WORLD

From Hamas's brutal attacks in Israel and the fierce retribution it provoked to the kiss that sparked a revolt in Spanish football, here are 10 events that marked a tumultuous 2023.

Finland on Monday signed an agreement to enhance military cooperation with the United States, saying it saw a long-term threat from Russia, a day after its giant neighbor issued a warning over Helsinki's recent entrance into NATO.

The UN Security Council is expected on Tuesday to accede to a demand from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and launch a gradual withdrawal of peacekeepers, starting later this month.

A Swedish appeals court will announce on Tuesday its verdict in the trial of a former Iranian prison official handed a life sentence in a lower court for crimes committed during a 1988 purge of dissidents.

The Republican governor of Texas signed a bill on Monday that would allow state police to arrest and deport migrants who cross illegally into the United States from Mexico.

The United States on Monday announced a 10-nation coalition to quell Huthi missile and drone attacks on ships transiting the Red Sea, with Britain, France, Bahrain and Italy among countries joining the "multinational security initiative."

Kenya and the European Union on Monday signed a long-negotiated trade agreement to increase the flow of goods between the two markets, as Brussels pursues stronger economic ties with Africa.

At least 12 people were killed and another dozen were wounded in an attack early Sunday on a pre-Christmas party in central Mexico, authorities in the state of Guanajuato said.

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak hailed Italian premier Giorgia Meloni's approach to tackling illegal migration Saturday, in a visit to Rome where they agreed to co-fund a project to help migrants return home from Tunisia.

Dozens of journalists took part in a funeral on Saturday for an Al Jazeera cameraman killed in an Israeli strike in the south of the war-torn Gaza Strip.

With few tourists watching the daring feat, Abraham Estrada dives off La Quebrada, an emblematic Acapulco cliff where the spectacle has resumed but struggles to attract visitors after the Mexican resort was hammered by Hurricane Otis.

Glaciologist Andrew Hodson used to collaborate with his Russian colleagues in the Svalbard archipelago in the Arctic, but snowmobile excursions to see them have come to a halt since the war in Ukraine.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday vowed to make Russia "sovereign and self-sufficient" in the face of the West, in his first campaign speech before a March vote to extend his long rule until at least 2030.

The Israeli army said on Sunday it had uncovered the biggest Hamas tunnel in the Gaza Strip so far, just a few hundred metres from a key border crossing.

Stranded residents sheltered on a hospital roof as flash floods swamped northeastern Australia on Monday, with raging waters severing roads and flushing crocodiles into towns.

Hamas has been the focus of a relentless Israeli onslaught in Gaza but with resilient and diverse finances, it is expected to have a significant war chest at its disposal as the conflict drags on.

Kuwait's emir Sheikh Nawaf al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, who was defence minister when Iraq invaded the oil-rich country in 1990, was laid to rest Sunday in a low-key funeral, a day after he died aged 86.

North Korea launched another long-range ballistic missile on Monday with a potential capability of striking the United States, Seoul and Tokyo officials said, extending a record-breaking number of weapons tests this year that have been condemned by the West.

Russia's radical conservative turn since it invaded Ukraine is changing life inside the country, with even the long-held right for women to have abortions being questioned.

Hours after the applause and relief that the world had finally reached a landmark climate agreement in Dubai, US special envoy John Kerry admitted that he thought it might never happen.

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen called Thursday for China to shift from a state-driven approach in economic policy, saying the model can discourage investors.

Several new European and American rockets are set for blast off in 2024, at a time the aerospace industry faces a shortage of launch vehicles fueled by the rise of satellite constellations.

Israel pressed its offensive in Gaza on Friday despite mounting international calls for restraint, with key backer the United States saying the war to crush Hamas must not lead to a long-term Israeli occupation of the territory.

The Netherlands can continue to deliver parts for F-35 fighter jets used by Israel in the Gaza Strip, after a Dutch court on Friday threw out a case brought by a group of human rights organisations.

A more precise picture of Hamas's October 7 attack on Israel has emerged from social security data, confirming the unprecedented scale of the violence but also challenging some initial testimonies.

A Russian court began on Thursday hearing the appeal of Oleg Orlov, a veteran human rights campaigner and co-chair of the Nobel-Prize-winning group Memorial, who has been convicted of discrediting Russian forces.

EU leaders will face off against Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban on Thursday as he threatens to veto a massive aid package and a start to membership talks for Ukraine.

US efforts to transition to cleaner energy carry risks of mass layoffs in mature industries, say experts, who warn that policies to cushion the blow may not live up to hype.

Since the start of the conflict between Israel and Hamas, prestigious US universities have come under fire, accused of not doing enough to combat anti-Semitism.