POLITICS & POLICY

China carried out a combat patrol to test "strike capabilities" near a flashpoint reef in the South China Sea on Wednesday, as the United States and its allies held joint military drills in the same waters.

Patricia Russell was only six when she said farewell to her father Eric Liddell for the final time but she retains fond memories of the athlete immortalised in the Oscar-winning film "Chariots of Fire".

Russia said Tuesday it deployed air and artillery firepower to try to quash an armed Ukrainian border incursion after pro-Kyiv fighters stormed across the border with tanks and armoured vehicles.

Citing recent data from the Home Affairs, Universities Australia chief executive Luke Sheehy said the impact of less than 60,000 students arriving in Australia meant an economic loss of AU$4.3 billion and the loss of thousands of jobs in the university sector.

""Northern Territory has the highest unmet demand at 23% in 2024. New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland have the lowest shortfall of unmet demand at 5% in 2024," a government report said.

Ukraine has received its first batch of US-made F-16 fighter jets, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Sunday, quickly adding that more are needed to beat back Russian forces.

Kamala Harris will name her running mate as soon as Monday, as she prepares for a tour of US battleground states aimed at turning excitement over her presidential bid into durable support that can power her to victory.

The agency alleged that its account was "report bombed by pro-nuclear groups" to suppress its dissenting views on nuclear energy.

The move is seen as a bid to quash allegations of slot hoarding by Australia's two biggest airliners, Qantas and Virgin.

Diplomatic pressure mounted Monday to avoid an escalation between Iran and Israel following high-profile killings that have sent regional tensions soaring, while numerous governments urged their citizens to leave Lebanon.

Terrorism threat in Australia is rated on a five-level scale, with "not expected" at the lowest level. "Probable" is mid-level rating, which translates to a 50% chance of an onshore attack or a plan to attack in the next one year.

Lynne Ingram cuts a peaceful figure as she tends to a row of humming beehives in a leafy corner of Somerset, southwest England.

On a gloriously sunny Tuesday night training session at the Eindhoven athletics club, young hopefuls are put through their paces, dreaming of emulating their most famous member -- double Olympic champion Sifan Hassan.

Pan Zhanle and stalwart Zhang Yufei spearheaded China to 12 Olympic medals in the Paris pool, shrugging off intense scrutiny over a doping controversy that engulfed the team ahead of the Games.

Nigeria's President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Sunday called for nationwide protests to cease and for "bloodshed" to end after security forces cracked down on rallies spurred by economic hardship.

As Hezbollah's leader threatened Israel with crushing retaliation for killing their top commander, thousands in Beirut flocked to a dance extravaganza in a stark illustration of Lebanon's deep divisions.

If appointed, the administrator will have the power to remove 270 officials and manage the union's finances for two years.

The Kremlin on Friday said that at least three Russians freed in a landmark prisoner exchange were undercover Russian agents, a rare public admission into the work of Moscow's top-secret security services.

An Israeli strike that killed seven charity workers in a Gaza aid convoy was the result of "mistaken identification" and a raft of other serious failures, the Australian government found in a report released Friday.

Kremlin critic Vladimir Kara-Murza, who was released from a 25-year prison sentence on Thursday in a prisoner swap, has spent years warning the world of the dangers of a revanchist President Vladimir Putin.

Iran and armed groups backed by it are preparing coordinated action meant to deter Israel but avert all-out war, sources and analysts said, after the killings of top Hamas and Hezbollah figures.

A teenager appeared in court Thursday charged with murdering three girls in a stabbing attack, as Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced a new "national capability" to tackle disorder that broke out after the incident.

As the 12th largest methane polluter, Australia is ranked ahead of bigger economies like Germany and France.

Kamala Harris will be confirmed as the Democratic US presidential nominee in an electronic vote starting Thursday that replaces the fanfare of in-person balloting that usually kicks off the party's national convention.

Only about 2,400 of the 7,000 applications for Palestinian tourist visas submitted since Oct. 7 have been approved, while 4,600 have been rejected.

The Productivity Commission's annual report, Closing the Gap, highlighted that only five of the 19 measures monitored were on track, adding that the lack of data on certain issues, such as access to clean drinking water or domestic violence, made it difficult to make accurate assessments.

Iran was set to hold funeral processions on Thursday for Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh after he was killed in a strike in Tehran blamed on Israel.

Home favourite Leon Marchand wrote his name into the Olympic history books with a phenomenal double gold on a pulsating night in the Paris pool Wednesday, as Japanese gymnast Shinnosuke Oka took a thrilling all-around title.

Bot-like accounts on social media platform X that spread misinformation and hate ahead of Britain's election are now amplifying conspiracy theories around US politics, a watchdog investigation revealed Tuesday, as the race to the White House kicks into high gear.