WORLD

US President Joe Biden told Americans Wednesday he quit the 2024 election to unite the country, saying in a historic Oval Office speech that it was time to pass the torch to "younger voices."

The tired troops moved through the forest in east Ukraine at dawn, imitating assault rifle fire while searching for non-existent Russians between the trees.

Rescuers aided by drones were continuing a desperate search on Wednesday for possible survivors of devastating landslides in an isolated area of southern Ethiopia that have claimed the lives of at least 229 people.

Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas's Fatah movement has agreed with Hamas to form a "national unity government" in post-war Gaza, but analysts are sceptical about the significance of the Beijing-brokered deal.

Earth withered through a second-straight day of record-breaking heat on July 22, the EU's climate monitor said Wednesday, as large parts of Europe, Asia and North America suffer blistering temperatures.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi hosted his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba in southern China on Wednesday, with both sides calling for peace as Russia's war grinds on against its neighbour.

Keir Starmer faces his first House of Commons grilling as UK prime minister on Wednesday, after suspending seven of his own Labour MPs for rebelling over a controversial welfare policy.

A passenger plane crashed on take-off in Kathmandu on Wednesday, with the pilot rescued from the flaming wreckage but all 18 others aboard killed, police in the Nepali capital told AFP. Nepal has a woeful track record on aviation safety and the Himalayan republic has seen a spate of deadly light plane and helicopter crashes over the decades.

Relentless rain drenched the northern Philippines on Wednesday, triggering floods in Manila and landslides in mountainous regions as Typhoon Gaemi intensified the seasonal monsoon.

Every day in a simple temple in an Indian village, Hindu priest Subhramanya Sharma prays to his god for JD Vance to become vice-president of the United States.

US President Joe Biden will give what could be his final Oval Office speech Wednesday to explain why he dropped out of November's election and deny that he will spend six months as a lame duck.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will deliver a landmark speech to the US Congress Wednesday, seeking to rally support at a time of tensions between his country and its main military backer over the war in Gaza.

Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Wednesday will launch a new initiative against world hunger ahead of an upcoming G20 meeting in Rio de Janeiro.

Israel swiftly condemned an agreement brokered by China Tuesday which Beijing said would bring Hamas into a "national reconciliation government" for post-war Gaza.

As Polish lawmakers debated easing stringent abortion laws, Warsaw-based lawyer Jerzy Podgorski was in court defending a man from the remote town of Pinczow charged with aiding his partner's abortion.

India's government will spend $24 billion on employment and training, it said Tuesday, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi looks to address uneven economic growth and mollify disgruntled voters after a surprising election setback last month.

With its castle, medieval tower and river-side beach, the western Ukrainian tourist town of Starokostiantyniv doesn't seem an obvious target for Russian missile and drone strikes.

After winning support from Democratic party heavyweights, Kamala Harris will test her potential candidacy with voters Tuesday at a campaign rally in Wisconsin, a critical "swing state" for her likely face-off with Donald Trump.

Donald Trump constantly attacked his Democratic opponent Joe Biden over his age and fitness, but the 78-year-old Republican could find those same arguments coming back to haunt him after the president ended his reelection bid.

Several western US states including California and Utah were battling wildfires on Monday as millions of Americans in the region were once again under heat alerts.

Britain accused Israel of allowing its troops to run "out of control" during a huge military operation in the occupied West Bank two decades ago, UK government archives showed Tuesday.

Doctored images, sexual slurs, racial innuendos -- false narratives around Kamala Harris surged online as she emerged as the Democratic frontrunner in the US presidential race, with researchers warning of an incoming flood of gendered disinformation.

When Joe Biden returns to the Oval Office on Tuesday after nearly a week at his beach home recovering from Covid, he risks being the lamest of lame ducks for his remaining six months in office.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is visiting Washington to speak at the United States Congress this week in a context of tense relations between the two countries over the Gaza war.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken heads to Southeast Asia this week to deepen ties with Washington's strategic allies, an official said Monday, as the United States seeks to bolster its regional stance against an increasingly assertive China.

Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said Monday he had been "scared" by Venezuelan counterpart Nicolas Maduro's warning of a "bloodbath" if he loses elections on Sunday.

Last-minute US presidential candidate Kamala Harris is racing to craft her image -- and social media users are moving even more swiftly to signal support, flooding the internet with jokes about coconuts and "brat summers."

Prime Minister Keir Starmer vowed Monday to reduce the UK's "long-term reliance on overseas workers" as he unveiled a new skills training organisation aimed at boosting productivity and economic growth.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez will testify on July 30 in a preliminary corruption inquiry into his wife Begona Gomez's business ties, a Madrid court said Monday, an issue that caused him to consider resigning three months ago.