POLITICS & POLICY

Senegal's President Macky Sall has proposed a general amnesty bill for political protesters arrested since 2021, as he holds talks to end fresh turmoil over delayed elections.

The world's trade ministers gathered in the UAE on Monday for a high-level WTO meeting with no clear prospects for breakthroughs, amid geopolitical tensions and disagreements.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Sunday his country's victory "depends" on support from the West and expressed hope the United States would approve a critical package of military aid.

Before the Sudanese army and paramilitary fighters turned their guns on each other last year, Ahmed used to sell one of Sudan's main exports: gum arabic, a vital ingredient for global industry.

"Dahomey", a documentary by Franco-Senegalese director Mati Diop probing the thorny issues surrounding Europe's return of looted antiquities to Africa, won the Berlin film festival's top prize Saturday.

More than 100 people were reported killed early Saturday in overnight strikes across Gaza, as Israel's spy chief was in Paris for talks seeking to "unblock" progress towards a truce and the return of hostages held by Palestinian militants.

Ukraine on Saturday marked two years since Russia's invasion, entering a new year of war weakened by a lack of western aid while Russia is emboldened by fresh gains.

It wasn't his first choice, but Mexico is now home for Evens Luxama -- along with thousands of other Haitians forced to put their hopes of migrating to the United States on hold.

Fire crews on Friday picked through a smouldering 14-storey apartment block in Valencia, searching for bodies and clues, after an inferno ripped through the building killing at least 10 people.

Top athletes, dignitaries and hundreds of mourners paid their last respects on Friday to Kenya's world marathon record-holder Kelvin Kiptum in the nation's athletics heartland where he was born, trained and died.

President Vladimir Putin on Friday hailed Russia's "heroes" fighting in Ukraine on the eve of the second anniversary of the Kremlin's offensive, with Moscow bolstered by gains against ammunition-starved Ukrainian troops.

Israeli air strikes targeted homes in the southern Gaza Strip, witnesses said on Friday, adding to what aid groups describe as an increasingly hopeless humanitarian situation despite efforts towards new truce talks.

After the shock of Alexei Navalny's death in an Arctic prison, Russian dissidents in exile are vowing to pick up the pieces and press on with their battle against President Vladimir Putin's rule.

The chairman of the US House of Representatives committee on China said Thursday that support in his country's legislature for Taiwan was "extremely strong", after a meeting with the self-ruled island's top leadership.

Israel launched air strikes Thursday on southern Gaza's Rafah after threatening to send troops into the city, where around 1.4 million Palestinians have sought shelter from around the territory.

Fifteen candidates in Senegal's delayed presidential election have accused President Macky Sall of "ill will" and vowed to take action to ensure a new poll date is swiftly established.

Lawyers for the United States on Wednesday urged a UK court to block a last-ditch bid by Julian Assange to appeal his extradition to the country to face espionage charges.

Pregnant women had C-sections cancelled and cancer treatments were postponed Wednesday as the number of South Korean trainee doctors to walk off the job over proposed reforms swelled, officials and local reports said.

As Tibetans prepare to mark 65 years since a failed uprising against Chinese rule and questions loom over the Dalai Lama's successor, the diaspora's elected leader said Beijing is crushing his people.

Former US President George W. Bush believed he had a "sense of his soul".

The sound of gentle tapping filled a jewellery workshop in southern China as a craftsman hammered pine leaf patterns onto a soft slab of gold in the style of old ink paintings.

Rockets at dawn, gunfire outside, hours of anxiety: a survivor of the October 7 attack shared his account of the day Gaza militants stormed his southern Israeli community, speaking into a video camera.

As the Gaza war rages and the Muslim holy month of Ramadan nears, concern has grown over potential tensions at Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa mosque compound, a past flashpoint for violence.

The mother of Alexei Navalny urged Russian President Vladimir Putin to "immediately" release the body of her son, in her first comments since his death in an Arctic prison.

Israel hit Gaza with new air strikes on Tuesday as world powers grappled with how to broker a ceasefire ahead of a UN Security Council vote.

Palestinian foreign minister Riyad Al-Maliki told the UN's top court Monday his people were suffering "colonialism and apartheid" under the Israelis, urging judges to order an immediate and unconditional end to the occupation.

Americans haven't elected an independent president since George Washington, but a public turned off by two historically unpopular frontrunners appears more open than ever to the rich crop of wildcards who could tilt the election in 2024.

Prospects for an Israel-Hamas ceasefire dimmed Sunday after the United States signalled it would veto the latest push for a UN Security Council resolution and mediator Qatar acknowledged that truce talks on the other diplomatic front have hit an impasse.

Former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra arrived back at his Bangkok home from police hospital early Sunday, just six months after he was arrested following a dramatic return to the kingdom from 15 years of self-imposed exile.