POLITICS & POLICY

Only two years ago, Abdesselam Ichou began growing cannabis legally as part of Morocco's legalisation of the plant for medicinal and industrial uses in an impoverished part of the country.

Venezuelans vote Sunday between continuity in President Nicolas Maduro or change in rival Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia amid high tension following the incumbent's threat of a "bloodbath" if he loses, which polls suggest is likely.

Venezuelans go to the polls Sunday to elect a president between incumbent Nicolas Maduro and rival Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, in a tense atmosphere marked by the last-minute barring of international observers and complaints of widespread opposition repression.

Voters on both sides of the political aisle in Venezuela are convinced of victory in Sunday's presidential elections, in which incumbent Nicolas Maduro faces opposition challenger Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia.

China grabbed the first two gold medals of the Paris Olympics on Saturday as swimming prepared to take centre stage on a rain-disrupted first full opening day of sporting action.

US President Joe Biden on Friday welcomed the arrests of two notorious leaders of Mexico's Sinaloa cartel as details emerged of an elaborate ruse used to capture the drug kingpins.

China and Russia's foreign ministers met their Southeast Asian counterparts Friday after vowing to counter "extra-regional forces", a day before Washington's top diplomat was due to arrive.

Former US president Barack Obama endorsed his fellow Democrat Kamala Harris' bid for the White House on Friday, delivering a major boost to her campaign to defeat Donald Trump in November's presidential election.

Britain's new Labour government will announce next week that the country's public finances have an additional hole of around GBP20 billion ($26 billion), risking tax rises in an upcoming budget, media reported on Friday.

Energy Resources Australia (ERA) had leased the Jabiluka uranium mine for 42 years, and had sought renewal for another 10 years, which was rejected by the NT government on Friday.

Through a basement door in southeastern Turkey lies a sprawling underground city -- perhaps the country's largest -- which one historian believes dates back to the ninth century before Jesus Christ.

Thousands of athletes are set to sail through central Paris on Friday during an unprecedented and high-risk Olympics opening ceremony that will showcase the country's hugely ambitious vision for the Games.

The giant steelworks that greets visitors to Allentown, Pennsylvania once symbolized the city's success as an industrial hub.

Paris was on Thursday counting down the hours to the most ambitious Olympics opening ceremony in history on the river Seine, as tennis icon Rafael Nadal was fighting an injury battle which could shatter his gold medal dreams.

Israeli forces retrieved the remains of five Israelis, killed during Hamas's October 7 attack on southern Israel, whose bodies had been taken to the Gaza Strip, the military said Thursday.

President Vladimir Putin held talks with Syrian counterpart Bashar al-Assad in Moscow amid calls for Russian mediation to cool tensions between Turkey and Syria.

The death toll from landslides in a remote region of southern Ethiopia has risen to 257, the United Nations said Thursday, warning that the number of victims could soar to up to 500.

The foreign ministers of Russia and China met on Thursday on the sidelines of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) foreign ministers talks in Laos, Moscow and AFP journalists said.

US economic growth blew past expectations in the second quarter, boosted by consumer spending and inventory building despite high interest rates, government data showed Thursday, after a slow start to the year.

Paying tribute to the outgoing ministers, Prime Minister Albanese said, "I am proud to call them my friends. I'm proud to have witnessed firsthand their passion for this nation, their determination to leave the country better for their contribution as members of parliament and as ministers."

Israeli strikes hit Gaza on Thursday, causing deaths and injuries according to Palestinian medical sources, as a group supporting Israeli hostages held by Palestinian militants alleged "sabotage" of efforts to free them.

Anton Yushyn spent four years studying Italian at university in Kyiv but the outbreak of war taught him the most valuable lesson of his student life: to prioritise what matters most.

It started with a raid on a Chinese-run online gambling centre north of Manila where hundreds of foreigners and Filipinos were forced to run scams or risk torture.

US President Joe Biden will give what could be his final Oval Office speech Wednesday to explain why he dropped out of November's election and deny that he will spend six months as a lame duck.

"We are confident about the next election, we're certainly not sanguine in the sense that we do not underestimate our opponents," Marles said.

The tired troops moved through the forest in east Ukraine at dawn, imitating assault rifle fire while searching for non-existent Russians between the trees.

Israel swiftly condemned an agreement brokered by China Tuesday which Beijing said would bring Hamas into a "national reconciliation government" for post-war Gaza.

As Polish lawmakers debated easing stringent abortion laws, Warsaw-based lawyer Jerzy Podgorski was in court defending a man from the remote town of Pinczow charged with aiding his partner's abortion.

Hamas announced Tuesday it had signed an agreement in Beijing with other Palestinian organisations including rivals Fatah to work together for "national unity", with China describing it as a deal to rule Gaza together once the war ends.