WORLD

President Joe Biden said Wednesday that the first US citizens were able to leave the war-hit Gaza Strip after weeks of diplomacy and mounting frustration by hundreds of US citizens trapped in the conflict.

A portrait of English playwright William Shakespeare and a speech from "A Midsummer Night's Dream" have been sent into space in a weather balloon to mark the 400th anniversary of the publication of his first collected works.

While the stakes could hardly be higher for American democracy, voters are increasingly turned off by the apparently inevitable rematch between Joe Biden and Donald Trump.

Uruguay's foreign minister resigned abruptly Wednesday, after the release of recordings in which he allegedly seeks to cover up information involving Sebastian Marset, an accused cocaine trafficker and subject of an international manhunt.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida announced a stimulus package worth more than $100 billion on Thursday as he tries to ease the pressure from inflation and rescue his premiership with his poll ratings at a record low.

President Joe Biden wants Congress to quickly pass billions of dollars in new aid for both Israel and Ukraine, but the Republican-controlled lower chamber on Thursday is set to consider a bill that puts Kyiv on the back burner.

More than 165,000 Afghans have fled Pakistan in the month since its government ordered 1.7 million people to leave or face arrest and deportation, officials said Thursday.

Storm Ciaran battered northern France with record winds of nearly 200 km per hour, killing a lorry driver, while southern England and other parts of western Europe remained on high alert Thursday amid warnings of flooding, blackouts and major travel disruptions.

From Angola to Hong Kong, North Korea is rapidly shuttering its overseas embassies, as Pyongyang's economy sputters and Kim Jong Un embraces 'new Cold War' diplomacy with Russia, experts say.

International funding for climate resilience in developing countries slumped in 2021 despite increasingly ferocious impacts, the United Nations said Thursday, as Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned action was "stalling" even as the need to protect people increases.

Yemen's Iran-backed Huthi rebels on Tuesday pledged more attacks against Israel if its war on Hamas in Gaza continues, saying it had already fired drones and ballistic missiles in three separate operations.

China's booming electric vehicle industry is fuelling a lithium rush in the Tibetan plateau that risks damaging the troubled region's fragile ecology and deepening rights violations, research published Wednesday said.

An accord signed a year ago between the rivals in Ethiopia's Tigray war has brought peace to the shattered region, but ignited yet another conflict in the increasingly fractured nation.

A mother guided her bawling five-year old boy across rocks close to Bambo, a town in eastern DR Congo, as mortar fire rained down nearby.

Donald Trump's two adult sons are expected to begin taking the witness stand this week in the civil trial for financial fraud that threatens to deal a heavy blow to his business empire.

Regular passengers of the "Tombouctou", a ferry whose route runs along the Niger River in northern Mali, are accustomed to hearing gunfire from the riverbank during their journeys.

Israeli troops pushed deeper into Gaza Tuesday, driving tanks and armoured bulldozers through the rubble of shattered buildings and hunting for Hamas militants who carried out the worst attack in Israel's history.

More than 10,000 Afghans living in Pakistan rushed to the borders on Tuesday, just hours before a deadline for 1.7 million people to leave Pakistan voluntarily or face arrest and deportation.

Tens of millions of people across northern China were under severe pollution warnings Tuesday, with authorities urging them to reduce outdoor activities as a greyish smog enveloped the region.

King Charles III and Queen Camilla began a state visit to Kenya on Tuesday, facing mounting calls to make an apology over Britain's bloody colonial past.

Three foreigners were among at least 45 people killed when Hurricane Otis lashed Acapulco last week, authorities said Monday, as Mexico's president promised to put the devastated beachside city "back on its feet."

Venezuela's Supreme Court on Monday suspended the outcome of an opposition primary vote, prompting Washington to warn it would "take action" if President Nicolas Maduro's government did not meet its commitments ahead of a 2024 election.

London's Jewish community has been on edge since Hamas's attack on Israel earlier this month, with security increased at synagogues, schools and other buildings.

French President Emmanuel Macron looked to cement his legacy, and take on political opponents, with the inauguration on Monday of a monument to the French language deep in far-right heartland.

At least four people were killed in the restive southern Philippines on Monday as millions turned out to vote for village leaders following months of deadly poll-related violence.

Russian police on Monday said they had arrested 60 people suspected of storming an airport in the Muslim-majority Caucasus republic of Dagestan, seeking to attack Jewish passengers coming from Israel.

Acapulco was struggling Sunday to recover from the extraordinarily powerful Hurricane Otis, which claimed 48 lives across southern Mexico and provoked widespread power outages and criticism of the government response.

Trade deal negotiations between European Union and Australia have collapsed despite earlier optimism, with the two sides exchanging blame on Monday for their failure.

Sudan's rival generals have returned to the negotiating table in Saudi Arabia, but the fighting shows no sign of easing as they wrestle to control the country's second-largest city.