POLITICS & POLICY

UN nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi said Thursday that Iran and the United States were running out of time to secure a deal as they prepare to hold fresh nuclear talks this weekend.

As President Donald Trump's tariffs threaten the US economy, questions are being asked about how long the dollar can maintain its status as the world's key trading and reserve currency.

According to the Australian Academy of Science president, professor Chennupati Jagadish AC, Australia must act quickly to capitalize on what he called an "urgent and unparalleled opportunity" to attract the smartest minds leaving the United States."

Gaza's civil defence agency said Thursday that a series of Israeli air strikes killed at least 37 people, most of them in encampments for displaced civilians, as Israel pressed its unrelenting military offensive in the Palestinian territory.

US President Donald Trump called Harvard a "joke" Wednesday and said it should lose its government research contracts after the prestigious university refused demands that it accept outside political supervision.

Astronomers announced Thursday that they had detected the most promising "hints" of potential life on a planet beyond our solar system, though other scientists expressed scepticism.

Assailants targeted cars and a building lobby linked to prison staff in France overnight, the authorities said Wednesday, the latest in a series of coordinated attacks that have put the government on edge.

Between June 28, 2023 -- the day the inquiry released its report -- and March 28, 2025, when parliament was dissolved, lawmakers from both major parties accepted 312 complimentary tickets to sporting events.

Cod and herring are normally more likely to be on the dinner menu than the negotiating table at European security talks.

Like thousands of senior citizens in Ukraine, Zinaida Gyrenko was spending the sunset years of her life in a shelter, her retirement upended by Russia's invasion.

Sheltering in the shade of a bus repurposed into a mobile museum, Mean Loeuy tells a group of children about the hell he went through in a Khmer Rouge labour camp.

Sudan on Tuesday marked two years of a war that has killed tens of thousands, displaced 13 million and triggered the world's worst humanitarian crisis -- with no sign of peace.

"We obviously do not want to see Russian influence in our region – our position is we stand with Ukraine," Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said. "We regard Vladimir Putin as an authoritarian leader who has broken international law, who's attacking the sovereignty of the nation of Ukraine."

US President Donald Trump resumed his attempts Monday to blame Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky for Russia's invasion, falsely accusing him of responsibility for "millions" of deaths.

China's President Xi Jinping urged Vietnam to join forces in upholding free trade, before wrapping up a visit to Hanoi on Tuesday which President Donald Trump said was aiming to "screw" the United States.

The blistering tariff war launched by Donald Trump this month cast a shadow Tuesday as businesses met to strike deals at a trade show in southern China, for decades a key hub for exports to the United States.

US Vice President JD Vance hailed his country's transatlantic alliances, striking a more positive note, but in an interview urged European states to show greater independence.

Senior international officials gather in London on Tuesday aiming to chart a pathway to peace for Sudan on the second anniversary of its brutal civil conflict, but without the presence of the warring parties.

A few months ago in Brussels, Arthur Langerman was telling high school pupils about losing family members in the Holocaust and escaping a Nazi raid himself, when he was cut short by two Muslim teens wanting to talk about Gaza.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky urged US counterpart Donald Trump on Sunday to visit his country to better understand the devastation wrought by Russia's invasion.

US President Donald Trump is set to meet with Salvadoran counterpart Nayib Bukele on Monday, who has won heaping praise from Washington for partnering in its legally contested migrant crackdown.

Country music and the aroma of pancakes enveloped the "Boeremark", or farmer's market, outside South Africa's capital Pretoria where thousands of Afrikaners browsed on a Saturday morning.

Nobel laureate Mario Vargas Llosa was the last survivor of a golden generation of Latin American literary giants, his writing exploring universal themes often set outside his native Peru.

Liverpool are within touching distance of the Premier League title after Virgil van Dijk sealed a dramatic 2-1 win over West Ham, while Newcastle climbed into the top four with a 4-1 thrashing of Manchester United on Sunday.

An Israeli air strike early Sunday heavily damaged one of the few functioning hospitals in Gaza, as the Israeli military said it targeted a Hamas "command and control centre" operating from within the facility.

WHO members on Saturday reached agreement over how to tackle future pandemics after three years of discussions, the co-chair of the negotiating body told AFP. "We have an accord in principle" and the final version will have to be okayed by the various member states, Anne-Claire Amprou, who is also French ambassador for world health, said.

Every Friday, Alawi crosses the border from Iran into Iraq to sell his produce in the markets of Basra, which serve as a haven for Iranians grappling with economic sanctions.

Negotiations toward a global agreement on tackling future pandemics came down to the wire Friday, with observers voicing hope that a consensus could be found to seal a landmark deal.

US envoy Steve Witkoff met with Russia's top economic negotiator Kirill Dmitriev on Friday, state media reported, the US official's third visit to the country as Washington pushes for a ceasefire in Ukraine.