Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Russia on Monday, as the Indian leader treaded a fine line between maintaining a longstanding relationship with Moscow and courting closer Western security ties. The visit is Modi's first since Russia launched its campaign in Ukraine and since he was returned to power last month as leader of the world's most populous country. "I look forward to reviewing all aspects of bilateral cooperation with my friend President Vladimir Putin and sharing

Keir Starmer set to work as Britain's new leader Friday, speaking with other world leaders and appointing his ministerial team after his Labor party's landslide general election victory ended 14 years of Conservative rule. Starmer named Rachel Reeves the UK's first woman finance minister and appointed David Lammy as foreign secretary following his election win to become center-left Labor's first prime minister since Gordon Brown in 2010. Flag-waving crowds of cheering Labor a

NUR SHAMS, Palestinian Territories -- Palestinian officials said an Israeli raid Monday killed a woman and a child in a refugee camp in the occupied West Bank, where a militant was killed the day before. The Israeli military, whose forces struck the same refugee camp on Sunday, did not immediately comment on the latest deaths. The Palestinian health ministry said in a statement that the woman and the child were killed in Nur Shams camp, near the northern West Bank town of Tulkarm. Four other peo

The head of the Gaza Strip's biggest hospital said on Monday after being freed from more than seven months of detention that he had been "tortured" by Israel. Al-Shifa hospital director Mohammed Abu Salmiya was among more than 50 Palestinians released and returned to Gaza for treatment, according to an Israeli minister and a medical source in the besieged territory. Salmiya said he was put through "severe torture" during his detention, which left him with a broken thumb.

A fired-up Joe Biden came out swinging Friday as he tried to make up for a disastrous debate performance against Donald Trump, insisting he was the right man to win November's US presidential election. Biden's appearance at a campaign rally in the battleground state of North Carolina came amid rumblings in his alarmed Democratic Party about replacing the 81-year-old as their nominee -- and shortly before the nation's most influential newspaper urged him to step aside. "I don&

JERUSALEM -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday a row with the United States over weapons delays relating to the Gaza war would be resolved soon, amid simmering tensions between the allies. "About four months ago, there was a dramatic drop in the supply of armaments arriving from the US to Israel. We got all sorts of explanations, but... the basic situation didn't change," he told a cabinet meeting. "In light of what I have heard in the last day, I hope and

WASHINGTON - Israeli Defense Miniter Yoav Gallant will visit Washington soon for talks with his US counterpart, the Pentagon said Saturday as the war in Gaza rages on. President Joe Biden's administration is pressing for a ceasefire deal which it says is backed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu but has drawn fury from some of the Israeli leader's far-right allies. In a formal response this week the Palestinian militant group Hamas stopped short of accepting the plan, making counter-

British diet guru and TV personality Michael Mosley was found dead on Sunday on the Greek island of Symi where he went missing this week, police said. "People on a boat saw a body close to the rocky coast," said Petros Vassilakis, police chief for the southern Aegean region. The lifeless body was spotted by a television crew from Greece's ERT public channel out filming in the area where the 67-year-old disappeared. A cameraman "saw something strange near the fence, 50 metres

BANGKOK (AFP) -- Authorities in Vietnam have arrested a leading independent journalist for "abusing democratic freedoms" to undermine the state by posting articles on Facebook, police announced on Saturday. Huy Duc was detained for investigation for posts that "violate the interests of the State, the legitimate rights and interests of organizations and individuals," the Ministry of Public Security said. The 62-year-old former senior lieutenant worked for several influential n

SINGAPORE (AFP) -- PSG's Lee Kang-in and Tottenham's Son Heung-min both scored twice as South Korea trounced Singapore 7-0 on Thursday to seal their passage into the final round of Asian qualifiers for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Watched by a crowd of 49,097 at Singapore's National Stadium, the visitors took the lead after nine minutes when Son was denied by a fine save by Hassan Sunny but Joo Min-kyu retrieved the loose ball and laid it off for Lee to fire home a fierce right-foot

BEIJING -- China said Friday it would be "difficult" for it to take part in a planned conference on the war in Ukraine next month if Russia did not attend. While China says it is a neutral party in the Ukraine conflict, it has been criticised for refusing to condemn Moscow for its offensive. Ukraine is trying to whip up attendance at the June peace conference in Switzerland, where it hopes to win broad international backing for its vision of the terms needed to end Russia's war. P

Spain, Ireland, and Norway formally recognized a Palestinian state on Tuesday in a coordinated decision slammed by Israel as a "reward" for Hamas, more than seven months into the devastating Gaza war. The three European countries believe their initiative has a strong symbolic impact, likely encouraging others to follow suit. After Ireland's government formally approved the measure, Prime Minister Simon Harris said the aim was to keep hopes of peace in the Middle East alive. "

The world has experienced an average of 26 more days of extreme heat over the last 12 months that would probably not have occurred without climate change, a report said on Tuesday. Heat is the leading cause of climate-related death, and the report further points to the role of global warming in increasing the frequency and intensity of extreme weather around the world. For this study, scientists used the years 1991 to 2020 to determine what temperatures counted as within the top 10 percent for e

GAZA STRIP -- The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said on Sunday that the death toll in the more than seven months of war between Israel and Palestinian militants surpassed 36,000. At least 36,050 people have been killed in the conflict, including 66 over the past 24 hours, the ministry said, adding that 81,026 people have been wounded in the Gaza Strip since the war began when Hamas militants attacked Israel on October 7. (AFP)

PORT MORESBY -- Rescue teams arrived at the site of a massive landslide in Papua New Guinea's remote highlands Saturday, helping villagers search for hundreds of people feared dead under towering mounds of rubble and mud. The disaster hit an isolated part of Enga province at around 3:00 am Friday, according to government officials, when many villagers were at home asleep. "At this time, we are still searching for bodies who are buried by the massive landslide," said community lead