POLITICS & POLICY

Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro has been written off many times during a turbulent decade in power.

The US said Monday that emergency talks were a "critical moment" in addressing spiraling instability in Haiti, where gang violence has crippled the capital and forced foreign diplomats to evacuate.

There were tears and emotional tributes Monday as Spain and the European Union paid tribute to the 192 victims of March 14, 2004, Madrid train bombings that marked the start of mass Islamist attacks in Europe.

Catherine, Princess of Wales on Monday apologised and admitted to editing an official portrait of her released by the palace, after AFP and other agencies withdrew the image.

Gaza's deadliest war showed no signs of abating as the Muslim holy month of Ramadan began Monday amid a gruelling humanitarian crisis that has pushed much of the territory to the brink of starvation.

The Muslim holy month of Ramadan begins on Monday, Middle Eastern nations have announced, with the king of Saudi Arabia using the occasion to call for an end to the "heinous crimes" taking place in war-torn Gaza.

Reigning Grand Slam champions Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz turned in dominating performances on Sunday to roll into the fourth round of the ATP-WTA Indian Wells Masters.

Deadly fighting raged on in Gaza on Sunday, with no truce in sight on the eve of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and a dire humanitarian crisis gripping the besieged Palestinian territory.

Students were just about to settle into their classes after singing Nigeria's national anthem when the gunshots rang out.

A dual referendum in Ireland on redefining family and women's roles in the constitution has been "comprehensively" defeated, Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said on Saturday.

A shadowy political party that ruled Karachi for more than three decades, overseeing the city's descent into a swamp of organised crime, has risen from the ashes in Pakistan's tainted elections.

Asif Ali Zardari, the widower of Pakistan's slain first female premier Benazir Bhutto who has had a life storied equally by tragedy and farce, is set to become president for a second time on Saturday.

A jury in New York on Friday found former Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernandez guilty of trafficking hundreds of tons of cocaine into the United States, enriching himself while protecting and abetting some of the region's most infamous drug cartels.

People around the world marked International Women's Day Friday with protests, demonstrations and celebrations.

Nigeria's President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Friday sent troops to rescue more than 250 pupils kidnapped by gunmen from a school in the country's northwest in one of the largest mass abductions in three years.

"I don't sleep anymore," Latifa Abu Hamid said while looking at pictures of her children hanging on the walls of her living room, two women and 10 men.

US President Joe Biden warned Israel on Thursday that it cannot use aid as a "bargaining chip" in its fight against Hamas and called for an immediate temporary ceasefire in Gaza, where fears of a looming famine have multiplied.

Student activist Lin Lin led protests against Myanmar's junta, defying the generals for months before being hunted down and caught.

President Joe Biden launched a fiery attack on his "dangerous" November presidential election rival Donald Trump in Thursday's State of the Union address, warning that US democracy is under "assault."

As a teenager, Victor Rodriguez felt excluded from his religion for being gay, but now he's welcome at inclusive masses in a Mexico City church, where same-sex couples have also begun receiving blessings with the pope's endorsement.

The Dalai Lama, wrapped in red and yellow robes, urged chanting monks and nuns in his latest public prayers to help heal the world with their "compassionate heart".

China's foreign minister gave a rare press conference to foreign media on Thursday, outlining Beijing's positions on major global issues as it holds annual political meetings known as the Two Sessions.

Kimono-clad Mayuko Kashiwazaki delivers her lines in guttural tones and transforms into an evil snake in the lead role of a Japanese Noh play where, unusually, most of the cast are women.

China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi lashed out against the United States and praised his country's partnership with Russia on Thursday, in a wide-ranging press conference where he called the war in Gaza a "disgrace for civilisation".

The armorer who loaded the gun that killed a cinematographer on the set of the Alec Baldwin movie "Rust" was convicted Wednesday of involuntary manslaughter.

Israel's war cabinet, seen as a symbol of national unity in the war against Hamas, has been shaken by political rivalry between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and centrist Benny Gantz, analysts say.

Bumblebees and chimpanzees can learn skills from their peers so complicated that they could never have mastered them on their own, an ability previously thought to be unique to humans, two studies said on Wednesday.

The UN Security Council expressed its concern over the deteriorating situation in violence-gripped Haiti on Wednesday, as Washington ramped up pressure on absent Prime Minister Ariel Henry to secure a political settlement.

Senegalese voters should finally head to the polls at the end of March, following a string of announcements late Wednesday marking the latest twist in weeks of crisis triggered by the delay to the presidential election.