NEWS

More than one billion people are living in acute poverty across the globe, a UN Development Program report said Thursday, with children accounting for over half of those affected.

The speaker of the French Senate -- the country's second most senior figure under the constitution -- said Thursday he was "astounded" by remarks attributed to Emmanuel Macron on Israel and accused the president of showing his "ignorance" of history.

Tech billionaire Elon Musk's X platform will not face the EU's stringent competition rules aimed at keeping digital markets open, the European Commission said on Wednesday.

North Korea claimed Wednesday that more than a million young people had signed up for or rejoined the army this week after Pyongyang accused Seoul's military of sending drones into its airspace.

Rising living costs and postponed family planning were cited as the main causes of Australia's birth rate plummeting to a 17-year low, a 4.6% decrease from 2022, and a total fertility rate of 1.5 infants per woman.

Russia will likely be capable of launching an attack on NATO by 2030 and is ramping up efforts to disrupt Ukraine's Western supporters through sabotage, German intelligence chiefs warned Monday.

Thousands of US and Filipino troops launched joint exercises in the northern and western Philippines on Tuesday, after China held huge drills around Taiwan and a Chinese vessel collided with a Filipino patrol boat.

Kamala Harris and rival Donald Trump campaigned in battleground states Sunday seeking 11th-hour advantages in a deadlocked White House race, as new polling shows the vice president underperforming among some traditional Democratic voter demographics.

The Labor government had earlier granted AU$1 billion toward improving the country's biosecurity if the avian influenza strain was detected on Australian shores.

The Holy Family Medical Centre in Dulwich Hill has notified about 1,208 patients, including 394 children, who received a vaccine between Dec. 4, 2019 and July 30, 2024, that their protection may have been compromised due to incorrect storage of the vaccines at the clinic.

Concerns about national security have been raised by the Albanese government's decision to award a tourist visa to a Palestinian man who is suspected of having ties to Hamas.

Australia moved Tuesday to protect a swathe of ocean territory by expanding an Antarctic marine park that is home to penguins, seals, whales and the country's only two active volcanos.

Japan's new Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba will hold talks this week on the sidelines of the ASEAN summit in Laos, a top official said Tuesday, meeting China's premier among others according to media reports.

North Korean soldiers are likely fighting in Ukraine alongside Russian troops, with some believed already killed and more expected to be deployed, Seoul's defence minister said Tuesday.

Kamala Harris slammed her White House rival Donald Trump's "lies" over reproductive rights Sunday, as both candidates sought an edge in the final month of a deadlocked US presidential election.

Anti-Kremlin activist Ildar Dadin, who was imprisoned in Russia for protesting against Vladimir Putin, was killed on the front line in Ukraine where he was fighting alongside Kyiv forces, his relatives and Russian media said Sunday.

Payman emphasized that the intention was not to launch a "Muslim" party. Instead, the campaign will focus on broader issues, while Gaza and the Middle East will be addressed under "foreign affairs," she said.

As a bitterly contested US election campaign enters its final stretch, misinformation researchers have raised the alarm over threats posed by AI and foreign influence -- but voters appear more concerned about falsehoods from a more familiar source: politicians.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said his country would use nuclear weapons "without hesitation" if attacked by the South and ally the United States, state media reported Friday.

"The commission can confirm it carried out operational activity today at Parliament House," the NACC spokesperson said in a statement. "This was in relation to an ongoing investigation."

"It has become clear that the hydrogen market is developing more slowly than anticipated, and there remain risks and both input cost and technology advancements to overcome," Origin chief executive Frank Calabria said.

The Australian government has arranged 580 seats on Thursday and Saturday flights for citizens, permanent residents, and their families who wanted to leave Lebanon.

Israel's Iron Dome air defence system has intercepted thousands of rockets since it went into operation in 2011, providing the country with crucial cover during times of conflict.

The two candidates for US president offer starkly different visions of the world, with November's election carrying the potential to dramatically change policy toward Ukraine and other partners.

Israel's onslaught against Hezbollah in Lebanon is reassuring for Turkey, which could seize the opportunity to strengthen its regional influence in the face of its rival Iran, analysts told AFP. Despite being one of Israel's fiercest critics, Turkey has been measured in its response to the blows struck against the Shiite militant group, armed and financed by Tehran, including the killing of its leader Hassan Nasrallah.

Ukraine's army said Wednesday it had withdrawn from the eastern town of Vugledar, handing Russia one of its most significant territorial gains in weeks.

US vice presidential candidates J.D. Vance and Tim Walz met Tuesday in likely their only live and televised face-to-face debate.

German chemicals group Covestro said Tuesday it had accepted a takeover bid from UAE state energy company ADNOC, as one of the key sectors in Europe's largest economy is gripped by crisis.

The United States said Sunday that it had a strong military presence in the Middle East after deploying reinforcements amid Israel's widening of the war to include hundreds of targets in Lebanon.