POLITICS & POLICY

George Clooney and Brad Pitt brought a jolt of electricity -- and old-school Hollywood glamour -- to Venice Sunday, joking, teasing and presiding over a public love fest as their new film "Wolfs" premiered.

Mexico's President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador on Sunday presented the final report of his government, defending his legacy a month before turning power over to his successor -- along with a congressional supermajority and a highly controversial judicial reform plan.

Oasis's reunion concerts in the UK and Ireland next year have sold out, the British music legends said late Saturday, after a day-long struggle for millions of frustrated fans.

Israel pressed on with a large-scale military operation in the occupied West Bank for a fourth day on Saturday, as fierce fighting raged in the nearly 11-month Gaza war.

Biologist Cesar Garzon was searching for a small, endangered parakeet in southern Ecuador when he was warned he may be kidnapped, highlighting the danger for scientists in the biodiverse country engulfed in narco violence.

Aerial strikes on Russian and Ukrainian border cities killed at least a dozen people on Friday, bombardments that came as Kyiv dismissed its air force commander in a major military shake-up.

The king of New Zealand's Maori died on Friday after heart surgery, with aides saying the beloved 69-year-old monarch, praised as a symbol of national unity, had "passed to the great beyond".

China's campaign of confrontation, from remote reefs in Southeast Asia to Taiwan and far-flung Japanese islands, is designed to wear down regional rivals competing with it for contested territories, analysts say.

Australia Defense Minister Richard Marles emphasized in a press release that the pact seeks to "bolster the strong defense ties" between both nations by "enhancing practical arrangements, strengthening interoperability and supporting increased dialogue."

When sedition charges against Hong Kong news editors Chung Pui-kuen and Patrick Lam were first read out in court, former employees of the now-shuttered Stand News broke down in tears in the public gallery.

It is only after dark in the Russian city of Kursk when locals say the fear really starts to creep in.

Norwegian Princess Martha Louise is set to marry American self-proclaimed shaman Durek Verrett on Saturday, a union of two alternative therapy devotees that has raised eyebrows in Norway.

Venezuelan opposition supporters gathered in Caracas on Wednesday, chanting "Liberty!"

Spain has signed agreements with Mauritania and The Gambia to strengthen cooperation to combat people smuggling and promote legal migration, as Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez visits West Africa in the face of surging migrant arrivals.

Serbia expects to sign a "huge" deal for French fighter jets during a visit this week from France's leader, President Aleksandar Vucic told AFP on Wednesday, in an agreement estimated to be worth billions of dollars.

On a platform near the east Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk, Anna Dvoryaninova waited for a train she never wanted to take, leaving her home behind as Russian forces push deeper into her native Donetsk region.

The Transport Workers Union (TWU) has tendered an application to the Fair Work Commission to mandate safety net payments, superannuation, and injury assistance for independent contractors, so that they can cover their weekly costs.

Pavel Durov, the founder and chief of Telegram, is set to learn Wednesday whether he will face charges and even be remanded in custody after his weekend arrest by French authorities over alleged violations at the messaging app.

The Israeli army targeted four cities in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday, launching a major new operation alongside its 10-month-old war in Gaza.

Pacific Island leaders endorsed a landmark regional policing plan Wednesday at a summit in Tonga, a contentious move seen as trying to limit China's security role in the region.

Children returning to school in Poland next week will find a new group of classmates -- Ukrainian children now living in the country who were not previously enrolled in the Polish education system.

Voters in two former East German states will go to the polls Sunday in what could be a bad night for Chancellor Olaf Scholz's government, with the far-right AfD expected to make big gains.

One year after a bloodless military coup that overthrew Gabon's president Ali Bongo Ondimba ending 55 years of family rule, the fate of the former dynasty remains in limbo.

Prosecutors on Tuesday filed a revised indictment of Donald Trump, pressing ahead with bombshell charges that he tried to overturn the 2020 US election after losing to Joe Biden.

In Manchester, the northwest English hometown of legendary rockers Oasis, fans on Tuesday were gushing about the seemingly impossible -- the band was getting back together for a worldwide tour next year.

The Israeli military said it rescued an Israeli hostage in Gaza on Tuesday, more than 10 months after he was seized during the Hamas attacks that sparked a devastating war.

Fosir Mia moved to Saudi Arabia thinking he would earn a handsome salary as an electrician, only to find himself hauling steel rods in harsh desert heat for paltry pay.

President Emmanuel Macron faced an uphill battle Tuesday to launch fresh talks over a new government in France, with the political left refusing to take part after he rejected their candidate for prime minister.

UN nuclear watchdog head Rafael Grossi on Tuesday warned during a visit to Russia's Kursk nuclear plant that its proximity to ongoing fighting was "extremely serious" following Ukraine's unprecedented cross-border offensive.