POLITICS & POLICY

Since the start of the school year in March, Afghan boys have been required to wear new uniforms of turbans and long tunics, following an order to adopt outfits reflecting Taliban rule.

Vietnam is set to hold its biggest celebration of the fall of Saigon on its 50th anniversary Wednesday, including Chinese troops for the first time after Xi Jinping visited to portray Beijing as a more reliable partner than Washington.

There is no need to be alarmed, as these messages are the result of a legal loophole. Under current Australian law, political parties are permitted to send mass, unsolicited SMS messages during election periods, bypassing the usual privacy protections.

India and Pakistan are exchanging fire over their de-facto border since the Kashmir attack, but in New Delhi and Islamabad political foes are coming together and looking to score points.

After 100 days of political chaos and economic shock that have sent his approval ratings tumbling, Donald Trump hopes to regain the unqualified adulation of his supporters Tuesday at one of his bread-and-butter events: a public rally.

Airlifted from Saigon as an 11-month-old baby, Odile Dussart is now back to living in the land of her birth hoping to find her biological mother.

Britain's anti-immigrant Reform UK party is seeking to prove its credentials as a credible political force at local elections this week that will test the popularity of Labour Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

Flames crackle through piles of hundreds of human skulls and thick grey smoke pours into the Thai sky in a moment as spiritually significant as it is gruesome.

Ten suspects went on trial in Paris on Monday over the 2016 robbery of the US celebrity Kim Kardashian, which saw some $10 million worth of jewellery stolen from the reality TV star and influencer.

A man suspected of stabbing a young Malian to death in a mosque in southern France and then filming his victim writhing in agony has surrendered to police in Italy, French and Italian authorities said on Monday.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers revealed the budget would be AU$1 billion better off over the next four years compared to the March budget, which forecast deficits exceeding AU$150 billion during the same period.

North Korea confirmed for the first time on Monday it had deployed troops to Russia, with its state news agency KCNA reporting Pyongyang's soldiers helped Moscow reclaim territory under Ukrainian control in the Russian border region of Kursk.

The UN's top court will on Monday open a week of hearings on Israel's humanitarian obligations towards Palestinians, more than 50 days into its total blockade on aid entering war-ravaged Gaza.

A top Chinese economic official on Monday said Beijing was on the "right side of history" in its gruelling trade war with the United States.

A top Palestinian official told the International Court of Justice Monday that Israel was blocking humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza as a "weapon of war", at the start of a week of hearings at the UN's top court.

Russia said on Monday it was ready to negotiate directly with Ukraine, but that recognition of its claims over five Ukrainian regions including Crimea were "imperative" to resolving the conflict.

Following a campaign dominated by Trump's tariffs and annexation threats, Carney promised to chart "a new path forward" in a world "fundamentally changed" by a United States that is newly hostile to free trade.

At the break of dawn, 10-year-old Youssef al-Najjar races barefoot, clutching a battered pot, to a community kitchen in Gaza City, only to find hundreds of others already queueing.

When a massive earthquake hit Myanmar last month, centuries of sacred history tumbled down -- towering Buddha idols, sky-scraping stupas and the pure-white pagoda where 83-year-old Khin Sein has prayed for most of her life.

With 1.3 million followers, a Donald Trump-supporting far-right candidate is riding a wave of popularity on TikTok ahead of the re-run of Romania's presidential election in which he is expected to win Sunday's first round.

Five months after the shock scrapping of presidential elections, Romanians go back to the polls on Sunday -- with a key far-right contender excluded and criticism by the US administration looming over the tense vote.

Talks on Russia's war in Ukraine entered a "critical week" on Monday, according to the United States, as it increases the pressure on Kyiv to give up on Crimea in exchange for peace.

Arne Slot says sky-high expectations at Liverpool will not allow for any let-up next season after they won the Premier League title in style.

Liverpool are primed for a spectacular Premier League title party as they aim to seal a record-equalling 20th English top-flight crown against Tottenham at Anfield on Sunday.

Iran's president visited on Sunday the scene of a massive port blast that killed 28 people and injured more than 1,000, as fires still blazed more than 24 hours after the explosion.

With Pope Francis laid to rest, all eyes turn now to the conclave, the secretive meeting of cardinals set to convene within days to elect a new head of the Catholic Church.

Hamas is open to an agreement to end the war in Gaza that would see all hostages released and secure a five-year truce, an official said Saturday ahead of talks with mediators.

Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky met briefly in the hush of St Peter's basilica on the sidelines of Pope Francis's funeral on Saturday in their first encounter since a noisy White House clash, as the US president pushes the Ukrainian leader to make a peace deal with Russia.

Pope Francis, champion of the poor and the Church's first Latin American leader, will be honoured Saturday with a funeral attended by world leaders and tens of thousands of Catholic faithful.