WORLD

Russia said Thursday that it plans to raise defence spending by almost 70 percent next year, funnelling massive resources into its Ukraine offensive to fight what it calls a "hybrid war" unleashed by the West.

Nagorno-Karabakh's long and bloody dream of independence ended on Thursday with a decree declaring that the ethnic Armenian statelet in Azerbaijan "ceases to exist" at the end of the year.

Gang-plagued Haiti is sinking further into bloodshed and lawlessness, the United Nations chief warned in a report Wednesday, urging the international community to provide security and financial aid to the troubled Caribbean nation.

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) on Wednesday began hearing a case brought by six Portuguese youths against 32 nations for not doing enough to stop global warming, the latest bid to secure climate justice through the courts.

Next week's Nobel Prize announcements will celebrate a string of groundbreaking achievements, but with conflicts raging around the globe, experts solicited about possible Peace Prize winners are scratching their heads.

European maritime companies are ditching their old ships for scrap on Bangladeshi beaches in dangerous and polluting conditions that have killed workers pulling them apart, Human Rights Watch said Thursday.

North Korea has enshrined its status as a nuclear power in its constitution, with leader Kim Jong Un calling for more modern atomic weapons to counter the threat from the United States, state media reported Thursday.

Burkina Faso's military government said Wednesday it had foiled a coup attempt the previous day, almost a year after the country's leader came to power in a coup himself.

Orthodox Ethiopians on Wednesday marked the beginning of Meskel, one of the holiest celebrations in the Christian tradition followed in this devout nation riven by ethnic and political violence.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Wednesday offered an "unreserved" apology in parliament after the legislature publicly -- if unwittingly -- celebrated a Ukrainian World War II veteran who'd fought alongside the Nazis.

France's ambassador to Niger landed in Paris on Wednesday, after weeks of tensions with the post-coup regime in the West African country who demanded his expulsion.

Poland's agriculture minister said on Wednesday that his country remained open to a Ukrainian proposal for a grain import licensing system, adding that the thorny issue would be discussed in the coming weeks.

Armenia said Wednesday that more than a third of Nagorno-Karabakh's population has fled the enclave since Azerbaijan crushed the rebels' decades-long fight for an independent state last week.

Britain on Wednesday authorised oil and gas production in its largest undeveloped field to boost energy security, one week after diluting net zero targets, triggering more condemnation by green groups.

"Establishing a manufacturing sector for hydrogen products and components is one of the roadmap's key outcomes," the South African department said.

At least 100 people were killed and more than 150 injured when a fire broke out during a wedding at an event hall in the northern Iraqi town of Hamdaniyah, according to an initial tally released early Wednesday.

World Bank President Ajay Banga said Tuesday that he is working to reform "dysfunctionality" among the leadership of the development lender, and pledged to refocus its mission to better address the challenges posed by climate change.

The speaker of Canada's parliament resigned on Tuesday, days after he singled out a Ukrainian veteran who apparently fought for the Nazis during World War II for a standing ovation during a visit by Ukraine's leader.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned Tuesday against a new atomic arms race bringing the threat of "annihilation" to the world, as North Korea charged that its peninsula was on the brink of nuclear war.

A continuous stream of vehicles crept along the only road out of Nagorno-Karabakh towards Armenia, carrying tens of thousands of refugees now faced with an uncertain future.

Taylor Swift's "Eras Tour" concert film is expected to be the cinematic event of the season -- and now it's going global, with tickets expected to go on sale in more than 100 countries.

Saudi Arabia on Tuesday sent its first delegation in three decades to the occupied West Bank to reassure Palestinians that it will defend their cause even as it forges closer ties with Israel.

French media outlet Jeune Afrique protested Tuesday after Burkina Faso's junta-led government suspended its print and online operations in the country after the publication of two articles about tensions within the military.

At the start of the perilous jungle trek through the Darien Gap to Panama, uniformed workers on the Colombian side hand out colored wristbands to migrants, like bouncers at a nightclub, to indicate what "services" they have paid for.

Morocco has voiced ambitious plans to become North Africa's top player in the emerging "green hydrogen" sector, with plans to export the clean-burning fuel to Europe.

Rich and developing nations alike must sharply improve their net-zero targets, the International Energy Agency said Tuesday, warning that a clean energy surge was the main reason the world's climate goals are still achievable.

UK interior minister Suella Braverman was on Tuesday to question whether the United Nations Refugee Convention was "fit for our modern age" during a keynote speech at a US think-tank in Washington.

China said on Tuesday it had agreed with Japan and South Korea to hold a summit between the three countries' leaders "as early as possible", after a rare meeting between senior diplomats in Seoul.

Beijing warned Manila on Tuesday not to "stir up trouble" after the Philippine Coast Guard said it removed a floating barrier at a disputed reef that was allegedly deployed by China to block Filipinos from the traditional fishing ground.