WORLD

Hong Kong's legislature unanimously passed a new national security law on Tuesday, introducing penalties such as life imprisonment for crimes related to treason and insurrection, and up to 20 years' jail for the theft of state secrets.

On Day 165 of the Israel-Hamas war, the White House confirmed that Israeli troops have killed a major figure in Hamas' military leadership: the military wing chief's deputy leader.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin promised Tuesday that the United States will not let Ukraine fail, even as further aid remains stalled in Congress and Kyiv's forces face shortages of munitions.

Efforts to hammer out a temporary truce in Gaza intensified Tuesday after months of war that have left parts of the devastated territory facing imminent famine.

Blinken's remarks came on the eve of his return to the Middle East, this time to Saudi Arabia and Egypt, to discuss efforts to secure a ceasefire in Gaza and ramp up aid deliveries.

Australia on Tuesday scrapped a T20 men's cricket series against Afghanistan later this year, saying the situation for women in the Taliban-ruled country was deteriorating.

Look at this stone bridge," said writer Vedat Akcayoz pointing to the crumbling stumps of a 10th-century span over the Arpacay river that marks the closed border between Turkey and Armenia.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Tuesday that the United States stands by its "ironclad" commitments to defend longtime ally the Philippines against armed attack in the South China Sea.

The hacker group was born out of a call 48 hours into Russia's invasion by Ukraine's Digital Transformation Minister Mikhailo Fedorov for Kyiv to create an "IT army".

Nigeria's securities regulator now wants companies that want to operate as a digital platform in the country to pay up over $95,000 to register the business – and that's on top of other fees in the registration process lineup that crypto firms need to pay so they can do business in the country.

The yen weakened and Tokyo stocks rose Tuesday after the Bank of Japan hiked interest rates for the first time in 17 years as it shifted away from its long-running ultra-loose monetary policy.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un oversaw firing drills involving "newly-equipped super-large" multiple rocket launchers, state media said Tuesday, a day after Seoul said Pyongyang had fired several short-range ballistic missiles.

Argentina's President Javier Milei has slashed public spending but 100 days into his presidency social tensions are simmering and he is still battling to pass his flagship economic reforms.

President Joe Biden's administration on Monday finalized a rule banning the last remaining form of asbestos in the United States, half a century after the government first targeted the cancer-causing mineral.

Donald Trump faced having assets seized in a humiliating blow to his carefully cultivated image as a self-made tycoon as his lawyers acknowledged Monday he doesn't have the cash to appeal a $464 million fine for fraudulently inflating his wealth.

US President Joe Biden told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Monday that a major ground offensive in Gaza's Rafah would be a "mistake," as the two leaders spoke for the first time in a month amid growing tensions.

The head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees said Monday Israel had blocked him from entering the war-torn and besieged Gaza Strip where the United Nations has warned of impending famine.

Fourteen bodies were found Monday in a suburb of Haiti's capital Port-au-Prince, after an attack by gang members who have ravaged the country for weeks, an AFP correspondent reported.

The mystery of so-called Havana Syndrome, which struck down dozens of US diplomats, deepened Monday as new research found no tangible evidence of brain injury in those affected.

Israel's military reported gun battles Monday between troops and fighters on the grounds of Gaza's Al-Shifa hospital, where troops launched a raid they said targeted senior Hamas militants.

The EU and Switzerland formally kicked off negotiations to deepen ties between the trade partners on Monday despite objections from the Alpine country's main political party.

It's Day 164 of the Israel-Hamas war, and Israel has assassinated another Hamas senior official as the Israeli army targets high-ranking officials in the Palestinian terror group.

Russia's election commission on Monday hailed what it said were "record" results for President Vladimir Putin, guaranteeing the former spy a fifth term in office after a vote that featured no credible opposition.

Friends and allies of Russian President Vladimir Putin were quick to congratulate him on his election win but Western leaders denounced what they called an illegal election.

Fighting disinformation including AI-enabled content is a "vital" national security interest and diplomatic priority for the United States, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Monday at a democracy summit in Seoul.

Seoul's Unification Ministry on Monday added its voice to growing speculation around Kim Jong Un's succession plans, saying they have not "ruled out" that his daughter could be next in line to lead North Korea.

Bukele once again made a bold statement regarding El Salvador's Bitcoin strategy, even as the country's Bitcoin City has not started construction work two years after the plan was announced.

Ukraine is relying on the massive use of drones to compensate for an artillery shell shortage and undermine Russian military capabilities, but experts warned they cannot tip the balance.

The Israeli army launched Monday an operation around Gaza's largest hospital, Al-Shifa, with witnesses reporting air strikes on the devastated neighbourhood where it is located.