POLITICS & POLICY

Israel and Iran traded threats after Tehran's first ever direct attack on its arch foe sharply heightened Middle East tensions and as the Gaza war ground on with no truce in sight.

Gulf states are grappling with the widening Middle East conflict as hostilities between Iran and Israel threaten their security and ambitious plans to reshape their economies.

Israel's armed forces chief has vowed to respond to Iran's unprecedented attack against the country, even after appeals for restraint poured in from world leaders fearing wider regional conflict.

Orange lava bubbles and pops, occasionally spewing large fountains from a volcano that has been erupting for a month in Iceland, the second-longest eruption since the region's volcanic activity reawakened in March 2021.

India begins voting Friday in a six-week election, with Hindu nationalist Prime Minister Narendra Modi's victory all but assured, raising concerns for the health of the world's largest democracy.

France and its allies on Monday drummed up aid pledges of over two billion euros ($2.1 billion) for Sudan a year after civil war erupted sparking one of the world's worst humanitarian crises.

Israel launched dozens of air strikes on Gaza overnight, Hamas said Monday, as the army said it will not be distracted from the war after Iran's unprecedented attack heightened fears of wider conflict.

Donald Trump goes to court Monday as the first US ex-president ever to be criminally prosecuted, a seismic moment for the United States as the presumptive Republican nominee campaigns to re-take the White House.

Iran on Sunday urged Israel not to retaliate militarily to an unprecedented attack overnight, which Tehran presented as a justified response to a strike that destroyed its consulate building in Damascus earlier this month.

Troop reinforcements from Israel's ally the United States headed to the region on Saturday, with fears of wider war growing more than six months into Israel's battle against Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip.

As air raid sirens rang out on the morning of October 7, Bilha Inon and her husband Yakovi sheltered in the safe room of their home in Netiv Haasara in southern Israel.

Millions displaced and on the brink of famine. More than 8.5 million have had to flee their homes to seek safety elsewhere in Sudan or across borders in neighbouring countries.

Myanmar junta troops have withdrawn from their positions in a major trade hub near the Thai border following days of clashes, an ethnic armed group said Thursday, in a further blow to the embattled military.

Bad weather delayed the start of the 88th Masters at Augusta National on Thursday with world number one Scottie Scheffler and second-ranked Rory McIlroy scheduled to tee off in a dream first-round pairing.

Thai armoured cars patrolled the town of Mae Sot Wednesday as the deep boom of artillery thundered across the border in Myanmar, where the junta and an ethnic armed group fought for a second day near a vital trade hub.

Israeli strikes hit Gaza on Wednesday as Muslims marked the end of the holy fasting month of Ramadan and after US President Joe Biden labelled Israel's approach to the war a "mistake".

EU lawmakers will vote Wednesday on a vast overhaul of the bloc's asylum policies that would harden border procedures for irregular arrivals and require all member countries to pitch in.

US President Joe Biden issued some of his sternest criticism yet of Israel's war on Hamas, calling its approach a "mistake" as the country faces a Wednesday court deadline to prove it is not throttling aid to hunger-stricken Gaza.

Arsenal rescued a 2-2 draw against Bayern Munich as Leandro Trossard's late leveller stopped Harry Kane making a triumphant return to north London in Tuesday's Champions League quarter-final first leg.

South Koreans began voting Wednesday in parliamentary elections seen as a referendum on President Yoon Suk Yeol after a polarising campaign focused largely on resentment, personalities -- and onions.

Israel bombed targets in Gaza on Tuesday after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insisted the army will destroy Hamas despite ongoing Cairo talks towards a ceasefire and hostage deal.

Hamas said Tuesday it was considering a new framework for a truce proposed during the latest round of negotiations in Cairo, as Palestinians returning to southern Gaza confronted the extent of destruction left after Israeli troops' withdrawal.

The European Union is open to the idea of sending asylum-seekers to outside countries, even if it is not willing to go quite as far as following Britain and its plans to fly irregular migrants to Rwanda.

Israeli leaders were preparing Monday for military operations in Gaza's southern city of Rafah, where most of the Palestinian territory's population has fled after six months of fighting.

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Chinese Premier Li Qiang sounded a hopeful tone on US-China cooperation on Sunday, though the American policymaker noted both sides cannot shy away from tough conversations.

The Israel-Hamas war that has devastated the Gaza Strip entered its seventh month on Sunday, with talks towards a truce and hostage release deal expected to resume in Cairo.

The war between Israel and Hamas entered its seventh month on Sunday as US and other negotiators were expected to join the protagonists in Cairo in a renewed push for a ceasefire and hostage release deal.

From India and South Korea to Croatia and North Macedonia, fact-checking organizations battling an ever-rising tide of misinformation in a major election year are buffeted by legal threats, harassment and funding shortfalls.

Ecuador was lambasted across Latin America on Saturday after security forces stormed the Mexican embassy in Quito to arrest graft-accused former vice president Jorge Glas, who had been granted political asylum there.