WORLD

A decade after finding refuge in Lebanon from civil war in his native Syria, Ahmad Mustafa fled in the other direction this week from a new conflict between Israel and Hezbollah.

A year of conflict between Israel and Hamas has resulted in a "devastating impact on the economy" in the occupied West Bank and Gaza, the IMF said Thursday, including a nearly 90 percent drop in Gaza's GDP. "Preliminary official estimates indicate an 86 percent decline in GDP in the first half of 2024" in Gaza, said International Monetary Fund communications chief Julie Kozack.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum pledged Thursday that soldiers who opened fire and killed six migrants, apparently mistaken for criminals, would face justice.

Sri Lanka's new president Thursday urged the IMF to consider "alternative means" to continue with a $2.9 billion bailout that aided his country in the wake of a sovereign default but imposed painful austerity.

But the president appeared open to Israel targeting Iran's oil reserves in retaliation for Tuesday's missile attack

She had been held for a decade before her rescue.

Israel's military said Thursday it had hit Hezbollah's intelligence headquarters in the Lebanese capital, as troops battled militants near the border and warplanes bombarded their strongholds around the country.

Outside one of the Lebanese capital's most exclusive venues, a large sign advises clubbers to dress "smart casual".

Japan's Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba will propose a new happiness index during his first parliamentary policy speech on Friday, local media have reported.

The farms in Costa Rica and Guatemala will work to mitigate the effects of climate change on coffee production.

UK armed forces "played their part in attempts to prevent further escalation" after Iran fired a barrage of missiles at Israel, the British government said Wednesday.

The man said he had struggled to settle in South Korea.

The 14-year-old victim remains hospitalized with 'life-altering' injuries.

The military said the troops were fighting Hezbollah when they died.

Three five-year-old boys wounded in a stabbing attack on a group of children in Zurich are no longer in mortal danger, prosecutors said Wednesday.

Police in Denmark and Sweden said on Wednesday they were probing explosions and gunfire around Israeli embassies in their capitals which took place amid spiralling Middle East tensions.

The blast left a crater in the runway at Miyazaki Airport on Kyushu island.

Spain welcomed a record 21.8 million international visitors this summer, official data showed on Wednesday, an influx of tourism that has triggered some protests in the country.

Keir Starmer arrived in Brussels on Wednesday on his first visit as British prime minister, looking to build on a promised "reset" of relations with the European Union after the rancour of Brexit.

Ukraine's army said Wednesday it had withdrawn from the eastern town of Vugledar, handing Russia one of its most significant territorial gains in weeks.

Grieving families wept as they offered prayers on Wednesday for 23 children and their teachers killed in a horrifying Thai school bus fire, as the government vowed a crackdown on unsafe vehicles.

A horrifying fire on a Thai school bus this week that killed at least 23 people, most of them children, underscores how the kingdom's roads are some of the deadliest in the world.

Airlines diverted flights following a missile attack over Israel from Iran.

Tens of thousands of people packed the streets of one of India's biggest cities after doctors resumed a strike and called fresh rallies over the rape and murder of a colleague.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has congratulated new Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, state media reported Wednesday, the day after he took office in Tokyo.

Just three years after being crowned kings of Europe, Chelsea find themselves slumming it in the UEFA Conference League.

Oil prices rose more than one percent Wednesday, extending the previous day's rally, and safe haven gold pushed towards a record high after Iran's missile attack on Israel ramped up fears about an escalation in the Middle East.

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday told Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin he was ready to "expand" cooperation, as the two leaders exchanged congratulations on the 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations, state media said.

A Greenland court will decide Wednesday whether to keep anti-whaling activist Paul Watson in custody pending a decision on his extradition to Japan, where he is wanted over a clash with whalers.