POLITICS & POLICY

When Georgia's richest man first burst into politics 12 years ago, he vowed to "astonish Europe" with the democracy he would bring to the Black Sea nation.

The US election takes a detour from the swing state circuit to decamp to Texas on Friday as Kamala Harris rallies with pop superstar Beyonce and Donald Trump sits down with the world's biggest podcaster.

"We share a vision for a modern and transformed Australia-United Kingdom relationship, which delivers tangible benefits and prosperity to both our nations and the Indo-Pacific," Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said.

Winding through the lawless, rugged hills of northern Myanmar, National Highway 3 links a stunning series of victories by ethnic rebels and pro-democracy fighters in their war against the junta.

United Nations leader Antonio Guterres pleaded on Thursday for a "just peace" in Ukraine, calling in a speech in front of Russian President Vladimir Putin for an end to more than two years of fighting.

A parliamentary inquiry heared Thursday that nuclear power plants may take another 10-15 years to establish, while facilities for disposing of high-level waste could require twice as long.

Russian President Vladimir Putin warned on Thursday against "illusory" attempts to defeat Russia on the battlefield ahead of his first meeting with United Nations chief Antonio Guterres in more than two years for talks set to focus on the conflict in Ukraine.

For Pakistani police, reports of a college campus rape that went viral this month are "fake news" fomenting unrest.

Italian priest Davide Marcheselli has been fighting for years against Chinese companies illegally mining gold in the town of Kitutu in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

Before the Zaha Hadid-designed plaza, before the luxury high rises, before the South Korean neighbourhood hosted fashion week, there was a pastor handing out rice to poor pensioners in Seoul's Dongdaemun district.

In her store located a stone's throw from the wall separating the United States and Mexico, Ida Pedrego sighs at the thought of White House hopefuls visiting the border to talk about immigration.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un inspected a strategic missile base, state media said Wednesday, releasing images of him viewing transport and launch vehicles for the country's largest and most powerful intercontinental ballistic weapons.

A Chinese aircraft carrier group sailed through the Taiwan Strait on Wednesday, Taiwan's defence minister said, a day after Beijing held a live-fire exercise near the self-ruled island.

Kamala Harris faces voters' questions at a live forum Wednesday in must-win Pennsylvania as the vice president and her rival Donald Trump battle for undecided voters in the closing stretch of an extremely close White House race.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday touted the creation of a new "multipolar world order" at the BRICS summit, a gathering of world leaders he hopes will show that Western attempts to isolate Moscow over its Ukraine offensive have failed.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Wednesday "now is the time" to end the conflict in Gaza, and urged Israel to avoid further escalation with Iran.

Donald Trump may have become involved with a porn star, but if elected president he could try shutting down the entire industry, adult film stars are warning in a push to get young men to vote against the Republican next month.

Anastasia Gridina breaks down when she talks about keeping in touch with her three-year-old daughter Darina -- who is stranded in Ukrainian-occupied territory in Russia's Kursk region.

Donald Trump surrogate Elon Musk's offer of a million dollars to one registered voter in a swing state every day until the US Election Day on November 5 has raised questions about the legality of such a move.

One of the tightest US election races of modern times enters its final, two-week stretch Tuesday, with Republican Donald Trump making a special pitch to Latino voters as Democratic rival Kamala Harris sits down for a national network interview.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Israel Tuesday to push for a ceasefire in Gaza after his administration called for an end to the war in Lebanon "as soon as possible".

Inside her cafe in the frontline Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk, Anna appeared calm as she poured a capuccino, filling the room with the scent of Java roast.

The untold story of how around 1,000 children were rescued from Rwanda during the bloodiest and most chaotic days of its genocide is finally coming to light three decades after they were saved from the slaughter.

Iraq's Kurdistan voted on Sunday to elect a new parliament for the autonomous oil-rich region, where voters expressed concern over economic struggles and disenchantment with the political elite.

"Breaking" news, screamed an online post by a conservative American influencer as he pushed disinformation about Kamala Harris, illustrating how journalism lingo has been co-opted as a tool to amplify election falsehoods.

Former US president Donald Trump hits the campaign trail in hurricane-hit North Carolina on Monday, having heavily criticized the government's disaster response after at least 124 people were killed there by storm Helene.

South Korea summoned the Russian ambassador Monday to criticise Pyongyang's decision to send thousands of soldiers to support Moscow's war in Ukraine, the foreign ministry said, calling for their immediate withdrawal.

You can't walk very far through a forest in this part of the United States without stumbling upon a mushroom, an eruption from a vast fungal kingdom that all life depends on, but about which we know very little.

Moldovans voted on Sunday in a presidential election and a referendum on joining the European Union, with fears of Russian meddling amid the war in neighbouring Ukraine.