WORLD

Georgia's government on Sunday issued a warning to protesters that it would arrest anyone who blocked the parliament, ahead of an expected late-evening rally against a Russian-style "foreign agent" bill.

North Macedonia's first woman president was inaugurated on Sunday, with the new nationalist leader angering Greece after a speech that did not acknowledge her country's new name.

The recent scene in a Paris theatre was loud and tumultuous with hundreds of spectators backing their favourites in the Miss Ivory Coast/France 2024 contest, one of many events at which France's African diaspora celebrate their dual culture.

War-weary Gazans flooded towards coastal areas of the Gaza Strip's southern city of Rafah on Sunday, fleeing heavy bombardment in eastern zones after Israel ordered them to evacuate.

Mount Everest saw a record-breaking day Sunday as Nepali climber Kami Rita Sherpa and Briton Kenton Cool reached the top of the world's highest mountain, extending their records for the most summits by a Nepali and a foreigner.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez's Socialists are hoping to show Catalonia has moved past its independence fixation by winning Sunday's regional vote and defeating separatist leader Carles Puigdemont.

Thousands of people been evacuated from border areas in Ukraine's Kharkiv region, as Russia kept up constant strikes on a key town as part of a cross-border offensive, officials said Sunday.

Israel launched strikes on Gaza Sunday after it expanded an evacuation order for Rafah, with the United Nations warning an outright invasion of the crowded southern city risked an "epic" disaster.

Lithuania votes Sunday in a presidential election dominated by security concerns with the main candidates all agreed the NATO and EU member should boost defence spending to counter the perceived threat from neighbouring Russia.

Eurovision fans gathered in Tel Aviv Saturday to watch the show taking place in Sweden on big screens said they were hoping voters would finally show Israel some love.

Thousands of protesters marched through central Tbilisi on Saturday at a rally against a controversial "foreign influence" bill backed by the Georgian government and likened to Russian laws silencing dissent.

More than a thousand environmentalists protested outside Tesla's factory near Berlin Saturday, police said, a day after some of them tried to force their way into the plant.

Hundreds of people were evacuated from areas near the Russian border in Ukraine's Kharkiv region, the regional governor said Saturday, a day after Moscow launched a surprise ground offensive.

North Korea will equip its military with a new 240mm multiple rocket launcher starting this year, state media said Saturday, adding a "significant change" for the army's artillery combat capabilities was under way.

The United States on Friday announced a new $400 million military aid package for Kyiv as Russia launched a ground offensive in northeast Ukraine.

In a cathedral in the central Ukrainian city of Vinnytsya in front of hundreds of mourners, Nazary Gryntsevych's mother and girlfriend rested their heads on the side of his open coffin.

As Chinese President Xi Jinping wraps up his European tour with his stop in Budapest, analysts say the Chinese leader made an impression but no real breakthroughs on trade and Ukraine tensions.