POLITICS & POLICY

Syrian interior ministry forces began deploying in Sweida on Saturday under a US-brokered deal intended to avert further Israeli military intervention in the Druze-majority province.

Brazilian police raided Jair Bolsonaro's home Friday, as a judge imposed further restrictions on the far-right former leader while he stands trial on coup charges that have vexed US president and ally Donald Trump.

Two of the most senior Christian leaders in Jerusalem travelled to Gaza on Friday after Israeli fire killed three at the Palestinian territory's only Catholic church, provoking international condemnation.

Reverence for the saffron-robed Buddhist monkhood is deeply woven into Thai society, but a sex extortion scandal has besmirched the clergy and left the devout questioning their faith.

An Israeli strike on Gaza's only Catholic church killed three people on Thursday, the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem said, as Israel said it "never targets" religious sites and regretted any harm to civilians.

Dozens of Druze crowded the Israeli-controlled side of the armistice line in the occupied Golan Heights on Thursday, hoping to catch a glimpse of relatives on the Syrian-held side who might try to cross the barbed-wire frontier.

France on Thursday formally handed back its last two military bases in Senegal, leaving Paris with no permanent army camps in either west or central Africa.

Syrian troops pulled out of the Druze heartland province of Sweida Thursday on orders from the Islamist-led government, leaving bodies strewn on the street, AFP journalists reported from the provincial capital.

The day before Bad Bunny kicked off his blockbuster residency that's expected to bring hundreds of millions of dollars to Puerto Rico while showcasing its rich culture, he posted a simple message: Shop Local.

Norway's Jonas Abrahamsen won stage 11 of the Tour de France in Toulouse on Wednesday while defending champion Tadej Pogacar emerged largely unscathed despite crashing 4km from the line.

Pakistanis are increasingly ditching the national grid in favour of solar power, prompting a boom in rooftop panels and spooking a government weighed down by billions of dollars of power sector debt.

The Kremlin warned Tuesday that US President Donald Trump's pledge of more weapons for Kyiv and threat of sanctions targeting Russian trading partners could embolden Ukraine and further delay already stalled peace efforts.

Israel launched strikes Tuesday against Syrian government forces in the Druze-majority region of Sweida, saying it was acting to protect the religious minority.

Stopwatch in hand, dozens of Ivory Coast students raced against the clock to design robots for the farms of the future in the world's top cocoa-producing nation.

US President Donald Trump told Russia on Monday to end its Ukraine war within 50 days or face massive new economic sanctions, as he laid out plans for new infusions of weaponry for Kyiv via NATO. Trump said he was "very, very unhappy" with Vladimir Putin, underlining his insistence that his patience had finally snapped with the Russian leader's refusal to end the deadly conflict.

Stuttering Gaza ceasefire talks entered a second week on Monday, with meditators seeking to close the gap between Israel and Hamas, as more than 20 people were killed across the Palestinian territory.

The Indonesian government's plans to issue new history books have sparked fears that mention of deadly riots in 1998 targeting mostly ethnic Chinese in the country will be scrubbed from the text.

President Donald Trump on Saturday targeted Mexico and the European Union with steep 30 percent tariffs, dramatically raising the stakes in already tense negotiations with two of the largest US trading partners.

Bad Bunny's sweeping first concert of his three-month Puerto Rico residency was a night of palpable emotion for the megastar whose latest smash artistic endeavor brings his global stardom back to his roots.

Indirect talks between Hamas and Israel for a ceasefire in Gaza are being held up by Israel's proposals to keep troops in the territory, two Palestinian sources with knowledge of the discussions told AFP on Saturday.

Thousands of mourners on Friday commemorated in Srebrenica the genocide committed 30 years ago by Bosnian Serb forces, one of Europe's worst atrocities since World War II. The remains of seven victims were laid to rest during the commemorations, which mark the bloodiest episode of Bosnia's inter-ethnic war in the 1990s.

When the European Union unveils its long-term spending proposals next week, it will kick off the bloc's biggest budget battle in recent history.

Hamas on Thursday said it opposes any ceasefire deal that includes a large Israeli military presence in Gaza, after offering to release some hostages and as the civil defence reported scores of civilians killed across the Palestinian territory.

Kyiv was shrouded in dark smoke early Thursday after Russia hammered Ukraine's capital with its second large-scale drone and missile barrage in as many nights.

Indian election officials have given voters in Bihar state just weeks to prove their citizenship, requiring documents few possess in a registration revamp set to be applied nationwide, triggering disenfranchisement fears.

Novak Djokovic set up a mouthwatering Wimbledon semi-final against world number one Jannik Sinner as he moved a step closer to claiming a historic 25th Grand Slam title.

Russia pummelled Ukraine with its largest missile and drone attack in more than three years of war, claiming to have targeted an airfield in a region bordering EU and NATO member Poland.

Israel's bid to crush Hamas's capabilities and bring the hostages home dominated talks between Benjamin Netanyahu and Donald Trump, the Israeli prime minister said, even as the Palestinian militants vowed no surrender in Gaza.

Gao Chaorong knows what it takes to turn out good crops of sweet potatoes, peanuts and wheat, but tasty produce is no longer enough to draw China's app savvy crowd.