WORLD

Residents of India's capital New Delhi choked in a blanketing toxic smog Wednesday as worsening air pollution surged past 50 times the World Health Organization's recommended daily maximum.

US top diplomat Antony Blinken will meet with NATO and EU officials Wednesday to urgently discuss ramping up support for Ukraine before Donald Trump reclaims the White House -- potentially jeopardising future aid.

Chinese leader Xi Jinping headed to Peru on Wednesday, bound for a meeting of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) organisation leaders overshadowed by fears of renewed global trade tensions under Donald Trump.

Spain's minority left-wing government wants to galvanise its deadlocked 2025 draft budget by linking it to urgent reconstruction funds following devastating floods, sparking "blackmail" accusations from the conservative opposition.

The Philippines prepared Tuesday to evacuate potentially tens of thousands of people as the fifth major storm in three weeks bore down on the archipelago shortly after the onslaught of Typhoon Toraji.

Senior Russian official Sergei Shoigu on Tuesday told China's foreign minister Wang Yi their two countries' most urgent task should be countering "containment" by the United States, as they met for security talks in Beijing.

North Korea has ratified a landmark defense pact with Russia, state media reported Tuesday, deepening security cooperation that has seen Pyongyang send thousands of troops to help Moscow fight Ukraine.

The European Union's designated foreign policy chief said Tuesday that the bloc must back Ukraine "for as long as it takes", as she and other EU heavyweights faced scrutiny by parliament.

Fighter jets and attack drones took centre stage as China's largest air show officially opened on Tuesday, an opportunity for Beijing to showcase its growing military might to potential customers and rivals alike.

Sri Lanka's new leftist leader has drawn strong support from an unlikely source as he seeks to expand his three parliamentary seats to a house majority in elections on Thursday.

The host of the UN climate summit in Azerbaijan on Tuesday defended fossil fuels and the right of countries to exploit them as dozens of world leaders arrived for the COP29 conference.

US President-elect Donald Trump announced new members of his incoming administration on Monday, and was expected to pick Senator Marco Rubio as secretary of state.

Businessman Alix Didier Fils-Aime was sworn in as Haiti's new prime minister on Monday as a gun attack on a passenger jet at the capital's airport underscored the utter breakdown in law and order in the Caribbean country.

The Mauritius opposition appeared to be headed for victory in legislative elections after Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth on Monday conceded defeat.

The Kremlin on Monday denied a US media report that Russian President Vladimir Putin and US president-elect Donald Trump shared a call about the Ukraine conflict.

Air alerts wailed across Ukraine early Monday as Russian strikes killed at least six people, a day after record drone attacks by both sides and US president-elect Donald Trump reportedly urging Russia's Vladimir Putin not to escalate the conflict.

Thousands of people sought shelter and ports shut down in the Philippines on Monday, officials said, as the disaster-weary nation was struck by another typhoon -- the fourth in less than a month.

US president-elect Donald Trump said late Sunday he was bringing back hardline immigration official Tom Homan to oversee the country's borders in the incoming administration.

The COP29 climate talks opened Monday in Azerbaijan with a call to show global cooperation was not "down for the count", as Donald Trump's re-election hangs over the key discussions.

Arab and Muslim leaders gather in Saudi Arabia Monday for a summit addressing the wars in Gaza and Lebanon, a chance to send a message to US President-elect Donald Trump.

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba kept his job in a parliamentary vote on Monday, despite having led the ruling coalition to its worst general election result in 15 years.

Donald Trump's election victory paves the way for a fresh wave of misinformation, not only around politics but also on vaccines and climate, with his expected cabinet picks ready to challenge the scientific community.

Germany's embattled Chancellor Olaf Scholz said Sunday he would be ready to ask for a confidence vote this year to pave the way for snap elections.

Russia should face justice for war crimes committed in Ukraine under any future peace deal and pay for the destruction it has wrought, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said Sunday.

The UN condemned on Friday the staggering number of civilians killed in Israel's war in Gaza, with women and children comprising nearly 70 percent of the thousands of fatalities it had managed to verify.

Russian attacks overnight wounded more than two dozen people in the Ukrainian border city of Kharkiv and killed one in the southern city of Odesa, Ukrainian authorities said on Friday, as Moscow's bombardments escalated.

Incumbent leaders used to have the edge. Kane noted that incumbents still won overwhelmingly in the US Congress, and he expected future presidents to enjoy an incumbency advantage in more stable times.

Thousands of people were urged to flee an out-of-control wildfire burning around communities near Los Angeles on Thursday, with scores of homes already lost to the fast-moving flames.

US President-elect Donald Trump on Thursday made the first appointment of his new administration -- naming a chief of staff -- with other key jobs set to be filled in the "days and weeks ahead," according to his team.