POLITICS & POLICY

Australia's proposal to ban under-16s from social media platforms is "rushed", social media companies claimed Tuesday, expressing "serious concerns" about potential unintended consequences.

French prosecutors on Monday demanded a maximum 20-year jail term for the man charged with enlisting dozens of strangers to rape his heavily sedated wife, in a trial that has shocked France.

Israel bombed Hezbollah's Beirut stronghold on Monday and battles raged in Lebanon's south after the Iran-backed militant group claimed 50 attacks on Israeli targets the day before.

Filiz Demiral was at home in Istanbul when she got the phone call in August 2020 that would turn her life upside down: her 20-year-daughter Ceyda had been found dead with the police telling her it was suicide.

US President-elect Donald Trump's top security advisor called on Sunday for an end to the escalation of the war between Ukraine and Russia, and for both parties to come to the negotiating table.

Australia has ditched plans to fine social media companies if they fail to stem the spread of misinformation, the country's communications minister said Sunday.

"The legislation will give investors clarity and certainty to invest in Australia's potential to add more value to its natural resources, and help deliver cheaper and cleaner energy," Treasurer Jim Chalmers said.

Pep Guardiola said he expected a slip in Manchester City's standards sooner or later but even he has been shocked by the English champions' implosion in a five-game losing streak.

Top EU diplomat Josep Borrell called for an immediate ceasefire in the Israel-Hezbollah war while on a visit to Lebanon on Sunday, as the militant group claimed a wave of cross-border attacks.

Forced to flee Iran, dissident director Mohammad Rasoulof says it is bittersweet that his latest movie will contend at the Oscars -- under the banner of another country.

An Israeli air strike in central Beirut killed at least four people early Saturday, bringing down a residential building and jolting residents across the city out of bed as Israel kept up its air campaign against Hezbollah.

The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said Friday that hospitals have only two days' fuel left before they must restrict services, after the UN warned aid delivery to the war-devastated territory is being crippled.

Romanian far-right leader George Simion, a Donald Trump fan, has been touring the countryside, including bringing truckloads of construction material to a flood-hit village, ahead of Sunday's presidential election.

Responding to Elon Musk's criticism, Treasurer Jim Chalmers said, "Our job is not to come up with a social media policy to please Elon Musk. Our job is to put in place the necessary protection for kids online, and that's our motivation. We do that in the face of feedback from all quarters, we listen respectfully to the feedback we get on this policy and indeed on all of our policies, even where we don't agree with it."

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described the International Criminal Court as "anti-Semitic" on Thursday afer it issued arrest warrants for him and his former defence minister, vowing it would not deter him from defending Israel.

US President-elect Donald Trump tapped Pam Bondi, a staunch ally who helped defend the ex-leader against impeachment, as US attorney general on Thursday following firebrand Matt Gaetz's withdrawal from the running.

Iran said Friday it would launch a series of "new and advanced" centrifuges in response to a resolution adopted by the UN nuclear watchdog that censures Tehran for what the agency called lack of cooperation.

Since her first brush with fame a decade ago, Hong Kong-born conductor Elim Chan has fought a "long-term battle" against tired assumptions about herself, music and how orchestras should be run.

Russia on Thursday fired an experimental missile at Ukraine in a clear warning of its capabilities, officials from Western governments said, even as they pushed back against Ukrainian claims of a more provocative action by Moscow.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday that the conflict in Ukraine had characteristics of a "global" war and did not rule out strikes on Western countries.

Kyiv on Thursday accused Russia of launching a non-nuclear intercontinental ballistic missile at Ukraine in what would mark the first ever use of the weapon in combat and a sharp escalation of the conflict.

Australia is among the vanguard of nations trying to clean up social media, and the proposed age limit would be among the world's strictest measures aimed at children. Details about how social media companies are expected to enforce the ban remain unclear.

Dozens of people were killed or unaccounted for after Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip, a hospital director and the civil defence agency said Thursday.

At a bear sanctuary in the heart of Romania's Carpathians, several cubs believed to have been orphaned have just arrived.

If you've ever binge-watched an entire season of a K-drama like "Squid Game" or "Crash Landing On You", one Korean-American expert has good news: it's likely improved your mental health.

Russia on Wednesday accused the US of prolonging the "war in Ukraine" by stepping up weapons deliveries to Kyiv ahead of Donald Trump's return to the White House.

Donald Trump announced Tuesday that he was appointing Mehmet Oz, a former surgeon and TV celebrity known as "Dr. Oz," to lead the United States' massive public health insurance program.

US envoy Amos Hochstein was in Lebanon Wednesday, seeking to hammer out a ceasefire in the war between Israel and Hezbollah, as the militant group battled Israeli troops in the south of the country.

The UN Security Council is expected to vote Wednesday on another draft resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza in its latest attempt to exert pressure to end the war.