WORLD

The United States will provide $500 million in military funding to the Philippines, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Tuesday, as Washington boosts ties with Manila in the face of China's growing assertiveness.

The French economy grew faster than expected in the second quarter, official data showed Tuesday, giving a boost to the eurozone.

Taiwan's President Lai Ching-te said Tuesday "a threat from China to any country is a threat to the world", emphasizing to lawmakers of more than 20 countries that global democracies must unite against "authoritarian expansion".

Some gods grant riches and others good luck, but one deity in India offers a much less nebulous fortune to his devotees: tickets to a new life in the United States.

Anjem Choudary, one of the UK's most recognised radical Islamist preachers, will be sentenced on Tuesday after being found guilty of directing a banned organisation and encouraging support for it online.

US foreign and defence ministers met their Philippine counterparts in Manila on Tuesday, with Beijing's growing assertiveness in the South China Sea likely to dominate talks.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez is set to testify on Tuesday in a preliminary graft probe into his wife's business dealings, a case that has piled pressure on his fragile minority government.

Joe Biden unveiled plans Monday for sweeping US Supreme Court reforms, as he seeks to cement his legacy in the twilight of his presidency despite Republicans branding the proposals dead on arrival.

The clatter and clang of people banging pots and pans from their windows echoed through the streets of Caracas on Monday as people expressed despair after an election they claimed was stolen by President Nicolas Maduro.

Two children have been killed and nine more injured, six critically, in a knife attack at a dance class in northern England on Monday, police said.

After a deadly strike on civilians in the annexed Golan Heights, Israel has threatened retaliation against Lebanon's Hezbollah movement, accusing it of perpetrating the attack with an Iranian-made Falaq-1 rocket -- part of its wide-ranging arsenal.

Britain's Labour finance minister Rachel Reeves declared Monday that the public finances face an extra GBP22-billion hole inherited from the previous Conservative administration and warned of "difficult decisions" ahead to cut spending or hike taxes.

The Israeli military said Monday nine soldiers were being held in a case of suspected abuse of a detainee at a facility known to be holding Palestinians arrested from Gaza during the war.

Britain's Labour finance minister Rachel Reeves declared Monday that public finances faced an extra hole of GBP22 billion inherited from the Conservatives, who warned she was readying tax hikes.

South Africa's ruling ANC on Monday expelled its former leader ex-president Jacob Zuma for leading a rival party into elections following disciplinary proceedings.

Olympic organisers cancelled a second day of triathlon training in the River Seine on Monday due to water pollution, increasing uncertainty over whether the men's and women's races will go ahead as scheduled in the coming days.

Russia said on Monday its forces had captured the village of Vovche in eastern Ukraine, the latest in a string of frontline advances Moscow has claimed in recent weeks.

Many nations expressed doubts Monday about the transparency of Venezuela's election after Nicolas Maduro was declared the winner, while his traditional allies congratulated the long-time leader.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni hailed China as an "important interlocutor" in managing global tensions Monday as she met President Xi Jinping.

The attack on the Olenivka facility in the eastern Donetsk region overnight on July 29 two years ago left at least 50 Ukrainian prisoners dead and wounded at least 130, Kyiv says.

The man was detained at Oissel in northern France on Sunday and had access keys to SNCF technical premises, tools and literature linked to the ultra-left, said the source, asking not to be named.

North Korea deployed military helicopters to bring thousands of people stranded in a flood-hit zone to safety, state media reported Monday.

Nicolas Maduro was declared the winner of Venezuela's presidential election on Sunday but the opposition and key regional neighbours immediately rejected the official results. Maduro won re-election with 51.2 percent of votes, while opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia received 44.2 percent, the electoral council announced.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and his counterparts in the so-called Quad grouping issued a joint statement calling for a "free and open" Pacific after talks in Tokyo. The statement did not name China directly but referenced a series of recent confrontations between Chinese and Philippine vessels in the disputed South China Sea.

An Indian soldier died fighting with Russian forces in Ukraine, one of his relatives said Monday, the fifth confirmed death so far of an Indian citizen in the conflict.

Bangladeshi students called new street protests for Monday after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's government ignored an ultimatum to release their leaders and apologise for those killed in deadly unrest.

The disciplinary committee of South Africa's ruling ANC has decided to expel former president Jacob Zuma for leading a rival group into elections in May, several media reported Sunday, citing a leaked document.

Israel vowed on Sunday to "hit the enemy hard" after rocket fire from Lebanon killed 12 young people in the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights and fanned fears that the war in Gaza will spread.

Leon Marchand said he had goosebumps after romping to France's first Olympic swimming gold since 2012 in front of a packed and raucous Paris crowd on Sunday.