POLITICS & POLICY

Togolese voted in legislative elections on Monday after a divisive constitutional reform that opponents say allows President Faure Gnassingbe to extend his family's decades-long grip on power.

French police on Monday detained screen legend Gerard Depardieu for questioning after two women accused him of sexual assault, a source close to the case said.

Diplomatic efforts increased on Sunday to reach a long sought-after truce and hostage-release deal in Gaza, as Israel carried out further air strikes and shelling on the war-battered territory.

Saudi Arabia on Sunday called for regional "stability", warning of the effects of the ongoing Israel-Hamas war on global economic sentiment at the start of a summit attended by a host of Gaza mediators.

Washington's top diplomat will travel to Saudi Arabia on Sunday as the deadline approaches on a landmark -- and, analysts say, long-shot -- deal that would see the kingdom recognise Israel.

Palestinians in Rafah told AFP Saturday they were living in "constant terror" as Israel vows to push ahead with its planned assault on the south Gaza city flooded with displaced civilians.

The head of the International Olympic Committee Thomas Bach has backed the World Anti-Doping Agency in a row over its handling of positive drug tests by 23 Chinese swimmers.

Thousands of sub-Saharan migrants have huddled in Tunisian olive groves for months, living in makeshift tents and surviving on meagre rations while keeping their hopes alive of reaching Europe.

A delegation from mediator Egypt is travelling to Israel on Friday, a source close to the Israeli government told AFP, in what local media said is a bid to reignite stalled hostage-release negotiations.

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday told top US diplomat Antony Blinken that the world's two biggest economies should be "partners, not rivals", but that there were a "number of issues" to be resolved in their relations.

Olga drew her index finger abruptly across her neck as she recounted the threats her husband levelled at her after he returned to Russia, wounded from fighting in Ukraine.

Columbia University backed off late Thursday from an overnight deadline for pro-Palestinian protesters to abandon an encampment there as more college campuses in the United States sought to prevent occupations from taking hold.

Diagnosed with autism, Shoko Sakuma says she struggled working in accounting but now she is putting her childhood love of drawing to work in a special Japanese animation studio.

Pro-Palestinian protests spread to more college campuses in the United States on Thursday as authorities appeared to be running out of patience and police began to push back forcefully.

The US Supreme Court appeared skeptical on Thursday of Donald Trump's claim that a former president is "absolutely immune" from criminal prosecution but looked set to issue a ruling that could further delay his election subversion trial.

A key witness in the criminal trial of Donald Trump detailed Thursday how he worked with the former president's personal lawyer to kill a Playboy model's story about a sexual relationship with the Republican.

French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday warned that Europe faced an existential threat from Russian aggression, calling on the continent to adopt a "credible" defence strategy less dependent on the United States.

Palestinians on Thursday mourned over people killed in Israeli bombardment of Rafah, the southern Gaza city where Israel says it is advancing plans for a ground invasion.

Portugal on Thursday marked 50 years since a military coup ended a decades-long dictatorship and 13 years of colonial wars in Africa, an anniversary that comes as a far-right party gains prominence.

Diving into the darkness of the Yangon River, Than Nyunt starts another murky sortie in his months-long mission to salvage a sunken ship using the power of the moon.

After fleeing famine in North Korea, Kim Cheol Ok laid low in China for decades -- until a doomed run for freedom got her sent back to her repressive homeland, her family says.

The US Supreme Court appeared divided Wednesday on whether Idaho's near-total ban on abortion conflicts with a federal law requiring hospitals to stabilize patients needing emergency care, in a case that carries potentially sweeping national consequences.

Increasingly confrontational pro-Palestinian rallies by students protesting the death toll from the Israel-Hamas conflict erupted across US college campuses Wednesday, triggering tense faceoffs with police in Texas and California.

Hundreds of Ukrainians crammed up against a closed passport office in Warsaw on Wednesday, furious over Kyiv's suspension of consular services for fighting-aged men in a bid to force them to return home and bolster troop numbers.

Israel said Wednesday the US Senate approval of $13 billion in military aid sent a "strong message" to its enemies, with strikes pummelling Gaza in its war against the Palestinian militant group Hamas.

The US Congress gave final approval to a $61 billion aid package for Ukraine late Tuesday, with President Joe Biden quickly vowing to sign the long-delayed bill and begin delivering fresh supplies this week to the war zone as Russia makes battlefield gains.

UK leader Rishi Sunak arrived in Warsaw on Tuesday for talks with Polish premier Donald Tusk and NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg that will focus on Ukraine and wider European security.

Taiwan was shaken by dozens of earthquakes overnight and into Tuesday that left buildings swaying and some tilting, with the government saying they were aftershocks from a huge deadly quake that hit the island more than two weeks ago.