POLITICS & POLICY

France's new right-wing Prime Minister Michel Barnier started consulting all sides Friday to cobble together a government capable of mustering a majority in parliament after two months of political deadlock.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese distanced himself from Swan's comments in the media, saying that both RBA and his government worked to lower inflation. "They are in charge of monetary policy, we are in charge of fiscal policy ... The fight against inflation is one we are all engaged with," he said.

The move follows similar cases in Western Australia and Queensland, where cases were settled for AU$165 million and AU$190 million, respectively.

Israeli forces appeared to be winding down a deadly 10-day raid in a flashpoint city in the occupied West Bank on Friday, as key ally Germany warned against treating the territory like Gaza.

President Volodymyr Zelensky joined a meeting of Ukraine's international backers in Germany on Friday, appealing for additional weapons as Kyiv faces advancing Russian forces in the east and devastating strikes by Moscow.

Over mountains, by air, and by sea, pilgrims have flocked to Port Moresby, the Papua New Guinea capital where Pope Francis landed on Friday on a landmark four-day visit.

China's years of splashing cash on big-ticket infrastructure projects in Africa may be over, analysts say, with Beijing seeking to shield itself from risky, indebted partners on the continent as it grapples with a slowing economy at home.

France's Top 14, with its seemingly bottomless resources, has always attracted the finest cuts of world rugby talent but the arrival of Owen Farrell, the epitome of English 'rosbif', at Racing 92 comes across as more substantial than most.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on a rare visit to violence-ravaged Haiti on Thursday heard guarded optimism as he promised $45 million in aid, urged greater international support for a new security mission and sought concrete action toward elections.

French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday named the European Union's former Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier as new prime minister, counting on the veteran politician to end two months of political deadlock after snap elections.

The roots of war, its harrowing realities and aftermath are explored in a host of offerings at the Venice Film Festival this year, including a remarkable documentary going behind the lines with Russian soldiers.

A French woman whose husband has admitted to enlisting dozens of strangers to rape her while she was drugged told his trial on Thursday that police had saved her by uncovering the crimes.

His new salary package reportedly will exceed AU$1 million, marking a substantial increase from his current earnings of around AU$400,000.

Around 24 million Algerians are poised to head to the polls on Saturday for a vote in which experts say incumbent President Abdelmadjid Tebboune faces no real risk to his rule as he seeks a second term.

Elon Musk's woes are hardly limited to Brazil as he now risks possible EU sanctions in the coming months for allegedly breaking new content rules.

Greek barista Kyriakos Giannichronis has seen the headlines about his country's newly booming economy after years of recession -- but he does not feel the wealth.

New Zealand's Maori chiefs anointed a 27-year-old queen as their new monarch Thursday, a surprise choice hailed as a symbol of change for the country's Indigenous community.

Hamas on Thursday accused Benjamin Netanyahu of trying to "thwart" a Gaza truce deal, after the Israeli premier said the Palestinian militant group has "rejected everything" in negotiations.

The United States unsealed a raft of "terrorism" and other charges against six Hamas leaders on Tuesday related to the armed Palestinian group's October 7, 2023 attack on Israel.

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer defended Wednesday his government's partial suspension of arms exports to Israel over fears they could be used in a breach of humanitarian law as "a legal decision".

A Greenland court decided Wednesday to hold US-Canadian anti-whaling activist Paul Watson an additional 28 days pending a decision on his extradition to Japan, an anti-whaling group said.

A Russian strike on west Ukraine's Lviv, hundreds of kilometers from the front, killed seven people on Wednesday, authorities said as Moscow claimed advances in the war-torn nation's east.

The historian running the memorial at Germany's former Nazi concentration camp Buchenwald is no stranger to hate crime and threats, but he fears more trouble ahead after the far-right AfD's election triumph.

During her final years of high school, Chinese teenager Xu Yunting found an unusual way to make some pocket money -- transforming herself into male video game characters and taking their female devotees on dates.

Taylor Fritz and Emma Navarro reached their first Grand Slam semi-finals at the US Open on Tuesday, boosting home hopes of a double American title party this weekend.

International football returns across Europe this week, less than eight weeks after Spain edged out England in the Euro 2024 final in Berlin.

The inquiry into the Grenfell Tower disaster that killed 72 people in Britain's worst residential fire since World War II will on Wednesday publish its long-awaited final report.

The backlash to Britain's suspension of some arms exports to Israel shows the fine line the Labour government has to tread in its relations with its Middle Eastern ally.

Harrowing details emerged Tuesday at the trial of a Frenchman charged with enlisting dozens of strangers to rape his drugged wife, with her daughter temporarily leaving the courtroom as she became overwhelmed by emotion.