WORLD

The International Criminal Court has opened a new probe into alleged war crimes in Sudan, its chief prosecutor said Thursday, expressing major concern over escalating violence.

The WHO said Friday it was now classifying aspartame, an artificial sweetener commonly used in soft drinks, as "possibly carcinogenic to humans" -- though the acceptable daily intake level remains unchanged.

Beijing's top diplomat Wang Yi has urged Washington to "work with China" to improve ties during a meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, the Chinese foreign ministry said on Friday.

South Africa's top court on Thursday upheld an earlier ruling that former president Jacob Zuma should return to prison to complete his 15-month term for contempt of court, dismissing an appeal seeking to keep him out of jail. Zuma was sentenced in June 2021 after refusing to testify before a panel probing financial sleaze and cronyism under his presidency -- but was freed on medical parole just two months into his term.

The IEA trimmed its forecast for 2023 oil demand for the first time this year as macroeconomic headwinds including higher interest rates bite, but still sees it reaching a record level thanks to China's thirst for fuel.

Kenya's interior ministry on Thursday said more than 300 people including a lawmaker had been arrested following violent anti-government protests that left seven people dead.

The top US and Chinese diplomats will hold their second meeting in as many months on Thursday in Jakarta, seeking to manage tensions that risk flaring anew over alleged Chinese hacking.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un personally oversaw the successful test of the country's newest intercontinental ballistic missile, state media reported Thursday, days after Pyongyang threatened to down any US spy planes that enter its airspace.

Elon Musk on Wednesday launched his own artificial intelligence company, xAI, as he seeks to compete with OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT -- a program he accuses of being politically biased and irresponsible.

More than 600 migrants forced out of Tunisia's port of Sfax to the desert borderlands with Libya are being sheltered and given humanitarian aid, the Red Crescent said on Wednesday.

The UN Human Rights Council voted Wednesday to condemn recent Koran burning incidents, but many countries declined to back the resolution, fearing it encroached on free speech.

Spain's coastguard resumed the search for three migrant boats reported lost off the Canary Islands after suspending an aerial search earlier in the day due to bad weather.

World hunger stopped rising in 2022 after growing for seven years but remains above pre-pandemic levels and far off track to be eradicated by 2030, UN agencies said Wednesday.

US President Joe Biden hailed Ukraine's "astounding" courage Wednesday in talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who set aside earlier frustrations with NATO to profusely thank the United States for its help.

At a training ground on the edge of Kyiv, a group of women ran through an obstacle course and fired Kalashnikovs, putting the new uniforms finally designed for them through a stress test.

UN chief Antonio Guterres denounced Wednesday a global financial system where nearly half the world's people live in countries whose governments spend more on debt than education or health.

Black women throughout the Americas -- and in particular the United States -- face health care mistreatment due to "systemic racism," leading to high death rates during childbirth, the United Nations warned Wednesday.

The United Nations on Wednesday said nearly three months of war in Sudan have uprooted more than three million people, and called for the warring sides to face "accountability".

Kenyan officers on Wednesday fired tear gas on protesters who defied a police ban to join a demonstration against tax hikes called by opposition leader Raila Odinga.

The war in Ukraine will not end until the West stops trying to defeat Moscow, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in an interview with Indonesian media on Wednesday.

The leaders of Iran and Kenya pledged to strengthen ties as their governments signed a raft of trade agreements Wednesday during Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi's maiden visit to the East African nation.

On Ukraine's eastern front, soldiers welcomed a controversial US decision to send cluster munitions to Kyiv that will give them an "advantage on the battlefield".

US President Joe Biden thanked his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday for his "courage" in dropping opposition to Sweden's entry to NATO. At a meeting during the NATO summit in Vilnius, Biden celebrated the conclusion of a major diplomatic push to get Erdogan to stop blocking Sweden's application.

The bodies of two migrants have been found in a desert region near Tunisia's border with Algeria, a judicial official and a witness said on Tuesday.

The UN Human Rights Council is heading towards a divisive vote on Wednesday on religious hatred following recent Koran burnings, with some Western nations reluctantly feeling the draft resolution encroaches too far on free speech.

Western powers will propose long-term security commitments for Ukraine on Wednesday after NATO dashed President Volodymyr Zelensky's hopes of a clear timeline for joining the alliance.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has performed one of his trademark policy U-turns on Sweden's accession to NATO that culminates a gradual pro-Western tilt of course since his May re-election.

Indonesian maritime authorities seized an Iranian-flagged tanker carrying more than 200,000 metric tons of light crude oil after a suspected illegal transfer at sea, they said Tuesday.

Twitter owner Elon Musk's freewheeling approach to the platform's handling of censorship has won support from an unlikely quarter -- Afghanistan's Taliban.