war was holding Monday, following the dramatic exchange of three hostages for 90 Palestinian prisoners in an agreement aimed at ending more than 15 months of war in Gaza.

Donald Trump will be sworn in for a historic second term as US president Monday, promising a new "golden age" for America as the world braces for a return of his unpredictable leadership.

The trial of a teenager accused of killing three young girls in a stabbing spree last year that sparked the UK's most violent riots in a decade is set to begin Monday.

Military medic Natalya carried a jug of water blessed by priests at the Sviatogirsk monastery in east Ukraine as she celebrated Orthodox Epiphany in a Russian-affiliated church, despite the war.

Exhausted Los Angeles firefighters on Sunday braced for the return of yet more dangerously strong gusts, as California's governor slammed "hurricane-force winds of misinformation" surrounding blazes that have killed 27 people.

TikTok restored service in the United States Sunday after briefly going dark, as a law banning the wildly popular app on national security grounds came into effect.

Israel's security cabinet met Friday to vote on a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal that should take effect this weekend.

A Pakistan court on Friday convicted former Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi in a landmark graft case, sentencing Khan to 14 years in prison.

US President-elect Donald Trump said Thursday the ceasefire and hostage release agreement between Israel and Hamas would have never been reached without pressure from him and his incoming administration.

China said on Friday its population fell for the third year running in 2024, extending a downward streak after more than six decades of growth as the country faces a rapidly ageing population and persistently low birth rates.

North Korea condemned on Friday joint military drills between South Korea, Japan and the United States held this week, threatening to respond by exercising its right to self-defence "more intensively".

South Korean prosecutors asked a court Friday for a new arrest warrant for detained President Yoon Suk Yeol as he again refused questioning by investigators probing his failed martial law bid.

On one side of the street lie the ashes of ruined houses, lost to the huge blazes that defeated Los Angeles firefighters when hydrants ran dry.

The truce, announced by mediators Qatar and the United States on Wednesday, would take effect on Sunday and involve the exchange of Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners, after which the terms of a permanent end to the war would be finalised.

US businesses across the country are concerned about the economic impact of President-elect Donald Trump's proposals to raise tariffs and sharply curtail immigration, the Federal Reserve said Wednesday.

Impeached leader Yoon Suk Yeol made history this week as the first sitting South Korean president to be arrested, ending a weeks-long standoff.

Israel's cabinet was expected to meet Thursday to approve a ceasefire and hostage-release deal with Hamas, Israeli media reported, a day after mediators announced an agreement they hope will lead to a permanent end to the Gaza war.

US President Joe Biden urged Americans Wednesday to stand guard against a "dangerous" oligarchy forming under Donald Trump as he delivered a dark farewell address before stepping down next week.

When the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles went up in smoke, Alexander Swedelson lost his apartment, but also a bit of his identity: the flames ravaged the businesses he loved, the trails he ran, and even the place he fished.

Crowds of Gazans chanted and embraced on Wednesday as news spread that a ceasefire and hostage release deal had been reached between Israel and Hamas aimed at ending more than 15 months of war in the Palestinian territory.

Qatar and the United States announced Wednesday a ceasefire and hostage-release deal between Israel and Hamas, adding that they hoped it would pave the way for a permanent end to the war in Gaza.

Thousands of islanders are set to be evacuated after a volcano erupted in eastern Indonesia, spewing a towering column of smoke and ash into the atmosphere, officials said Wednesday.

Beijing on Wednesday said it "firmly opposes" a US move to effectively bar Chinese technology from smart cars in the American market, saying alleged risks to national security were "without any factual basis".

Donald Trump's policies are not likely to cause inflation to reignite as many analysts fear, one of the president-elect's longtime economic advisors told AFP Tuesday, less than a week before Trump returns to the White House.

Above the roaring fires devastating parts of Los Angeles is an incongruous sight: air tankers dropping gallons of bright red and Barbie-pink slurry over forest, homes, cars, and anything else that might lie in the blazes' path.

Billionaires Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg will attend Donald Trump's inauguration next week, NBC news reported Tuesday, further highlighting the tech moguls' efforts to develop closer ties with the incoming president.