POLITICS & POLICY

Ukrainian civilians on Wednesday fled areas close to the front line as Russian troops steadily seized more territory across the eastern Donetsk region.

Backed by the tech billionaire Mike Cannon-Brookes, the project aimed to build a solar farm in NT's outback, an 800 km transmission line to Australian city, Darwin, and 4,300 km of underwater cables to supply electricity to Singapore.

Criticizing the deal to pass the bill, Independent senator Lidia Thorpe said, "Bill Shorten has blood on his hands for doing this dirty deal with the coalition. Labor and the coalition have teamed up to characterize NDIS participants as fraudsters, criminals and sexual deviants."

Top US diplomat Antony Blinken headed home on Wednesday after failing to secure a Gaza ceasefire, warning both Israel and Hamas his plan may be the last chance to avert a broader war.

Bangladeshi student Omar Faruq believes the future of his country is bright but all he can see is darkness, after police trying to crush a student-led revolution blinded him with rubber pellets.

Saving lives was the childhood dream for 28-year-old Indian doctor Radhika, but after the brutal rape and murder of a colleague her own safety has increasingly become a top concern.

Ukraine's military incursion into Russia, a first in the two-year-old war, has handed Kyiv the initiative on the battlefield, but its outcome remains highly uncertain, analysts say.

Top US diplomat Antony Blinken was in Egypt on Tuesday for talks on a Gaza ceasefire after saying Israel had accepted a US "bridging proposal" for a deal and urging Hamas to do the same.

Russia's prosecutor general on Monday said it had banned a foundation started by US film star George Clooney and his human rights lawyer wife Amal.

Indonesian President Joko Widodo reshuffled his cabinet on Monday just weeks before he steps down in an effort to ease the transition to his successor, Defence Minister Prabowo Subianto, his office said.

Youth unemployment in China ticked up to 17.1 percent in July, official figures showed, the highest level this year as the world's second-largest economy faces mounting headwinds.

New Zealand's population growth has come to a near halt, official statistics showed Monday, as tens of thousands of people exit a spluttering economy for pastures new.

The Kremlin on Monday ruled out entering peace talks with Ukraine over Kyiv's surprise offensive into Russian territory, which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said was meeting its goals.

France on Monday paid homage to film legend Alain Delon following his death at 88, with tributes pouring in for the actor who became one of his country's biggest stars, but was also shadowed by controversy.

The bill proposes a three-year minimum period of administration for the union, opportunity to grill the administrator every six months in parliament and ban on political spending while under administration.

Pro-Kremlin sites masquerading as US "news" outlets have dished out unfounded claims that Democrats plotted to assassinate Donald Trump, a prime example of how phony AI-powered portals are spewing inflammatory falsehoods in a high-stakes election year.

Ukraine said Sunday it had struck a second key bridge in the Kursk region, seeking to disrupt Moscow's supply routes as Kyiv's unprecedented incursion on Russian soil stretched through its second week.

French film legend Alain Delon, a divisive star known to some as a sex symbol and to others an egotistical chauvinist, has died at the age of 88, his children announced Sunday in a statement to AFP. The actor, known for his roles in classics "Purple Noon" (1960) and "Le Samurai" (1967), died in the early hours of the morning, his son Anthony told AFP. He had been suffering with lymphoma.

For months, Safaa Yassin has dressed her child in the same white bodysuit, an all-too-familiar tale in the Gaza Strip, which has been devastated by 10 months of war.

Actor Alain Delon -- who has died Sunday aged 88 -- was France's greatest screen seducer.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was due in Israel on Sunday as mediators seek to cement a Gaza ceasefire deal, while a senior Hamas official dismissed "American diktats" in negotiations.

Yulia's husband was different from most Ukrainians captured by the Russian army, usually prisoners of war whose fate moved crowds.

The Thai king on Sunday formally appointed Paetongtarn Shinawatra, the 37-year-old daughter of controversial billionaire ex-premier Thaksin, as Thailand's new prime minister.

Deadly Israeli strikes hit Lebanon and Gaza on Saturday as the US secretary of state headed back to Israel aiming to finalise a Gaza truce agreement, which diplomats say could help avert a wider regional conflagration.

Russia is putting generative artificial intelligence to work in online deception campaigns, but its efforts have been unsuccessful, according to a Meta security report released Thursday.

Though the Sudanese army is still staying away from ceasefire talks in Switzerland, the US envoy convening the negotiations told AFP they were nonetheless in daily contact -- and making progress on humanitarian aid.

Kamala Harris is expected to take on companies unfairly jacking up prices as she sets out her economic agenda Friday in her first major policy announcement as the Democratic Party's presidential nominee.

Under the ANZUS Treaty, Australia and New Zealand strengthened their defense cooperation by promising to take coordinated military action against cyber threats.

Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles said, "These critical reforms will revolutionize defense trade, innovation and cooperation, enabling collaboration at the speed and scale required to meet our challenging strategic circumstances."