POLITICS & POLICY

Former Syrian detainee Mohammed Najib has suffered for years from torture-induced back pain.

The EU's top diplomat Kaja Kallas said Wednesday that the bloc must heed US President Donald Trump's demand to spend more on defence, as she issued a stark warning over the threat from Russia.

There will always be border disputes in Asia, and China should not be singled out because of tensions in the South China Sea, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said Wednesday.

Donald Trump's plan to end birthright citizenship could fundamentally reshape America, analysts said Tuesday, overturning a principle that has underpinned the country for more than 150 years.

The top lawyer of late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who died in a Russian prison in February last year, told AFP she regretted not finding the right words to stop him returning to Moscow in 2021.

US President Donald Trump's sweeping pardons of Capitol rioters drew starkly contrasting reactions on Tuesday, largely embraced by his Republican supporters and vehemently condemned by Democrats.

Liverpool beat Lille 2-1 on Tuesday to maintain their perfect record in this season's Champions League and clinch qualification for the last 16, while Barcelona produced a stunning comeback to beat Benfica 5-4 in a classic to secure their own place.

The Taliban government said Tuesday it had released two American citizens from prison in return for an Afghan fighter held in the United States, in a deal brokered by Qatar.

A vintage Novak Djokovic tamed Carlos Alcaraz in a late-night blockbuster to set up an Australian Open semi-final with Alexander Zverev as two-time women's defending champion Aryna Sabalenka fought on.

The World Health Organization said Tuesday it regretted US President Donald Trump's decision -- just hours after taking power -- to withdraw his country from the UN agency, saying it hoped he would "reconsider".

US President Donald Trump begins his first full day in office Tuesday, riding a wave of executive orders signed just hours after his inauguration on everything from immigration to the environment and culture wars.

Australian energy market is set to undergo a significant shift, which brings consumers under complex power pricing plans. These plans, including dynamic tariffs, aim to reduce energy consumption during peak hours when production costs are higher.

When Syrian grandfather Omar Kafozi returned to his house near Damascus after Bashar al-Assad's ouster, he saw unfathomable destruction.

South Korea's impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol appeared at the Constitutional Court for the first time Tuesday, and vowed to cooperate with the judges who will decide whether to remove him from office.

The Israel-Hamas ceasefire entered a third day Tuesday, while US President Donald Trump said he doubted the fragile deal would hold.

A teenager on Monday pleaded guilty to the "unspeakable" killing of three young girls in a stabbing spree last year that sparked the UK's most violent riots in a decade.

The mother of US journalist Austin Tice, who went missing in Syria in 2012, said on Monday in Damascus that the war-torn country's new leadership was committed to finding him.

Chinese people on the streets of Beijing said Monday they were keeping expectations low ahead of the inauguration of Donald Trump, as his second White House stint could push China-US ties into a new era of uncertainty.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers dismissed Coalition's announcement as "not a serious policy proposal," but stopped short of ruling out matching the commitment once more details emerge.

A fragile ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war was holding Monday, following the dramatic exchange of three hostages for 90 Palestinian prisoners in an agreement aimed at ending more than 15 months of war in Gaza.

Military medic Natalya carried a jug of water blessed by priests at the Sviatogirsk monastery in east Ukraine as she celebrated Orthodox Epiphany in a Russian-affiliated church, despite the war.

Columns of people hundreds strong were making their way home in northern Gaza on Sunday, flanked on both sides by countless buildings turned to rubble, as a ceasefire took effect in the Palestinian territory.

A ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war is to begin on Sunday at 0630 GMT, with three Israeli hostages to be released from captivity in return for a first group of Palestinian prisoners.

Telegram founder Pavel Durov has told investigating magistrates in France, where he is charged with multiple infractions linked to enabling organised crime, that he "realised the seriousness of all the allegations", according to a source close to the case.

Impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol attended court for the first time on Saturday to fight a request by investigators to extend his detention as they probe his failed martial law bid.

A ceasefire in the Gaza war will begin Sunday morning at 0630 GMT, mediator Qatar said on Saturday after Israel's cabinet voted to approve the truce and hostage-prisoner release deal.

The United States offered to extend its signature African investment project into the troubled east of the Democratic Republic of Congo as an incentive for a peace deal, but Rwanda has backed away, a senior US diplomat said.

Russia and Iran signed a new treaty on Friday underpinning their economic and military cooperation, in what both sides cast as a major milestone in their relations.

France's President Emmanuel Macron was in Lebanon on Friday, where he was due to meet his newly-elected counterpart and offer support to leaders seeking to open a new chapter in their country's turbulent history.