AFP news

Netanyahu will also meet Vice President Kamala Harris -- the likely new Democratic presidential nominee -- at the White House on Thursday, one day after he gave a speech to the US Congress vowing "total victory" against Hamas.

Fighting has rocked the town of Lashio, home to the military's northeastern command, since July 3 when an alliance of ethnic armed groups renewed an offensive against junta troops.

Nissan tumbled more than 10 percent on Thursday after the Japanese automaker issued a profit warning, citing "intense sales competition", especially in the United States.

President Vladimir Putin held talks with Syrian counterpart Bashar al-Assad in Moscow amid calls for Russian mediation to cool tensions between Turkey and Syria.

The death toll from landslides in a remote region of southern Ethiopia has risen to 257, the United Nations said Thursday, warning that the number of victims could soar to up to 500.

Last week's violence killed at least 193 people including several police officers, according to an AFP count of victims reported by police and hospitals, in one of the biggest upheavals of Hasina's 15-year tenure.

As the Israeli team settled into the Athletes' Village, the IOC studied a letter from the Palestine Olympic Committee asking for a ban on Israel, citing the bombings of the besieged Gaza Strip as a breach of the Olympic truce.

It is the first time the South Korean leader's office in downtown Seoul, which is protected by scores of soldiers and a no-fly zone, has been directly hit by any of the thousands of trash-carrying balloons launched by Pyongyang since May.

Paris Digital Park, which towers over four-storey apartment blocks and is owned by US firm Digital Realty, is one of more than 70 centers that ring the French capital -- more than a third of the country's total.

Washington has been increasingly critical of the mounting toll on civilians from more than nine months of war in the narrow coastal territory, while protests in Israel by families of hostages taken by Hamas are also causing headaches for Netanyahu at home.

The new payment system -- which includes verification of the source of the funds, and immediate conversion of the payments into traditional currency -- will be rolled out from the end of July, it said.

With the world's eyes already on a looming clash between Vice President Kamala Harris and Donald Trump, Biden will insist in his address to the nation that he still has work to do despite his historic decision to bow out.

The USA just about remain the biggest draw in women's soccer despite disappointing recent results and the departures of several veteran stars.

Typhoon Gaemi, packing sustained wind speeds of 190 kilometers (118 miles) per hour, also affected Japan and the Philippines -- which announced government offices would close for the day.

In the densely populated capital, rescuers were deployed across the city to help evacuate people from low-lying homes after downpours turned streets into rivers, trapping vehicles.

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.

Starmer suspended the Labor rebels late Tuesday after they backed a motion demanding the removal of the contentious two-child limit on benefits introduced by the previous Conservative government.

China presents itself as a neutral party in the war and says it is not sending lethal assistance to either side, unlike the United States and other Western nations.

Israel's footballers take on Mali in the men's competition, under the watchful eye of 1,000 police officers, with authorities erecting an "anti-terrorist perimeter" and bracing for possible disruption around the stadium.

The agreement, signed by more than a dozen Palestinian factions on Tuesday, aims to find common ground for future Palestinian political institutions, which are currently divided between the Fatah-dominated Palestinian Authority in the occupied West Bank and Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

Humanitarian agencies were also scrambling to rush emergency relief aid to the stricken community after the deadliest such incident recorded in Ethiopia, a country highly vulnerable to climate-related disasters.

On a 10-day trip that will see him visit Vietnam, Laos, Japan, the Philippines, Singapore and Mongolia, Blinken will carry a message of US commitment to its allies in the region, said Daniel Kritenbrink, a senior US State Department official.

China presents itself as a neutral party in the war and says it is not sending lethal assistance to either side, unlike the United States and other Western nations.

Nvidia, Broadcom and Texas Instruments were among the chip companies that rose more than two percent.

Pogacar won a third Tour de France title in Nice on Sunday. Victory also gave him the first Giro d'Italia-Tour de France double since Marco Pantani in 1998.

Foreign Minister Israel Katz insisted that "Hamas rule will be crushed" and accused Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, whose Fatah faction signed the deal, of embracing the group whose October 7 attacks triggered the war.

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 Vice President Kamala Harris, 59, on course to become the Democratic nominee, Trump will be a much older candidate and face an even brighter spotlight on any hint of decline.

On April 6, 1896, the first modern Olympic Games opened in the Panathenaic Stadium in Athens, newly restored in white marble, in front of 80,000 spectators, some in traditional Greek attire, others in suits.