POLITICS & POLICY

North Korea has ratified a landmark defence pact with Russia, state media reported Tuesday, deepening security cooperation that has seen Pyongyang send thousands of troops to help Moscow fight Ukraine.

Under the new Tobacco Amendment (Tobacco Retailer and Wholesaler Licensing Scheme) Bill, which the government plans to pass by the end of the year, individuals found selling tobacco without a license could face fines of up to AU$355,000 or 15 years in prison, while businesses could be fined up to AU$1.7 million.

Aspiring South Korean writer On Ji-goo never considered herself a feminist but changed her mind after being physically attacked by a man for having short hair.

US president-elect Donald Trump said late Sunday he was bringing back hardline immigration official Tom Homan to oversee the country's borders in the incoming administration.

The White House will spend its remaining $6 billion of Ukraine funding before Donald Trump's presidential inauguration in January, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said Sunday, warning of the global risks of ending US support for Kyiv.

Art teacher Daniil Klyuka believes the headmistress of the provincial Russian school where he worked reported him for doodling horns on pictures of officials in a newspaper.

The presence of North Korean soldiers alongside Russians fighting Ukraine raises many tactical and military questions, leading some analysts to wonder about their effectiveness and ultimate objectives.

Israeli air strikes killed dozens of people in Lebanon and Gaza Sunday, rescuers and authorities said, ahead of a US deadline for improved aid delivery to the Palestinian territory.

Osama Ahmed's life took a dramatic turn one night in October when the small boat that was to carry him and his father to the English coast sank shortly after setting out from France.

Traces of black soot still mark the facade of the Regina Coeli jail, a reminder of the latest riots in Rome's infamous lock-up -- now emblematic of long-standing troubles plaguing Italy's prison system.

Qatar has withdrawn as a key mediator for a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal after concluding that Hamas and Israel were unwilling to negotiate "in good faith", a diplomatic source told AFP Saturday.

Mozambique's opposition on Friday promised fresh protests, as rights groups said at least 30 people had been killed in three weeks of demonstrations over contested election results.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, mired in crisis after his three-party coalition collapsed this week, said Friday he is open to talks on whether to move forward snap elections.

The UN condemned on Friday the staggering number of civilians killed in Israel's war in Gaza, with women and children comprising nearly 70 percent of the thousands of fatalities it had managed to verify.

NATO chief Mark Rutte said Thursday that North Korea's involvement in Russia's war against Ukraine posed a direct threat to the United States, in a first effort to convince Donald Trump to keep backing Kyiv.

American F-15 fighter planes arrived in the Middle East on Thursday, the US military said, after Washington announced the deployment of additional assets to the region in a warning to Iran.

Israeli, Dutch and European leaders on Friday condemned "anti-Semitic" clashes that erupted in Amsterdam overnight after a Europa League football match, with Israel sending rescue planes for their citizens.

Yannick Bestaven already knows what it feels like to win the Vendee Globe but the 51-year-old Frenchman cannot resist the call of the solo, non-stop round the world yacht race, which sets off from Les Sables-d'Olonne on the Atlantic coast on Sunday.

For King Faisal, a 20-year-old winger from Ghana, the invitation to move to Brazil to play football is easily summed up: "It was a dream."

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday said it would be "suicidal" for Europe to offer the Kremlin concessions to halt its invasion of Ukraine, after Moscow demanded the West enter direct talks on ending the war.

European leaders gathered in Budapest Thursday in search of a joint response to the threats of a new Donald Trump presidency -- though the seat of powerhouse Germany was left empty by a deepening political crisis.

Unusual cross-party support is swelling in France behind a draft law meant to halt a looming "mexicanisation" of the country by a burgeoning drug trade, defying an otherwise riven political landscape.

Chinese President Xi Jinping said Thursday Beijing and Washington must find a way to "get along" in a message to US president-elect Donald Trump, state media reported.

Australia's prime minister on Thursday vowed to ban children under 16 from social media, saying the pervasive influence of platforms like Facebook and TikTok was "doing real harm to our kids".

Ireland meet New Zealand on Friday at Lansdowne Road in a rematch of last year's epic Rugby World Cup quarter-final which dashed Irish dreams of lifting the trophy.

Germany's Chancellor Olaf Scholz has been dubbed the "Scholzomat" for a dry personal style bordering on the robotic, but also hailed as a safe pair of hands leading a country that values stability.

Donald Trump's victory in US presidential elections has sparked anxiety on the streets of Kyiv at a decisive moment of the war as Ukrainian defences buckle under mounting Russian pressure.

Donald Trump's victory in the 2024 US presidential election is likely to usher in a raft of economic changes at home and abroad, touching everything from foreign trade to the independence of the US central bank.

US allies at NATO scrambled Wednesday to put a brave face on the return of Donald Trump to the White House amid fears the unpredictable Republican could upend European security and pull the plug on Ukraine support.