POLITICS & POLICY

Just under five months into her job as the EU's top diplomat, Kaja Kallas admits it has been a rollercoaster start as US President Donald Trump has turned the global order on its head.

China said on Wednesday the door was "wide open" for trade talks with Washington, a day after US President Donald Trump signalled the possibility of a "substantial" lowering of tariffs on Beijing.

US President Donald Trump said Tuesday he had no plans to fire the Federal Reserve chief, in apparently conciliatory remarks after berating him and triggering market turmoil.

US Attorney General Pam Bondi hosted the opening meeting of an "anti-Christian bias" task force Tuesday, as the government pressed federal workers to inform on work colleagues engaging in discriminatory behavior.

Gaza's civil defence agency on Wednesday said its crew recovered charred bodies from a school-turned-shelter for displaced people, as Israeli strikes killed 17 people in the Hamas-run territory since dawn.

Envoys from Washington, Kyiv and European nations gathered for talks in Britain on Wednesday amid a new US push to end Russia's war in Ukraine, where a brief Easter truce was shattered by fresh air strikes.

On a mountain near Sudan's border, journalists climb rugged slopes, phones held high, hoping to catch a faint signal from neighbouring Chad to send stories amid the war's two-year communications blackout.

In Silicon Valley, they talk about "moving fast and breaking things." One of his first and splashiest moves was to send emails to 2.3 million civil servants, offering buyouts -- and making clear their futures now hang by a thread.

At least 24 people were killed in Indian-administered Kashmir when gunmen opened fire on tourists on Tuesday, a senior police officer told AFP, with authorities calling it the worst attack on civilians in years.

US envoy Steve Witkoff is expected to visit Russia this week, a Kremlin aide said Tuesday, as US President Donald Trump seeks a speedy deal to end the three-year Ukraine conflict.

Fourteen months after the deadliest storm in Philippine history, Pope Francis stood on a rain-swept stage to deliver a message of hope to the battered town of Tacloban.

AMP chief economist Shane Oliver criticised both Labor and the Coalition for offering big-ticket items such as tax cuts, fuel subsidies, and housing initiatives that, he argued, provided little lasting benefit for Australians. "They are mostly just band aid solutions."

A Hamas delegation departed for Cairo to discuss "new ideas" aimed at securing a ceasefire in Gaza, an official from the group said, as Israeli air strikes killed 26 people across the territory Tuesday.

More than 100 US universities and colleges, including Ivy League institutions Princeton and Brown, issued a joint letter on Tuesday condemning President Donald Trump's "political interference" in the education system.

Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele offered Venezuela Sunday a trade of 252 Venezuelans deported to his country by the United States for an equal number of political prisoners held by President Nicolas Maduro's regime.

Donald Trump's first 100 days back in the US presidency have showcased his unique ability to shock -- and sometimes entertain -- with outrageous remarks that pull no punches.

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth shared information on forthcoming US air strikes on Yemen in a private Signal chat group that included his wife, brother and personal lawyer, the New York Times and CNN reported on Sunday.

US Vice President JD Vance began a four-day visit to India on Monday as New Delhi looks to seal an early trade deal and stave off punishing US tariffs.

The April 21 death of Pope Francis triggered a period of mourning in the Catholic Church, but also kick-started the race for his successor.

World leaders remembered Pope Francis as "a beacon of compassion," as the death on Monday of the leader of the world's 1.4 billion Catholics prompted a global outpouring of grief.

Russia launched a wave of aerial attacks at Ukraine on Monday in an abrupt end to a fragile 30-hour Easter truce between the two sides.

Pope Francis, an energetic reformer who inspired widespread devotion from Catholics but riled traditionalists, died on Monday aged 88.

Gold prices hit a fresh record Monday while the dollar weakened further and stocks were mixed amid worries about Donald Trump's tariff blitz and bubbling row with the Federal Reserve.

Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele offered Venezuela Sunday a trade of 252 Venezuelans deported to his country by the United States for an equal number of political prisoners held by President Nicolas Maduro's regime.

An Israeli military probe into the killing of 15 Palestinian emergency workers in Gaza admitted Sunday that mistakes led to their deaths and that a field commander would be dismissed.

Trent Alexander-Arnold fired Liverpool to the brink of the Premier League title as his late strike sealed a 1-0 win that relegated Leicester after Arsenal's 4-0 rout of Ipswich delayed the leaders' coronation on Sunday.

Chaplain Volodymyr was in the middle of his Easter prayer near the front in Ukraine's Donetsk region when another explosion blasted out, piercing the air despite a 30-hour truce announced by Russia for the holiday.

Pope Francis appeared in front of thousands of Catholic faithful at St Peter's Square on Sunday for Easter, despite the 88-year-old pontiff's frail health that has kept him from most Holy Week events.

The fate of a US-Israeli hostage who Hamas said had featured in an Israeli truce proposal remains unknown, the group said on Saturday, separately releasing a video of another captive alive.