POLITICS & POLICY

The top United Nations court Friday ordered Israel to halt military operations in Rafah, a landmark ruling likely to increase mounting international pressure on Israel more than seven months into the Gaza war.

The pace of Japanese inflation slowed in April to 2.2 percent as gas bills fell, government data showed Friday, with the figure remaining above the Bank of Japan's two percent target.

Israeli forces struck the Gaza Strip on Friday, as the UN's top court was due to rule on a plea to halt the military offensive over accusations of "genocide".

Russia has arrested a number of generals and military leaders in recent weeks, seeking to overhaul an army hierarchy seen as corrupt and inefficient in an reinvigorated push for victory in Ukraine.

"At least from the military perspective, there is no expectation of anybody participating in any conflict with us, because those decisions are national sovereign decisions," The Guardian quoted the deputy commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command as saying. "We don't dictate that to other countries."

However, the disclosures would be subject to confidentiality obligations and national security regulations, the university said.

Israel bombed Gaza on Thursday even as it said it was ready to resume stalled talks on a truce and hostage release deal with Hamas to pause the war raging since October 7.

Republican former president Donald Trump once dubbed himself a "Tariff Man" seeking to boost government coffers.

The US House of Representatives on Wednesday adopted a bill that would create a new legal framework for digital currencies, in a move cheered by crypto supporters but opposed by consumer groups who say it fails to protect investors.

UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Wednesday set a general election date for July 4, ending months of speculation but not the doom-laden forecasts about the size of the government's expected defeat.

Russia has launched a likely space weapon and deployed it in the same orbit as a US government satellite, the Pentagon said.

Israel's more than seven-month war in Gaza since the October 7 attack has revived a global push for Palestinians to be given a state of their own.

At least three European countries were expected to announce steps towards recognising a Palestinian state on Wednesday, after more than seven months of devastating fighting between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

They never thought they would end up in Europe by leaving their native Bangladesh.

Mexico appears almost certain to elect its first woman president on June 2 -- a prospect that divides opinion among women's rights activists in a country with a long history of macho culture.

When Karim Khan was sworn in as chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, he said the court should be judged by its acts -- "the proof of the pudding should be in the eating."

Ukraine said Tuesday that its allies could shoot down Russian missiles from their own territory, an apparent appeal stemming from the war-torn country's critical lack of air defence systems.

Tens of thousands mourned Iran's president Ebrahim Raisi on Tuesday after his death in a helicopter crash, amid political uncertainty ahead of an election for his successor next month.

The self-styled prince at the heart of an alleged conspiracy-fuelled plot to attack Germany's parliament and topple the government rejected the accusations made against him as his trial opened Tuesday.

The Women's Safety and Justice Taskforce recommends legal amendments aimed at improving the justice system response in the domestic, family and sexual violence cases.

Israeli forces battled Hamas in Gaza on Tuesday after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu angrily dismissed a bid for an international arrest warrant against him on war crimes charges in the Palestinian territory.

The prime suspects from a group of conspiracy theorists accused of plotting to overthrow the German government went on trial in Frankfurt on Tuesday.

US President Joe Biden denied Monday that Israel's war in Gaza was genocide, as he slammed an "outrageous" request by the International Criminal Court's prosecutor for an arrest warrant for Israeli leaders.

A top US banking regulator offered his resignation Monday after an independent report found evidence of widespread sexual misconduct and a "patriarchal" culture at the agency he leads.

A cable car soars above brightly painted houses, winding streets and evocative murals in a densely populated Mexico City neighborhood pivotal to the ruling party's chances of keeping control of the capital in upcoming elections.

Taliban poets, long fuelled by fervour for jihad against foreign forces, have focused their efforts on flattering the men who now rule Afghanistan.

Under Australia's anti-terrorism laws, those who travel to places that posing a good risk of terror activity could be prosecuted. This provision is set to end in September this year.

University of Queensland management warns students of disciplinary action for raising chanting anti-Israel slogans and using the word "intifada," the Arabic word for uprising.

Air strikes and shelling hit Gaza on Monday, witnesses said, as battles raged in the besieged territory's north and the far-southern city of Rafah where Israel's defence minister vowed to expand ground operations.