International

Russia and Ukraine each released 390 prisoners on Friday and said they would free more in the coming days, in what is expected to be the biggest prisoner swap of the war so far.

Harvard University sued the Trump administration on Friday over its decision to revoke the Ivy League school's ability to enrol foreign students, ratcheting up White House efforts to conform practices in academia to President Donald Trump's policies.

Pakistan and India have extended airspace restrictions for each other's aircraft in tit-for-tat moves, both countries said on Friday, amid continuing diplomatic tensions between the neighbours after a brief military conflict this month.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused the leaders of France, Britain and Canada of wanting to help Hamas after they threatened to take "concrete action" if Israel did not stop its latest offensive in Gaza.

US President Donald Trump's administration revoked Harvard University's ability to enroll international students on Thursday, and is forcing current foreign students to transfer to other schools or lose their legal status, while also threatening to expand the crackdown to other colleges.

Bangladesh's de-facto prime minister has threatened to step down if political parties cannot agree on reforms that citizens await with growing impatience, a top student leader has said, deepening uncertainty in the wake of deadly protests last year.

The body of a man was found in a car trapped in floodwaters in Australia's southeast on Friday, raising the death toll to four, after three days of incessant rain cut off entire towns, swept away livestock and destroyed homes.

Britain signed a deal on Thursday to cede sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, after a London judge overturned a last-minute injunction and cleared the way for an agreement the government says is vital to protect the nation's security.

The CIA said its security personnel took a person into custody early Thursday after an engagement outside the intelligence agency's headquarters.

Two Israeli embassy staff were killed in a shooting while attending an event at a museum in Washington DC on Wednesday night, and a suspect is in custody, officials said.

Emergency services were on high alert in Crete on Thursday after a 6.1 magnitude quake hit off the Greek island, causing tremors felt across Turkey and Israel.

Flash flooding on Australia's southeast coast has killed two people and cut off towns, isolating tens of thousands of residents, as officials on Thursday warned more downpours were expected over the next 24 hours.

Israel allowed 100 aid trucks carrying flour, baby food and medical equipment into the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, the Israeli military said, as UN officials reported that distribution issues had meant that no aid had so far reached people in need.

US President Donald Trump confronted South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Wednesday with explosive false claims of genocide and land seizures during a tense White House meeting.

European countries on Thursday condemned an incident where Israeli soldiers fired near a diplomatic delegation in the occupied West Bank, with Italy and France both summoning Israeli ambassadors to explain what happened.

Unidentified gunmen shot dead a former Ukrainian politician on Wednesday outside a school in a wealthy suburb of Madrid, Spain's Interior Ministry said.

Russia said on Wednesday that its air defences had shot down at least 232 Ukrainian drones, including some approaching Moscow where the capital's airports were briefly shut down to ensure the safety of flights.

At least three children were among five people killed when a bomber targeted an army school bus in Pakistan's restive Balochistan province, a government official said on Wednesday.

Russia on Wednesday rejected Ukrainian and European accusations it was trying to drag out the peace process around Ukraine, but said that no decision had yet been made on a venue for talks when asked if they could be hosted by the Vatican.

Palestinians in Gaza were left waiting for the promised arrival of food on Wednesday despite mounting international and domestic pressure on the Israeli government to allow more aid to reach a population on the brink of famine after an 11-week blockade.

Heavy rain in Australia's southeast triggered flash flooding and cut off entire towns on Wednesday, stranding some residents on the roofs of their homes, as authorities issued snap evacuation orders with rivers staying above danger levels.

Members of the World Health Organisation (WHO) adopted an agreement on Tuesday intended to improve preparedness for future pandemics following the disjointed global response to COVID-19, but the absence of the US cast doubt on the treaty's effectiveness.

The United Nations has received permission from Israel for about 100 more emergency aid trucks to enter Gaza, though the first supplies to have entered in weeks remained under Israeli control, a spokesperson said on Tuesday.

The leaders of Britain, Canada and France threatened sanctions against Israel on Monday if it does not stop a renewed military offensive in Gaza and lift aid restrictions, piling further pressure on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The New Zealand government on Tuesday deferred a vote over the rare suspension of three Indigenous lawmakers from parliament for performing a haka, the Maori ceremonial dance, during the reading of a contentious bill last year.

Temperatures above 40 degrees Celsius scorched parts of northern and central China on Tuesday with authorities issuing heat warnings and offering aid to farmers to protect food production.

US President Donald Trump said his call with Russia's President Vladimir Putin on Monday went very well and that Moscow and Kyiv would immediately start negotiations toward a ceasefire and end to the war.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday Israel would control the whole of Gaza despite mounting international pressure that forced it to lift a blockade on aid supplies which has left the enclave on the brink of famine.

