WORLD

Chinese policymakers have struggled to reignite growth since the end of strict Covid-19 pandemic health curbs in late 2022. The world's second-largest economy is beset by a debt crisis in the property sector, persistently low consumption and high youth unemployment.

Biden -- diagnosed with a cold, according to his campaign -- looked all of his 81 years onstage, speaking in a halting, hoarse voice and missing key opportunities to forcefully and coherently push back against Trump.

From the controversial Louvre Pyramid in Paris to the Bank of China Tower in Hong Kong, Pei created world landmarks that blended modernity with history, often using stark structures and sharp lines.

Tensions between Moscow and Washington soared after the Kremlin accused Ukraine of attacking the Russian-annexed Crimean peninsula with a US missile on Sunday, killing four people including two children.

Hundreds of people die every year in India from cheap alcohol made in backstreet distilleries, but this case in Tamil Nadu state is one of the deadliest in recent years.

China claims democratic Taiwan as part of its territory and has refused to rule out using force to bring the self-ruled island under its control.

The troops and tanks entered Plaza Murillo, a historic square where the presidency and Congress are situated, in the afternoon, prompting global condemnation of an attack on democracy.

Pyongyang "successfully conducted the separation and guidance control test of individual mobile warheads" on Wednesday," KCNA reported, adding that the "separated mobile warheads were guided correctly to the three coordinate targets."

Patients in Gaza's few standing hospitals are dying in droves from infections resulting from a lack of protective gear and soap, even when they survive their horrific blast injuries.

The 52-year-old landed in Canberra the night before, hours after pleading guilty in a US Pacific island court to a single count of revealing military secrets.

The demonstrations were sparked last week by the 2024 finance bill and took Ruto's government by surprise as the initially peaceful rallies gathered momentum across the country.

The border between the two countries has seen daily exchanges of fire between Israeli forces and Iran-backed Hezbollah militants ever since the October 7 attack on Israel by Hezbollah's ally Hamas, which triggered the war in Gaza.

The internet and electricity shut off. A shell landed near Poroshyna's home. Ukrainian forces struggled to hold positions that had been under their control for months.

NATO's 32 nations on Wednesday appointed outgoing Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte as the alliance's next head, handing him the job at a crucial moment with Russia on the march in Ukraine and US elections looming.

Fighting raged Wednesday between Israeli troops and Palestinian militants in Gaza's southern city of Rafah, witnesses said, as fears grow of a wider regional war drawing in Lebanese Hamas ally Hezbollah.

Austria's highly controversial former foreign minister Karin Kneissl -- who now lives in Russia -- told AFP she feels slandered as Vienna reels from an unfolding Russian spying scandal.

North Korea test-fired what appeared to be a hypersonic missile on Wednesday, but the launch ended in a mid-air explosion, an official from Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff said.

Kenyan protest organisers called Wednesday for fresh peaceful marches against controversial tax hikes, as the death toll from nationwide demonstrations climbed to 13, an official from the leading doctors' association told AFP. The mainly youth-led rallies began mostly peacefully last week, with thousands of people marching across the country against the tax increases, but tensions sharply escalated Tuesday, as police opened fire on demonstrators who stormed parliament.

South African scientists on Tuesday injected radioactive material into live rhino horns to make them easier to detect at border posts in a pioneering project aimed at curbing poaching.

Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell said that China has indicated in interactions with the United States that it is "anxious" after Putin last week signed a defense deal with Pyongyang.

The site has been in the UN organization's sights because of British government plans to construct a controversial road tunnel near the world heritage site in southwestern England.

WikiLeaks said Assange was freed on bail from prison in London, where he has been held for five years as he fought extradition to the United States which sought to prosecute him for revealing military secrets.

The couple arrived in Britain on Saturday, and carried out informal engagements over the weekend, including an audience with Japanese nationals in the UK and a visit to the Thames Barrier.

The mainly Gen-Z-led demonstrations have taken President William Ruto's government by surprise, with the Kenyan leader saying over the weekend that he was ready to speak to the protesters.

A consortium led by investigative outlet Forbidden Stories and involving around 50 journalists from 13 organizations including AFP, The Guardian and the Arab Reporters for Investigative Journalism group (ARIJ) took part in the four-month probe.

Israeli forces launched more deadly strikes, with 13 people killed across two schools and a home hit in Gaza City, according to the Hamas-run territory's civil defense agency.

The landmark move is aimed in particular at sending a vote of confidence in Ukraine's future as Moscow has momentum on the battlefield almost two-and-a-half years into the Kremlin's invasion.

An AFP tally last week, based on official statements and reports from diplomats involved in their countries' responses, put the toll at more than 1,100.

As the sun sets over Zimbabwe's Matobo Hills, boys throw stones to chase baboons away.