POLITICS & POLICY

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.

Gaza rescuers said a pre-dawn Israeli air strike Friday killed 10 members of the same family, while the UN stated that dozens of recent Israeli attacks on the Palestinian territory had left only women and children dead.

China said Friday it would raise tariffs on US goods to 125 percent but would ignore further levies by President Donald Trump because it no longer makes economic sense for importers to buy from America.

Iran is seeking a "real and fair" agreement with the United States on its nuclear programme, a senior aide to supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Friday, setting the stage for a diplomatic showdown this weekend in Oman.

Young Bangladeshi men desperate for work allege they have been tricked into fighting for Russia against Ukraine, with the reported death of a 22-year-old sparking a surge of worried calls.

In most places, a night at the opera conjures up images of polite audiences in eveningwear sitting upright to enjoy a bit of Bel Canto.

Fighter jets from the United States, France, Finland and Germany roar into the skies from a Dutch base as part of NATO's biggest air exercise this year.

Vietnam and the United States agreed to start negotiations on a reciprocal trade agreement, Hanoi said on Thursday, hours after Washington delayed imposing an enormous tariff on the Southeast Asian manufacturing powerhouse.

Russia and the United States exchanged prisoners on Thursday, the second such swap since US President Donald Trump returned to the White House as the two superpowers push for closer ties.

US President Donald Trump abruptly paused tariffs on most countries, sparking euphoria on global markets Thursday, but upped the ante on a brutal trade war with superpower rival China.

Khvicha Kvaratskhelia scored one of the great Champions League goals as Paris Saint-Germain came from behind to beat Aston Villa 3-1 in the first leg of their quarter-final tie on Wednesday.

President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday said Russia was "dragging" China into the war in Ukraine, as he accused Beijing of knowing that dozens of its citizens were being recruited by Moscow's army to fight.

US President Donald Trump abruptly backed down Wednesday in his global trade war with a 90 day tariff pause for most countries -- but slapped even more levies against China in what has become a brutal duel between the world's two largest economies.

Gaza's civil defence agency said an Israeli strike on a residential building in Gaza City killed at least 23 people Wednesday, most of them children or women, as the military said it targeted a "senior Hamas" militant.

Despite initial concerns about the potential damage to brand reputation under Musk's leadership, which led to a temporary pause in ad campaigns, the government resumed its spending.

Customs duties, or tariffs, have become a political punching ball as the European Union prepares to respond to US President Donald Trump's recent offensive.

Hit by three waves of painful US tariffs since President Donald Trump returned to office, the European Union's response has been a high-wire act, balancing calibrated retaliation with a push for negotiations to avert an all-out trade war.

The United States will not allow China to "threaten" the operations of the Panama Canal, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth warned during a visit to the Central American nation on Tuesday.

China's expansion of its armed forces is "staggering", NATO's chief said on a visit to Japan beginning Tuesday aimed at "projecting" the alliance's power in the Asia-Pacific region.

Two previous reviews -- one commissioned when Peter Dutton served as Coalition defense minister, and the other conducted by the Albanese government in 2023 -- concluded there were no national security grounds to terminate the lease.

Iran's top diplomat said Tuesday he believed a new nuclear deal could be agreed with the United States provided Tehran's longtime foe shows sufficient goodwill in talks to begin in Oman on Saturday.

Australia is ready for the impact of Donald Trump's trade tariffs, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Tuesday in a first television debate before the tightly contested May 3 elections.

Increasingly frail but with undimmed passion, Britain's David Hockney has put aside his health worries to shape what he describes as the biggest exhibition of his vast career.