WORLD

US President Joe Biden is looking forward to talks with Xi Jinping in the "coming weeks", top White House aide Jake Sullivan told the Chinese leader Thursday as they met for rare talks in Beijing.

US Vice President Kamala Harris will give her first interview Thursday since becoming the Democratic standard-bearer, after intense criticism from Republicans that she has been hiding from tough questions.

A barrage of attacks on Tim Walz fueled by misinformation over his support for LGBTQ communities has failed to dent the US vice presidential candidate's surging poll ratings, suggesting that voters are wearying of some "culture war" issues in a tight White House race.

Two months after the first Kenyan police officers arrived in Haiti, little progress has been made against the country's rapacious gangs -- and the buildup of an international policing mission appears stalled.

With the smell still lingering in its suburbs after Greece's worst wildfire this year, floods and pollution now threaten Athens, experts say.

A bill aimed at regulating powerful artificial intelligence models passed California's legislature on Wednesday, despite outcry that it could kill the technology it seeks to control.

One of Japan's strongest typhoons in decades dumped torrential rain across southern regions on Thursday, with one person missing and authorities warning of life-threatening flooding and landslides.

Taylor Swift has yet to weigh in on the US presidential race, but some of her superfans are already stumping for Kamala Harris.

On a platform near the east Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk, Anna Dvoryaninova waited for a train she never wanted to take, leaving her home behind as Russian forces push deeper into her native Donetsk region.

Israel launched a large-scale military operation Wednesday in the occupied West Bank, where the army said it killed nine Palestinian fighters, while the nearly 11-month Gaza war showed no sign of abating.

Pope Francis condemned Wednesday efforts to repel migrants and block their routes as a "grave sin", as he recalled those who lost their lives, including those "abandoned" in the desert.

Bangladesh's new authorities on Wednesday opened an investigation into hundreds of enforced disappearances by security forces during the rule of ousted premier Sheikh Hasina, the government said.

Voters in two former East German states will go to the polls Sunday in what could be a bad night for Chancellor Olaf Scholz's government, with the far-right AfD expected to make big gains.

Japan braced Wednesday for its strongest typhoon of the year, with authorities advising tens of thousands of people to evacuate and issuing the highest warning level for wind and storm surges on the main southern island of Kyushu.

SpaceX on Tuesday postponed once more its attempt at launching a daring orbital expedition featuring an all-civilian crew that is aiming to carry out the first-ever spacewalk by private citizens.

A surprise improvement in air quality in South Asia in 2022 drove a decline in global pollution, with favourable weather a likely factor, a new report said Wednesday.

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer meets with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Berlin on Wednesday to discuss a new partnership between the countries, on his first bilateral trip since taking office last month.

One month after a presidential vote it claims was stolen by incumbent Nicolas Maduro, Venezuela's opposition has called for mass rallies Wednesday to press for the recognition of its election "victory."

Kamala Harris returns to the campaign trail Wednesday with a blitz in the battleground state of Georgia, hoping to turn her momentum from the Democratic convention into a solid lead against Donald Trump.

Pavel Durov, the founder and chief of Telegram, is set to learn Wednesday whether he will face charges and even be remanded in custody after his weekend arrest by French authorities over alleged violations at the messaging app.

North Korea's Kim Jong Un oversaw the test-firing of a 240mm multiple rocket launcher equipped with a new "guiding system", state media said Wednesday, as Pyongyang continues to upgrade its arsenal.

Prosecutors on Tuesday filed a revised indictment of Donald Trump, pressing ahead with bombshell charges that he tried to overturn the 2020 US election after losing to Joe Biden.

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer warned Tuesday that his new government's first budget in just over two months will be "painful", asking the country to "accept short-term pain for long-term good".

President Emmanuel Macron faced an uphill battle Tuesday seeking fresh talks over a new government in France, with the political left refusing to take part after he rejected their candidate for prime minister.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg believes US government pressure on his social media platforms to take down certain Covid-19 content in 2021 was "wrong," and said he would resist similar attempts in the future, according to a letter submitted to a US congressional committee.

China is the "biggest disruptor" of peace in Southeast Asia, the Philippine defense chief said Tuesday, as tensions between Manila and Beijing over disputed reefs and waters in the South China Sea escalate.

US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and China's top diplomat Wang Yi said on Tuesday they were hoping for productive talks as they met in Beijing.

Japan slammed on Tuesday what it called the first confirmed incursion by a Chinese military aircraft into its airspace as a "serious violation" of its sovereignty, saying Beijing was becoming "increasingly active".

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres sent out a global climate "SOS" at a Pacific islands summit on Tuesday, unveiling research that shows the region's seas rising much more swiftly than global averages.