WORLD

Israel said Monday that Hamas had not yet provided the status of 34 hostages the group declared it was ready to release in the first phase of a potential exchange deal.

Syria's de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa is due to meet the French and German foreign ministers on Friday, in the highest-level visit by major Western powers under the new authorities in Damascus.

US President Joe Biden has decided to block the proposed $14.9 billion purchase of US Steel by Japan's Nippon Steel and will announce the move as soon as Friday, according to US media.

South Korea's spy agency said Friday it was analysing rare state media footage showing the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un with two children -- saying they could be hers.

China is "determined" to continue opening up its economy to the world in 2025, a top economic planning official said Friday, as Beijing steels itself for potential trade turmoil when US President-elect Donald Trump takes office.

A federal appeals court on Thursday ruled that US regulators overstepped their authority by reinstating "net neutrality" rules governing internet service providers, dealing a blow to the Biden administration.

US Republican leader Mike Johnson was set to face down critics Friday in a vote in Congress that could see him returned as one of the country's top statesmen -- or jettisoned to the back benches and political obscurity.

South Korean investigators said Friday they expected to find more human remains as they began lifting the wreckage of the Jeju Air jet that crashed on landing last weekend killing all but two of the 181 passengers and crew aboard.

South Korean investigators abandoned their attempt to arrest impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol at his residence on Friday over a failed martial law bid, citing safety concerns after a standoff with his security team.

The decorated US special forces soldier who blew up a Tesla Cybertruck outside the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas shot himself in the head before the blast, authorities said Thursday, adding that his motivation was still "unknown."

South Korean police raided the offices of Jeju Air and the operator of Muan International Airport Thursday as they step up a probe into the fatal crash of a Boeing 737-800 that killed 179 people.

Impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol remained defiantly inside his residence resisting arrest for a third day on Thursday, after vowing to "fight" authorities seeking to question him over his failed martial law bid.

Montenegro began three days of national mourning Thursday after a gunman went on a rampage after opening fire at a village restaurant, killing 12 people including two children.

The number of irregular migrants arriving in Britain on small boats soared in 2024, data showed Wednesday, piling pressure on Prime Minister Keir Starmer to stem the dangerous Channel crossings.

Power was restored to most of Puerto Rico Wednesday after a major blackout plunged the island into darkness on New Year's Eve, the US territory's electric utility said.

A US Army veteran with an Islamic State flag and "hellbent" on carnage steered a pickup truck into a crowd of New Year revelers in New Orleans on Wednesday, killing at least 15 people and wounding dozens, officials said.

Camped on the street winding up to the residence of South Korea's impeached president, protesters direct vitriol at police and echo obscure conspiracies as investigators prepare to execute a warrant for his arrest.

Russia's gas transit to Europe via Ukraine stopped on Wednesday, Moscow and Kyiv said, ending a decades-long arrangement and marking the latest casualty of the war between the neighbours.

South Korean investigators probing a Jeju Air crash which killed 179 people in the worst aviation disaster on its soil said Wednesday they will send one of the retrieved black boxes to the United States for analysis.

Smokers in Italy's financial and fashion capital of Milan risk being fined for lighting up on city streets or crowded public areas, after the country's toughest ban comes into effect Wednesday.

Umayyad Square in Damascus hummed to the throngs of people brandishing "revolution" flags as Syria saw in the new year with hope following 13 years of civil war.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday vowed that his country would use 2025 to fight for an end to Russia's nearly three-year-long invasion by any means necessary.

Elon Musk adopted the moniker "Kekius Maximus" on X Tuesday, sparking speculation among his 210 million followers about his mysterious new handle that is a mash-up of an alt-right symbol, a memecoin, and the lead character of the movie "Gladiator."

A major power outage plunged much of Puerto Rico into darkness on New Year's Eve, with the US island territory's electric utility saying restoration could take up to two days.

Beijing insisted on Tuesday that it had shared information on Covid-19 "without holding anything back", after the World Health Organization implored China to offer more data and access to understand the disease's origins.

President Xi Jinping said China will put in place "more proactive" macroeconomic policies next year, state media reported, as he addressed a top political advisory body on Tuesday.

South Korean authorities began releasing the bodies of plane crash victims to families Tuesday, as investigators raced to determine why the Jeju Air Boeing 737-800 crash landed and burst into flames.

Crowds will marvel at fireworks and toast champagne to greet 2025 on Tuesday, waving goodbye to a year that brought Olympic glory, a dramatic Donald Trump return, and turmoil in the Middle East and Ukraine.

King Charles III announced awards for actors Stephen Fry and Carey Mulligan, as well as victims of Britain's Post Office scandal in the country's traditional New Year's Honours on Tuesday.