POLITICS & POLICY

Tiny shards of plastic called microplastics have been detected accumulating in human brains, but there is not yet enough evidence to say whether this is doing us harm, experts have said.

Myanmar's junta ended its state of emergency on Thursday, ramping up plans for a December election that opposition groups pledged to boycott and monitors said will be used to consolidate the military's power.

US President Donald Trump's Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff arrived in Israel on Thursday to discuss ways to end the crisis in Gaza, where nearly 22 months of grinding war and dire shortages of food have drawn mounting international criticism.

When Mohammad Hanif heard Qatar was opening jobs to Afghans, he joined thousands of others to put his name down for a shot to make a living in the gas-rich emirate, his own country wracked by unemployment.

US President Donald Trump imposed new tariffs to punish or favor major trading partners Wednesday, as governments raced to strike deals with Washington less than 24 hours before an August 1 deadline.

Gaza's civil defence agency said Israeli forces killed at least 30 people when they opened fire Wednesday on a crowd waiting for humanitarian aid in the north of the Palestinian territory.

Japan is waging war on "host clubs" -- where men entertain women willing to pay for romance, but authorities and industry insiders say customers have long been scammed and saddled with debt.

One of the strongest earthquakes ever recorded struck Russia's sparsely populated Far East early Wednesday, causing tsunamis of up to four metres (12 feet) across the Pacific and sparking evacuations from Hawaii to Japan.

An uneasy ceasefire between Thailand and Cambodia appeared to hold on Tuesday, as military commanders met despite Bangkok's allegations the truce had been breached with sporadic skirmishes.

Russia said on Tuesday that it wanted peace in Ukraine, hours after mounting attacks that killed at least 25 people, including a 23-year-old pregnant woman and more than a dozen prison inmates.

Gaza is slipping into famine, UN-backed experts warned Tuesday, as the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory said the death toll in the nearly 22-month war had surpassed 60,000.

One 14-year-old was allegedly planning to blow up an Israeli embassy, while a 16-year-old was convicted of having plotted to attack far-right bars incensed by "injustice".

A nearly 200-year-old pub, the Radnor Arms in rural Wales stood abandoned a few years ago.

The European Union on Monday defended its trade deal with President Donald Trump, with EU capitals and businesses sharply divided on an outcome some branded a "capitulation".

Firefighters battled blazes across Turkey on Monday as the country sweltered in a summer heatwave across much of the Mediterranean, with wildfires leading to at least 14 deaths in the country in the past week.

Truckloads of food reached hungry Gazans on Monday after Israel promised to open secure aid routes, but humanitarian agencies warned vast amounts more were needed to stave off starvation.

Tadej Pogacar completed a supreme performance to win the Tour de France in a rainy Paris on Sunday, crushing his rivals to collect a fourth title.

US President Donald Trump and EU chief Ursula von der Leyen prepared to meet Sunday in Scotland in a push to resolve a months-long transatlantic trade standoff that is going down to the wire.

New Zealand sheep farmers are fighting to stop the loss of pasture to fast-spreading pine plantations, which earn government subsidies to soak up carbon emissions.

Mervin Yamarte left Venezuela with his younger brother, hoping for a better life.

The United Nations and NGOs are warning of an imminent famine in the Gaza Strip -- a designation based on strict criteria and scientific evidence.

Taiwan's main opposition protested on Friday ahead of unprecedented recall elections targeting its lawmakers that could tip the balance of power to President Lai Ching-te's party.

Aid groups warned of surging numbers of malnourished children in war-ravaged Gaza as a trio of European powers prepared to hold an "emergency call" Friday on the deepening humanitarian crisis.

Iranian diplomats met counterparts from Germany, Britain and France on Friday for renewed nuclear talks, amid warnings that the three European powers could trigger "snapback" sanctions outlined under the 2015 deal.

US President Donald Trump was due to arrive in Scotland on Friday for a mix of diplomacy, business and leisure, with a huge security operation swinging into place and protests planned near his family-owned golf resorts.

Far-right MAGA influencers are treading a tightrope as outrage escalates over the case of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein: they are caught between a fired-up base demanding more information and President Donald Trump, who is eager to turn the page.

Hamas said on Thursday that it had responded to an Israeli proposal for a 60-day ceasefire in Gaza, as pressure mounted for a breakthrough to end almost two years of devastating conflict that has triggered a humanitarian crisis.

Ukraine on Wednesday proposed direct talks within weeks between its President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russia's Vladimir Putin, but Moscow tempered prospects for progress at a fresh round of talks in Istanbul on Wednesday.

More than 100 aid organisations and human rights groups warned on Wednesday that "mass starvation" was spreading in Gaza, as the United States said its top envoy was heading to Europe for talks on a possible ceasefire and aid corridor.