Former US President Joe Biden has been diagnosed with an "aggressive form" of prostate cancer that has spread to his bones, his office said in a statement on Sunday.

Romania's centrist Bucharest mayor, Nicusor Dan, won the country's presidential election on Sunday in a shock upset over a hard-right, nationalist rival who had pledged to put Romania on a path inspired by US President Donald Trump's politics.

Pope Leo XIV formally began his reign on Sunday by calling for unity, vowing to preserve the Catholic Church's heritage and not rule like "an autocrat".

Indonesia raised the alert level of Mount Lewotobi Laki-laki to the highest after it erupted eight times over the weekend, its volcanology agency has said.

The Israeli military said on Sunday it had begun "extensive ground operations" in northern and southern Gaza, stepping up a new campaign where Palestinian health authorities said Israeli strikes killed at least 130 people overnight.

At least 17 people died when a fire broke out due to a short circuit in a building in the Indian city of Hyderabad on Sunday, officials said.

A Mexican Navy sailing ship festooned with lights and a giant flag crashed into the landmark Brooklyn Bridge on Saturday night, shearing the top of its masts, killing two people and injuring 17 others, New York City Mayor Eric Adams said.

Israel and Hamas resumed ceasefire talks on Saturday in Qatar, both sides said, even as Israeli forces ramped up a bombing campaign that has killed hundreds of people over 72 hours, and mobilised for a massive new ground assault.

Israel's airforce killed at least 146 Palestinians in new attacks on Gaza over the past 24 hours and injured many more, local health authorities said on Saturday, as the country launched a major ground offensive.

Turkey is in talks with authorities in Baghdad and in the northern Iraqi city of Erbil on how the PKK will hand over their weapons, President Tayyip Erdogan said following the group's decision to disband.

United Nations aid chief Tom Fletcher said on Friday that time should not be wasted on an alternative US-backed proposal to deliver aid to Gaza, saying the UN has a proven plan and 160,000 pallets of relief ready to enter the Palestinian enclave now.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called on Saturday for stronger sanctions on Moscow after a Russian drone killed nine bus passengers in north-eastern Ukraine just hours after the two countries held their first peace talks in three years of war.

Ukraine rallied support from its Western allies on Friday after Kyiv and Moscow failed to agree to a ceasefire at their first direct talks in more than three years, with Russia presenting conditions that a Ukrainian source described as "non-starters".

The World Bank on Friday said it had cleared Syria's $15.5 million in outstanding debt after receiving payments from Saudi Arabia and Qatar.

The man who stabbed and partially blinded novelist Salman Rushdie onstage at a Western New York arts institute in 2022 has been sentenced to 25 years in prison for an attack that also wounded a second person, the district attorney said.

Russian and Ukrainian negotiators met in Istanbul on Friday at their first direct peace talks in more than three years, under pressure from US President Donald Trump to end Europe's deadliest conflict since World War II.

Israeli strikes on Gaza have killed more than 250 people since Thursday morning, local health authorities said on Friday, one of the deadliest phases of bombardment since a truce collapsed in March and with a new ground offensive expected soon.

An Indian climber and another from the Philippines became the first mountaineers to die on Mount Everest in the current March-May climbing season of the world's highest peak, hiking officials said on Friday.

US President Donald Trump said on Thursday that Qatar will invest $10 billion in coming years in the Al Udeid Air Base southwest of the country's capital Doha, the largest US military facility in the Middle East.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Thursday Ukraine would decide on the next steps in talks with Russia after his meeting with Turkish leader Tayyip Erdogan.

US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin indicated they would not attend what could be the first direct peace talks between Moscow and Kyiv in three years on Thursday, with the Kremlin sending instead a group of experienced technocrats.

Israeli military strikes killed at least 60 people in the Gaza Strip on Thursday, Palestinian medics said, as the United States and Arab mediators pushed for a ceasefire deal.

Agreements signed by US President Donald Trump and Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani on Wednesday will "generate an economic exchange worth at least $1.2 trillion," the White House said in a fact sheet summarizing some of the deals' details.

US President Donald Trump met with Syria's President Ahmed al-Sharaa in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, after a surprise US announcement it would lift all sanctions on the government.

Israeli military strikes killed at least 80 Palestinians across the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, local health authorities said, in a significant escalation of the bombardment.

Lyle and Erik Menendez, who have served 35 years of a life prison term for the 1989 shotgun murders of their parents in their Beverly Hills home, were ruled eligible for parole by a Los Angeles judge at a re-sentencing hearing on Tuesday.

US President Donald Trump on Tuesday said he would remove all sanctions against Syria, saying they had served an important function, but it was now time for Syria to move forward.

US President Donald Trump secured a $600 billion commitment from Saudi Arabia on Tuesday to invest in the United States after the Kingdom accorded him a gala welcome at the start of a tour of Gulf states.

