WORLD

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday began a tour of Arab capitals as he seeks to build pressure on Hamas while Israel readies a likely massive offensive on the Gaza Strip following the militants' attacks.

Israel has throughout its history been targeted by hostage-taking in standoffs resolved by both force and diplomacy, but the mass seizure of citizens by Palestinian militant group Hamas presents the authorities with an unprecedented quandary.

Hearing firsthand from Israeli survivors of the massive Hamas assault, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken experienced a rare scene for a diplomat: a cheering crowd.

The moment Kim Prosser learned that her 19-year-old son Ashtyn had died by suicide, she says she dropped to the floor, where she lay "shaking and so cold."

Five things to know about Ecuador, which holds a runoff presidential election on Sunday.

Yossi Landau has spent decades collecting corpses in Israel, but he almost reached breaking point recovering the remains of people killed by Gaza militants in the country's deadliest assault.

The Republican nominee to lead the US House of Representatives struggled Thursday to find enough support to win a vote of the full chamber, underlining the mountain he will have to climb to unite the deeply fractured party.

The UN Human Rights Council on Thursday extended the mandate of its rapporteur on rights violations in Russia by a year, in a second diplomatic defeat for Moscow in three days.

Like clockwork, every 30 seconds Israeli artillery goes into action against a barely visible target somewhere in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip.

ASEAN nations have signed an agreement to enhance customs clearance for export and import transactions among members, marking another step towards strengthening relations within the group.

In its bloody assault on Israel, Hamas was aiming to break a stalemate in Gaza, analysts say, but with its neighbour now determined to eradicate the Islamist group, it may have made a fatal mistake.

Foes Armenia and Azerbaijan crossed swords at the UN's top court Thursday, as Yerevan accused Baku of "ethnic cleansing" in Nagorno-Karabakh, sparking a furious response from the Azerbaijani side over the "unfounded" charges.

Italian prosecutors called Thursday for journalist Roberto Saviano to be fined 10,000 euros in a defamation case brought by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, after he criticised her stance on migrants.

At least two unknown assailants entered the mosque in the Daska town of Pakistan, and fatally shot 53-year-old Shahid Latif and another mosque-goer.

Gibraltar votes on Thursday in a tight election which could affect talks on a deal settling the tiny British overseas territory's ties with the European Union following Brexit.

Consumer inflation held steady in the United States last month, according to government data released Thursday, giving policymakers some reprieve in their battle to tamp down price increases.

Osher and Michael Waknin wanted to celebrate friendship, love and freedom.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken vowed on a visit Thursday that the United States will "always" back Israel but said the Palestinians also have "legitimate aspirations" not represented by militant group Hamas.

The International Committee of the Red Cross is in contact with Hamas and Israel to try to facilitate the release of hostages taken into Gaza, the organisation said Thursday.

"Operation Ajay" will see chartered flights being used to repatriate Indian citizens from Israel as the region witnesses a flare-up in violence following Hamas' surprise attack last week.

The use of crypto by terror groups and organizations trying to evade financial sanctions across the globe is nothing new. In fact, since 2021, Israeli authorities have seized around 190 Binance accounts allegedly linked to terror groups.

The International Energy Agency said on Thursday the risk of oil supply disruptions due to the conflict between Israel and Hamas is limited but that it stands ready to intervene in markets if necessary.

The first flight of Thai evacuees fleeing the conflict between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas landed in Bangkok on Thursday, with several recounting harrowing escapes as they were reunited with tearful family members.

When Ukraine announced it had re-captured the village of Robotyne, its message to the world was that it had found a way to pierce Russian lines on the southern front.

Benjamin Netanyahu's government had divided Israel with its controversial judicial reforms, but he now presides over a country which is united in its demand for a definitive reprisal against Hamas.

Holed up in a makeshift studio in Sydney's Russian consulate, a pro-Putin activist on the run from Australian police is using the country's upcoming Indigenous rights referendum to push the Kremlin's agenda.

European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell is due to arrive in China on Thursday, looking to manage the bloc's "de-risking" strategy with its largest trading partner while laying the foundations for a planned summit this year.

A brood of chickens cluck in the barn as Rebeca Perez collects eggs to sell in her village in western Guatemala -- an endeavor she hopes will keep her from emigrating to the United States as her brothers did, driven by poverty.

To do their work of reporting the news -- a crucial job ahead of Sunday's looming presidential election -- many journalists in Ecuador now don bulletproof vests and helmets.