POLITICS & POLICY

Once dismissed as an "empty suit", perennial Indian premier-in-waiting Rahul Gandhi emerged from his third consecutive election defeat with his reputation enhanced and his party back from the political wilderness.

Kenya was in a state of shock Wednesday following unprecedented scenes that left parts of parliament ablaze and gutted, as protests over proposed tax hikes turned deadly, prompting President William Ruto's government to deploy the military.

David is a psychologist and has been taking part in drug-fuelled gay orgies for the past 15 years.

US journalist Evan Gershkovich will face the start of a closed-door trial on espionage charges in Russia on Wednesday, more than a year after he became the first Western journalist since the Soviet era to be detained on such accusations.

The International Criminal Court on Tuesday said it had issued arrest warrants for Russia's top army chief and ex defence minister over strikes on Ukrainian infrastructure that constituted alleged war crimes.

The European Union on Tuesday kicked off accession negotiations with Ukraine, setting the war-torn country on a long path towards membership that Russia has tried to block.

Mobile services will be launched for initial trial at 10 music festivals before fixing a permanent venue by 2025 in Melbourne.

Israel kept up its bombardment of Gaza on Tuesday after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the "intense phase" of the war was winding down, as the United States urged its ally to avoid further escalation along the Lebanon border.

Julian Assange was released from prison Monday and has left Britain, WikiLeaks said, as he reached a landmark plea deal with US authorities that brought an end to his years-long legal drama.

Mongolians go to the polls Friday in parliamentary elections, with the ruling party expected to hold its majority despite voter fatigue over corruption and concern about inflation and the state of the economy.

Jailed WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has been fighting for years to avoid extradition from Britain in connection with the 2010 publication of thousands of US classified documents.

President Emmanuel Macron on Monday warned that the policies of his far-right and hard-left opponents could lead to "civil war", as France prepared for its most divisive election in decades.

Buyers will have to show their ID to the chemist, who will also advise them on the health hazards and offer alternate ways to quit smoking. Those who are under 18 years will need to show a prescription.

Growing up in a shanty town in Kenya's capital Nairobi, Sarah Njoroge saw her parents ban her older siblings from taking part in anti-government demonstrations, fearing the bloody crackdown that would follow.

A day after Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the "intense phase" of the Gaza war is winding down, the army bombed Hamas on Monday as the Palestinian militant group again demanded a permanent end to the fighting.

Attacks on churches and synagogues in Russia's Dagestan region killed primarily police officers, officials said Monday, announcing a toll of 19 dead after violence that stoked fears over Islamist violence in the historically restive North Caucasus.

Hungary takes over the European Union's six-month rotating presidency on July 1, in the face of fears perennial spoiler Prime Minister Viktor Orban could use it to take the bloc hostage at a critical time.

As the sun sets over Zimbabwe's Matobo Hills, boys throw stones to chase baboons away.

A mountain of windswept garbage. But when "we're being disposed of like garbage in landfills, that clearly says something is very wrong in this country."

Abdullah Hammoud's election as the first Muslim mayor of Dearborn was a watershed moment for this city, an automaking hub home to the highest concentration of Arab-Americans in the United States.

Stretching, arching his back and kneeling on a mat, India's Hindu nationalist Prime Minister Narendra Modi led hundreds of people performing yoga in the Muslim-majority region of Kashmir on Friday.

After years of failing to secure a hajj visa, Yasser finally concluded he had no choice but to perform the holy pilgrimage illegally, a move he has now come to regret.

When Russian paramilitary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin sent his Wagner mercenaries charging towards Moscow last year in a short-lived rebellion, President Vladimir Putin looked weak and vulnerable.

Israel and Hezbollah traded fresh cross-border fire, as fears of a regional conflict grew after Israel revealed it had approved plans for a Lebanon offensive and the Iran-backed militants vowed to blanket their foe in rockets.

Donald Sutherland, the enigmatic actor whose lengthy career encompassed films including "The Dirty Dozen" and "The Hunger Games," has died, his son said Thursday.

Marathon rehearsals, informal consultations, campaign rallies: Joe Biden and Donald Trump are each preparing in their own unique way for their televised debate next Thursday, the first in the 2024 race for the White House between the bitter rivals.

Outgoing Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, who on Thursday sealed the race to be the next head of NATO, will take the reins of the Western military alliance at a perilous moment.

Russian attacks overnight damaged a Ukrainian power plant and several energy facilities, Kyiv said on Thursday, the latest in a series of bombardments that have pushed its power grid to the brink.

Chinese coast guard sailors brandished knives, an axe and other weapons in a clash with Philippine naval vessels near a strategic reef in the South China Sea, dramatic new footage released by Manila showed.