WORLD

Ukraine urged civilians near the northeastern front line to evacuate on Thursday as Russia ramped up an assault to capture territory already seized once during the conflict.

Russia is launching its first mission to the Moon's surface in nearly 50 years on Friday, hoping to reclaim prestige in space despite military and diplomatic setbacks at home over the Ukraine conflict.

Linda Yaccarino, CEO of social media platform X, said Thursday that the company formerly known as Twitter is "close" to breaking even and is hiring to beef up a staff slashed by owner Elon Musk.

The death toll from a terrifying wildfire that razed a historic Hawaiian town hit 53 Thursday, making it one of the deadliest disasters to strike the islands since they became a US state.

Four months into a battle both believed they would win, Sudan's army has lost its grip on Khartoum to paramilitaries, who are unable to declare victory and instead are accused of waging war on civilians.

Athletes flex muscled biceps before going hand-to-hand in a newly televised arm-wrestling league seeking to take the sporting spotlight in otherwise cricket-mad India with a glitzy Bollywood-style makeover.

Asian markets mostly fell Friday as a below-forecast US inflation reading boosted hopes the Federal Reserve will hold interest rates next month but did little to dispel fears it could hike later in the year.

The progress on the prisoners -- one of them detained for nearly eight years -- comes after quiet, exhaustive diplomacy between the longtime adversaries whose separate talks on restoring a nuclear deal broke down.

At least 36 people have died after a fast-moving wildfire turned a historic Hawaiian town to ashes, officials said Wednesday, as visitors asked to leave the island of Maui found themselves stranded at the airport.

Stocks fell Thursday ahead of much-anticipated US inflation data, which comes against a backdrop of renewed concerns that the Federal Reserve could announce another interest rate hike before the end of the year.

Gazing up from K2 Basecamp, Sajid Ali Sadpara sees Earth's second-highest mountain, his father's final resting place, and a blight of litter on the furthest reaches of the natural world.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said Wednesday that the biggest obstacle to millions of refugees returning home is a lack of infrastructure, devastated by more than a decade of civil war.

In central Moscow, retired businessman Igor Inkin is preparing to turn down simple pleasures like dessert as the value of the ruble in his pocket continues to slide.

Seven people were killed in flash floods in southwestern China on Wednesday, as authorities in Beijing tripled the death toll from the capital's heaviest-ever rains.

Even in a country which regularly holds the world record for jailing journalists, the case of Turkish investigative reporter Baris Pehlivan stands out.

NASA's Curiosity rover has discovered the first evidence that Mars once had a climate which alternated between wet and dry seasons similar to Earth, a study said on Wednesday, suggesting the red planet may have once had the right conditions to support life.

Iraq's rising temperatures and protracted drought are a "wake-up call" for the world, United Nations human rights chief Volker Turk said in Baghdad on Wednesday.

US President Joe Biden on Wednesday issued an executive order aimed at restricting certain American investments in sensitive high-tech areas in China -- a move that could further strain ties between the world's top two economies.

The United States on Wednesday accused Sudan of having threatened to expel the United Nations mission from the war-torn country if the UN envoy, already in Khartoum's crosshairs, speaks before the Security Council on the atrocities of the conflict.

In the scorching summer heat, an Israeli farmer tends to a dripline taking a mix of ground and recycled water to palm trees -- an approach honed for decades in the arid country and now drawing wide interest abroad.

The United Nations has said it reached agreement with the Syrian government on aid deliveries to rebel-held areas from Turkey, raising concern among relief groups who had wanted Damascus kept out.

Two weeks after the coup in Niger, France has abandoned its tough tone on the crisis and is now inclining towards diplomatic solutions, with military action seemingly ruled out for now, experts said.

China on Wednesday reported it had entered deflation for the first time since 2021 -- the latest indicator pointing to a slowdown in the world's second-largest economy.

A spate of high-profile visits by US officials to Saudi Arabia underscores how ties have warmed amid talks over a potential deal that would see the Gulf kingdom recognise Israel, analysts say.

Two Ukrainian combat drones headed for Moscow were shot down, Russian officials said on Wednesday, the latest in a surge of drone attacks targeting the capital.

Pakistan's parliament was due to be dissolved Wednesday, ushering in a technocrat-led interim government to oversee an election that will not include the country's most popular politician, Imran Khan.

Nigeria's president has not ruled out military intervention in neighbouring Niger after its president was ousted in a coup but believes diplomacy is the "best way forward" to resolve the crisis, his spokesman said Tuesday.

The US trade deficit narrowed in June on a bigger pullback in imports than exports, according to government data released on Tuesday.

The coup that shook Niger nearly two weeks ago triggered an international outcry and curbs on domestic freedoms, yet many people in the capital say the change is a breath of fresh air.