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French writer Maryse Conde, who died on Tuesday at the age of 90, became one of the greatest chroniclers of the struggles and triumphs of the descendants of Africans taken as slaves to the Caribbean.

A US-based charity group on Tuesday blamed Israel for a strike that killed seven of its staff unloading food brought by sea to the war-torn Gaza Strip to help alleviate looming famine.

A 12-year-old opened fire Tuesday at a school outside the Finnish capital Helsinki injuring three other children, police said, adding that the attacker was in custody.

Ukrainians can enter claims for damages to their property as a result of Russia's invasion via a new mechanism launched on Tuesday, with officials expecting as many as 10 million requests overall.

Israeli businessman Maoz Inon lost both his parents to the October 7 attacks by Hamas but while some bereaved have been baying for vengeance the 49-year-old has been preaching peace.

A minor opened fire Tuesday at a school in Vantaa outside the Finnish capital Helsinki injuring three others, police said, adding that the attacker was in custody.

Hong Kong stocks rallied Tuesday as traders returned from an extended weekend break to forecast-beating Chinese factory data that lifted hopes for the world's number-two economy, though other Asian markets were mixed.

Hundreds of schools in the Philippines, including dozens in the capital Manila, suspended in-person classes on Tuesday due to dangerous levels of heat, education officials said.

Hong Kong stocks rallied Tuesday as traders returned from an extended weekend break to forecast-beating Chinese factory data that lifted hopes for the world's number-two economy.

Dozens of schools in the Philippine capital of Manila suspended in-person classes on Tuesday due to dangerous levels of heat, education officials said.

The Thai senate passed the first reading of a bill to legalise same-sex marriage on Tuesday, taking the kingdom another step closer to becoming the first Southeast Asian country to recognise marriage equality.

A US-based charity said Tuesday it was pausing its Gaza aid operations after seven of its staff were killed in a "targeted Israeli strike" as they unloaded desperately needed food aid delivered by sea from Cyprus.

Israeli air strikes destroyed the Iranian embassy's consular annex in Damascus on Monday, Syrian and Iranian officials said, with a top Revolutionary Guard commander among seven members the force said were killed.

A tugboat pushing a fuel barge became the first vessel to sail through a temporary channel opened beside the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore harbor, authorities overseeing the cleanup operation said late Monday.

Hardik Pandya has been facing the wrath of jeering fans in the Indian Premier League this season, with the Mumbai Indians struggling since he took charge from the much-loved Rohit Sharma.

The Thai senate on Tuesday debated a bill to legalise same-sex marriage, as the kingdom moves towards becoming the first Southeast Asian country to recognise marriage equality.

A food aid organisation said an Israeli strike killed several of its workers in the besieged Gaza Strip on Monday, with the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory reporting that four of them were foreigners.

Japanese dietary supplements at the centre of an expanding health scare have now been linked to at least 157 hospitalisations, a health ministry official said Tuesday.

Hong Kong led most Asian markets higher Tuesday as traders returned from an extended weekend break to forecast-beating Chinese factory data that lifted hopes for the world's number-two economy.

The Thai senate will on Tuesday debate a bill to legalise same-sex marriage, as the kingdom moves towards becoming the first Southeast Asian country to recognise marriage equality.

In a small village in central Iraq, children cram into dilapidated classrooms in a converted farmhouse with open-air toilets, a symptom of how education has been neglected in the oil-rich but war-weary country.

Bright green coca plantations blanket the mountains along the narrow Micay canyon, the heartland of Colombia's holdout guerrillas who rule their fiefdom like a mini-state.

An Israeli strike killed several people delivering food aid to the besieged Gaza Strip on Monday, their organisation said, with the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory reporting that four of them were foreigners.

Elon Musk, one of the world's richest people, says he won't directly back Joe Biden or Donald Trump in the US election -- but one look at his X feed makes clear his heart is with the Republican.

US communities along the path of the April 8 total solar eclipse are preparing for the year's biggest astronomic event, with millions of visitors expected to brighten local economies -- and snarl up logistics.

The US conglomerate General Electric, co-founded more than 130 years ago by Thomas Edison, is opening a new chapter in its history on Tuesday: its break-up into three independent entities which will then concentrate on their disparate core businesses.

The NATO military alliance marks its 75th anniversary on Thursday, reinvigorated by Russia's invasion of Ukraine -- but menaced by the growing threat from Moscow and the spectre of Donald Trump.

Embattled former US president Donald Trump posted a $175 million bond in his New York civil fraud case Monday, a court document showed, avoiding payment of a $454 million penalty while his case winds through the appeals process.

North Korea fired a medium-range ballistic missile on Tuesday, Seoul's military said, the latest in a spate of banned weapons tests by Kim Jong Un's regime this year.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will hold talks with French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris on Tuesday on supporting Ukraine in its war with Russia and the Israel-Hamas conflict.

Former Samoa rugby captain Mase Mahonri Schwalger has been appointed head coach of the national side through to the end of the 2027 Rugby World Cup in Australia.

Joseph Schooling, who famously beat his idol Michael Phelps in Rio to become Singapore's first and only Olympic champion, said Tuesday he was retiring from competitive swimming.