WORLD

Amid heavy security, Ecuadorans headed to the polls Sunday in a presidential election tarnished by the murder of a top candidate, as the once-peaceful nation suffers from violence fueled by the illicit global drug trade.

Two huge and fast-moving wildfires merged overnight in western Canada, threatening hundreds of homes and forcing continued evacuations in British Columbia province, officials said.

Iranian police have arrested the head of a real estate agency after a viral video showed his firm selling an apartment to a dog, officials said on Sunday.

Several thousand people demonstrated in the capital of Niger on Sunday in support of last month's military coup, whose leader has warned against outside intervention and proposed a three-year transition of power.

Firefighters made gains in their battle against a vast wildfire on Tenerife on Sunday after better-than-expected overnight weather helped them keep the blaze from destroying homes on the Spanish holiday island, regional officials said.

The Luna-25 probe, Russia's first Moon mission in almost 50 years, has crashed on the Moon after an incident during pre-landing manoeuvres, Russian space agency Roscosmos said on Sunday.

Just days before a national election to pick a president and lawmakers, one word is on the lips of most young Zimbabweans: "change".

Ecuadorans head to the polls Sunday in a presidential election tarnished by the murder of a top candidate, which cast a spotlight on the violence ravaging a once-peaceful nation caught up in the global drug trade.

Guatemalans head to the polls Sunday in a presidential runoff marked by the harassment of a surprise frontrunner, who has fired up voters with his promises to end the rot of corruption.

Leaders of the BRICS emerging economies, which account for about a quarter of the world's wealth, meet in Johannesburg this week looking to widen the bloc's influence and push for a shift in global geopolitics.

Officials in western Canada's British Columbia implored tens of thousands of residents to heed warnings and evacuate Saturday as "rapidly evolving" wildfires threatened large parts of the scenic Okanagan Valley, including the city of Kelowna.

Doaa al-Waseai spent many happy years working as a tour guide in the Old City of Yemen's capital Sanaa, showing foreigners its hidden hammams and markets teeming with silver and spices.

Picking her way through charred ruins with a flashlight, Tetiana Bezatosna returned to her apartment after it was pummelled by Russian bombardment.

A delegation from West Africa's ECOWAS bloc arrived in Niger on Saturday seeking a peaceful rather than military solution after senior army officers seized power in a coup.

For Czech architect Pavel Prouza, restoring a run-down building with historic value was a childhood dream nurtured during family tours of old monuments.

China launched air and sea drills around Taiwan on Saturday, in what it said was a "stern warning" after the island's vice president visited the United States.

A Muslim cleric is among a dozen people being investigated for using mosque loudspeakers to order protests against alleged blasphemy by Christians which erupted into mob violence in Pakistan earlier this week, a senior police official said.

Crystal Sangris barely slept for three days as wildfires threatened her hometown in northern Canada, and when she was ordered to evacuate, her anxiety turned to anguish.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said he will visit the Fukushima nuclear plant on Sunday, ahead of the discharge of treated water which is scheduled to begin by the end of summer.

Evergrande's problems reveal something scary about China's debt: Nobody knows how big and how bad it is.

More than 2,400 people have been killed in Haiti since the start of 2023 amid rampant gang violence, including hundreds killed in lynchings by vigilante mobs, the UN said Friday.

Washington has told Denmark and the Netherlands that they will be permitted to hand over their F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine when the country's pilots are trained to operate them, the US State Department said Friday.

Residents of Yellowknife in Canada's far north on Friday raced to evacuate ahead of a midday deadline as wildfires bear down on the remote city and other parts of the vast country.

Guatemalans will vote Sunday in a presidential runoff tainted by efforts to disqualify the surprise frontrunner, whose promise to crack down on corruption has fired up voters.

More than four million Yemenis will receive less food assistance as a result of funding shortages, compounding one of the world's worst humanitarian crises, the UN's food agency warned Friday.

AI and metahumans are gaining much attention in Indonesia's influencer marketing sector, but it may play a greater role in driving the country's digital transformation as more industries explore possibilities with AI-infused digital avatars.

Russian forces destroyed Ukrainian drones targeting Moscow and its Black Sea Fleet, officials said Friday, the latest in a surge of attacks on the capital and the flashpoint waterway.

West African military chiefs held a second day of talks in Ghana on Friday, preparing for a possible armed intervention in Niger after a coup ousted President Mohamed Bazoum.

India is positive about an Indian transmission line being used to supply electricity between its two neighboring countries, said Suresh Bhattarai, spokesperson at the Nepal Electricity Authority.