WORLD

Secretary of State Antony Blinken voiced guarded hope Wednesday that the United States would be able to support a new UN Security Council resolution on Gaza, with a sticking point on access for aid.

Among the nations condemning Israel's war in Gaza, one has stood out -- Russia had built a growing friendship with Israel, but that dalliance is over, analysts said, erased by the shifting sands of Middle East geopolitics.

The United States released an ally of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in exchange for 10 American detainees and a fugitive dubbed "Fat Leonard" in a sweeping prisoner swap deal Wednesday between the rival governments.

France appointed its first woman domestic intelligence chief Wednesday, with top police officer Celine Berthon stepping up to head the General Directorate for Internal Security (DGSI).

Argentina's new leader Javier Milei unveiled Wednesday a series of measures to deregulate the country's struggling economy, eliminating or changing more than 300 rules via presidential decree, including on rent and labor practices.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un warned Pyongyang will not hesitate to launch a nuclear attack if "provoked with nukes", state media said Thursday, while Seoul and its allies called for "dialogue without preconditions".

More low temperature records tumbled across China on Thursday, as the country endures a persistent cold snap that has crowned a year of extreme weather.

Israel has ordered more evacuations in southern Gaza's main city as diplomats pressed on with efforts to secure a pause in the war that Hamas says has claimed 20,000 lives.

Chinese authorities are facing a "race against time" to ensure victims of the deadliest earthquake in years can be sheltered from freezing winter temperatures, a local official told AFP on Thursday.

The UN Security Council on Thursday will try once again to pass a resolution calling for a halt in fighting between Israel and Hamas after previous efforts to win Washington's backing fell short.

The United States has charged an Iranian and a Chinese national with allegedly supplying microelectronics to Iran for use in the drone program of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

An Indian court has weighed into one of the country's most bitter religious disagreements by greenlighting cases on whether a mosque in the holy city of Varanasi should be opened to Hindu worshippers.

The leader of Hamas travelled to Egypt on Wednesday as hopes grew that Israel and the Palestinian militant group may be inching toward another truce and hostage release deal in the Gaza war.

Chinese President Xi Jinping said Wednesday that maintaining close ties with Russia is a "strategic choice", calling for deeper bilateral cooperation during a meeting with Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin in Beijing, state media reported.

A French court on Wednesday sentenced former Rwandan doctor Sosthene Munyemana to 24 years in prison for his involvement in the 1994 genocide of Tutsis in his native East African country.

A French court on Tuesday sentenced the ex-wife of serial killer Michel Fourniret to life in prison for her role in three murders by her former husband.

The Democratic and Republican leaders of the US Senate said Tuesday that Washington will not be able to approve new aid for Ukraine before year's end, as the two sides continue to seek a compromise.

Survivors of China's deadliest earthquake in years huddled in makeshift aid tents despite freezing temperatures on Wednesday, too scared to return to homes made dangerous by the disaster.

Polling stations opened Wednesday in a high-stakes Democratic Republic of Congo general election pitting the incumbent President Felix Tshisekedi against a fragmented opposition, while much of the east of the country is mired in conflict.

Israel faced another round of global pressure on Tuesday for a ceasefire in Gaza with a new UN vote and fresh Western diplomatic efforts, although the United States vowed to continue arming its ally.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will take questions from journalists on Tuesday at an end-of-year press conference that comes with his military under pressure on the front and allies wavering on aid.

Yemen's Iran-backed Huthi rebels said Tuesday they would not halt attacks on Red Sea shipping despite the announcement by the United States of a new maritime protection force.

Rescuers in remote villages of northwest China dug through the rubble of collapsed homes on Tuesday after China's deadliest earthquake in years killed at least 118 people and injured hundreds more.

Fourteen people were killed and 178 others injured after a powerful explosion and fire at the main fuel depot in Guinea rocked the centre of the capital Conakry early on Monday, causing substantial damage and bringing the city to a standstill.

A 46-year-old man is facing drunk driving charges after his car crashed into a US Secret Service vehicle attached to President Joe Biden's motorcade, police said Monday.

French MPs and senators on Monday sought to hammer out a compromise over a beleaguered immigration bill as President Emmanuel Macron's government hoped to salvage what is seen as a flagship reform of his second term.

NASA on Monday announced it had used a state-of-the-art laser communication system on a spaceship 19 million miles (31 million kilometers) away from Earth -- to send a high-definition cat video.

A volcano in Iceland was erupting on Tuesday, with geysers of molten lava shooting into the pitch-black night sky after weeks of seismic activity had the region southwest of the capital on high alert.

Rescue teams on Tuesday evacuated a flood-ravaged town in northeastern Australia, racing to airlift hundreds of people to safety before they run out of food and water.