WORLD

Israel has agreed to a series of three-day "humanitarian pauses" in Gaza to allow health officials to administer polio vaccinations to children in the territory, the World Health Organization said Thursday.

China's campaign of confrontation, from remote reefs in Southeast Asia to Taiwan and far-flung Japanese islands, is designed to wear down regional rivals competing with it for contested territories, analysts say.

Two women dominated Bangladeshi politics for decades. - Dynasties forged in blood - The decades-old contest between Zia and Hasina is a dynastic battle that predates the political career of both women.

Olena Semykina, the owner of a village shop in east Ukraine, voted for President Volodymyr Zelensky five and a half years ago, hoping the fresh-faced political newcomer would end the fighting unleashed by Russian proxy forces in 2014.

A radical far-left politician who wants to make peace with Russia's Vladimir Putin looks set to play a key role in regional elections in the former East Germany on Sunday.

Pope Francis embarks Monday on a 12-day trip to Southeast Asia, the longest and farthest of his papacy that will challenge the 87-year-old's increasingly fragile health.

Pacific leaders endorsed a major joint policing initiative and rebuffed moves from China's allies to sideline Taiwan on Friday, as they wrapped up a regional summit in Tonga.

Typhoon Shanshan weakened to a tropical storm Friday but was still dumping heavy rains as it slowly churned through Japan, triggering transport havoc and landslide warnings, with up to six people killed.

The king of New Zealand's Maori died on Friday after heart surgery, with aides saying the beloved 69-year-old monarch, praised as a symbol of national unity, had "passed to the great beyond".

A top UN aid official on Thursday questioned "what has become of our basic humanity," as the war in Gaza rages and humanitarian operations struggle to respond.

President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday defended a decision to grant French nationality to Telegram chief Pavel Durov, who faces a possible trial related to illegal content carried on his popular messaging app.

The head of the UN's nuclear watchdog hopes to visit Iran soon for talks with newly-elected Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, according to a confidential report seen by AFP on Thursday.

The US Army on Thursday took aim at Donald Trump's staff over a visit by the Republican presidential candidate to the country's most hallowed resting place for its war dead.

The 59-year-old Democrat insisted on CNN that she would be tough on illegal immigration and support controversial oil and gas fracking -- while sticking to her liberal background by pledging a fairer economy.

Film legend Errol Morris said the separation of thousands of migrant children from their parents by Donald Trump's US administration was "inhumane and cruel" as his new documentary about the policy premiered at the Venice Film Festival Thursday.

UK premier Keir Starmer was welcomed warmly Thursday in Paris by French leader Emmanuel Macron, as the new centre-left British government seeks to relaunch post-Brexit ties with Europe.

The United States has offered to escort Manila's resupply missions to outposts in the disputed South China Sea, the Philippine military chief said Thursday, following Beijing's intensifying efforts to block them.

Hong Kong pro-democracy news outlet Stand News and its two former chief editors were found guilty of sedition on Thursday, the first conviction of its kind since the city came under Chinese rule in 1997.

The death toll climbed Thursday as Israel pressed a large-scale military operation in the occupied West Bank for a second day, despite UN concerns it is "fuelling an already explosive situation".

Expectations are high that France and Serbia will sign a deal worth billions of euros to supply fighter jets to the Balkan country during a visit by President Emmanuel Macron to Belgrade that kicks off Thursday.

A Thai court on Thursday jailed a famous Spanish actor's son for life for the grisly murder of a Colombian plastic surgeon on a tropical holiday island, in a lurid case that has gripped Spain.

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.