WORLD

Britain's ruling Conservatives face another potentially bruising by-election early next year after voters in a central English constituency ousted its Tory lawmaker following his suspension from parliament over misconduct allegations.

Hospital doctors in England begin their longest strike action yet on Wednesday in a move that health bosses fear will pile pressure on services at the busiest time of year.

A lengthy boycott of devolved government in Northern Ireland will stretch into 2024 after talks to end the impasse stalled Tuesday, with frustration mounting over political dysfunction and crumbling public services.

Ghana, the world's second biggest cocoa producer, faces a growing risk to its harvest -- and blow to its crisis-hit economy -- from illegal mining and smugglers, industry officials, farmers and activists warn.

The United Nations Security Council was due to vote Wednesday on a much-delayed resolution calling for a pause to the Israel-Hamas war after members wrangled over wording while aid efforts in the Gaza Strip neared collapse.

Growing up, Mirai Kisaragi fled her abusive parents, survived homelessness and contemplated suicide.

Survivors of China's deadliest earthquake in years huddled in aid tents on Wednesday after overnight temperatures plunged well below zero, with the death toll rising to 131.

Karachi's colonial-era prison is adorned with murals of rural Pakistani life, painted by convicted murderers and kidnappers locked away from the world but learning their craft inside its walls.

The head of Hamas was due in Egypt on Wednesday for talks on a fresh ceasefire in Gaza, after Israel said it was willing to agree to another pause in exchange for more hostages.

Asian stocks rallied Wednesday, following another record performance on Wall Street as traders continue to bet on the US Federal Reserve slashing interest rates several times next year.

Rescuers dug through rubble for a second freezing day on Wednesday after overnight temperatures plunged well below zero, with the death toll in China's deadliest earthquake in years rising to 131.

A French court on Wednesday sentenced former Rwandan doctor Sosthene Munyemana to 24 years in prison for his involvement in the 1994 genocide of Tutsis in his native East African country.

On the 75th day of the fighting between Israel and Hamas, a new report revealed that the U.S.-led Red Sea maritime force actually had 19 countries onboard, but some of the nations opted to not go public amid the "complicated" situation.

A French court on Tuesday sentenced the ex-wife of serial killer Michel Fourniret to life in prison for her role in three murders by her former husband.

Foreign rescue and aid workers, along with the UN and volunteers, rallied Tuesday to help victims of the explosion and fire at Guinea's main oil depot on Monday that killed 18 people, injured 212 others and prompted concerns about fuel supplies.

The United States has charged an Iranian and a Chinese national with allegedly supplying microelectronics to Iran for use in the drone program of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Prior to Kwon's extradition appeal, a report alleged that Montenegro's Justice Minister, Andrej Milovic, had already made the decision to send Kwon to the U.S. before it was publicly announced.

Hundreds of people demonstrated against alleged voter fraud in the Serbian capital of Belgrade Tuesday, following calls by the main opposition camp to protest the weekend's election results that have been marred by reports of "irregularities".

The United Nations raised the alarm Tuesday over fighting raging near the former safe haven of Wad Madani in Sudan where the population had swelled to more than 700,000.

The UN Security Council is struggling to find a unified voice on the war in Gaza, recently swapping a call for a "lasting cessation of hostilities" with a draft resolution demanding the fighting's "suspension."

A French elderly couple on Tuesday saw its request to cancel the 4.2-million-eurosale of a rare African mask that they had let go for 150 euros thrown out, with the court calling their claim frivolous.

As evening brought freezing temperatures to northwestern China's Gansu province, shellshocked residents huddled around small fires in the street, reeling after the country's deadliest earthquake in years deprived them of shelter.

The French government of President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday was battling to salvage a flagship immigration reform following deadlock in parliament that risks casting a shadow over his second mandate.

Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi 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.

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 Houthi 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.

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: - Israel-Hamas war - On October 7, hundreds of Hamas gunmen pour across the border from Gaza, killing around 1,140 people, mostly civilians, and taking about 250 people hostage in the worst attack in Israel's history, traumatising the country and stunning the world.

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.