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Israel launched more deadly strikes on Gaza Tuesday as the UN Security Council was due to vote on another ceasefire demand and concern mounted over the conflict's impact on global shipping.

Yemen's Iran-backed Huthi rebels said Tuesday they would not halt attacks on Red Sea shipping in solidarity with Gaza despite the announcement by the United States of a new maritime protection force.

Rescuers in remote villages of northwest China dug through the rubble of collapsed homes on Tuesday after the country's deadliest earthquake in years killed at least 126 people and injured hundreds more.

France and the UK will support Ukraine in its fight against the Russian invasion "for as long as it takes", British Foreign Secretary David Cameron said Tuesday, adding it was "essential" that President Vladimir Putin was defeated.

Yemen's Iran-backed Huthi rebels said Tuesday they would not halt attacks on Red Sea shipping despite the announcement by the United States of a new maritime protection force.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will take questions from journalists on Tuesday at an end-of-year press conference that comes with his military under pressure on the front and allies wavering on aid.

Before war broke out in Gaza, Mahmud al-Daoudi could never have imagined the radio sets gathering dust in his shop would be in such high demand, offering his customers a precious link with the outside world.

The tall light brown hats worn by whirling dervishes are as intriguing as the elliptical dance performed in honour of the Sufi poet and mystic Rumi.

At a chic Stockholm auction house, 122 carefully-curated items with unusual provenance went under the hammer on Monday evening: vintage furnishings from flatpack furniture retailer Ikea was sold for a total of 37,000 euros ($40,000).

The skirts of whirling dervishes twirl in a symphony of disco colours celebrating mystic Sufi poet Rumi at a cultural centre in central Turkey's Konya.

Google parent Alphabet has agreed to pay $700 million as part of an antitrust settlement made public on Monday, with the funds going to US customers of its Android app store and state governments.

Equities mostly rose Tuesday as traders looked past Federal Reserve officials' attempts to dampen expectations for several interest rate cuts next year, while the yen weakened after the Bank of Japan decided against moving away from its ultra-loose monetary policy.

They've served Roman soldiers, knights and poets and have been a gathering place for communities to enjoy a brew beside a crackling fire for centuries.

Turin's famed gianduiotto, a small, creamy chocolate that melts on the tongue, is at the centre of a battle for European recognition pitting Italian artisans against Swiss giant Lindt.

Sizzling temperatures, millions fleeing their homes, multitudes flocking to a movie about a doll -- 2023 was another year of extremes.

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:

Rescuers in remote villages of northwest China dug through the rubble of collapsed homes on Tuesday after China's deadliest earthquake in years killed at least 118 people and injured hundreds more.

The Chicago Bulls withstood a 40-point double-double from Philadelphia star Joel Embiid on Monday to snap the 76ers' six-game NBA winning streak with a 108-104 victory.

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.

Artist Candice Breitz worked for several years to set up an exhibition in the German city of Saarbruecken, only for it to be cancelled over her stance on the Israel-Hamas war.

When news broke about a bedbug outbreak in his native South Korea, 29-year-old blockchain engineer and self-professed insectophobe Kang Jae-gu got straight to work -- on the data.

Israel faced another round of global pressure on Tuesday for a ceasefire in Gaza with a new UN vote and fresh Western diplomatic efforts, although the United States vowed to continue arming its ally.

The Chicago Bulls withstood a 40-point, 14-rebound double-double from Joel Embiid on Monday to snap the 76ers' six-game NBA winning streak with a 108-104 victory in Philadelphia.

The Panama Canal delivered $2.5 billion to the national treasury for last year's operations, the government said Monday, despite record-low water levels that limited ship transits.

At least 116 people were killed when an earthquake collapsed buildings in northwest China, state media reported Tuesday, as rescue workers raced to start digging through rubble in freezing conditions.

A volcano in Iceland was erupting on Tuesday, with geysers of molten lava shooting into the pitch-black night sky after weeks of seismic activity had the region southwest of the capital on high alert.

A second-hand pop-up store in Tokyo by casual clothing giant Uniqlo was a first for the Japanese firm, but also a sign that a local aversion to used garments may finally be fading.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has vowed to accelerate his country's nuclear build-up and warned Washington against making a "wrong decision" after overseeing the launch of the country's most powerful ballistic missile, state media said Tuesday.

Asian markets were mixed Tuesday after Federal Reserve officials looked to dampen expectations for a series of interest rate cuts next year, while the yen edged up ahead of a closely watched Bank of Japan policy decision later in the day.

Rescue teams on Tuesday evacuated a flood-ravaged town in northeastern Australia, racing to airlift hundreds of people to safety before they run out of food and water.

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 US jury on Monday ordered chemical company Monsanto to pay $857 million to seven people at a school in the western state of Washington who said they were sickened by chemicals leaking from light fittings.