POLITICS & POLICY

Hit by three waves of painful US tariffs since President Donald Trump returned to office, the European Union's response has been a high-wire act, balancing calibrated retaliation with a push for negotiations to avert an all-out trade war.

The United States will not allow China to "threaten" the operations of the Panama Canal, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth warned during a visit to the Central American nation on Tuesday.

China's expansion of its armed forces is "staggering", NATO's chief said on a visit to Japan beginning Tuesday aimed at "projecting" the alliance's power in the Asia-Pacific region.

Two previous reviews -- one commissioned when Peter Dutton served as Coalition defense minister, and the other conducted by the Albanese government in 2023 -- concluded there were no national security grounds to terminate the lease.

Iran's top diplomat said Tuesday he believed a new nuclear deal could be agreed with the United States provided Tehran's longtime foe shows sufficient goodwill in talks to begin in Oman on Saturday.

Australia is ready for the impact of Donald Trump's trade tariffs, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Tuesday in a first television debate before the tightly contested May 3 elections.

Increasingly frail but with undimmed passion, Britain's David Hockney has put aside his health worries to shape what he describes as the biggest exhibition of his vast career.

In a drought-hit Mexican border region at the center of growing competition with the United States for water, conservationists are working to bring a once-dying river delta back to life.

US President Donald Trump said Sunday that China would have agreed to a deal on the sale of TikTok if it were not for the tariffs imposed by Washington on Beijing last week.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was in Washington on Monday to meet Donald Trump, whom he will likely ask for a reprieve from US tariffs while seeking further backing on Iran and Gaza.

Asian markets took a huge plunge Monday as US futures pointed to significant losses on Wall Street over Donald Trump's punishing tariffs, even as countries sought compromise with the defiant president.

Gaza's civil defence agency said Israeli strikes killed at least 44 people on Sunday as Israel's prime minister vowed a "strong response" to a rare salvo of rockets fired from the Hamas-ruled territory.

More than 50 countries have sought talks with President Donald Trump in a scramble to ease punishing tariffs on exports to the United States, the White House said Sunday, as trade partners braced for further fallout.

Pope Francis made a surprise public appearance on Sunday as he mingled with crowds at the Vatican just two weeks after leaving hospital for a serious case of pneumonia.

France's Marine Le Pen on Sunday invoked Martin Luther King's struggle for civil rights as her far-right party planned to rally its supporters after she was convicted of embezzlement and banned from public office.

A video recovered from the cellphone of an aid worker killed in Gaza alongside other rescuers shows their final moments, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent, with clearly marked ambulances and emergency lights flashing as heavy gunfire erupts.

US President Donald Trump on Saturday doubled down on the sweeping tariffs he unleashed on countries around the world, warning Americans of pain ahead, but promising historic investment and prosperity.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Saturday slammed the US embassy for what he called a "weak" statement that did not blame Russia for a missile strike on his home town which killed 18 people, including nine children.

In unveiling tariffs this week challenging the decades-old international trade order, President Donald Trump lambasted globalization as a raw deal for the United States that has devastated US manufacturing towns.

When South Korea's Constitutional Court ruled to uphold the impeachment of president Yoon Suk Yeol, thousands of protesters gathered outside to watch a live broadcast erupted into wild cheers, with some bursting into tears.

The U.S. tariffs on Heard Island and McDonald Islands -- part of Australian external territory -- are home to valuable Patagonian toothfish fisheries. The 10% tariff could impact the price and availability of this premium fish, especially in high-end U.S. restaurants.

Israel announced the launch of a new ground offensive in Gaza City on Friday, with rescuers saying military operations had killed at least 30 people across the Palestinian territory since dawn.

Vast new Chinese barges spotted off the country's south coast could be used to land heavy equipment and thousands of personnel in a possible invasion of Taiwan, defence experts say.

South Korea's Constitutional Court on Friday unanimously upheld President Yoon Suk Yeol's impeachment over his disastrous martial law declaration, stripping him of office and triggering fresh elections after months of political turmoil.

From European wines to industrial tools, global tariffs launched by US President Donald Trump this week promise to sweep through the world's biggest economy, impacting everyone from restaurant owners to industrial manufacturers.

Syria accused Israel on Thursday of mounting a deadly destabilisation campaign after a wave of strikes on military targets, including an airport, and a ground incursion killed 13 people.

The European Union is "ready for a trade war" with the United States and plans to "attack online services" in response to Donald Trump's new tariffs, the French government spokeswoman said Thursday.

Australia has pledged financial support for affected exporters. A fund offering AU$1 billion in zero-interest loans will be made available, and the government will direct departments to prioritize purchasing Australian-made goods.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told nervous NATO members on Thursday that Washington remained committed to the alliance, but said they must agree to massively ramp up their spending targets for defence.