POLITICS & POLICY

French President Emmanuel Macron was on Monday set to warn Chinese leader Xi Jinping against backing Russia in the conflict over Ukraine but also seek to enlist his help in finding an end to the war.

Panamanians voted Sunday in presidential elections featuring a crowded field of eight candidates led by the protege of a former head of state convicted of corruption.

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Sunday arrived in France on a state visit hosted by Emmanuel Macron where the French leader will seek to push his counterpart on issues ranging from Ukraine to trade.

Hamas said its delegation was heading to Cairo on Saturday to resume Gaza truce talks, as the United Nations warned that Israel's threatened assault on the city of Rafah could produce a "bloodbath".

Britain's Labour party on Friday urged beleaguered Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to call a general election, after making huge gains in English polls that included a seat in parliament.

Donald Trump was facing a backlash Thursday after declining to pledge he will accept the results of the 2024 presidential election if he loses, as he repeated his false claims that he was cheated in the 2020 vote.

Xi Jinping heads to Europe on Sunday to defend China's "no limits" alliance with Russia, first to key Ukraine backer France, then to Serbia and Hungary, which have close ties to the Kremlin.

Israel's Iron Dome defence system has long shielded it from incoming rockets.

Dozens of overturned tents, "Free Palestine" signs strewn on the lawn, keffiyehs and flashlights discarded in haste: not much of the pro-Palestinian protest encampment was left Thursday morning at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Vape makers want flavored nicotine vapes for adults needing to quit cigarettes aiming to support prescription-only rules. Health experts worry about dangers, calling for strict regulations to stop youth vaping.

Wearing a bulletproof vest and with a gun strapped to his waist, Constable Lennie McCloskey opens his folder and looks through the court orders: eleven evictions to be carried out today.

The US Federal Reserve held interest rates steady for a sixth straight meeting on Wednesday, keeping the level at a 23-year high to fight stubborn price increases.

Police deployed a heavy presence on US university campuses Wednesday after forcibly clearing away some weeks-long protests against Israel's war with Hamas.

When Nepal suddenly announced a ban on TikTok last year, lawyer Sunil Rajan Singh was determined to fight what he said was a government effort to hide its wrongdoings.

Le Tuan Binh keeps his Moroccan soldier father's tombstone at his village home north of Hanoi, a treasured reminder of a man whose community in Vietnam has been largely forgotten.

Pro-EU demonstrators in Georgia built barricades outside parliament on Wednesday after police used tear gas and rubber bullets against thousands of protesters rallying for a third week against a controversial "foreign influence" bill, an AFP reporter saw.

Students who occupied a Columbia University building vowed Tuesday to fight back against efforts to evict them, as administrators struggled to contain pro-Palestinian protests that have launched dozens of campus demonstrations around the United States.

Cautious hopes were building Tuesday for a Gaza truce and hostage release deal as Hamas said it was studying the latest proposal and US top diplomat Antony Blinken was due to head back to Israel.

Hamas was studying Tuesday Israel's offer of a 40-day truce in the war in the Gaza Strip in exchange for the release of scores of hostages held since the Palestinian militant group's October 7 attacks.

At least 46 people including children died when a makeshift dam burst its banks in Kenya's Rift Valley in the early hours of Monday, a local official said, as torrential rains and floods battered the country.

Togolese voted in legislative elections on Monday after a divisive constitutional reform that opponents say allows President Faure Gnassingbe to extend his family's decades-long grip on power.

French police on Monday detained screen legend Gerard Depardieu for questioning after two women accused him of sexual assault, a source close to the case said.

Diplomatic efforts increased on Sunday to reach a long sought-after truce and hostage-release deal in Gaza, as Israel carried out further air strikes and shelling on the war-battered territory.

Saudi Arabia on Sunday called for regional "stability", warning of the effects of the ongoing Israel-Hamas war on global economic sentiment at the start of a summit attended by a host of Gaza mediators.

Washington's top diplomat will travel to Saudi Arabia on Sunday as the deadline approaches on a landmark -- and, analysts say, long-shot -- deal that would see the kingdom recognise Israel.

Palestinians in Rafah told AFP Saturday they were living in "constant terror" as Israel vows to push ahead with its planned assault on the south Gaza city flooded with displaced civilians.

The head of the International Olympic Committee Thomas Bach has backed the World Anti-Doping Agency in a row over its handling of positive drug tests by 23 Chinese swimmers.

Thousands of sub-Saharan migrants have huddled in Tunisian olive groves for months, living in makeshift tents and surviving on meagre rations while keeping their hopes alive of reaching Europe.

A delegation from mediator Egypt is travelling to Israel on Friday, a source close to the Israeli government told AFP, in what local media said is a bid to reignite stalled hostage-release negotiations.