Albania's prime minister Edi Rama has secured an unprecedented fourth term in power after his Socialist Party sailed to victory in Sunday's election, official results showed on Tuesday, although the opposition claim the vote was stolen.

US President Donald Trump has arrived in Saudi Arabia, marking his first official foreign visit since taking office in January.

Bangladesh's election commission has suspended the registration of ousted former prime minister Sheikh Hasina's Awami League, effectively barring the party from contesting the next national elections.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will only attend talks on Ukraine if Russia's Vladimir Putin is also there, the Ukrainian leader's top aide said on Tuesday, challenging the Kremlin to show it is genuine about seeking peace.

Pakistan's army said on Tuesday that more than 50 people were killed in last week's military clashes with India which ended in a US-mediated ceasefire.

Half a million people in the Gaza Strip face starvation, a global hunger monitor said on Monday, saying the Israeli-blockaded enclave still confronts a critical risk of famine with a high risk of one occurring by the end of September.

An Israeli-American hostage crossed into Israel on Monday after his release by Hamas as fighting paused in Gaza, the Israeli military said, but there was no deal on a wider truce or hostage release as monitors warned of famine in the devastated enclave.

The military operations chiefs of India and Pakistan spoke by phone on Monday, the Indian army said, following a ceasefire that paused days of intense fighting last week.

Power failures caused delays and disruption on London's Tube network on Monday, as several of its busiest lines were suspended.

Israeli-American hostage Edan Alexander will soon be released in Gaza, a senior Hamas official told Reuters on Sunday, a move key Arab mediators Qatar and Egypt described as an encouraging step towards a return to ceasefire talks.

Voting was underway in the Philippines on Monday for a normally low-key midterm election that is showcasing an emotionally charged proxy battle between President Ferdinand Marcos Jr and ally-turned-foe, Vice President Sara Duterte.

Pope Leo XIV appealed to the world's major powers for "no more war" in his first Sunday message to crowds in St. Peter's Square since his election as pontiff.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday proposed direct talks with Ukraine on May 15 in Turkey that he said should be aimed at bringing a durable peace, an initiative welcomed by US President Donald Trump.

A fragile ceasefire was holding between India and Pakistan on Sunday, after hours of overnight fighting between the two neighbours, as US President Donald Trump said he will work to provide a solution regarding Kashmir.

US President Donald Trump said on Saturday that India and Pakistan had agreed to a "full and immediate ceasefire" after a fourth day of strikes and counter-strikes against each other's military installations.

The Group of Seven (G7) major countries on Friday urged India and Pakistan to engage in direct dialogue as hostilities rise between the nuclear-armed neighbours, while the US government said it has offered assistance in starting "constructive talks".

An order was lifted on Saturday to confine around 160,000 people in Spain's northeastern Catalonia region after a fire at an industrial estate caused a toxic cloud of chlorine over a wide area, the regional government said.

A facility that guides air traffic in and out of Newark airport suffered a new 90-second communications outage early on Friday, the second in two weeks that prompted an air traffic controller to complain "Scopes just went black again" to a nearby FedEx flight.

The leaders of Britain, France, Germany and Poland met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for talks in Kyiv on Saturday in a show of unity a day after Russia's Vladimir Putin hosted his allies at a Victory Day parade in Red Square.

Russia hit eight Ukrainian settlements near a frontline 220 times during ceasefire, governor of the Zaporizhzhia region Ivan Fedorov said on the Telegram messaging platform early on Friday.

Pope Leo XIV on Friday celebrated his first Mass in the Sistine Chapel where he was elected less than 24 hours earlier and prayed that his historic papacy can help the Catholic Church be a beacon illuminating "the dark nights of this world".

Two men were found guilty on Friday of cutting down Britain's 'Sycamore Gap' tree two years ago, felling the much-loved landmark whose dramatic silhouette had featured in a Hollywood movie in what prosecutors described as a "moronic mission".

Russia marked the 80th anniversary of the Soviet Union's victory in World War II on Friday with a parade attended by China's Xi Jinping amid tight security.

India and Pakistan have accused each other of launching drone attacks as conflict between the nuclear-armed neighbours continue to intensify.

A helicopter crash in Sri Lanka has killed six military personnel, an Air Force official said on Friday.

US Cardinal Robert Prevost was elected in a surprise choice to be the new leader of the Catholic Church on Thursday, taking the name Leo XIV, becoming the first American pontiff.

White smoke appeared from a chimney atop the Sistine Chapel at the Vatican on Thursday, signalling that the 133 Roman Catholic cardinals meeting in a secret conclave have elected a new pope.

Bill Gates has pledged to give away almost his entire personal wealth in the next two decades and said the world's poorest would receive some $200 billion via his foundation at a time when governments worldwide are slashing international aid.

