POLITICS & POLICY

The French parliament voted Monday to anchor the right to abortion in the constitution, making France the first country in the world to offer explicit protection for terminating a pregnancy in its basic law.

China's leadership is confident the economy will improve, an official said Monday, ahead of a key political meeting in which Beijing is expected to unveil one of its most pessimistic growth targets in years.

Jennifer spent her weekend calling California voters, urging them to cast their ballot in Tuesday's primary election for Democrat Peter Dixon.

Mediators in Cairo made a renewed push for a Gaza ceasefire, but differences remained as fighting raged on in the Palestinian territory gripped by desperate food shortages.

Israel has broadly accepted a ceasefire deal with Hamas, a senior US official said Saturday, as the first American airdrops of humanitarian aid were carried out over war-ravaged Gaza.

A communications blackout has made information scarce from Sudan's Al-Jazira state, which paramilitaries pushed into in December, but rare interviews with residents have detailed grim conditions in the former safe haven.

As Israelis are called up to join the war effort in Gaza, anger is mounting at the ultra-Orthodox community which has long been spared the compulsory military service required of most citizens.

The world's trade ministers were locked in deadlocked negotiations Friday following overnight talks as a major WTO conference postponed its closing session for a fourth time with no deals in sight.

The funeral of late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny is due to take place in Moscow on Friday, with mourners braving the risk of arrest to come and pay their respects.

Nearly a year since US journalist Evan Gershkovich was arrested in Russia on espionage charges, his parents are counting on a "very personal" promise from President Joe Biden to bring him home.

Thousands of Palestinians flocked to an aid distribution point early Thursday, desperate for food amid Gaza's looming famine, only to be met with lethal chaos including live fire by Israeli troops.

The crowd flocked to the aid distribution point early Thursday, desperate for food amid Gaza's looming famine, only to be met with lethal chaos including live fire by Israeli troops.

President Vladimir Putin warned Thursday of a "real" risk of nuclear war if the West escalates the conflict in Ukraine, offering a defiant and emboldened stance in his annual speech to Russians.

The athletes' village for the Paris Olympics, which is set to be inaugurated Thursday, contains a host of innovations intended to make it a model of low-carbon construction.

In Sao Teotonio, a small country town in southwest Portugal, there are more Indian and Nepalese restaurants than Portuguese ones.

The US Supreme Court agreed on Wednesday to hear Donald Trump's claim that as a former president he is immune from prosecution, further delaying his trial on charges of conspiring to overturn the 2020 election.

The Gaza war's reported Palestinian death toll neared 30,000 Wednesday as fighting raged in the Hamas-run territory despite mediators insisting a truce with Israel could be just days away.

Workers across Greece were set to strike on Wednesday to demand answers a year after the nation's deadliest train crash, which killed 57 people and injured dozens more.

When Marcia Smith moved to a small town in New Mexico last year, she did not expect to find herself battling a Donald Trump-linked lawyer's plan to effectively outlaw abortion across the United States.

French President Emmanuel Macron has smashed a major taboo by floating the possibility of sending Western troops to Ukraine, raising the stakes in a showdown with a nuclear-armed Russia.

As Iranians head to the polls for legislative and other elections on Friday, candidates have promised them on campaign posters to "fight corruption" and "fix the economy".

French President Emmanuel Macron triggered a shockwave in Europe on Tuesday by refusing to rule out the dispatch of Western ground troops to Ukraine in its fight against the Russian invasion.

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.