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As a US military surveillance plane circled overhead, eight Chinese ships chased and briefly blocked four Philippine boats on a resupply mission to a tiny garrison in the hotly contested South China Sea.

Zimbabweans on Wednesday began voting in closely-watched presidential and legislative elections after a campaign tainted by a crackdown on the opposition, fears of vote rigging and public anger at the economic crisis.

As a survivor of an attempted rape in Poland, Ukrainian Nastya Podorozhnya knows how lonely the struggle of a woman living in a foreign country can be.

Rusted Russian tanks, which the Kremlin had hoped would parade victorious through Kyiv days after it invaded Ukraine, have instead been lined up as war trophies ahead of Ukraine's independence day.

Unsafe. Unsanitary. Teeming with insects.

At least 1,100 people are still missing two weeks after deadly wildfires ravaged the Hawaiian island of Maui, authorities said Tuesday, with the FBI seeking family members' help in identifying the remains of the dead.

The final preparations to discharge waste water from the crippled Fukushima power plant in Japan began Wednesday, its operator said, a day before the scheduled release into the Pacific Ocean.

After hiding at home for weeks, Sudanese refugees evaded militias in Darfur and fled on foot to neighbouring Chad with children on their backs and safety their destination.

A Ukrainian drone attack on Moscow damaged a building in a central business district, authorities said on Wednesday, in the sixth straight night of aerial attacks on Russia's capital region.

Thailand's former premier Thaksin Shinawatra was moved from prison to a police hospital on Wednesday, officials said, a day after he was jailed on his return from 15 years in exile.

Asian markets drifted between gains and losses Wednesday with traders struggling to maintain momentum from the previous day's much-needed bounce as they contemplate an extended period of elevated interest rates.

Military helicopters and ziplining commandos rescued eight people, including six schoolboys, who were trapped for hours on Tuesday in a stricken cable car high above a remote Pakistani valley.

Straddling the frontier between Lebanon and the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights, the picturesque village of Ghajar has become a lightning rod for tensions between the hostile forces on either side.

On February 12, while the world's rugby eyes were on the Six Nations in Europe, Cyclone Gabrielle smashed her way on to the shores of New Zealand.

The Republican White House hopefuls prepared to do battle in the first debate of the 2024 primary contest on Wednesday -- with Donald Trump set to upstage his rivals despite his decision not to show up.

Zimbabweans go to the polls on Wednesday in closely-watched presidential and legislative elections, after a campaign tainted by a crackdown on dissent, fears of vote rigging and public anger at the economic crisis.

Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele's relentless war on gangs is steadily filling the cellblocks of a massive prison that may be Latin America's largest.

The world's biggest digital companies will have nowhere to hide starting Friday, when the toughest EU rules on online content since social media first burst onto the scene enter into force.

Slovenia's Luka Doncic and France's Rudy Gobert will be among the NBA's international stars trying to stop the United States from regaining the Basketball World Cup when the event begins on Friday in Asia.

The United States said Tuesday it was imposing visa sanctions on Chinese officials pursuing "forced assimilation" of children in Tibet, where UN experts say one million children have been separated from their families.

New Zealand Cricket said Wednesday that former English internationals Ian Bell and James Foster will help coach the Black Caps on their white-ball tour of England which starts next week.

Thousands of people in an outer district of Greece's capital Athens were under evacuation orders Tuesday as firefighters battled a steadily growing wave of wildfires around the country that has left 20 dead.

Tampa Bay Rays star Wander Franco has been placed on indefinite leave as Major League Baseball continues to probe allegations of an improper relationship between the player and a minor, the league said Tuesday.

From Quebec to British Columbia to Hawaii, North America is facing an extraordinary wildfire season -- and regions both near and far have found themselves increasingly blighted by smoke exposure.

A rally in tech shares ran out of steam Tuesday, as US stocks mostly retreated amid worries over higher Treasury bond yields that offset investor appetite to keep buying equities.

PGA Tour chief executive Jay Monahan said Tuesday he is confident of meeting a December 31 deadline to hammer out details of the tour's merger with Saudi-backed LIV Golf.

India readied Wednesday for its latest attempted Moon landing, a historic moment for the world's most populous nation as it rapidly closes in on milestones set by global space powers.

Kenya's Faith Kipyegon won a historic third world 1500m gold on Tuesday and although Qatari high jumper Mutaz Essa Barshim missed out on a fourth crown, he became the first man to win five medals in the event.

Hundreds of US entertainment workers rallied outside the New York headquarters of Amazon and HBO on Tuesday in a National Day of Solidarity with the strike that has shut down Hollywood.

The Teamsters union announced Tuesday that UPS workers overwhelmingly voted to ratify a new labor contract, officially ending the risk of an economically harmful strike.

Russia said Tuesday that it destroyed two Ukrainian military boats in the Black Sea, as tension in the area mounts following Moscow's withdrawal from a key grain export deal last month.

Kenya's Faith Kipyegon produced a devastating last lap to win an unprecedented third world women's 1500m title in Budapest on Tuesday as arch-rival Sifan Hassan took bronze.