WORLD

Diplomatic efforts increased on Sunday to reach a long sought-after truce and hostage-release deal in Gaza, as Israel carried out further air strikes and shelling on the war-battered territory.

The war in Gaza and broader Middle East tensions are expected to get top billing at a Saudi-hosted special meeting of the World Economic Forum that begins on Sunday.

Washington's top diplomat will travel to Saudi Arabia on Sunday as the deadline approaches on a landmark -- and, analysts say, long-shot -- deal that would see the kingdom recognise Israel.

Hamas's armed wing released video Saturday of two men held hostage in Gaza who are seen alive and urging Israeli authorities to strike a deal for the release of all the remaining captives.

Palestinians in Rafah told AFP Saturday they were living in "constant terror" as Israel vows to push ahead with its planned assault on the south Gaza city flooded with displaced civilians.

The head of the International Olympic Committee Thomas Bach has backed the World Anti-Doping Agency in a row over its handling of positive drug tests by 23 Chinese swimmers.

Thousands of sub-Saharan migrants have huddled in Tunisian olive groves for months, living in makeshift tents and surviving on meagre rations while keeping their hopes alive of reaching Europe.

A UN probe into Israeli allegations that 19 members of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees participated in the October 7 Hamas attacks has closed one case due to the absence of any evidence from Israel and suspended four others, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said Friday.

Does Javier Milei communicate with a ghost dog whose death he refuses to accept?

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced $6 billion in new military aid for Ukraine on Friday as Washington rushes to fill gaps left by months of limited American assistance.

Israel's war against Hamas has sparked anger and division around the world, including on US campuses, where some Jewish students feel targeted and abused while others have taken leading roles in pro-Palestinian demonstrations.

Greece on Friday handed over the Olympic flame of the 2024 Games to Paris organisers in a ceremony at the Athens marble stadium where the competition was revived nearly 130 years ago.

A rare meeting between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his US counterpart Joe Biden at the White House has been postponed, a Turkish official said Friday, amid tensions over the Gaza war.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken's letter to House Speaker Mike Johnson outlined this decision, stating that aid delivery would not be delayed, provided Israel takes specific steps to address the allegations.

At least 10 people were killed Friday in a fire that broke out in a defunct hotel being used as a makeshift homeless shelter in the city of Porto Alegre in southern Brazil, officials said.

It's Day 203 of the Israel-Hamas war – the world is watching how Israel will respond after a civilian died of wounds sustained from a Hezbollah missile attack in northern Israel as three battalions of the Israeli army are under scrutiny for alleged human rights violations in the West Bank.

Angry at their government agreeing to cede territory to arch-foe Azerbaijan, dozens of Armenian protesters have blocked major highways and vowed to fight the transfer of land they say is rightfully theirs.

A delegation from mediator Egypt is travelling to Israel on Friday, a source close to the Israeli government told AFP, in what local media said is a bid to reignite stalled hostage-release negotiations.

Syria has avoided getting embroiled in the Gaza war, experts said, despite a strike on Iran's Damascus consulate, blamed on Israel, that threatened to ignite a regional conflagration.

Blinken, in China for the second time in less than a year, met leading Chinese politicians in the capital Beijing, where US officials said he would directly raise crucial areas of difference including Russia, Taiwan and trade.

Both sides have stepped up attacks this week, with Hezbollah increasing rocket fire and Israel saying it had carried out "offensive action" across southern Lebanon.

Criticism of Qatar over its role as a mediator between Israel and Hamas has prompted a rare pushback by the Gulf state against its detractors, analysts have said.

China's foreign minister warned Antony Blinken on Friday that US pressure could trigger a "downward spiral", as the visiting secretary of state raised concerns on issues including support for Russia.

Olga drew her index finger abruptly across her neck as she recounted the threats her husband levelled at her after he returned to Russia, wounded from fighting in Ukraine.

Columbia University backed off late Thursday from an overnight deadline for pro-Palestinian protesters to abandon an encampment there as more college campuses in the United States sought to prevent occupations from taking hold.

China on Friday urged US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to address rising disagreements or risk a "downward spiral" between the two powers as talks opened in Beijing.

The Bank of Japan was widely expected to keep its ultra-low interest rates unchanged Friday but analysts say the tumbling yen is putting pressure on officials to act.

The first jeepneys rolled onto the streets of the Philippines just after World War II -- noisy, smoke-belching vehicles initially made from leftover US Jeeps that became a national symbol.