POLITICS & POLICY

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer met his Italian counterpart Giorgia Meloni in Rome on Monday to discuss tackling illegal immigration, a day after another Channel migrant shipwreck claimed eight lives.

Faced with Russia's war on Ukraine, EU chief Ursula von der Leyen has promised to name a designated defence commissioner as a key part of her new top team.

Germany will from Monday expand border controls to the frontiers with all nine of its neighbours to stop irregular migrants in a move that has sparked protests from other EU members.

Each year the world produces around 400 million tonnes of plastic waste, much of it discarded after just a few minutes of use.

A senior Hamas official told AFP on Sunday that the Palestinian Islamist movement had ample resources to continue fighting Israel despite losses sustained over more than 11 months of war in Gaza.

The Israeli military said a missile fired from Yemen crossed into central Israel on Sunday, causing no injuries but again adding to regional tensions nearly a year into the Gaza war.

Persecution of bereaved relatives.

Peru bid an emotional farewell on Saturday to its divisive ex-president Alberto Fujimori after three days of national mourning marked by expressions of nostalgia for his iron-fisted rule.

Moscow and Kyiv swapped 103 prisoners of war each on Saturday in a UAE-brokered deal, a rare moment of coordination between the warring sides as Russia pushes ahead in east Ukraine.

Walking into court each day with her head held high, the ex-wife of a Frenchman on trial for orchestrating her mass rape in her own bed for almost a decade has become a feminist icon.

When Russians started being arrested for opposing the Ukraine offensive, Maria felt the same kind of fear she guessed her ancestors, victims of repression under Soviet leader Joseph Stalin, must have lived through.

Tetyana Bugay burst into tears as she called her sister to announce she had finally returned to Ukraine after spending over two and a half years in Russian captivity.

With more than 20% of the global hydrogen projects announced in Australia, and AU$200 billion worth projects in the pipeline, the country is expected to be a global leader in the green hydrogen sector.

Under the new draft, the role of Australian Financial Complaints Authority has been expanded, giving access to victims to seek compensation from the digital platform, telco, or the bank.

Mammals that can breathe through their backsides, homing pigeons that can guide missiles and sober worms that outpace drunk ones: these are some of the strange scientific discoveries that won this year's Ig Nobels, the quirky alternative to the Nobel prizes.

Following a significant deal with the opposition, the Labor government's reform package was expected to help the elderly remain in their homes for a longer period, besides enhancing the quality of aged care facilities.

The bill also grants additional power to the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) with information-gathering, record-keeping, code registration and setting standards.

Peru's former president Alberto Fujimori, who ruled his country with an iron fist and then spent 16 years in prison for crimes against humanity, died on Wednesday at age 86 in the capital Lima.

It has been around six weeks since Vladimir Kara-Murza swapped his prison long-johns and rubber flip flops for sharp suits, but the major opponent of the Kremlin says he is still adjusting to reality.

Israel bombed a school housing displaced Palestinians in central Gaza on Wednesday, which rescuers said killed 18 people, including UN staffers, while the Israeli army said it hit a Hamas control centre.

Peru's Alberto Fujimori, who died Wednesday at the age of 86, was a one-time university dean who rose to wage a bloody campaign against insurgents as president in the 1990s -- but ended up jailed for atrocities.

Tens of thousands of flag-waving supporters of Catalan independence rallied in Barcelona on the Spanish region's commemorative day, with separatists deeply divided and out of office in Catalonia for the first time in over a decade.

Cities and villages across France are scrambling to rid themselves of plaques while schools are moving to change their names following a raft of posthumous sexual abuse accusations against a charity icon who was showered with accolades in his lifetime.

The president of medical charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF) accused Italy's hard-right government Wednesday of seeking to criminalise humanitarian aid to drowning migrants, as a court suspended authorities' blockage of its ship.

While Europeans had the option to refuse to give consent to their data being used under privacy laws, Meta had not extended the option to Australians.

East Timor President Jose Ramos-Horta said on Wednesday a deal with Australia on a vast fossil fuel project seen as crucial to the tiny nation's economic future will be struck by November.

Iran's new president, Masoud Pezeshkian, arrived in neighbouring Iraq on Wednesday as he moves to deepen already close ties on his first foreign visit since taking office.

The night before June 6, 1944, fleets of warships moved in darkness towards the beaches of Normandy, France, for a massive strike, with Chinese naval officer Lam Ping-yu on one of the vessels.

The backbone of the economy, Sri Lanka's tea pickers are determined to use their powerful vote to choose a president this month who will change grim working conditions for good.