POLITICS

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi made a rare visit to New Zealand on Monday, stressing the need to work with "friends" in the face of the "tumultuous international situation".

El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele said Thursday that his country has stored more than $400 million in bitcoin in an offline "cold wallet" as the cryptocurrency forges new record highs.

The US ambassador to China said Friday that Beijing's position on a potential TikTok ban in the United States was "supremely ironic" given the ruling Communist Party's censorship of online platforms within its borders.

President Vladimir Putin on Thursday urged Russians to stay the course in the face of a "difficult period", hours before polls open in a vote set to extend his hardline rule.

North Korea leader Kim Jong Un drove a "new-type main battle tank" while overseeing military training exercises, state media said Thursday, as Seoul and Washington wrap joint drills to improve deterrence.

Eight months ahead of the US presidential election, the campaign moves from the parties' nominating contests to the trench warfare of what promises to be one of the longest, most brutal head-to-head showdowns in memory.

Romania's President Klaus Iohannis on Tuesday announced his candidacy to succeed Jens Stoltenberg as chief of NATO, vowing -- as a leader of a country bordering the Ukraine war -- to bring "renewal of perspective" at a crucial time for the alliance.

President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday lauded Moscow's nuclear arsenal and warned that he was ready to deploy the weapons if Russia's sovereignty was threatened.

US President Joe Biden hosts Poland's President Andrzej Duda and Prime Minister Donald Tusk at the White House Tuesday to try to reassure key NATO ally Warsaw of Washington's support after Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

US President Joe Biden called for higher taxes on corporations Thursday in his State of the Union address, while pushing for lower medicine costs and improved housing affordability, as he sought to allay concerns over the economy.

US President Joe Biden warned Israel on Thursday that it cannot use aid as a "bargaining chip" in its fight against Hamas and called for an immediate temporary ceasefire in Gaza, where fears of a looming famine have multiplied.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will visit Istanbul on Friday for talks with Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan on the war against Russia and Black Sea navigation, the Turkish presidency said.

US President Joe Biden faces one of the most critical moments of his political career Thursday with a State of the Union speech aimed at convincing skeptical voters the 81-year-old is fit to beat Donald Trump in November's election.

China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi lashed out against the United States and praised his country's partnership with Russia on Thursday, in a wide-ranging press conference where he called the war in Gaza a "disgrace for civilisation".

Phone in hand, Argentina's President Javier Milei has become a social media junkie who tears into opponents, shares bizarre memes, vents and retweets with a gusto that has seen him dubbed an online "troll."

Britain's Conservative government unveils a pre-election budget Wednesday that could feature voter-friendly measures as Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's party badly trails main opposition Labour in polls.

Philippine foreign minister Enrique Manalo told AFP on Monday that his country wants to solve maritime disputes with China peacefully -- but delivered a simple message to Beijing: "stop harassing us."

Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has called for a strong turnout, was the first to cast his ballot, at a polling station in central Tehran, state television reported.

President Vladimir Putin warned on Thursday of a "real" risk of nuclear war if the West escalates the conflict in Ukraine.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday he will travel to South Korea next month as it holds the Summit for Democracy, a signature initiative of President Joe Biden.

The US Supreme Court agreed on Wednesday to hear Donald Trump's claim that as a former president he is immune from prosecution, further delaying his trial on charges of conspiring to overturn the 2020 election.

As a casino-owning playboy who has been married three times and faced multiple sexual misconduct allegations over the years, Donald Trump is an unlikely role model for America's evangelical Christians.

Pakistan's two dynastic parties have reached a power-sharing agreement that will return Shehbaz Sharif to the premiership, leaving out politicians loyal to jailed former leader Imran Khan despite them winning the most seats in this month's vote.

Americans haven't elected an independent president since George Washington, but a public turned off by two historically unpopular frontrunners appears more open than ever to the rich crop of wildcards who could tilt the election in 2024.

Britain's ruling Conservatives lost two more parliamentary seats to Labour in by-elections Friday, highlighting the mountain Prime Minister Rishi Sunak must climb to win a general election due this year.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Thursday revealed his Valentine's Day engagement to girlfriend Jodie Haydon, after "she said yes" to a carefully planned marriage proposal.

Voters in suburban New York picked a Democrat to replace expelled Republican congressman George Santos on Tuesday, US networks projected, after President Joe Biden's party poured cash into TV ads to flip the seat in an election year.

Pakistan has weeks of political uncertainty ahead following its indecisive election, analysts said Monday, with dozens of constituency results facing challenges in court and rival parties negotiating possible coalitions.

Russia's election commission on Thursday blocked pro-peace politician Boris Nadezhdin from running in next month's presidential election, the candidate said in a post on social media.