Blasts rang out across the city of Jammu in Indian Kashmir late on Thursday during what Indian military sources said they suspected was a Pakistani drone attack on the second day of clashes between the two neighbours.

A three-day ceasefire declared by Russia came into effect on Thursday morning with skies over Ukraine's major cities quiet, in a change from successive nights of heavy attacks by Russian drones and ballistic missiles.

Vladimir Putin welcomed Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday for talks in the Kremlin that Moscow hopes will provide a diplomatic boost for the Russian leader at a key moment in the war with Ukraine.

Cities bordering India and Pakistan remained on high alert a day after India carried out strikes at multiple locations on its neighbour and Islamabad shot down 5 Indian jets.

Black smoke billowed from a chimney atop the Sistine Chapel on Thursday, signalling that the cardinals locked in a conclave have not yet chosen a new pope to guide the Roman Catholic Church.

The recovery of British tech tycoon Mike Lynch's superyacht from the waters of northern Sicily is expected to begin in the coming weeks to help shed light on how a supposedly unsinkable vessel disappeared into the sea last August.

India fired missiles into nine locations in Pakistani-controlled territory linked to an attack on tourists in Jammu and Kashmir as cross-border attacks escalated between the two countries on Wednesday.

Roman Catholic cardinals will begin the task on Wednesday of electing a new pope, locking themselves away from the world until they choose the man to lead their Church.

Aid agencies have criticised Israeli plans to take over distribution of humanitarian aid in Gaza and use private companies to get food to families after two months in which the military has prevented supplies from entering the region.

Several Asian airlines said on Wednesday they were re-routing or cancelling flights to and from Europe because of fighting between India and Pakistan.

Former US President Joe Biden said his successor Donald Trump's pressure on Ukraine to give up territory to Russia is a form of "modern-day appeasement" that will never satisfy Moscow.

Chinese President Xi Jinping is due to start a four-day visit to Russia on Wednesday, giving President Vladimir Putin an important diplomatic boost at a time when the Russian leader is keen to show his country is not isolated on the world stage.

German conservative leader Friedrich Merz was elected chancellor by parliament on Tuesday in a second round of voting after a humiliating and unprecedented defeat on the first attempt, getting his coalition government off to a wobbly start.

The Israeli military said it fired on Yemen's main airport on Tuesday and witnesses said there were four strikes in the capital Sanaa, the latest hostilities as tensions rise between Israel and Yemen's Houthi rebels.

German conservative leader Friedrich Merz failed to secure enough parliamentary votes to become chancellor on Tuesday in a major blow that threw politics in Europe's largest economy once more into disarray.

Cardinals who will take part in the secret conclave to elect a new pope began checking into two Vatican hotels on Tuesday, where they will be barred from contact with the outside world as they decide who should succeed Pope Francis.

Kyiv forces attacked a power substation in Russia's western Kursk region, the regional governor said on Tuesday, after Russian war bloggers reported a new Ukrainian land-based incursion into the area backed by armoured vehicles and drones.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday an expanded offensive against Hamas would be "intensive" after his security cabinet approved plans that may include seizing the Gaza Strip and controlling aid.

At least three people died and seven others were missing after a small boat capsized in choppy seas off the California coast in a suspected migrant smuggling attempt north of San Diego, US officials said on Monday.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's security cabinet has approved a gradual expansion of the offensive against Hamas in Gaza, Israeli public broadcaster Kan reported on Monday.

Nine people died when "sudden strong winds" capsized four tourist boats and plunged 84 people into the water in Southwestern China, state media reported on Monday.

President Vladimir Putin said in remarks published on Sunday that Russia had sufficient strength and resources to take the war in Ukraine to its logical conclusion, though he hoped that there would be no need to use nuclear weapons.

Chinese President Xi Jinping will make an official visit to Russia from May 7-10, the Kremlin said on Sunday.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's centre-left Labor Party was projected to win over the conservative opposition, Sky News Australia and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation said as early vote counting showed Labor in a strong position.

Israeli strikes targeted the vicinity of Syria's Damascus, Hama and Daraa countryside late on Friday, Syrian state news agency SANA reported.

Australians voted on Saturday in a national election that polls show will likely favour Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's Labor Party over the conservative opposition, as worries about Donald Trump's volatile policies overshadowed calls for change.

At least six people were killed and 55 were injured in a stampede at an Indian temple in the western coastal state of Goa where hundreds of devout Hindus had assembled, police official said on Saturday.

Sir Richard Branson, the founder of the Virgin Group, will be boarding Virgin Galactic's VSS Unity and blasting off to space on Sunday.

Singapore is reviewing penalties for violent offences following an outcry over a 12-day prison sentence for a student who strangled his girlfriend until she blacked out.