WORLD

UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said in an interview published on Saturday that he will step down at the next cabinet reshuffle and not contest the next general election.

Strikes by airport and airline staff grounded hundreds of flights and left thousands of travellers stranded in Europe on Saturday at the height of the busy summer tourism season.

Sudanese army representatives have returned to Jeddah in Saudi Arabia for talks with their paramilitary foes, a government source said Saturday as the war between rival generals entered its fourth month.

Paraguay's formal ties with Taiwan make "more sense" than recognising China, and will be a greater boost to development in the South American nation, president-elect Santiago Pena said Saturday.

The liberal frontrunner to become Thailand's next prime minister said Saturday he would withdraw his candidacy if parliament did not endorse him next week, after military-appointed lawmakers foiled his first attempt.

Yuriy Korpan is 39 years old but looks a decade older, his face worn as he returns from a week of combat near Bakhmut.

The United Nations is concerned about "unacceptable conditions" set by Damascus for allowing aid to flow through its Bab al-Hawa crossing to rebel-held areas in northwest Syria, according to a document reviewed Friday by AFP. The delivery of humanitarian aid through the crossing has been stalled since Monday, when a 2014 UN deal expired.

Tunisian rights groups called on Friday for emergency aid and shelters for migrants expelled from Sfax last week, as dozens of people protested in Tunis in support of their plight.

The UN Human Rights Council on Friday called for transparency on the risks of artificial intelligence and for the data harvested by AI to be used responsibly.

The UN Security Council on Friday urged the international community to support Haiti's police, but stopped short of any concrete moves to create an international intervention force that is being called for by the crisis-wracked country.

Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic set up a potentially era-defining Wimbledon title showdown after cruising through their semi-finals on Friday with the Serb superstar promising a "feast" of tennis in the championship match.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan expressed confidence Friday on the prospects of an extension to the deal that allows Ukraine to export its grain and ease a global food crisis.

The United States took custody Friday of an alleged Russian intelligence agent extradited from Estonia, as the Biden administration pursues possible prisoner exchanges for US detainees in Russia.

Azerbaijan on Friday allowed the Red Cross to resume medical evacuations from its restive Nagorno-Karabakh region to Armenia, after Baku's closure of the sole land link between the enclave and Armenia sparked protests and fears of a humanitarian crisis.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken promised Friday the United States would defend allies from North Korean "aggression", with Japan and South Korea joining a call to punish Pyongyang for its latest intercontinental ballistic missile test.

Novak Djokovic powered into his ninth Wimbledon final as the defending champion subdued big-hitting Jannik Sinner to reach a record 35th Grand Slam singles title match on Friday.

Senegal's main opposition party on Friday declared its firebrand leader Ousmane Sonko would be its candidate in upcoming presidential elections, brushing aside questions about his eligibility following a jail sentence.

Hollywood actor Kevin Spacey on Friday spent a second day in the witness box at a London court, denying sexual assault charges and claiming the prosecution case against him was weak.

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant accused Iran of planning "more than 50 attempted attacks in recent years."

The decision reflects the Biden administration's commitment to maintaining and strengthening military capabilities in alignment with national security priorities, Pentagon said in a statement.

A transgender woman who prevailed in a women's cycling tournament in South Korea said she wanted to raise awareness about fairness and inclusivity in sports.

India launched a rocket on Friday carrying an unmanned spacecraft to land on the Moon, its second attempt to do so as its cut-price space programme seeks to reach new heights.

The Thai parliament's rejection of reformist democrat Pita Limjaroenrat's bid for prime minister has sparked a flurry of behind-the-scenes jostling ahead of a fresh vote by lawmakers to elect the country's leader next week.

"With the rising strategic rivalry between the United States and China, India and France as middle powers in the international system are also trying to fill the strategic vacuum by engaging more with each other," said Shairee Malhotra, Associate Fellow at the Observer Research Foundation.

Major League Cricket got underway in Texas on Thursday, and the most serious attempt yet to establish a domestic competition in the United States provided all the ingredients of a modern Twenty20 league.

North Korea is close to perfecting its strongest nuclear weapon yet, as analysts believe the Hwasong-18 nuclear missile is capable of reaching the U.S.

Thailand's parliament confirmed Friday it would vote again on a new prime minister next week, after pro-royalist lawmakers foiled liberal frontrunner Pita Limjaroenrat's bid for the top job.

"Nikolai", a 21-year-old transgender man, says he does not know how he can keep living in Russia after lawmakers moved to outlaw gender transitions.

France posthumously awarded AFP video journalist Arman Soldin, who was killed while working in Ukraine, the Legion d'Honneur (Legion of Honour) on Thursday.